The long wait
Wednesday Mar 9, 2005
Two weeks have passed since the last email exchange from Patrick and the
package has not arrived, so I sent him an update:
Patrick,
I have not received the pens yet. Did you ship on Feb
24th as planned?
Regards,
Lih-Tah
Eleven hours later, Patrick replies:
Hi Lih-Tah,
I shipped the pen set at the 24th as promised. I will
have a look at my postal office tommorow morning and get back to you later
tommorow and let you know where the pen are.
Best, Patrick
I reply with my thanks:
Thank you Patrick.
I am not worried since you sent it via registered
mail. I do realize that this takes a bit longer because anyone who handles the
package must sign for it.
Regards,
Lih-Tah
Friday Mar 18, 2005
After nine days without any news from Patrick, I wrote to him:
Hi Patrick,
I just wanted you to know that after three weeks
since you sent it, still the package has not yet arrived. If this hold true by
Thursday, March 24th I will let you know; that may be a good time to initiate
a trace.
Regards,
Lih-Tah
Thursday Mar 24, 2005
Per my earlier email, I notify Patrick about the missing package:
Hello Patrick.
I still have not yet received this item, and it is
now four weeks since you sent it.
Please initiate a trace.
Regards,
Lih-Tah
Friday Mar 25, 2005
Patrick replies:
Hello Lih-Tah,
I ordered a tracking by the german post yesterday and
as they said, there are results within the beginning or middle of the week. No
earlier because of the easter days. I`m sorry about that and I request to wait
until thursday if this is allright for you!?
Anyway, have a nice easter weekend,
Patrick
My reply 5 minutes later:
Hi Patrick.
Thank you, that will be fine and I hope you have a
nice Easter weekend too.
I am still hoping that it is just slow delivery and
that I might get these pens next week. I will let you know if this happens.
Regards,
Lih-Tah
Tuesday Apr 5, 2005
After the Easter weekend, I notify Patrick:
Hi Patrick.
As of today, there is no package. By this Thursday,
this would make it 6 weeks after your Feb 24th shipment.
It is very strange for delivery to take so long,
don't you think? Did you get any results from asking your post office to
conduct a trace of this package?
Regards,
Lih-Tah
Monday Apr 11, 2005
At this point it is too late for me to file a claim within the 45-day window
that PayPal gives me. Remember that I sent payment on Feb 23, 2005.
No reply from Patrick, so I emailed him:
Another update Patrick.
I have received nothing.
What worries me even more is your silence. Please
respond.
Regards,
Lih-Tah
Wednesday Apr 13, 2005
I finally hear from Patrick:
Hello Lih-Tah,
at first, sorry for my long time silence! I have had
a car accident at the easter weekend and had to spend some days in hospital,
that`s why the delay in responsing!
I still have nothing heard from our postal office
until today! I don`t understand why and I`m starting to be concerned now too.
I will try to locate the parcel again today and I think I must have anything
from them before the weekend. If there`s still nothing until sunday, I think I
have to claim it as lost and refund you. What do you think??
Best, Patrick
Within 4 hours, I reply back:
Hello Patrick.
Thank you for your reply. While I am happy to hear
from you, I am sorry to learn of your car accident. I hope your recovery
continues quickly and fully.
Since you have the parcel registered number, they can
trace it. I do realize that any governmental bureacracy may be quite slow but
I am surprised that they have not given you any news almost 2 weeks since your
Mar 24th request to investigate the matter.
Now that I heard from you, let us wait a bit longer.
I really hope to get those pens from you and complete this transaction.
Let me know when you hear from the German postal
authorities. Should the package arrive here, I will quickly email you the good
news.
Regards,
Lih-Tah
It turns out that Patrick's email today was to be the very my I would
ever receive from him.
Next chapter -
the long silence
