Remember the days of Netflix when you
would actually get a DVD in the mail and then drop it back in any
mailbox to return it? Turns out, you can't do that with Red Box movies.
I
had a letter to mail and a Red Box movie to return the other night. I
grabbed both and headed out the door with my hubby. He drove up to the
mailbox on the side of the road for me to jump out and mail the letter
and then we would continue on to the store up the street to return the
Red Box movie. I jump out, open the mailbox, drop my stuff in, get back
in the car and it hits me. Oh shit,
what have I done? I just dropped the
Red Box movie in the mailbox!
I immediately get on the phone with Red
Box to find out what will happen because I can't be the only person in the
history of Red Box to have done this. I expected the lady on the line to
laugh and say, "oh this happens all the time, the post office knows to
just automatically deliver those back to the Red Box office." Nope. She
was not nearly as amused as I was and told me they don't "have
communication with the post office" so I would be charged daily for the
penalties along with a charge to "own it" after 30 days or something
like that. This is not a good financial time for us, so I start to freak
out.
I scramble to find a piece of paper in my car.
Thankfully there was 1 blank sheet in the back of my owner's manual. I
write a big note that says "I accidentally dropped a Red Box movie in
here, if you find it please call (my phone number) Thank you, (my name)
smiley face. I drop that in the box hoping that it will float down land
right on top of the movie and tomorrow morning when the postman opens
the box it will be right there on top. I take pictures of all the info
on the mailbox and we head home where I continue to beat myself up all
night for wasting money at such an inopportune time in our lives.
The
next morning I try to call my local post office, but I can't find a
number for them. I have to call an 800 number and go through the hardest
phone tree fortress to unlock in the history of phone trees. The
recorded lady wants to know my issue and apparently "I accidentally
dropped something in the mailbox" isn't one of their options. I keep
trying different options and they all want info I can just plug in, like
tracking numbers and change of address addresses. I keep getting to a
point where I can go no further, hang up and try a different
option. The usual go-tos don't even work: pound key, star key, saying "I
need to speak to a representative." None of them work. The recorded
lady needs to know my issue before I can speak to a representative. Ugh.
I'd like to tell you which option I finally chose to get to a live
person, but I lost track.
A lady answers and I laugh and
tell her what happened. She doesn't laugh back and tells me I need to
call my local post office directly. No shit, lady. That's what I wanted
to do in the first place. She gives me the number, I dial and prepare to
be stuck in another unpenetrable phone tree. Holy shit, someone
answers. A live person, no recordings, no phone tree. I tell her what
happened and she's very kind, takes my info and says she'll alert the
postman on that route. I tell her that I have also dropped a note in the
box and she chuckles. Thank you. Finally someone with a sense of humor
about it.
Later that afternoon, I am texting back an forth
with my husband and just as I hit "send" on a text, I realize a call is
trying to come in and my hitting send hangs up the call. Shit! That was
probably the post office! Thankfully, I must have only sent the call to
voicemail because sure enough I get the little alert, listen to the
message and by golly, they have my movie!
After work, I
drive home, pick up my husband, write out a little thank you note, tape
$2 inside for a Red Box rental and head to the post office. I get there,
tell my story once again and the lady goes in the back to talk to Al
who had left me the voicemail. She returns from the back with my Red Box
movie and my car manual page note taped to it. My epic Lord of the
Rings-type journey has come to an end. Exhale. I hand the movie to my
husband so that he can make sure it ends up in the proper place as I can
no longer be trusted with such tasks, lol.
I can't be the only one to have an "oh, shit what have I done!?!" moment. Share yours in the comments.
Peace.
Karen
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