Yesterday I shipped an expensive snake to a customer in NY. I tracked it online and saw that it had made it to the area and was out for delivery but did not indicate being delivered. My customer had been on the phone with the carrier and then called me. He advised me that the house number was incorrect and that the box had been delivered already to the wrong residence. He stated that he was on his way and would be there in a few minutes. I happened to be at work but with internet access so I mapquested the difference in addresses, it was very close, probably a matter of yards so that was good. I also verified that I sent it to the address provided to me by the customer, not my mistake, phew! The delivery driver was sent a message to return and retrieve the box in the meantime so I nervously awaited an update.
My cell rings, I close my eyes and answer. First words, "I got it, everything is fine." He proceeds to tell me that the lady that received the package realized that it was not addressed to her(I write name/address/ph number in big block letters on the box) so she did not open it. She did see that the box had red writing on the sides, "PERISHABLE", so where does it go? That's right, in the refridgerator, LOL. By our calculations, it was in there for about 6 hours. I opted for the 3/4" foam instead of the 1/2" and packed it up nice and tight as usual with a 60hr. heat pack. Apparently upon opening the box, the heat pack was still nice and warm, and the snake was quite alert, flicking tongue and no worse for wear.
I realize that luck was on our side on this one. Of course, I was also glad to find out that I made no mistake on the address because I was starting to beat myself up over it for a few minutes there. I suppose my packing job probably deserves some sort of award or something too, LOL.
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