For a person who spends better part of the year on the road and doing basic tasks might feel like a huge issue. These diary entries are amusing insights into FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS and their solutions.
How simple task as shopping online can be a big issue for someone who spends over 200 nights in hotels.
Funny Example
Online Shopping
During my recent trip to USA, I had to purchase everything online because retail is slowly dying in USA. Even the major departmental stores request to look up online as they don’t have stock in the hand. So either you return back to the store after 3/4 days or you can get it shipped to your home.
For most people this is an amazing option because they can order from the home.
However my issue?
Where can I get my courier delivered? What if it gets delayed – do I get the package or shall I send it to the next place? Unless I plan to spend more than a week at a place, I usually don’t order any shipping there. I ship to my hotel. Let them know that I am expecting a package in advance so that my package isn’t returned. Same can be applicable at AirBNB hosts if they have convenience.
What if I get the wrong size or wrong order or something goes wrong? How do I ship it back and where do I get the replacement? As most online shopping site send replacement back to the original destination where you returned the package from.
Hence, requirement of getting on phone, finding a representative who can actually help you and not read you company’s policy bulletin.
I completely dread online shopping on travel. I focus on purchasing in store. If product isn’t on the hand – I just skip it.
It comes with another negative effect though. Would I find this in another city that I am supposed to visit next? There is no way to compare the product to similar product or spend hours on retail site reading reviews.
There is always chance that particular product gets out of stock in the next city or not easy to find. I had to buy latest Heated Razor by Gillete. I saw it in Las Vegas but couldn’t find it in Chicago.
I saw this amazing backpack in Boston Airport but couldn’t find it in the city and there was no way to go back to the same airport and hence I didn’t get chance to get that bag again. However, retail shopping doesn’t need a chapter here.
