Shipping Mixup

[El Presidente]

It can happen to anyone 

 

 

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis woman who ordered a box of cigars couldn’t believe what she got instead.

She agreed to tell her story about the cigars she was supposed to get as long as we kept her identity hidden. She said what happened is just too bizarre.

Her story starts online. She said she ordered cigars from Thompson Cigar Company, which were shipped from their fulfillment center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. A box arrived July 27.

“When I lifted it, my first sign was, ‘Wow these are heavy,'” she said. “When I open it, to my surprise it was filled with new blue license plates.”

That’s right. Cigars weren’t in the box. Instead, she saw 100 Tennessee license plates — an item many in Shelby County are desperate to get.

Long lines continue to clog county clerk’s office

This year the state rolled out new plates, which caused a giant backlog at the county clerk’s office. WREG has shown you the long lines wrapped around buildings and told you about the folks who have waited months to get theirs in the mail.

The license plate backlog is so bad in Shelby County, there are calls to bring in the state to take over.

“My own license plate expired in July, but because I have two vehicles, I was in no hurry because I didn’t want to stand in line to get them,” the woman said. “It’s just perplexing to me. Of course, maybe I’m overthinking it.”

Shelby County commission requests state to assist county clerk’s office

Or maybe not.

She showed us the return address on the box that shows the cigar company. Then there was the packaging slip. She said it was sealed inside the box, underneath the plates, and again, from the cigar company listing the order she was supposed to get.

“So I immediately call the cigar company. Tell them what just happened. Of course they tell me that’s not possible. You could not have gotten license plates from our warehouse,” she explained.

That’s what Thompson Cigar also stated to WREG in an email. They do “not have any affiliation with license plates.”

She was told UPS would come get the plates. That didn’t happen.

“I thought let me call the police. Because again, I’m seeing on the news that license plates have been ordered and not showing up,” she said.

A Memphis police spokesperson told us from what they could tell, no crime was committed. They told her to try UPS again.

So she said she drove the plates to a nearby store.

“When I told them what happened, they looked at me like I had a box of rattlesnakes,” she said.

But they told they can’t help her because, “the box has been opened.”

“Well by then I’m just frustrated. I don’t know what to do. I called you,” she said.

County Clerk closing offices to catch up on services

Right after our interview, we immediately made some calls. First to the clerk’s office. Then to the Tennesse Department of Revenue, which is in charge of license plates.

A few hours later state agents contacted us. We put them in contact with the woman. They showed up to her house and eagerly took the plates.

However, the state wouldn’t answer our questions, like who was supposed to get the plates, what could have possibly gone wrong, whether this was just an accident or whether it could be connected to a crime.

A spokesperson would only say, “We are still investigating this issue. We are now working with our common carrier to help us determine what happened.” They added this is “extremely unusual,” and it “will not cause issues or delays.”

UPS wouldn’t answer those questions.

The woman said they wouldn’t answer her questions, either.

But she did receive a new box of cigars.

[Nevrknow]

Whaaaatttt???  Shipping not go perfectly smooth? Say it ain’t so! I believe this is the first time it has ever happened, in history!

 

😂😂

[Cigar Surgeon]

As soon as I saw Thompson I was just like; this should be good. 

[MossybackR]

1 hour ago, Cigar Surgeon said:

 

As soon as I saw Thompson I was just like; this should be good

 

…and she will be getting license plate catalogs for the rest of her life 😏

[benfica_77]

I'm still waiting for the dream mixup by FOH when they ship me a box of Siglo VI instead of a box vegueros....they are too good and don't mess up!

[rcarlson]

47 minutes ago, benfica_77 said:

I'm still waiting for the dream mixup by FOH when they ship me a box of Siglo VI instead of a box vegueros....they are too good and don't mess up!

Yeah.  Me too.  Any day now. . . 

[BrightonCorgi]

I got the wrong box of cigars once from a popular vendor about 15 years ago.  Was a similar size and price to what I ordered (ordered Upmann Conn and got JL2).   We decided to call it even.

[Cigar Surgeon]

13 hours ago, MossybackR said:

…and she will be getting license plate catalogs for the rest of her life 😏