Friends of Helen and Theresa decided to send them one big Christmas parcel instead of lots of small ones. They sent it via courier, thinking that it would be cheaper, and I agreed to do all the phone conversations.
The first time the courier company phoned, it was to say that there was a charge of 50€ to clear customs.
"What???" Consumer tax here is 4%, and I really didn't believe that the contents were worth 1200€.
So I phoned Helen and Theresa who were also gobsmacked. But they really wanted the contents. So I phoned back. It turns out that about 14€ is customs tax (on a gift?) and the rest is an administration charge.
I wasn't thrilled either, but I said we'd pay.
A week later I phoned back to ask where it had got to. I was passed onto the "local agents" in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Nope, they didn't have it, the reason being that they only do the other Canary Islands province, Gran Canaria. Somebody in Madrid doesn't know the difference between La Palma and Las Palmas, even though there work at a couriers. Not impressive.
So I phoned Madrid again, and got the right number, and the parcel was on La Palma. But when I phoned the local delivery man the echo on the line was so bad that he sounded like he was talking through a long metal pipe. So I said I'd phone him back.
When I did I got somebody who didn't seem to remember talking to me. Yes, he had a parcel for me. All I had to do was come "here".
And where was "here"?
Murcia.
Whoops, wrong number.
And then the man from La Palma phoned back. I explained that he parcel was for Garafía, over an hour from his depot. But Helen would be at my house, five minutes away, all afternoon. He explained that his workload was frantic, and he'd have to pass the opportunity. The parcel would have to wait for a few days.
So I popped down to their warehouse and collected it myself, dammit.
It turned out to be worth it. Today was Theresa's birthday, and there were birthday presents in there too, which she was very glad to have.
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