Words of the Day: why isn't it here yet?
I ordered a comic book from the internet. Sorry, a 'graphic novel'. Not my average purchase, however it is the Thundercats, which makes all the difference. I was expecting it to turn up a couple of days later, perhaps, especially since I was being charged for some ridiculous insured special delivery business. It didn't turn up... This morning, nine days after placing the order, I decided to ring the company in question and see what's up. To my unending surprise and annoyance, it turns out that they're based about 15 minutes (on a good day, no traffic) from my house, in a big shopping centre I regularly visit. This, of course, raises two pertinent issues: (i) why didn't they tell me on the webiste that they have a wonderful shop I could visit, which just so happens to be nearby, and (ii) why has the thing taken so bloody long to get here?!?! I'm not, by nature, prone to exclamation marks (for two reasons...), but I felt that needed a couple dotted around the question marks. This happens more and more on the internet - quite often you can only actually buy things by going to a shop's website, because when you go in, they're out of stock; every item has been sold on the web. It's also brings to mind the experience jen once had when buying me a Prodigy poster from the internet (the photo from the cover of Fat of the Land) - she ended up going to a German company and getting it shipped over. Lo and behold, when I looked closely, I discovered that it had been printed by GB Posters of Sheffield, England. Ten minutes away at the most, and the thing had been shipped out to Germany and back, and we had to drive to a depot half an hour away to pick the thing up! It makes me want to swear, it really does.
And the conclusion of the phonecall? Nothing, nada, zip. Their system is offline at the moment - "essential maintenance" - and they can't tell me what happened to the order. I'll have to ring back after lunch. Bugger!