Silver Lining

What happens when an expected package doesn’t arrive?

Packages travel great distances to reach their destinations and sometimes they just don’t make it.

In today’s culture, the first thing you can do is track the package, assuming that service is available.  Typically, the carrier will provide an expected delivery date, and the more sophisticated programs can indicate exactly where the package is in the journey.  So, what happens when the tracking system states that the package was delivered, but there is no sign of it at your home?

It’s possible that panic may set in and you may wonder if someone took the package from your porch.  Or, if you are like me, you immediately think that the package was delivered to the wrong address because this has happened many times before.  The next logical step is to contact the company who sent the package.  It is helpful to double check that the address the shipper has on file matches your actual address.  If it does, then there is more investigating that needs to occur.  If it does not, then you may have just solved the problem!  The shipper will need to resend you your package as they made an error on their end!

A few weeks back, our daughter was expecting a package from Tiffany’s containing a bracelet that she had sized to fit her small wrist, using a gift card from Christmas.  We went through the above steps and determined that Tiffany’s sent the package to the wrong address.  They said not to worry about the original package, they were happy to resend a replacement, exactly the way our daughter originally requested.

So, what about the original, you may ask?  Prior to figuring out that the address was incorrect, we visited the address we thought may have received the package in error.  The first time, the owners weren’t home.  The second time, we realized that all we needed to do was simply ask.  We walked home with the original package in hand, feeling like detectives solving a big case.

A few days later, the replacement package came.  Now, both our girls have matching heart bracelets.  Hopefully, if you experience a missing package, you will be able to find a silver lining, too.