Tales of the Peregrinating Package - London, again

[davidgillon]

Date & Time

	Status of Item	Location
February 7, 2017 , 6:24 am	Departed	LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Your item departed a transfer airport in HEATHROW, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM on February 7, 2017 at 6:24 am. The item is currently in transit to the destination.
February 6, 2017 , 5:11 pm	Departed	MIAMI, UNITED STATES
February 5, 2017 , 3:23 pm	Departed	LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
February 5, 2017 , 10:22 am	Departed	PHILADELPHIA, UNITED STATES
February 1, 2017 , 10:58 pm	Departed	PARIS, FRANCE
January 31, 2017 , 4:17 pm	Departed	WINDSOR LOCKS, UNITED STATES

So do I stay in on the chance it's going to arrive today, or assume it's crossing the Atlantic, again.

And can I claim its frequent flier miles?

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

Maybe you've already addressed this, but why do you think this output matches reality?

[davidgillon]

It's the only output I have :) And it does give a sort of coherent picture. There's no sudden jumps to ludicrously inappropriate destinations or stages taking silly amounts of time, it's just kicking back and forth between major cargo hubs on either side of the Atlantic.

If they have the system set up properly, then someone is probably swiping its barcode, reading its RFID tag, or tracking the container it's in at each stage. So I'm reasonably sure it's where they say it is, I'm just not sure why.

[redbird]

It wasn't until looking at this again today that I realized that on the package's first trip across the Atlantic, it never reached the United Kingdom, which doesn't fit with the hypothesis that they tried delivering it and you weren't home (or the more cynical version in which they put it on a truck, and the driver didn't try delivering it, but falsely claimed that they rang and you didn't answer).

cattitude suggests that UPS overlooked the package somewhere along the line, noticed it and did another destination scan, and are trying again (which would fit with the Connecticut-Paris-Philadelphia part of the reported routing), or that two packages are bouncing around with the same bar code.

[davidgillon]

The Paris interlude it could have made it to me by road, or train then road. I actually presumed that was what was happening. And until yesterday I hadn't been out of the house, so no chance I missed a delivery.

[green_knight]

I have *no* idea what happened here, but just wanted to share an experience that other people might benefit from:

Recently, I had a delivery from Hermes. The parcel was dispatched, turned up the next day, and the driver rang the doorbell.

This is, without fail, the best delivery experience I've had. No endless tracking issues. No running after the van. No 'we stuffed the postcard through the door even though you were in and you possess a doorbell'. Just a delivery. I know who gets my business next time I need a courier.