No Salvation

Driving over to a house and oicking up some furniture isn't rocket science, is it? Well, maybe not for mere mortals like you and I. But maybe it is for the Salvation Army. Today marks a milestone in this endeavor: This is the 4th day we've scheduled to have them pick up our stuff. We'll hope that my front porch is empty when I get home.

Just for fun, I'll fill you all in on the previous 3 "Salvation Days". A few weeks ago, we callled them and (after waiting on hold for a good 45 minutes) told them that we needed them to come out with their truck and pick up some furniture that we didn't need. The guy checked his calendar and then said, "OK, we can have a truck come by on January 8th. Cool. Before hanging up the phone, I give the dispatch man detailed directions how to get to our house, despite his confident "Oh, our guys will be able to find it!" ("Are you sure? It's a new neighborhood and we're not on any maps yet.")

January 8, 2003
On the morning of January 8th, Olivia and I synchronized our morning preparations so that we'd be leaving the house at the same time. One by one, we dragged the old bedroom furniture out on the front stoop. A quick visual check as I drove away from the house confirmed the ghetto-ness of what we were doing. It looked horrible having a big pile of stuff on our porch.

We arrived home that night to find *OH!* all the furniture still sitting on the front porch. Grr. So, we dragged it all back inside. Since it was after 4pm (when their dispatch office closes), I couldn't call and find out what happened. I would plan to do that tomorrow.

January 9, 2003
I didn't have time to call about the pick-up because work was pretty busy. However, upon arriving home, we found a strange note on the door. We're sorry, we attempted to pick up your junk, but you weren't home. Sincerely, The Salvation Army

I guess they told me the wrong date.

January 31, 2003
A month has passed and we're both getting tired of seeing a box spring in our living room. I call the Dispatch office and schedule to have the items picked up on February 4th.

February 4, 2003 7:30AM
The phone rings. It's the dispatch man. "Hey, we need directions to your house..we can't find your house on the map." Duh. I already gave your the directions once. So, I gave the guy the directions again. I hang up the phone and the sky opens up and begins pouring down rain.

February 4, 2003 8:15AM
I call dispatch back and tell them to not bother coming out to pick up our items today because of the rain. Since we don't have a roof on our front stoop, I didn't want the furniture to get ruined in the monsoon. The dispatch man gladly reschedules us for the next day, Wednesday February 5th. Excellent. I don't bother giving him the directions a third time.

February 5, 2003
We arrive home to find a front porch full of our furniture. The answering machine tells the tale: "Uhh, yeh. This is Salvation Army pick-up service. We're out here driving around looking for your house and we can't find it." We leave the now-dew-covered furniture out on the porch overnight.

February 6, 2003 7:45AM
I place a call to the Salvation Army dispatch office. The dispatch man is very apologetic and radios the truck driver while I am on the line.

(CB Radio)
"Dispatch to truck 5."

"This is truck 5, go ahead."

"Are you still on the premesis?"

"Yes"

"Would you please come in here so we can settle something?"

A few seconds later, I hear a door open on the other end of the phone and a conversation between two men. A few seconds later, the dispatch guy comes back on the phone. "Yeh, they were able to find your location late yesterday after they left you a message. I'll have them come by today to pick it up. We're really sorry about this."

I am, too. I'm not sure if this is worth the effort. If the stuff is still on the porch when I get home, I know it's not meant to be.

Posted by Jeff at February 6, 2003 9:56 AM