So, I ordered a thing. And, because it is a thing I need for work, I paid extra money for "next-day delivery". It was shipped yesterday.
Needless to say, it is not here today.
This morning, around 11:30AM, my package showed in the UPS tracking system as "OUT FOR DELIVERY" as of 10:37 AM.
By about 1PM, this had changed; it was now retroactively the case that it had been "OUT FOR DELIVERY" as of 9:38 AM.
Obviously, the package did not arrive. According to the UPS web site, deliveries are made until 7. At around 7:50, I called UPS to enquire. I was assured that, while it was possible that my package had been delayed, it would most certainly arrive tonight. It is showing as on-time, after all, and is "out for delivery". I was a little tired, but armed with this assurance, I figured I'd wait up.
At around 9:45, I called again. Were they quite sure? Why, yes, they were. Definitely today! Absolutely, the package is on a truck and will reach you before 11:59PM.
Around 11PM, while idly refreshing the page, I noticed a new entry. It read:
02/15/2007 19:26:00 DESTINATION SCAN[I] MINNEAPOLIS, MN, US
Now, a "destination scan" is normally the scan BEFORE something goes out for delivery. In this case, it seems to mean that the package never quite made it anywhere, so they'll try again tomorrow, and indeed, they show a "rescheduled" delivery date of tomorrow.
Now, here's the mystery: If this scan occurred at 7:26PM, then why on earth, at 9:45, could they not tell me that, more than two hours ago, the package had returned undelivered for whatever reason, there was no chance that they would deliver it as promised, and I should just expect to see it in the morning? I have no idea.
We'll see whether the vendor is willing to give me back some of the shipping money, considering that I have not, in fact, received same-day shipping, and I assume UPS makes some kind of promise about that. This is looking surreally similar to the elaborate problems I had filing a claim with them a while back; I think UPS is really going downhill.