a real non-starter

My motorcycle battery failed a couple of months ago after seven years of service. Seven years is a long time for a motorcycle battery; they usually last about three years. This battery survived freezing temperatures, tropical temperatures, and two hurricanes – not bad!

After saving up my nickels and dimes, I searched for a high quality replacement battery. The original battery was made by Yuasa, who has a reputation for making good motorcycle batteries. I was hoping to find a replacement battery by Yuasa for less than $100. A little research showed that AGM-style batteries were high recommended for bikes these days. I found an AGM battery, manufactured by Yuasa, under their “Motocross” brand, for $92. Winner!

I quickly discovered that the local stores were charging 50% more than on-line sales, even when taking shipping into account. I relented to the limits of my wallet, ordering my new battery from batterystuff.com.

Batterystuff.com is in Oregon, about a day’s drive south of us. I was hoping for a quick delivery – alas, I was denied!
Batterystuff.com shipped the battery promptly, the next day, via the US Post Office. They included the Post Office tracking number in an email receipt. I eagerly began watching my battery’s journey to Edmonds.

Three days later, the Post Office tracking system reported that the battery was, “Out for Delivery,” from the Post Office substation in Perrinville. It was a Friday and I had no meetings, so I finished my work day at my home office – checking the front door every few minutes for my package. Hour after hour passed with no package delivery. That evening, after the Post Office had closed, the status changed to “Forwarded.” This seemed quite odd to me. According to the Post Office website, this was often the result of improper addressing. A quick check of the Batterystuff.com receipt showed an accurate address; it even included the zip+4.

The next morning, Saturday, I visited the local Post Office to enquire about my package. They agreed that the tracking system showed that the package had been forwarded. When I asked, “Where,” I received the response, “I dunno. I’ll have to ask the carrier. He’s out on deliveries right now” So, they don’t track packages in the computer system when a manual re-address is made – nice. “What address were you trying to deliver the package to?” “I dunno. It’s on the package.” The fellow at the Post Office took my phone number, the tracking number, and promised to call me after he spoke with the carrier. I found it interesting that they couldn’t tell me where it was supposed to go, where it had been re-routed to, or where it was at that time. He never called.

Saturday night, the tracking status changed to “Undeliverable as Addressed.” Interestingly, the Post Office location changed from Edmonds (Perrinville), to Lynnwood, a near-by town. Since the status didn’t update until almost 5:00 p.m., and they closed at 5:00 p.m., I didn’t have any chance of catching the package at the Lynnwood Post Office that evening.

Monday morning, at 8:30 a.m., I was first in line at the Lynnwood Post Office. I asked the teller if they could check to see if my package was still there. I had high hopes, since it just changed status at 5:00 p.m. the previous business day. “No. If the status said, ‘Undeliverable,’ then it’s gone. It’s not here.” There was no way she was going to walk around the facility to see if the box could still be there. 17 hours later the Post Office tracking system logged the box 20 miles south, in Kent.

Somehow, I suspect it was still in the Lynnwood Post Office when I was there on Monday morning.

Yes, the package went all of the way back to southern Oregon after being less than a half-mile from my house.

Batterystuff.com reported to me that the address of the box was originally correct, but someone had written on top of it after it left their facility. They promptly re-boxed the battery with the same address and sent it back to me: UPS. I hope to see it next week and I really appreciate the quick response time by Batterystuff.com.

By the way - Batterystuff.com reviews their addresses with verification software, then looks up the location on google maps to make sure that there is a building at the address before shipping... they had seen my house before shipping the package... sigh.