Up in Flames

So, I have a story to tell about a pair of boots that I ordered online a few weeks ago. I'll preface this by reminding everyone that I am a frequent online shopper, due to the fact that I live in Charlottesville, VA. So I ordered the boots online, after much research and decision making.

On September 23rd, I got the email from Neimans that they'd shipped. "Perfect!" I thought, "they might even make it in time for the Harriman Cup on the 27th!" Well, they didn't make it. And they didn't make it in time for this weekend, either. Very suspicious.

I got onto Fedex.com to investigate. Yep, still sent from Texas on the 23rd. Currently "in transit." Well, that's bizarre, because unless they were arriving by foot, they should have gotten here a week ago. So I call Fedex. This package has been flagged. "Flagged?" I ask, thinking that was NOT a good sign. "Yes," said Nick of Fedex, "and actually Ms. Dunnan, there's more information here. The Fedex truck that your package was traveling on happened to catch on fire en route from Texas to the East Coast, so that's why it was never delivered." WHAT!!!

I know, talk about a freak accident! I almost went into shock. I felt like Brad in the Rachel Zoe project during that episode where the dresses were stuck in Tennessee, but much worse. My boots weren't stuck in Texas, they were burned in Texas! Destroyed! Was this some sort of sign? Had I chosen the wrong pair of boots??

After much confused laughter and disbelief, I called Neimans the next day. The lady was hilarious. "Ahh yes, ma'am, the old fire on the Fedex Truck issue. We had a number of packages on this truck. " (The fedex guy claimed there were anywhere from 1200-1900 packages on the trailer). So, no, this story does not end all that happily. The boots were no longer in stock, so I couldn't even pull my planned "Well, you should at LEAST overnight them to me for the inconvenience!" schpeal. I just had to accept the credit and move on (to another website for the boots, of course).

Ah, drama. I still can't believe this happened. A freak Fedex truck fire in Texas burned my beautiful boots to a crisp?