Where Is It?

Here’s something interesting about PJP West that I keep thinking about: all of our Amazon purchases haven’t arrived at our storefront, rather they are being left in an Amazon parcel locker that WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT. So far, we are missing: printer ink cartridges; squeeze bottles; a food scale; a can opener; and two rolls of stickers that mark gluten free dough by a massive “GLUTEN FREE” mark. Oh, and some sugar-free vanilla syrup for my coffee that I accidentally ordered to the store instead of my house.

So when I noticed that nothing from Amazon arrived on time (despite purchases for Nifong rolling in from our perpetually happy mailman Jeremy), I tracked the orders and that’s when I noticed that each listed: DELIVERED TO PARCEL LOCKER. But when I called customer support at Amazon, they didn’t know where it was. And neither did the United States Postal Service. NO ONE KNOWS. Actually, that’s a very 2022 mood.

Because Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer, they didn’t hesitate to refund the cost of those items so that I could reorder and ship it to PJP Nifong. And actually that’s a whole interesting related issue because it made my life so much easier to just have the refund and the ability to reorder…but it sets up unrealistic customer service expectations for small businesses that can’t as easily absorb the costs of lost product. In December, we had a customer who shipped a Jelly Jar sampler to a family member and it was stolen off their front porch - like the person watched someone take it from their porch on their Ring doorbell camera - but the customer expected that we replace the jars at our cost. We did, of course, but because we felt the expectation that we do so has been set by companies like Amazon. (On a side note, I’m part of an online retailers group on Facebook and I would bet at least 45% of posts are advice seeking questions regarding refunding customers for missing, lost, and/or stolen delivered items.)

But, back to the bigger question, WHERE IS THE PARCEL LOCKER AND WHY DOES NO ONE KNOW WHERE TO FIND IT? And what else do we think is in it besides all of our stuff? And come to think of it, we never receive mail at PJP West End. There’s no perpetually friendly mailman either and it’s odd. Perhaps I’ll mail myself a “thinking of you” greeting card at PJP West End just to test the theory that we don’t get mail. Though, now that I think about it, I’m guessing the first City of Columbia bill issued to us will arrive in timely and perfect condition.