I may as well ask here, seeing as how all ya'll get a lot of LP's shipped to you (until recently I've always done my music buying in person. Amoeba Music on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood is awesome!) :
Last Sunday (10-25) I placed a $200 order online at Elusive Disc Music. On Tuesday I received an email stating the order had been shipped via USPS, with an estimated delivery date of Monday (11-3).
Yesterday (Thursday 10-29) afternoon I walked down to the mailbox and got the mail (which included the CD by Jamie Hoover and Bill Lloyd I had bought on Discogs). Early in the evening I checked the tracking number supplied by EDM, and was surprised to see that the package had been delivered at 12:58 that afternoon (the notice said the package had been left "in or around" my mailbox. ?). I knew then there was a problem, but I went back to the mailbox to double check, and nope, no carton.
My street (which is in the shape of a rectangle) is unusual in that there is not a mailbox in front of each house, but rather a bank of 24 all together (as in apartment buildings) on one of the curves of the street. Each box is rather small (like a Post Office box), but there are two large locking bins below the 24 boxes. When a package is too large to fit in the mailbox, the carrier puts it into one of the bins and leaves the key to open it in the mailbox of the designated recipient. Once the key is inserted into the bins' lock it cannot be removed (except by the carrier).
I decided to hang out at the mailboxes today (Friday 10-30) and wait for the mail carrier to arrive. I went down at 11:30 and was surprised to discover that he had already been and gone. Drat! And there was something else: Whereas on Thursday there was no key in either of the big bins, on Friday there was, meaning something had been put in it, and the resident who had been given the key to open it had already done so.
So I drove the main Post Office for my area, told the clerk behind the counter the whole story, and provided her with the USPS tracking number for the package. She took all the info, and said she would give it to my carrier when he returned to the facility.
Upon arriving back home I called Elusive Disc and told them what was up. The guy on the phone was great, apologizing for the problem. What I especially liked was that he seemed truly appreciative when I replied that it was not their fault. He said to call back Wednesday or Thursday, and they would then address the situation. Why not Monday, I wonder?
Anyway, I doubt I'm the first of us who has had this happen. I taped a notice on the bottom bin, telling all my neighbors that a package addressed to me had been mistakenly delivered to someone else, and asking if anyone had "seen it" ;-) .
How can I expect this situation to be resolved? I don't know if Elusive Disc insures all their shipments, but their order form does not offer any. Bummer.
