"Easy" Export Facil Adventure

Let me share a little story about "easy" export with all you readers. On the week of Oct. 19 I started to fill out "easy" export forms with the local mail service Serpost. I filled them out with Brian Horsley online, but not without a handful of glitches. It took us 3 whole days to figure out the "easy" 1 page form. After getting the required signatures I was ready to take my package to the Serpost office. I packaged up our women's jewelry in a small box and walked with excitement to the office, as it was the first time DHF has entered into the export adventure.

I arrived at the office at 12:30. The woman that was behind the counter seemed a little confused when she saw my forms. But, she took them anyway and started typing away into her computer. She had a little problem with the coding and getting the computer to cooperate with her (or her cooperating with the computer?) After close to an hour of back and forth with the computer, the poor thing shut down. No screen. No service. "Just a minute, Senorita, we will process your paperwork."

A half an hour later I was still waiting for the computer to come back to full force. When it finally did, it was obviously that the woman that was helping me had no idea what she was doing. She called the Serpost office in another city to get some technical assistance. By 2:30 - 2 hours later - my forms were processed and I paid the $50 fee and said Thank You. I left the office with less confidence and patience than when I arrived. Will this package really make it to Austin? My confidence dropped even more when the Serpost woman called me at 3pm and said "Oops, we actually need your original receipt, not a copy." (contrary to what she had told me in the office). So, I went back to the office and mustered up a smile and handed her the official receipt.

The following week I received a phone call from the Serpost Director. He congratulated me on being the 1st! "easy" Export Facil customer in their office. That explains the horrible service! They had no idea what they were doing! The Director assured me that he would follow the package daily and give me a full report then it arrived in Austin. Furthermore, he invited me to talk to the press to help them get the word out about how easy Export Facil is. I told him that I didn't have the best experience in his office, but I was willing to talk to the press. The press and Director stood me up for our interview the following day.

Amazingly enough, yesterday the Director called me again. "We have confirmation that the package arrived in Austin, TX." This is a good reminder that sometimes you got to have a little bit more faith in the unknown.