I was a little hesitant to write this post, because frankly I’m a little embarrassed about the whole thing. It was expensive, time consuming, and completely avoidable. So I have chosen to look at this as an expensive, time consuming, avoidable learning opportunity. A teachable moment for myself.
You may recall, way back at the beginning of December, I wrote a review of the Therafit Shoe and hosted a giveaway for a chance to win a free pair. I love my Therafit shoes (I still wear them to work everyday), and I was happy for the chance to give away a pair. So excited in fact, that I forgot some of the basics of giveaways (I was kind of new to this). Number one on the list (at least for me, now), is the Terms and Conditions portion of the giveaway. Pinpointing it even closer, eligibility. Like the rookie that I was, I didn’t create any terms and conditions, and when someone asked about Canadians’ eligibility, I said, “sure, why not?” Mistake number one.
When Tina from Calgary won the giveaway, I was excited. She sent me her address (at her parent’s in Alberta) and chose the Red Therafit shoes (the ones I would have chosen if I didn’t need a more neutral color to wear to work).
That was when I found out that the contest was meant only for the United States. Oops! Well, no problem, just ship the shoes to me, and will forward them on to Tina. Easy! Um, no.
Oh, the first part was easy. The shipment from Therafit arrived within a week. The next day, I took the package to the nearest UPS store. And discovered why many companies don’t ship to Canada.
First of all, the cost. Just a little short of $40. What? For a two pound package, valued at about $100? (Tina offered to help with shipping costs, but I turned her down. This was my teachable moment.)
I was committed to getting Tina her shoes. I paid the shipping charges, sent her the tracking number, made the assumption that she’d receive her shoes in a few days (mistake number two), and managed to misplace the shipping receipt (mistake number three).
I watched the package’s progress on UPS.com for the next 10 days. I originally shipped on December 24 (not the best timing for quick shipping under any circumstances). After about two weeks (not the five days I was told when I shipped), the shoes were scheduled to be delivered. Hurray! I forgot about it for a couple days, then checked back to see that the package was “unable to be delivered,” on its original date, which was a Friday, but would be delivered the following Monday. In the meantime, I received an email from Tina, asking how I shipped the shoes. I’m sure that, not really knowing me, she was doubting the existence of her Therafit shoes.
When I checked that same day, the tracking results said, “Delivered” along with a code that ended with the word REAR. Later that same day, January 9, Tina emailed to tell me not to worry. The driver had the address transposed, but the package was at a UPS office about an hour away. She should have the shoes by Friday, January 13.
For the next two weeks, Tina communicated a situation that would have been funny if it wasn’t happening to us. UPS had the package, they didn’t have the package. They would deliver the shoes to her work, then they didn’t (the original address was her parent’s home in Alberta, so that someone would be home when the delivery came). Then she told me that they couldn’t find the package, would I call, as the original shipper, to see what I could do? This was January 24. A month to the day since I shipped the shoes.
I called UPS, and after being bounced around a little bit, I found out…nothing. I was speaking to the International Customer Service, they couldn’t find the package, weren’t sure where it was. When I told them that there had been some talk about sending it back, they told be to call the Palm Springs UPS Center. Fine, I said, and hung up. Only problem, apparently the Palm Springs Center does not have a telephone (or doesn’t want us, the public, to know what it is), and the only contact number is the general UPS phone number. Which immediately switched me back to the International customer service, where I had to explain the story to yet another person. If this long explanation is confusing you, you have a good idea of how I felt.
When I finally spoke to a fairly intelligent rep at UPS, she opened an inquiry, the first step in the process of recovering the value of a lost package. They would call me on Monday, January 28, to follow up. Before I heard from UPS on Monday, though, I received a message from my local UPS store…my package had been returned. What did I want to do with it?
Before I called back, I called UPS. They told me to go ahead and ship the package back to Canada. They would reimburse me what I spent on shipping, did I have the receipt? Um, no, remember mistake number three? So they would reimburse me about $20. Not sure where they pulled that number from, but without a receipt I was SOL.
I shipped the package back that afternoon. Another $40. If you’re doing the math, I’ve spent $80 with the promise of a $20 refund. Yes, that’s why I’m calling it an expensive lesson. An hour after I shipped, I got an email from Tina..don’t send it to the original address. That’s my parent’s house and they won’t be there. Oops!
Fortunately, Tina was able to get her sister to be on the lookout, and on February 8 I got this tweet:
Whoohoo. My @TherafitShoe package from @LivefromLQ arrived!! now waiting for my sis to bring em to me nxt week! #ThankYou #soexcited
— TinaFab (@crantina) February 8, 2013
We’re not through yet.
It was another 10 days, waiting for a sick sister to recover, then finally I heard from Tina again:
Ooooo lookie what I just unwrapped! #ThankYou @livefromlq for my fab looking @therafitshoe gift! #soexcitedtotry twitter.com/crantina/statu…
— TinaFab (@crantina) February 18, 2013
February 18, 2013, 56 days after shipping, Tina finally had her hands on her Therafit shoes.
I put my new $60 knowledge to use at my very next giveaway. If the company does not ship to Canada, I’m sorry, but you, my dear Canadian friends are not eligible for my giveaway.
So, have you made a similar mistake (don’t tell me I’m the only one!)? How much did it cost you?
By the way, I have no regrets about this. Tina is a lovely woman, I’m happy that she won the Therafit shoes. I only hope she loves them as much as I do!
Edit: Tina has written her own post about her experience. Check it out!
Oh my goodness! How did you maintain your equanimity with all the snafus? I would have done the same as you (same mistakes and same efforts to make it right), but with much more grumpiness! I sure hope TheraFit Shoes sends you a red pair of your own for all your hard work and dedication to the shoes and your northern winner! For what it’s worth, your story made for a great post!
Well, by the time I wrote this I had time to calm down. And I received my big ol’ $20 check from UPS. (and you can talk to Therafit about those red shoes :-)).
One of the nice things about being a blogger is that almost everything, good or bad can make a great post.
What a headache! They should have reimbured you anyway – with all the credit card/computer trails we have now they should have been able to pull that receipt! Ugh.
One of the problems is that the mail stores, even the UPS ones, are independent contractors. Oh well, lesson learned.
Damn, Gina! I mean, Tina! Haha, wow. I gotta say I love your dedication to delivering those shoes! An honorable thing to do. Lesson learned and I will remember this for my giveaways!
It is a lesson learned. I feel bad about saying no because someone’s in Canada, but that’s just crazy to pay that much.
Let me say you have a kind heart and some serious patience. I lost my SHIT with UPS over this mess up and boy I am still so angry. The fact is that those shoes were actually 5 minutes away from my parents for the better part of 2 weeks. This whole mess up is UPS’ fault. Unforgivable. I want to personally THANK you so much for my amazing shoes. I have worn them a little and feel they are SO comfy. They aren’t even sold up here so they ARE special. UPS owes you big time. So do I. I will find something awesomely Canadian to send to you for your fabulousness. Use postal service not UPS next time, kids. Mailing should NOT be this hard. I am finishing up my Therafit saga post and should have it up soon…then i will need to do a great review of em! I hate to wear em outside ith our melting slow, I don’t wanna get em dirty! 🙂 xoxo
I’m so happy that you like your shoes. Can’t wait to see some pics with you wearing them!
I did learn my lesson about UPS. A couple people have said I should use USPS. I didn’t originally because I though it would be more expensive.
I put a link to your post at the end of mine. It is a funny story (just not when it’s happening to you).
honestly though, mailing isn’t that hard. This messup is something rare…problem is that UPS or postal tries to charge extra, when the budget shipping works just fine. Lesson is keep receipts. Always.
Did I say this is all UPS’ fault??? Serious lack in service and assistance. I felt so BAD about the colossal screw up. Yet they never ever went the extra mile for service. Even though they assured me that they would ship to me for free. And re-imburse Debbie! . Man, they got an earful from me about that.
How about my first giveaway the winner was in AUSTRALIA!! Oh my gosh! She was the ‘runner up’, so instead of the shirt I was going to send her, she accepted a stick figure of herself (which was the first prize anyway). Yup, I learned my lesson. Until I just did a book giveaway and realized I would have to mail the book–made it clear it was for the US only, but didn’t realize what it would cost to send it. I never mail anything. My husband constructed a box, it looked super ghetto, and I never heard if the book made it. I should probably look into that.
In can only imagine how much it would cost to ship to Australia! It does take once for us to learn. I wouldn’t have thought it cost too much to ship a book. I better keep all of that in mind for future giveaways.
Nice that you followed up – I have won giveaways and never received the goods and the blogger has just blown me off saying ‘well I gave them your name and address’… so you are a good deed doer .. I am a Canadian who won Therafit shoes too and the blogger sent them to me personally.. I also got a pair of Mizunos the same way.
But here is my point… UPS is a terrible company to deal with!
I have had them leave things on the step, in the bushes and have had broken parcels – once I even refused a parcel because they wanted a huge fee to deliver it and then they left it a few days later anyway, damaged, and sent me a bill in the mail for the fee I had refused to pay.. I would NEVER use UPS myself.
Yes, it is a good idea to find out the terms ahead of time!
I’ve had a couple people suggest that I use USPS. I just thought UPS would be less expensive. Lesson learned. I’m glad that your Therafit blogger followed through and got your shoes to you.
yikes! a great lesson learned though! i’ve almost made that mistake before!
It was a good lesson. I used it for my next giveaway which was a good thing. It was a gift card for a company that didn’t ship to Canada! That would not have been good 🙂
Oh my!!!! What a headache! The good news is…she got her shoes and every time she wears them, she will think of you 🙂 (I think she may want to forget the UPS part lol)
I agree! I’ll always be a part of her life now..at least until the shoes wear out 🙂
Well, I guess we live and we learn, eh? I’m sorry you and Tina had to go through that but it definitely does make for a good story! Next time you’ll know and by posting this I’m sure you helped many others who haven’t done very many giveaways in the past.
Nice thing about blogging. Most things about life, good and bad, make a good story.
And that is why it’s so much harder for us Canadian bloggers to make $$ blogging. Very few US companies want to deal with us, it’s so sad 🙁
I bet if you’d sent it regular parcel through USPS it would have been cheaper and would have arrived faster. Silly UPS is always screwing things up!
I know that it is much more difficult for Canadians to get opportunities with US companies.
I will try USPS next time. It certainly couldn’t get any worse! 🙂
You are perseverant!!! I would’ve ended up pulling my hair out and not knowing what to do.
I have messed up on sendin stuff to canada a LOT. I did a Holiday time card exchange once and the stamps to a few canadian friends cost way more than I paid to print all the cards.
Wow. That is ridiculous. How does a Canadian postie transpose the address? How bizarre.
The transposing the address was the least of it. Even after they were informed about the mistake, given the correct address, they still couldn’t get it right. At least the gal I was working with to get my little reimbursement was nice. She called several times to make sure my check had arrived.
it was so silly – the address issue…becasue there was a phone number on the package. but no one ever called. and honestly its a tiny town…it hsouldnt have happened. Plus when i called (3 different times) i was assured a correction had been made and delivery was imminent. But nooooooo 🙂
I can’t add much more to this conversation – it has all been said!!!! Although I so want to try those shoes! 🙂
This was so amazing of you! Holy crap I had no idea shipping internationally was so crazy!
So I’m reading this and suddenly getting worried about the package of baby goodies I’m putting together for my cousin in Canada. I hope it doesn’t cost me a kidney to ship to her. UPS customer service stinks, but one of my friends works for UPS so I call him up whenever I have a problem and they solve it a lot quicker than if I do it myself. You are amazing to have sent the shoes yourself!