Buying Online: It's Been a Challenge This Week

This isn't my week for buying stuff online.

Since last Thursday I've been attempting to buy a camera online and have been foiled at every turn. It is vexing; I am vexed.

My initial attempt was on eBay. What a Chinese fired drill that turned into. More about that next week. It is an ongoing saga that isn't close to being over. I'll fill you in when I have brought it to a conclusion one way or another.

With the eBay transaction in my rearview mirror -- more or less, I moved on to Amazon. I found a Fujifilm point-and-shoot reduced by more than $250. I had been researching Fujifilm cameras, so I felt pretty comfortable with this choice.

The catch in both these purchases was that I needed delivery by today (Tuesday 2/5). The eBay seller guaranteed delivery by that date. I have Amazon Prime, which is automatically 2-day delivery for all merchandise labeled as such.

When I walked off the plane last Friday at the Greenville airport, I parked myself in the gate area, pulled out my iPad and did the deal on Amazon to make sure I was still good for a Tuesday delivery. I made it with time to spare.

I've been tracking the package since Saturday morning. Amazon sent it to UPS at 8 p.m. on Friday. The driver apparently took a little side trip to his Gammy's because it didn't turn up at UPS in Raleigh, NC until 10 p.m. on Sunday ... where it sat until 3 a.m. on Monday, when it wound up on a truck headed to Greensboro. It arrived there at 5:30 a.m. … where it languished until 5 p.m. on Monday. It arrived in the UPS facility in Greenville at 5:06 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Evidently someone finally glanced at the shipping label, noting this package was supposed to be delivered on Tuesday. In a rare moment of urgency in this entire process, someone put it on a delivery truck a scant 30 minutes later. That would be around 5:30 a.m. for those of you who have dozed off and lost track of the timeline.

It is now 6:10 p.m. and the package has yet to arrive at my door. Lost, stolen, missing in action? We just don't know.

Bottom line: I'm not happy.

Unless UPS has some sort of midnight delivery service, of which I am unaware, this camera isn't going to make it in time to go with me to Chicago tomorrow.

I knew I should have just gone to Costco.

Flash Update: According to UPS tracking, it delivered the package at 6:18. Bless you, UPS. I'm at my usual Tuesday-night haunt, Smoke on the Water, however, so I can't verify this report. But Amazon also texted me that the package has been delivered.

I am hopeful.