Monday, March 7, 2016

Oh, shit! I did not just do that...

Remember the days of Netflix when you would actually get a DVD in the mail and then drop it back in any mailbox to return it? Turns out, you can't do that with Red Box movies. 
I had a letter to mail and a Red Box movie to return the other night. I grabbed both and headed out the door with my hubby. He drove up to the mailbox on the side of the road for me to jump out and mail the letter and then we would continue on to the store up the street to return the Red Box movie. I jump out, open the mailbox, drop my stuff in, get back in the car and it hits me. Oh shit,
what have I done? I just dropped the Red Box movie in the mailbox!
  
I immediately get on the phone with Red Box to find out what will happen because I can't be the only person in the history of Red Box to have done this. I expected the lady on the line to laugh and say, "oh this happens all the time, the post office knows to just automatically deliver those back to the Red Box office." Nope. She was not nearly as amused as I was and told me they don't "have communication with the post office" so I would be charged daily for the penalties along with a charge to "own it" after 30 days or something like that. This is not a good financial time for us, so I start to freak out.

I scramble to find a piece of paper in my car. Thankfully there was 1 blank sheet in the back of my owner's manual. I write a big note that says "I accidentally dropped a Red Box movie in here, if you find it please call (my phone number) Thank you, (my name) smiley face. I drop that in the box hoping that it will float down land right on top of the movie and tomorrow morning when the postman opens the box it will be right there on top. I take pictures of all the info on the mailbox and we head home where I continue to beat myself up all night for wasting money at such an inopportune time in our lives.

The next morning I try to call my local post office, but I can't find a number for them. I have to call an 800 number and go through the hardest phone tree fortress to unlock in the history of phone trees. The recorded lady wants to know my issue and apparently "I accidentally dropped something in the mailbox" isn't one of their options. I keep trying different options and they all want info I can just plug in, like tracking numbers and change of address addresses. I keep getting to a point where I can go no further, hang up and try a different option. The usual go-tos don't even work: pound key, star key, saying "I need to speak to a representative." None of them work. The recorded lady needs to know my issue before I can speak to a representative. Ugh. I'd like to tell you which option I finally chose to get to a live person, but I lost track.
 
A lady answers and I laugh and tell her what happened. She doesn't laugh back and tells me I need to call my local post office directly. No shit, lady. That's what I wanted to do in the first place. She gives me the number, I dial and prepare to be stuck in another unpenetrable phone tree. Holy shit, someone answers. A live person, no recordings, no phone tree. I tell her what happened and she's very kind, takes my info and says she'll alert the postman on that route. I tell her that I have also dropped a note in the box and she chuckles. Thank you. Finally someone with a sense of humor about it.

Later that afternoon, I am texting back an forth with my husband and just as I hit "send" on a text, I realize a call is trying to come in and my hitting send hangs up the call. Shit! That was probably the post office! Thankfully, I must have only sent the call to voicemail because sure enough I get the little alert, listen to the message and by golly, they have my movie!

After work, I drive home, pick up my husband, write out a little thank you note, tape $2 inside for a Red Box rental and head to the post office. I get there, tell my story once again and the lady goes in the back to talk to Al who had left me the voicemail. She returns from the back with my Red Box movie and my car manual page note taped to it. My epic Lord of the Rings-type journey has come to an end. Exhale. I hand the movie to my husband so that he can make sure it ends up in the proper place as I can no longer be trusted with such tasks, lol.

I can't be the only one to have an "oh, shit what have I done!?!" moment. Share yours in the comments.

Peace.
Karen

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