cancelling trade while box is in transit...

sounds like a bad situation, but there isn't a clear villain here, except fedex. and sometimes that's the risk you take in trading.

 

The only way I could see this being "completely unacceptable" is if the recipient had specifically stated that the box needed to arrive by a certain date. If (s)he made no such demands on the front end of the trade, then you're well within your rights to be annoyed.

Edit: I understand that the growler complicates things here, but if the contents of the growler were so fragile that they couldn't withstand a few extra days of, admittedly less than ideal conditions, they shouldn't have been shipped in the first place. Shaun Hill strikes again!

 

Did he really use the term "absolutely unacceptable"? If so, you should tell him his attitude is "absolutely unacceptable." Isn't there some coloquialism about "getting more bees with honey" or "don't be a dick"? It's a crappy situation but it isn't as if you did it on putpose. There should be some level of understanding on his part.

 

I agree with your point of view generally, but I wonder though....

did the trader explain why it was unacceptable that the package was delayed until Tuesday?

Maybe he had a tasting set up for the weekend or other reasons and he had to have the beers on time or

Maybe what's in the growler had to be fresh? (although I would say this one is a bit of a weak excuse)

Regardless, I don't think you're off based for being pissed off.

 

I think everything leading up to him actually canceling the delivery and having it returned was within reason. He didn't even give you the opportunity to try to make it right. Shit happens...but him refusing the box to me is the equivalent of him trying to say this was your fault...which it clearly was not.

 

i think that's key.

well, think of it from his side. "the guy claimed he dropped it off sunday, but it didn't start moving until wednesday, and now he wants me to eat the cost." for all he knows you didn't even drop it off until wednesday because you didn't care.

 

to answer a question posted about delivery service.
Once the package is on its mode of transportation (i.e plane, rail, truck) it is impossible to get the service changed. The reasoning? your package isnt the only one on that plane/rail/truck. So they wont endanger the many for the one. How hard is it to find my package on the truck? Not necessarily hard, but very time consuming. Transpo companies will pack a trailer to maximize profit per run, i.e pack and stack. They might front fill the trailer from your shipping location and stop at another shipping location to back fill the remaining trailer for the end destination. For instance, if you ship Fedex in MN, it will go to KC and get either trans loaded, or the trailer will get maximized and will then head to its destination. It sucks, but it helps keep prices lower.

 

Sounds like you need to find a new location.

 

I think your trade partner confused beer trading wirh closing escrow on his house. Sounds like a douche.

 

Well, then, fool me once, shame on you... fool me twice....

If you entered into a trade and knew he needed it by a certain day (maybe he's going on a business trip or vacation or something and won't be able to receive the packager...whatever its none of my or your business), why would you drop it off at a location that you KNEW doesn't pick up for a few days.

If both boxes are just being returned, all you are out is shipping, and that's partly your fault from what I'm reading.

cutting it close to begin with and then dropping it off at a location that you knew was not picked up frequently??? I think he has more right to be complaining about the situation than you.

 

eh. the "absolutely unacceptable" part might be reasonable, but i'd be a little irritated if he didn't emphasize how important the timeliness was to begin with (or at least gave me a reason why it's unacceptable; e.g. "i'm moving / going on vacation, didn't mention b/c i thought package would be here by now, etc etc").

if it were me on the receiving end of the trade, and you sent some hot shot growler that really should be drank fresh but fedex fucked it up and got it to me in greater than a week, i'd be a little disappointed but i wouldn't blame you or call off the trade... that said, if i was really so hardcore about the growler and its freshness, i'd probably ask you to overnight and either make sure the trade was lopsided or paypal you some money or something.

(in truth, i probably wouldn't trade for a growler, but who knows?)

 

This. I take everyone of my trades to the same FedEx/Kinkos location and I know that at the end of the day it will be on it's way to one of a few distribution points and will be anywhere east of the Mississippi in two days.

 

If someone says they need it by a certain day, and you agree...you're on the hook. The same way you're on the hook if you bombproof a box and the truck it was on ends up at the bottom of a river. Boxes are your responsibility until they land at your target's porch, intact. Shit deal? Absolutely. However, that's how it goes. Whether you shipped too late, or FedEx shoved it up your ass...it didn't arrive in the time frame upon which the deal was predicated. Sorry for your loss, bud. I feel for you.

 

If he said "absolutely unacceptable" how should he have emphasized how important the timeline was? LOL I think the words he used were pretty explicit. Why it's unacceptable is immaterial. He has his reasons, and regardless of what they are, you either agree to deliver or decline.

 

the point is that he said it after the box was in transit.

 

pre-shipment he said he'd "like to have it by Friday". Last time someone said that to me, I followed up with the hypothetical "what if it doesn't get there til Saturday or Monday?" to which the reply was "no big deal"...in this case, it apparently was...

 

Yeah, well...if you don't state that it's important until it's in transit, then oh fuck well. Is that definitively the case? I can't imagine making a stink if you orchestrate a trade, then suddenly declare added importance after shit's been agreed upon and the box has been dropped.