Waiting For The Other Boot To Drop

Don't you love it when you have to take time out of your busy day to do someone else's job?  This has to be one of my biggest pet peeves, right up there along with mismatched Christmas lights and when people mistakenly say, "I could care less". 

So... you care?

It took me several years, but after losing some baby weight I finally built up the courage to buy and wear skinny jeans, which opened up a whole new world of shoes that had been previously unavailable to me and my regularly shaped pants.  I had been so slow to latch on to trends, however, that all of the leather mid-calf boots I liked were sold out for the season.  I did find a pair of canvas boots with great reviews on Kohls.com, and despite them not being leather, I liked the price and made the order.

As soon as I got the email explaining that the boots had shipped, I began using the tracking link to monitor the package's progress from the warehouse to my front door.  A few days into the process, however, I noticed that, instead of heading to Iowa, the package was "out for delivery" in Kansas City, MO, and that my incessant tracking checks hadn't prevented someone from making a shipping error.  But as quickly as things went south, an alert shone on the screen that said, "Delivery Exeption" in red lettering, and explained that the boots had been "rerouted to correct delivery address". 

Whew.  I thought the crisis was averted until the mailman rang my doorbell two days later and handed me... a JustFab box?  It seemed strange, but I knew that JustFab sold shoes, so I though that perhaps Kohl's had outsourced my Rocket Dogs.  I dug into the box, excited to have something to wear with my new jeans, only to find a pair of cowboy boots and some purple slippers.  I checked the receipt and found that the shoes were intended for a woman named Rosa, who lives in Kansas City, MO, complete with all of her contact and personal information.

Someone hadn't done their job.  But was it Kohl's or Fedex?  Was it JustFab, even?  After my first call, I didn't get many answers.

"Thank you for calling Kohls, how may I help you?"

"Hi, I ordered some boots on Kohls.com, and what arrived today was a box from JustFab with an order for a woman named Rosa.  How can I return these to Rosa and get MY boots?"

"Excuse me ma'am, and thank you and I will help you.  So to understand, you received two pairs of the boots you ordered instead of one?"

"No, I didn't receive any of my order.  I got someone else's from a totally different store."

"Okay, well thank you for your call and I will assist you.  You are speaking with Kohl's and not JustFab.  We sell Kohl's products, not JustFab products."

"I understand that.  This was not intended for me-- it has someone else's information."

"I am happy to work with you about this issue.  It sounds like Fedex has sent you someone else's package."

Gee, thanks.  "I know that, but how do I get the boots I ordered?"

"Okay, thank you for your telephone call and I will help you with this matter and do what I can to fix this issue.  Your boots were to be delivered between the 18th and the 23rd.  Your boots should arrive by the 23rd."

Not as much assistance as he had promised.  What I could not get the customer service man to understand was that the tracking information I was emailed was tracking this package, and only one hour after receiving it, the tracking email said "delivered", and the link went dead.

 I called JustFab, who wouldn't let me send the package directly to Rosa without paying for the most expensive insured shipping option possible, and I was finally forced to print a label to ship Rosa's shoes back to JustFab.

On the 23rd, a second call to Kohl's went like this:

"Thank you for calling Kohls, how may I help you?"

"Hi, I called a few days ago because I received the wrong package when I ordered some boots from your website.  The person I talked to said he couldn't help me until the shipping window had passed, which it now has.  I want to know what can be done to get my boots."

"Okay, thank you, and I can assist you today."

Here we go again.  

"I have reviewed your order number and it says here that your shipment was received on the 19th.  We hope you enjoy your purchase!"

Oh, hell no.  It took getting pretty forceful with a second customer service technician for them to finally listen and understand how bizarre this situation had become.  We discovered together that the package itself had two shipping labels- one for Rosa and one for me, and we concluded that somewhere in transit, someone had removed the label from my box, pocketed my boots and slapped the sticker on a different box.  The very helpful woman ordered me another pair at no cost, and my faith in Kohl's was renewed.

There was one more call to make, and it went like this:

"Hi, is this Rosa?"

"Yes?"

"My name is Mary Foreman, and I know this may sound really strange, but I live in Iowa and I have your JustFab order.  I have no idea how it was sent to me, but I have made arrangements with JustFab to get it returned to you.  I know how frustrating this mix-up has been for me, and I thought you might want to know, since you're probably wondering where your shoes are."

What followed was three days of texting with my new friend, Rosa, in Kansas City, who stayed in touch until her package was on the way and I had finally seen a boot-sized Kohl's box on my front step.  After spending a week doing the leg work for Kohl's, JustFab and Fedex, I finally got to slide my foot into my new boots.

And guess what?  They.  Don't.  Fit.

But at this point, I couldn't care less.