cancelling trade while box is in transit...

you were definitely getting defensive. it's no big deal, but what silentjay is saying is true. you talked about stoking flames and seeing how much people replying would reach, but in fact he was just giving you good advice and some straight talk.

you don't need to write "i won't make pity party threads" on the blackboard 100 times, but "why are you asking for opinions if you don't want them?" is something good to think about. why is silentjay supposed to apologize to you or pull back on his advice/opinions just because you're getting defensive about them?

edit: preemptively, please please please please do not reply to me something like "where did i say he should apologize to me!?!?" because 1) we're not having an argument, and you should not react like you're being attacked (because you aren't), and 2) you are posting, exactly, as if you want the people with different opinions to pull back and/or apologize to you. the "vagueness" stuff (friday is not vague), the persecution complex stuff about people putting words in your mouth, etc etc. you are engaging in a fight where there was no need to do so. surely you want the person you're "fighting with" to back down.

 

Serious business....this beer trading stuff

 

As everyone else said it really is important to communicate when you'll have a box out or "need" to receive one by. I've had a couple of trades lately where I upfront stated that I would like to wait a week/week and half before shipping and I've never had any problems.

 

+1 , Although I will say, that it should be up to the recipient, to say...I need to have this box by Friday, or I won't make the trade. Saying, I would like to have it by Friday, isn't an ultimatum, where sending the shipment back to sender is warranted, or acceptable. If the originator can show, via tracking, that the box was in fact dropped off on time, and it is the shipping company's fault, the recipient needs to realize that money was spent on shipping, and the beer, that would not have been purchased otherwise. Maybe other will disagree, and that's fine, but I would. Insider this a bad trader.

 

A few things...

• "I'd like it in hand by Friday" is not the same as "I need it in hand by Friday."
• "Absolutely unacceptable" just sounds kind of douchey.
• OP seems concerned about getting a growler back that's been sitting in a truck for a week. This is probably the same thing OP's trading partner was thinking since it was going to have to sit over the weekend -- which is probably why he returned in.
• FedEx screwed the pooch. How can a location go three days without package pickup? What if you were overnighting? Is that a different pickup schedule or something? Crazy, never heard of anything like that.

Sounds like everyone involved kinda messed up. I'm guessing that OP's trading partner thought that OP had pulled some shennanigans, based on the late communication of the tracking number, unusual circumstances with the box pickup, etc. Since a growler was involved, the guy probably just decided to not risk it.

If a growler wasn't involved, I'd probably be coming down hard on OP's trading partner right now. But it's hard to fault him for wanting to call it off, due to the fickle nature of growlers. That said, it sounds like OP's partner behaved like a dickhole. Although it may have been because he thought OP had shafted him. I don't really feel like OP did anything wrong per se...but he possibly could have been a little more diligent and potential avoided some of this.

 

Alright I guess I'll weigh in. I was due to be the recipient of the late growler and would like to clear some things up. I will be travelling for work most of next week and was only doing this trade under the condition that it would be here Friday so I could take it to a party this weekend.

Looking back maybe I should have expressed this clearer, but the context surrounding what OP quoted made it sound more important than the quote. "like to have it by Friday" was in response to his asking to do extras in which case I said no unless we can do it quickly because I was under a time constraint. To which he replied on Sunday, "I'll get it boxed up and ready for the truck to pick up tomorrow." I was clear in telling him I couldn't guarantee my end until Tuesday so it would still be there on the weekend for him which it was on schedule for.

I'm not exactly sure what is going on with his pick-up location, but according to the tracking which he didn't send until Tuesday morning "Shipment information sent to FedEx" occured at 8:18 pm on Monday. I have no idea what that means. Maybe some wise FedEx translators can help out.

I admit I could've been a bit nicer in communication with him, but was kind of pissed when he acted like it was no big deal that the package didn't seem to be moving along and instead of apologizing or attempting to do something about it he replied with "Well then you shouldn't have made the trade". Also a bit pissed that he took something time sensitive to a place with known pick up issues. In the end, it's probably FedEx's fault for not picking up, but taking it to a staffed location would've ensured things going a lot smoother.

At this point I had to make a quick call. If the growler continued on its route to me, I wouldn't receive it and a growler of tasty beer would be wasted. I called last night to re-direct it back to him hopefully before it left CA so at least someone could enjoy it. Since he seemed unwilling to resolve the situation, I also recalled my package and essentially just cancelled the trade so neither of us were out beer and I wouldn't have to hassle with the situation any more.

 

So you were happy to send a "far from drinkable" growler to this trader in the first place? Or am I to believe that in the 1-2 days it will take to re-route it will become undrinkable? He had a 48 hour window to drink this beer before it became "far from drinkable"?

It sucks, shitty situation but I don't blame the guy for being pissed and I don't blame you for being pissed. If I was on his end I probably would have put the kabosh on it too. I've NEVER heard of a FedEx taking 3 days to pick up a package so I certainly would have been suspicious myself. Good luck with future trades and find a new FedEx.

 

I know you called FedEx, but by the tone of your last message, I definitely thought you conveyed you were unwilling to resolve the issue which is when I called FedEx and took matters into my hands. In the first email you never mentioned anything about re-routing the package or anything outside of telling me FedEx said they couldn't expedite and scolding me for making a trade that was time sensitive.

Whatever, we're both out some shipping. I'm getting my beer back. Your growler is going to be consumed relatively fresh. Unfortunate outcome probably due to FedEx error. I'm over it.

 

This is why these posts are great. There are always 2 sides, and if It was made clear the box NEEDED to be there by Friday, it's a different story. If I were the OP, and saw my box was delayed, wasn't getting shipped until Wednesday, and knew it wouldn't have time to get there by the agreed date, I would prob just tell FedEx to refund my money, and pick it up. To me it all depends on the specific wording. Either way, doesn't seem there was intended harm on either side, but as other said, could prob have been handled a little better on both sides. That said, hind sight is 50/50, and being 100% reasonable, when you think your getting screwed over, isnt always easy.

 

Can no longer trust anything you've said in this thread.

Granted, I ship UPS, but anything I do 8:18 PM on Monday has no chance of moving in the system that day.

 

Fedex is pretty much useless with anything other than shipping your package to where it says on the label. And sometimes they can't even get that right.

I tried to reroute a package once. The lady took down my info and said it's all set. The tracking info never updated and I called them again to confirm. They said it was fine. The package never ended up being rerouted.

 

Hey Glitch--- Did he even ship his box? If not it seems that maybe he was hoping for some kind of snafu. I know it I say I'm trading and I have it in hand I will ship first chance I get. If he needed it by Friday, he should shipped his to arrive Friday to you. Maybe he used the shipping as an excuse to back out because he could not fulfill his part of the trade.

FYI-Traded with Glitch... Awesome trader

 

regardless of anything else that happened here, the above will happen anywhere/everywhere on a internet forum...

 

Uh-huh...

Oh...OK. You've got 6 trades on here. I think you know that nothing is going to happen when you drop a box off somewhere post-8:18p.m.

Sounds like you just didn't drop the box off until Tuesday night/Wednesday to me.

 

I love threads like this where the end result is that I'm less likely to trade with the OP than the accused.

 

Doesn't seem to me like you NEED this growler by friday. Im just not getting a lot of urgency out of this post.