Posts from — June 2008

Today was moving day - things actually turned out to be rather uncomplicated. Much less so than I expected. After a wonderful breakfast (my last one at Haluk’s and Guler’s) - during which Guler made sure that I had eaten loads and loads, we packed my disabled bike and the rest of my equipment into the car and went to a hotel. Haluk’s friend runs it - it is upscale one for which I get a good price.

Haluk’s friend inquires about what has happened. I sort of shrugged and told him. He also asked me where the package was. Mr. B. indicated earlier that the package might be in Paris still - but that he was unable to tell for sure. So I relayed that. Haluk’s friend: “What do you know?” Good question. My answer: “All I know is that I paid money for the shipment, but I don’t know where it is.”

Haluk and I bid farewells - again. I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around downtown Ankara and trying to figure out when the package may arrive. I got an email from Mr. T in which he said that everyone here is working very hard on your case, yada yada. What I was missing was a - however brief - apology as to what had happened all day long yesterday. But maybe that is too much to ask. Mr. B. called shortly after and confirmed that the package is in Istanbul and that the delivery is scheduled for Wednesday morning. I heard something like this before. But keep your fingers crossed. Thanks for all your messages of support that literally came from all over … Philippines, Belgium, Germany, England, Italy, Mexico, Chile, Switzerland, South Africa (I hope I didn’t forget anyone).

I am very tired, I have a big bad headache - and I don’t want to deal with DPD any longer. What happened today was the last straw to break the camel’s back. I just want to convey what happened. And since for different purposes I have put together this little protocol I just translated it and will not add much of a commentary.

time zone: Ankara (skype is pretty good about giving me the times of my calls)

10:09 am: I call to check the status, get a new tracking number, package is supposed to be en route to Ankara, is to arrive at the airport here at noon, delivery today is virtually guaranteed, or so Mr. T says; I am happy (and do remember his 98% comment on Friday)

12:54 am: I call again and ask what the status is (simply: “where is the package”; background: my status request has determined that the package is in Paris, has landed there just a couple of minutes ago); I inquire the whereabouts of the package; “no, it is not in Paris, my colleagues have told me that it is on its way to Ankara”; despite repeated questions as to the Paris hints on the website I am told that the website output may be “misleading”, though it’s not “wrong”; my package is proactively traced - though I can’t tell how the customer - meaning myself - benefits from this

3:58 pm: I inquire again and am told that it is on its way, will be delivered today; I am reassured that the package is in Ankara despite contrary information that seems to be mounting on the website (more and more indications pointing to Paris); I hint at the flight numbers again, which tell me that there are two Air France flights, one going to Paris and the other going to Istanbul later at night, meaning the package will not make it today; this information is dismissed (all you have to do is search the flight numbers online and some sites tell you all about the flights); I am asking for written confirmation via email that the package is not in Paris, but in Ankara - never get it

4:19 pm: I get an email from Mr. T. that the package has cleared Turkish customs (it is actually the customs in Paris according to my reading, which I convey to him); I call the Turkish partner company and they confirm that the package is in Paris (sure, they are looking at the same database as I do)

4:21 pm: I call Mr. T and he promises to call back within an hour; he says he sends emails with the highest priority to the depots in Frankfurt, Paris and Ankara in order to determine the location of the package

5:29 pm: because I don’t get a return call, I call Mr. T. again; I am told that he has left for the day; I ask for his supervisor who is in a meeting; Mr. E. wants to take up the case and promises to call back within 30 minutes

6:02 pm: I try to call Mr. E several times; he has left for the day as well; I talk to their supervisor Mr. B. and lodge a complaint about the whole affair with him - what really made me angry was the calls that never came; Mr. B promises to return my call

6:45 pm: Mr. B. calls me (wow) and confirms that Paris is the correct location; promises quick delivery though says that realistically tomorrow would be a miracle; maybe Wednesday; rerouting is possible, but he won’t make any promises (smart I guess - and at least honest)

What really disappoints me is that I have let Haluk and Guler down, they are off on their vacation a day late. I am also starting to get into some hot water time wise and am thinking about canceling my trip through the Caucasus. I could do it - but it would be a bit of a race through there and I could save a lot of miles. Not sure what I will do and will have to mull this over (I have nothing else to do right now - thanks DPD). Any feedback on this is more than welcome!!!

PS: the first part of the heading is from P (I will stick to not naming names)

Let’s just say I am still hopeful that the spare parts will arrive tomorrow. Why should I be? I have no reason to be hopeful. The promised check-up on the website failed for the last two days also. On Saturday I tried it, figuring that maybe Friday the computers were taking a break. Still nothing … It being Saturday, the local office was closed and I ran out of luck in the main office. Turns out that when I asked the lady she recognized me and asked whether this had to do with the wheel going to Turkey. Funny that it was the same person as a week ago. But as then she couldn’t do anything. She essentially looks at the same system as I do. So much for that. The words of Mr. T. still ring in my head: “98% certainty”. That leaves a 2% chance that it will fail. But since I am told that I was born in the wrong country, I will ditch the German pessimism and maintain stoic optimism.

Saturday afternoon I headed out to explore the old part of Ankara on my own. The ride with the small buses (dolmus) gives you an insight as to the level of reverence that the founder of the republic receives to this day.

Here are a few impressions of the old city …

a small festival complete with traditional dancing …

and an extremely amazing puppet player (still photos don’t do justice to him) …

and my search for English or German books as I am finishing Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Which - by the way - struck me as fantastic read. In the process I came across a rather eclectic range of guidebooks - some of which might be useful in the future. Florida - future work place, Jerusalem - worked there for some time, Mongolia - this one might come in handy during this trip even. But more about the latter one at some later stage (and no, I am not referring to the Harry Potter books at the bottom).

There was some selection - so I picked up Moby Dick (wasn’t going to go for a newly written crime novel) and on Sunday I found Graham Greene’s Stamboul Train which I thought was fitting given the route I’ve been taking. I also saw an Iron Lady …

When I was about to go back, I wanted to take a picture of a large mosque cum supermarket on the ground floor. Just then a young couple - M and O - approached me and suggested a different location to take the picture from. We ended up spending three hours in a cafe together (or thereabouts), talking about this and that - including politics. The conversation was about so many different aspects of what I had come across in Turkey and it certainly helped me understand a lot of the things I had encountered. Plus, the two of them were simply great people to talk to. Thanks so much for approaching me in the middle of Ankara.

So, after finding out last night that Haluk and Guler were going to leave on Monday, I needed to try to find a game plan for things to come. They were going to leave early on Monday morning and I still had no idea where the package was - the tracking number still coming up empty. So, I called DPD again and was told that with “98% certainty, your package will be in Ankara on Monday”. Alright, did I hear something before along the lines of having certainty in this regard? At any rate, Haluk said that they would be waiting one more day … I didn’t really know what to say. A massive thank you!!!

So, DPD better deliver now or else … what else. I am completely at their mercy now and if it doesn’t come in, I will have to reroute the package which supposedly will take another day. Yikes! At least they were able to add my cell phone number to the information and the promise now is that if delivery fails they would call me. I was also assured that my tracking number would be visible tonight (meaning Friday). I had some hope, but when I logged on Friday just before midnight, there was still nothing. This means I am flying blindly right now, can’t organize anything and can’t make any predictions as to the arrival. If anyone has any idea what DPD really stands for, then please do let me know (previously: Deutscher Paket Dienst [German Parcel Service is already taken by a differnet company, but you get what I mean; now rebranded as: Dynamic Parcel Distribution]) … I’ll try to be creative (one word: the people I am talking to are really trying hard and seem to understand that things didn’t go as they should have, but I have the feeling that the system somehow really has its flaws).

I have been meaning to track the progress of my package on the courier service’s website. The handy tools that they provide you with … it sort of failed last week, but how badly can things go wrong the second time. Apparently very wrong. I had an inkling about it when things didn’t show up on the website so I got in touch with DPD again. As it turns out, they forgot to pick up the package in the drop-off place for two days. Argghhhhhh …. Serious aragggghhhhh. This is bad, quite bad I should say (again, not in the grand scheme of things, but in my little world it is). Means that I will not get the package before the weekend and I had hoped to be able to back on the road on Sunday at the latest. Now, I would love to know how something like this can happen, but the people I talk to at DPD don’t know themselves and can’t explain it. They also don’t know why the package doesn’t show up in their system either. Oh they joys of modern logistics. I had toyed with the idea of simply flying to Germany myself and come back with the package under my arm. It would have saved a lot of time.

The delivery next week would be fine except for the fact that Haluk told me that they would have to leave Ankara on Monday. This means that I will have to somehow reroute the package to a different address - destination sort of unknown at this point. Moreover, the Turkish delivery company doesn’t know that I am the supposed recipient and my name is not on the package so as to not confuse things. It will all work out somehow in the end, but how many unlucky coincidences (or should I say: “How incompetent can a company be?”) can there be?