Just a Small Rant

I try to limit the amount of time and energy I spend ranting, but I just can't resist saying something about the absolutely ridiculous news we got yesterday about our household goods shipment. We were told our stuff was being shipped via a new, improved system that had two primary benefits: 1) we could track the status of our shipment and see exactly where our things were and when they were scheduled to arrive, and 2) the shipping time would be considerably shorter - under the old system it typically took 2-3 months, and apparently the new contract specified a 60-day maximum timeframe from pack-out to delivery.

We finished our pack-out on 27 May. 60 days after that was 26 July.

Of course, as of 26 July no one had any idea where our stuff was. NO ONE. We called the company who did the pack-out, who told us to call the shipping company. The shipping company told us that they had no record of a household shipment for us, only a vehicle. The track-it-yourself system told us that our stuff arrived in Turkey on the 21st of July, along with our car, but when we contacted the people at the port they assured us it most certainly had not.

So yesterday, we finally got word that they had located our shipment. In Antwerp. Yes, that's right, Antwerp, Belgium. Where our shipment has been sitting since 22 July. It's now scheduled to arrive in western Turkey on 6 September, and will then supposedly take another 15 days to arrive in Ankara and clear customs. Which means that IF everything goes as scheduled, we will get our things on or about 22 September. Which is, if I do the math correctly, 118 days after we packed out. And that's assuming everything goes according to schedule, which I can virtually guarantee will not happen. For one thing, Ramadan goes from 1-30 September this year, and almost nothing ever gets done during Ramadan. I mean, would you want to move furniture if you were fasting from all food and drink during daylight hours? I certainly wouldn't.

Okay, now I'm done. I swear, no more ranting or whining about this issue. I will say that even though I'm incredibly annoyed at how screwed up this whole process has been, I feel better having a timeline in mind. At least now I know not to expect our stuff before the end of next month, so it's not like I get my hopes up every week that maybe they'll find our shipment and it will turn out to be here in Ankara ready to deliver...