I strive to buy things locally. Preferably in brick and mortar stores, run by local businesses. I often buy second hand. Just like people used to do for centuries. Unfortunately it’s not always possible. And then, suddenly, you’re reminded that you’re living in the future.
My phone case broke. That metal bit, that holds the phone in the magnetic holder fell off. I tried to fix it, stick another bit of metal there – to no avail. I have to buy a new one.
I don’t know if my phone model is rare, or if stocking accesories for such cheap models (I bought one of the chepaest ones when my 4 years old xiaomi finally died last winter) are not a good business, but I was unable to find the case to this particular one in any of the independent phone shops or phone case stalls in my local malls. The electronics network that sold me a phone has only one case to it – a leather one of the type I don’t want. And it’s priced at over 30 euro. Over 30 euro for a wrong kind of case for a phone that was worth 89 euro brand new a year ago? I’ll think I give that one a pass.
Luckily, nowadays it’s not the end of the world if you can’t get some stuff locally. You can get anything in China – and for a good price. Of course it means that millions of us are killing the planet by flying stupid single use gadgets half way across the globe, and I am very much against this business model, but I think when the product is not available locally and genuinely needed, it’s a valid excuse. I ordered what I needed and a week later I received a text message that the parcel awaits me in our neighbourhood parcel locker. I went there during my evening walk to find out that we have been blessed with a new type of the parcel locker – the futuristic one!
The futuristic design can be seen in that that there is neither a code keyboard or a customer terminal. The only way to send or receive a parcel is to install an app on one’s phone.
(digression: and what if you don’t use a smartphone? There is no info on the device, baring company’s logo and a small sticker with a QR code, which leads to the app download page. But as I found (spoiler alert) when searching the app to find the customer service phone number, it’s the same number you shall call if you want to pick up the parcel without a smartphone. So you just need to buy a smartphone, install the app and find that information there!)
And so my phone now has a Matkahuolto app installed. Of course I needed to give the company my personal data, including my e-mail and phone number. But yes, the app informed me that I do indeed have a parcel waiting for me in this particular parcel locker. I followed the instructions to be rewarded with pop up window saing “Locker cannot be opened”. I tried for a good 10 minutes, clearing the snow, ensuring there is no ice in the gaps, walking around and trying different angles or restarting my phone bluetooth – to no avail. It was time to seek help in customer service.
The default mode is a chat. Of course. The chat is operated by AI bot, and only in Finnish. I tried to convince it to speak English to me, but it ignored my prompts to do so, even if I wrote them in Finnish. Which was a shame, as the chat was flooding me with wall of texts and I understood very little (my Finnish is still not so good). Usually in such situation I use built-in translation option in my Vivaldi browser, but you can’t chat in the browser, you need to be in the app. So the only way to translate was to take screenshots and translate them in google translate.
But you didn’t really needed to know Finnish to realise, that regardless of the options chosen, the chat was going in circles. Depending of the options you were picking, you were ending up where you started sooner or later. I gave up and went home.
Today I went to the parcel locker during the opening hours of the customer service call centre. And it was a good call, as the parcel locker is still declining to give me my parcel. The default customer service number proposed by the app is a premium number that costs just under 2 euros per minute, but luckily there is also another number, that charges standard rates. There, after navigating an endless labirynth of automated options (read in Finnish and then in English – luckily Mathahuolto ignored the fact that Finland is bi-lingual country and ignored the legal requirement of using Swedish too, otherwise it would take even longer) I managed to be connected to English Language Customer Service For Parcel Receivers. After more than 10 minutes of waiting I was connected… To a lady speaking Finnish. Aparently even such simple task as connecting people to right departament is too complicated for XXI technology.
Luckily, this being Finland, the lady spoke English as well and agreed to talk to me in this language. She started with apologies for long waiting time “everyone calls us now, as those new parcel lockers that need an app never work properly. I was afraid this will be a case when they told us they are introducing them. But at least I have a job” – she told me, adding that she personally does not use the app at all, and orders all parcels to the local R-Kioski to pick them up from the shopkeeper there. We of course had to go through all security clerances (so I had to spell my phone number, e-mail address and name, as well as the parcel’s tracking number for everyone on the street to hear) and finally we established again that there is indeed a parcel for me hidden in the machine I am standing next to. Turns out however, the lady has no way to remotely open the locker for me (so how those smartphoneless people are getting their parcels then?) and as the proposed solutions (“have you tried to switch it off and on again?”) did nothing, the only remaining option was to redirect my parcel to a local R-kioski. Where it might be delivered tomorrow, but maybe next week. She was unable to say. Which mean, if I’ll go away for work now, I won’t see my phone case for another several weeks.
I sighted and started walking toward the local park to have a walk to calm me down. I thanked the customer service lady for her efforts. She told me again “I have no idea who came with this idiotic idea to have an app operated parcel lockers”. We shared a suspicion, that those were probably people who thought, it would be a nice idea to save money on the pieces of electronics needed to operate device and use customer’s phone’s computing powers to do it instead, in order to save some money needed for manager’s bonuses. The 2-euro-per-minute customer service number is probably a nice little earner too – although thanks to using the alternative number the whole 25 minute call will cost me only some pennies.
When I hung up, I thought to myself, that it was, regardless of circumstances, a pretty nice conversation. They say the parcel lockers take the human aspect from the equation, and meanwhile I spent last 10 minutes having a nice, friendly conversation with a stranger. We shared some jokes and personal stories about our parcel-collecting preferences. I think we made a connection. True, I still don’t have my parcel, but on the bright side, I will now have the chance to meet a shop assistant in my local R-Kioski!
Picture: public domain (Pixabay)
