The Random, Meaningless Announcements Thread!

[Mister_T]

This just in: I have 2 nipples!

Carry on.

 

[England my lionheart]

A Fish can swim but it cannot ride a Bicycle or play Pool but it tastes good with Chips

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

This just in: I have 2 nipples!

Carry on.

This just in: using my keen detective skills, I have deduced that Mister_T is not the Bond villain Scaramanga.

Carry on (again).

 

[whereismynotecard]

This just in: I have 2 nipples!

Carry on.

Oh my gosh! Me too! We must be related.

 

[Willamena]

You have no idea how many times I've refrained from posting a clone post that says something like, "You have no idea how many times I've refrained from posting a clone post!"

Disclaimer: this post is not a clone post.

 

[Vile Atheist]

Canada Post > Purolator. Deal with it.

 

[Willamena]

Canada Post > Purolator. Deal with it.

Word to da Man.

 

[Vile Atheist]

But people expect too much of Canada Post!!

*Customer walks in with gigantic, heavyass parcel destined for Buttsechsville, Nunavut*

Me: Cheapest way to go is Regular Parcel. That's $48.23.
Customer: WHAT!!?1?!?!? WHAT, DO YOU THINK I'M MADE OF MONEY!?!?!?! WHY ISN'T THAT CHEAPER!?!/1!1/ I WANT TO PAY $5.00 FOR THIS!!!!
Me: Uhhh...you ARE sending something huge and heavy to the middle of nowhere....it naturally won't be cheap....
Customer: *all ****** off* Fine....how long will that take?!
Me: 8 business days.
Customer: WHAT!?! I CAN RUN IT THERE FASTER!!!
Me: I invite you to do so, if you find that to be less expensive. But to go with our service, that will be $48.23 to get there in 8 business days.
Customer: YOU ARE INCOMPETENT!!!!!!


*cycle repeats* *sigh*

 

[Vile Atheist]

Or that one woman who wanted to send a letter to New Zealand quickly and with tracking. Naturally, that's very expensive. All I did was tell her the price and she flipped on me. She thought I was literally lying to her about the price. I had to turn the computer screen to her to prove I wasn't lying.

Behind my counter, there is a poster that shows the times for each service. For example, Xpresspost is 2-3 business days. But they put a tiny, unnoticeable asterisk beside it saying "Times are to and from major centres". So of course, she starts taking the **** out of me because the time I quoted her wasn't 2-3 business days as she wasn't sending it to a major centre from a major centre.

She notes the price for "Small Packet" on my screen, how it's only like $9.00. I tell her "For one, you said you wanted tracking. This doesn't come with tracking. For another, you said you wanted it there quickest way possible and this isn't the quickest way possible. Lastly, you are sending a letter. It doesn't fit the definition of a Small Packet. Small Packets are not lettermail."

She continues to ***** at me to send it as Small Packet. So I tell her "Ma'am, I'll send it out as a Small Packet, but I guarantee you it will be sent back to you, you'll have to pay Postage Due to get it back, and you'll have wasted almost $20 for nothing. And naturally, I guarantee that you'll come back here and blame me for it."

She called me incompetent and I had it with this hag. I tell her "I am paid to be behind this counter to provide a service to you. I am telling you what services this company offers at what price. If that is not satisfactory to you, I suggest you find another company's service to go with. It is no excuse to denigrate someone doing their job and you'll quickly find the quality of customer service you receive is inversely proportional to how juvenile you act. I know my job well and you, having strolled in here without any knowledge of how the postal system works or what we offer, call me incompetent? I'll be more than happy to serve you when you learn to harbour a modicum of decency to the people who are trying to help you get what you need. Until you learn that, I suggest you find another Post Office to deal with you."

I don't know what it is about the Post Office, but it's just a magnet for people with nothing better to do but yell at their workers for things either out of their control, or things that are entirely the customer's fault (i.e. they put on the wrong address, therefore it was sent back to them).

 

[Vile Atheist]

Or this one woman who comes in and wants to know the cheapest way to send a parcel. Prices go by size, weight, and destination.

So I ask her where it's going. I wasn't asking for a street address. I was asking for the country. And if it is domestic, what province. That's it lol.

She refused to tell me. "Ma'am, you'll find it very difficult to get us to deliver your parcel somewhere if you don't, at the very least, tell us where is it going...."

Says I gave her attitude and walked away, all steamed.

 

[whereismynotecard]

Customers are all stupid *******. It reminds me of KFC customers, the huge fat ones, who would order everything on the menu and then complain that their bill was so high. Well, fat ****, if you didn't order everything we have, you wouldn't have to pay so much for it!

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Canada Post > Purolator. Deal with it.

OTOH,

US Postal Service + Canada Customs + Canada Post = one impatient penguin

I chalk that up more to customs than either of the two mail services, though.

According to tracking, my package has now been in customs for a week. I did a Google search for Canada Customs wait times and found a forum thread where a guy complained that Canada Customs took three months with his package from the US.

I hope I don't have to wait three months.

 

[Vile Atheist]

OTOH,

US Postal Service + Canada Customs + Canada Post = one impatient penguin

I chalk that up more to customs than either of the two mail services, though.

According to tracking, my package has now been in customs for a week. I did a Google search for Canada Customs wait times and found a forum thread where a guy complained that Canada Customs took three months with his package from the US.

I hope I don't have to wait three months.

The Canadian Border Services Agency likes to open packages crossing the border, which would mostly explain the wait time. It shouldn't take three months, though. The only place in the US that it takes a long time to ship to and from is Hawaii. I would understand a three month wait for Hawaii. Not continental US. Though even three months is a little long for Hawaii. Usually it's about 20-30 business days there.

Edit: I don't know too much about the US Postal Service, but I know that sending stuff to the US, you can send it with a guaranteed service. Basically it must get there in the quoted time or your money back. There is probably some guaranteed service from the US to Canada. You should probably get in touch with the people who sent it to you if it takes too long, ask if its a guaranteed service and get refunded on the shipping charges (if possible). If they didn't send it guaranteed, though, you're pretty much **** outta luck lol.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

The Canadian Border Services Agency likes to open packages crossing the border, which would mostly explain the wait time. It shouldn't take three months, though. The only place in the US that it takes a long time to ship to and from is Hawaii. I would understand a three month wait for Hawaii. Not continental US. Though even three months is a little long for Hawaii. Usually it's about 20-30 business days there.

The shipping's not what I'm worried about - it only took a couple of days to get from the US into Canadian customs. The week I talked about is the actual time in customs - I've been tracking it obsessively online.

But now you've got me worried. If they open up the package and see what's inside, then they might decide that it's really good for opening up more packages and keep it.

Edit: I don't know too much about the US Postal Service, but I know that sending stuff to the US, you can send it with a guaranteed service. Basically it must get there in the quoted time or your money back. There is probably some guaranteed service from the US to Canada. You should probably get in touch with the people who sent it to you if it takes too long, ask if its a guaranteed service and get refunded on the shipping charges (if possible). If they didn't send it guaranteed, though, you're pretty much **** outta luck lol.

Yeah... I don't think it was sent guaranteed service. I've just gotta wait.

 

[Vile Atheist]

The shipping's not what I'm worried about - it only took a couple of days to get from the US into Canadian customs. The week I talked about is the actual time in customs - I've been tracking it obsessively online.

But now you've got me worried. If they open up the package and see what's inside, then they might decide that it's really good for opening up more packages and keep it.

I guess it's a smart thing to have. Though if you are travelling on buses or planes, they'd hassle you because of it. I'd be more worried travelling and forgetting to remove it.

Greyhound checks passengers now for this sort of thing. I didn't know that. The time before last I travelled Greyhound, I only went to Kenora, Ontario to see family. In both places, Kenora and Thunder Bay, they not only don't check you for any sharp objects, dangerous items, etc, they don't even put your damn luggage in the bus.

This Christmas, I went to Winnipeg from Thunder Bay to see my sister. Again, in Thunder Bay, security is nonexistent for the Greyhound terminal. In Winnipeg, they had armed guards, the metal-detector wand, they went through your pockets...it was intense. No way in hell they'd let you on a Greyhound with that thing. The security is probably the same or worse in Toronto as it is in Winnipeg.

Yet in Thunder Bay, I could practically walk onto the bus with a vest of dynamite and bear knives strapped to my legs. No joke. The only "security" is the bus driver making sure you have a ticket. I would expect at minimum they'd have a metal detector in Thunder Bay. It's not like we're a small town....125,000 people....

Just a bit of a digression, I know lol, but think about it. The pointlessness of all that security in the major centres. How many times do Greyhounds stop in small towns on the highway? If I really wanted to hijack a Greyhound bus, why wouldn't I just get onto a Greyhound at a small town where there is no security?

Why would any criminal worth his salt not do that, if that was the intent? And if they are worried about attacks on major centres, they check you LEAVING the major centre. They don't check you GOING there unless you are coming from another major centre.

A good chunk of the people get on and off from these small highway towns. The security just seems largely pointless to me. I think all problems could be solved simply if you armed the driver. At least it'd be more effective, I think.

 

[ChristineES]

I feel really bad for service workers who are abused. I always try and treat waiters/waitresses, fast food clerks, postal workers, etc with as much respect as I can muster. I heard a preacher once say that it is our duty to thank and be polite to service workers, too. In fact, virtually all people should be treated with common courtesy.

 

[Vile Atheist]

I feel really bad for service workers who are abused. I always try and treat waiters/waitresses, fast food clerks, postal workers, etc with as much respect as I can muster. I heard a preacher once say that it is our duty to thank and be polite to service workers, too. In fact, virtually all people should be treated with common courtesy.

It's true, though. But it's also common sense. If you are a customer and you want good service, do you think you'll honestly get it by treating the people who serve you like absolute garbage?

I totally understand there are really incompetent people out there who may not be the best at their job. I also understand that service workers may not be having a good day that day and provide lower-than-quality service. However, is that really an excuse to abuse them? Not really. You simply find someone else who can help you to your satisfaction.

Some people make honest mistakes. Some people have nothing better to do than to make the lives of others miserable lol. Cheers.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I guess it's a smart thing to have. Though if you are travelling on buses or planes, they'd hassle you because of it. I'd be more worried travelling and forgetting to remove it.

Yeah, I wouldn't try to take it on a plane or anything like that. But I already have to worry about stuff like that with my Swiss Army knife.

... which I did forget to take out of my pocket once. Remember the Rolling Stones/AC-DC/Justin Timberlake/etc. SARS concert in Toronto? A bunch of friends and I went. We got there early, but it still took us about an hour of waiting in line to get up to the gate. When we got there, they were checking everyone's pockets and bags, and told me I couldn't bring it in. They were getting ready to throw it out, but I stopped them - my Dad gave it to me when I started in Boy Scouts, so it has quite a bit of sentimental value for me. Instead, I left the line, walked back to the car (which we'd parked at the synagogue that the mother of one of our group worked at, about a mile away), dropped off the knife, walked back, and re-joined the line, which was now twice as long. Luckily my friends saved me a spot. Even luckier, I managed to find them in a sea of 300,000+ people.

Greyhound checks passengers now for this sort of thing. I didn't know that. The time before last I travelled Greyhound, I only went to Kenora, Ontario to see family. In both places, Kenora and Thunder Bay, they not only don't check you for any sharp objects, dangerous items, etc, they don't even put your damn luggage in the bus.

I didn't know that either. The last time I took a Greyhound was pre-9-11. I guess things have changed since then.

This Christmas, I went to Winnipeg from Thunder Bay to see my sister. Again, in Thunder Bay, security is nonexistent for the Greyhound terminal. In Winnipeg, they had armed guards, the metal-detector wand, they went through your pockets...it was intense. No way in hell they'd let you on a Greyhound with that thing. The security is probably the same or worse in Toronto as it is in Winnipeg.

Yet in Thunder Bay, I could practically walk onto the bus with a vest of dynamite and bear knives strapped to my legs. No joke. The only "security" is the bus driver making sure you have a ticket. I would expect at minimum they'd have a metal detector in Thunder Bay. It's not like we're a small town....125,000 people....

Just a bit of a digression, I know lol, but think about it. The pointlessness of all that security in the major centres. How many times do Greyhounds stop in small towns on the highway? If I really wanted to hijack a Greyhound bus, why wouldn't I just get onto a Greyhound at a small town where there is no security?

Why would any criminal worth his salt not do that, if that was the intent? And if they are worried about attacks on major centres, they check you LEAVING the major centre. They don't check you GOING there unless you are coming from another major centre.

A good chunk of the people get on and off from these small highway towns. The security just seems largely pointless to me. I think all problems could be solved simply if you armed the driver. At least it'd be more effective, I think.

Yeah... I don't think that makes much sense. Anyone who has the resources to put together a working bomb or the like probably also has the resources to get a lift to some small town and board the bus at a flag stop.

Not-so-fun but somewhat related fact: one of my university buddies left New York bound for Toronto on a Greyhound bus from the Port Authority bus terminal at about 6:00 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001. I don't think he heard about what he had left behind until the bus stopped in Buffalo or Syracuse.

 

[Willamena]

It's not worth it to travel anymore.

 

[Vile Atheist]

Not-so-fun but somewhat related fact: one of my university buddies left New York bound for Toronto on a Greyhound bus from the Port Authority bus terminal at about 6:00 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001. I don't think he heard about what he had left behind until the bus stopped in Buffalo or Syracuse.

Wow. That's intense. :|