I hate the post office

Yesterday we received 2 letters in the mail from the post office, addressed to "the residents" of our address. They were not happy letters. They were to inform us, in a rather weird and vague way, that packages meant for our address had gone missing and were "in all likelihood" lost. That was about all they told us, there was no explanation, just "oops, sorry about that." And they realized or found out they'd gone missing last Friday, but we only got the letter about it yesterday. The key part is just worded so strangely, saying that on 17 February there was a report and that our stuff was likely lost. So at some point they realized stuff was gone, or someone made a report? Saw someone run off with a postman's cart? Post truck blew up on the freeway? No idea, but they realized it at some point and could tell us we weren't getting our packages, but couldn't inform us in any way as to what had happened. Typical.

The problem then was, we want our stuff and now it's not coming after all. The post office's brilliant help on that front was "give this 0900 number that costs 45 cents per minute to the person who sent the package and we'll work it out with them." But the packages were coming from the US, and I doubt the places that sent the packages want to call over here to then go through whatever runaround the Dutch post is going to give them. So O and I just contacted the companies directly.

And that was another slight complication. We are expecting 3 packages at about this time, but apparently only 2 went missing. So what stuff was it that got stolen/blowup/hoarded by the postman? No way to tell. Though the packages had been given Track and Trace numbers once they got into the country, and these numbers were in the letters, when you trace them online, all it tells you is where they are now, there's no other info like where they came from or who sent them or anything. And the trace helpfully says that both packages were delivered. Right. Lying bastard.

Two of the packages we were expecting were coming from Lands' End and I've heard they have excellent customer service, so I wasn't too worried about getting help from them. And indeed, when I explained the problem to the guy I spoke to, the first thing he said was "Alright, well, we'll get replacements for your order sent to you right away. Let me just check if it's all still in stock..." *Mwah* lovely customer service. How I miss thee. O also contacted Threadless, from which he had ordered (yet another) shirt, and while they couldn't send a replacement because the shirt is sold out, they did say they'd refund his money straight away.

Of course, something is going to arrive in double. I guess we'll find out in the next few days which was the package that made it through.