I was one of those people this week. One of those complaining foreigners, one of those ranting Karen customers. I was sitting in the car, grumbling and fuming, on my way to the post office in Soure. To fight off yet another setback.
To the CTT to pick up the online order
In the hope of intercepting the package we were eagerly awaiting, before it gets sent back again. It contains connectors that allow you to join thick pieces of wood together very securely. We couldn’t really proceed without them. And I had already ordered them twice.
Here’s the thing:
I didn’t know those things existed, but Mário, the carpenter, told me about them, and Dick, my invaluable Technical Advisor, had sent me links and photos, and explained exactly how they work. He lives in the Netherlands, so those are dutch references.
So I went looking. I thought: “help each other, buy portuguese goods” – inspired by an old-fashioned dutch slogan from just after WWII, which still holds true, even among other nationalities. I found a Portuguese company; ordered, paid, and waited. As usual, you get a message that – hooray – your order has gone through, the payment likewise, and that they are doing their utmost to get it into your mailbox as quickly as possible.
They hadn’t mentioned that it involved dropshipping
Familiar with this phenomenon? It works like this: they receive your order, and only then do they order it from China. Usually, it takes quite a while to arrive. I had already looked on AliExpress myself, but since I needed it preferably yesterday, or even sooner, I had chosen this portuguese company. With the thought that shipping within Portugal would take the shortest time.
Grrrrrrr – it turned out they were dropshipping. I think you should mention that; then I can decide whether I still want to do that, or order from China myself, or look for an alternative. It’s not mandatory, but it’s the decent thing to do. And I only found out when the first delay message arrived. It was supposed to take a week, but unfortunately … it was a bit later, apologies, sorry, desculpe!
Yeah right, what good is that to me? Then a message that the package was at customs in Spain, and that it came from China. Bollocks! I fell for it. Now what? Not that we’re sitting around doing nothing while waiting for this package, but I can’t start tiling, for example, if that huge piece of wood isn’t in there. And while Mário can guess the size of the next kitchen cabinet, it’s better if you can measure it accurately.
I checked LeRoyMerlin. Oh thankthelord, they have those too, but under a different name. That’s why leRoyMerlin didn’t come up in the search results. Ordered from LeRoy. Thank you, thank you, dear customer, we’re getting started … payment is in … we’re dropping everything to get your package into your mailbox as fast as possible.
Great!
The next message revealed that it has to come from France. Haha. Makes sense, really, LeRoyMerlin is french, but they wouldn’t meet the deadline because of that, and it would take a bit longer than a week. Apologies, sorry, desculpe! Meanwhile, I received even more apologies from the first order, and first a 5% discount coupon, and then one for 18%. As if I’m ever going to order anything from you guys again!
Well, I guess … so be it.
Amazon. In principle, I don’t order from Amazon because one has to draw a line here and there. If you’re going to rent out Venice for your wedding with a plastic doll straightened out on all sides, while your employees are forced to cross-fit all day and pee in plastic bottles due to work pressure, I’m out. But this was an emergency.
An online order from Amazon.es it was then
It was supposed to arrive the next day. Finally a speedy order. The three of us were working with our ears pricked up, alert for the honking of the CTT van. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Late in the afternoon, I quite coincidentally saw the van flash past without stopping. A message: the recipient has chosen a different destination.
Excuse me? Moi? What do you mean? I have chosen absolutely nothing. I’m waiting anxiously, with my principles trampled underfoot.
That was the end of Friday afternoon. No chance over the weekend, because the CTT still behave like civil servants and have nothing to do with the 24-hour economy. Monday morning at 9:00 AM: the package isn’t here. Where is it then? Well, she couldn’t tell me, but she would notify me immediately when it arrived.
I didn’t even mention dropping it off at my address anymore, as initially was indicated. I did talk about filing a complaint though, because I think this is getting ridiculous. It was supposed to arrive there at the end of the day, so for me it’ll be tomorrow … Oh my … But oh no, her phone call came at the end of the morning. So I had to race to Soure for the second time, just before the lunch break.
Do you understand now why I was sitting in the car on a Monday morning, grumbling and complaining like a real Karen?
(And the package from the portuguese company still isn’t here! It might arrive 26/8.)
.
(Disclaimer: I’m a bit tired of the keyword stuff and Google’s dictatorship. So here they are, and I’m also hoping for the cleverness of AI in this matter that it will still be found and read, but that I don’t have to force myself to use the right terms in the title and headings. #orderingonline #dropshipping #CTT )
We moved here in 2000 from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to the Termas-da-Azenha, Portugal. We started to rebuild one of portugals cultural heirlooms: Termas-da-Azenha, an old spa.You’ll find mosaics and paintings everywhere. Since Covid we rent the houses for a longer period of time, not as holiday houses anymore.
Each week a little blog about what is happening around us. An easy read. A few minutes in another world. A little about what it going on in Portugal. If you plan your holiday to Portugal, it might be a nice preparation.
In the weekend we publish it on Bluesky, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.