Slow…

They call themselves poslaju and laju in Malay means fast. Yes, I would say that usually, it is faster than sending anything by regular air mail or what many people refer to today as snail mail as that can be really very slow. Something sent from one place here in the country may reach the recipient after a week or more…and at times, it is be even faster to send something overseas!

As for the so-called national courier service, I would say that I am quite happy with our office here. The people are very nice and friendly and very helpful and there had been times when somebody sent something from the peninsula and it got to me around noon the very next day. Of course, when I was not at home, I would have to go to the office, which is very near to my house – just around the corner, to collect later that evening or the next day. If I went right away, the delivery van would still be out somewhere on its rounds and they did not seem to have any way of getting in touch with it.

However, it is a different story at the other side of the country probably because there are a lot more people there and a lot more mail for them to handle. I did blog about that time when I sent something to Seremban in Negeri Sembilan and it took almost a week before the parcel was received. Others that I had sent elsewhere went smoothly without any hitches along the way even though sometimes, the parcels might not arrive the very next day but they would show up the following day for sure.

Well, the other day, I sent something to a friend and when I went to their website to track and trace, this was what I got…

“21st October, 2015 6.23 p.m. Unsuccessful delivery.” This one was handled by their office in Kuala Selangor, it seemed so I texted my friend saying, “Wah!!! Terrible haze and still you went out?” She was puzzled and promptly replied that she was home and nobody came. Under normal circumstances, they would leave a note telling you that they had been to your house but you were not home so you would have to go to their office to collect yourself…but my friend said there was none.

Thankfully, they showed up the very next day and the parcel was delivered safe and sound. However, it seemed that they did not show up at all the day before and just simply declared that the delivery was unsuccessful. Whatever happened to their Dijamin sampai hari esok slogan – guaranteed to arrive tomorrow?

At that same time, I also sent another parcel to another friend. The postal charges altogether, inclusive of GST, came up to RM23.20, so it was roughly RM10.00 each. No, it certainly is not cheap at all to use this courier service but I still would resort to it as it would be faster and I could track and trace so I reckoned it would be very much safer.

Now, what happened in this case was that the recipient was indeed not at home. They got to her house at 11.48 a.m. the next day. Hmmmm…impressive! I messaged her and she confirmed that she was not in and said that her hubby would go to their office to collect the next day. However, the following evening, she sent word that her hubby was busy so he was not able to go and collect. What??? I had just gone to track and trace and this was what I got…

I guess Self-collection at counter means that one would have to go and collect himself or herself and not that it has been collected. My bone to pick was that it was timed at 7.53 a.m. and the whole day, I did not see anything and that only appeared when I logged in to check around 9.00 p.m. that night.

The problem did not end there. I got word from my friend the next day (Friday) saying that her hubby could not find the office and he would have to try again on Monday, after the weekend. Good grief!!! I sure am thankful that Sibu is such a small town and their office is just a stone’s throw away. I remember my friend in JB was not home as well when the delivery was made and he had to drive all the way to Pasir Gudang to collect and he was not too happy about it. If only one could call them and they could come round the next day or when one is at home to deliver the consignment…instead of having to go and collect ourselves. After all, they would be going round and round every day and stopping by again would not be that much of a problem – I don’t think that would take them out of their way since each one of them and each van are assigned to a certain designated area.

Still, one cannot deny that in this case, with the people at the office at Shah Alam, it would have arrived the next day had my friend been home…unlike the one at Kuala Selangor. However, unlike when I had something sent to me via the USPS (United States Postal Service), one would need to go through the chore of logging into their website, type the consignment number and click TRACK & TRACE each time one wants to do that. I would think this facility is for tracking where or how far what one sends has gone…but should it go astray or cannot be tracked, I doubt we can ever trace it this way, no way. I cannot seem to find their e-mail contact link on their website anymore either…nor their Facebook page where I would go to before whenever I had a reason to blast them to kingdom come. Whatever it is, obviously, it would be best not to send expensive stuff or anything that may be perishable (and they do state that quite clearly under their terms and conditions)…and when one has sent something, just be patient and be prepared for the worse. As they always say, Malaysia boleh – anything can happen!

Now, if anyone is wondering what I sent her, well, there was this box of the spicy bake mix…

*Archive photo*

…for her mum and also a pack of the instant kampua mee pok…

*Friend’s photo on Facebook, the one who got the parcel safe and sound – and it seemed that the family of two adults and one kid cooked and finished the whole pack of 5 packets in ONE sitting!!! Yes, it is THAT good!*

…from The Kitchen, our very own made-in-Sibu product…

*Archive photo*

…for the kids.

At the time of writing, my friend has yet to receive what I sent her. I hope she has got them by now…