[TriEmbed] DX Extreme order adventure notes

[Pete Soper]

I thought it might be interesting to share some details of my most 
interesting offshore trade adventure so far. This has different wrinkles 
compared to the epic "order before Thanksgiving, receive in early 
February" episode with the several week sojourn in US Customs that I've 
shared in the past.

On the 7th I ordered stuff from dx.com and it was split three ways. One  
SKU had a bizarre "LP" tracking number that finally appeared via USPS 
with a proper tracking number from Kentucky but with half the ordered 
quantity in the box. I beat the Internet bushes hard trying to get a 
clue to decode the "LP" tracking code. The dx.com site had a decoder 
ring but it lacked the LP flavor and there was no way to send a message 
asking for explanation. Several polls of their "chat line" during their 
biz hours (12 hours in our future) always yielded a "not available, try 
again later" page. I submitted a ticket about the missing item and will 
call them on the phone if they don't respond by tomorrow late night.

Two other packages went to Amsterdam 10 and seven days ago respectively 
according to the USPS tracking they were linked to. As far as USPS is 
concerned they are still in Amsterdam. However I just found a cute 
little popup on the dx.com site informing me that one package left 
Amsterdam on the 22nd. I'm not sure if I just haven't noticed that popup 
or if there was a long lag before it was added to their system. But the 
package that, according to USPS, was still in Amsterdam starting on the 
18th (*before* the one that's sailed) has not been updated.

The impossible to decode "LP" tracking number dx.com gave me is what I'm 
blaming for my current anxious state. That, and the fact that, in 
perfect accord with Murhpy's Law, the missing item is one of the two 
night vision security cameras that were half of the original motivation 
for the whole order. The other half of why I went with the overseas 
order was to get some very interesting Arduino Uno-compatible boards to 
use for a teaching gig. Which box has those boards in it? The one that 
got to Amsterdam first but appears to be leaving last, of course.

But, as exhibit C, I submit a screen shot I just took from their site 
showing what they are publishing as their current date and time. They 
obviously don't want to be pipped to the post by other April Fools jokers.



Pete

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