It's always something . . .

Item one: So last week I ordered some furniture from Maisons du Monde and selected the option of wiring funds for the payment, which had to be received in three days. I selected this option, versus using a credit card, because I have a bank account in Italy and keep some euros there. So the next day, I went to my online banking site and made the transfer. This morning, four days later, I received an email from the company indicating that payment had not been received. So I went back to my bank website, looked at my balance, and sure enough the money has been taken out of my account. I have sent two emails to Maisons to ask them to check for it again, but so far they have only sent me back form emails. Arrrrgh!

Item two: last Friday afternoon I took my box to be shipped from the UPS Store. I spent nearly an hour there filling out customs forms--indicating each item in the box, its value and weight. It cost a small fortune to mail this box, but I was guaranteed delivery in three days, anyway I did it. So, when I started reading Rosalind's email this morning saying that the parcel company had been there, I was excited that all had worked acording to my plan. But no. When I read further I saw that the box came with a bill for an additional 117€ in customs taxes and they refused the delivery because they didn't want to pay the fees. Arrrrghh!! So now I am trying to get Rosalind to call and reschedule the delivery and wiring her the funds to pay for it. Who knows where the damn box is now?!

Stay tuned . . .

Addendum: finally, Maisons du Monde has received my payment! My order will ship on June 2.

Addendum 2: I called the guy at the UPS Store who helped me on Friday, explained my problem, gave him a credit card number, and he said he'd see what he could do. About 45 minutes later, he called to say he was able tobtrack the package, pay the customs taxes, and that it should go out in tomorrow's delivery. Yay!!! Double Yay!!!