I live on Amazon. I love the choices they provide for the litany of things that I need. Amazon is fast and provides excellent service. A month ago, I needed a computer desk. It was a surprise for a special person. Off I went, scrolling through hundreds of choices. Bingo. There it was.

I found it.

The computer desk was precisely what I wanted, and I ordered it. Less than a week later, Ginger, my Irish Setter watchdog, ran to the front door before the UPS driver rang the doorbell. I went to the door, and the desk had arrived in two boxes. The larger box was already completely opened. The smaller box wasn’t opened but did have places where the box had been damaged.

The UPS driver said there was a problem as he attempted to get the parts back into the box. I shouldn’t have accepted it, but he took photos of it in case things were damaged or lost. Nevertheless, I was excited. I started to assemble the desk and noticed that panel B was damaged. I called the company, but it was on the weekend. So, I left a message that I needed them to send me another B panel. I went back to putting together what I could without panel B. Then I noticed there were other smaller panels marred and missing metal connectors were missing. I put everything back into the boxes and resealed them.

I went to Amazon, reordered the computer desk, and got a return shipping label for the damaged first order. Less than a week later, UPS dropped off the smaller box without the larger one. I called UPS, and they said the other box would arrive in 48 hours. I couldn’t understand why the two boxes didn’t arrive together.

I called Amazon. I told them the story, and they referred me to a person dealing with this type of situation. That person asked me about the problem. I said that I had ordered two computer desks: one order that was damaged with parts missing and the second order was missing one box.

I said that I was afraid to order my third computer desk and wind-up owing Amazon for three desks without any useable one. I’d like to have a recording of my call to Amazon. I was venting.

After I had vented for a long time, the voice at the other end assured me he would take care of this for me. He would call me in two days to find out whether the other box had arrived and whether UPS had picked up the first order.

Two days later, as promised, Amazon’s guarding angel called. He asked whether that second package had arrived and whether they picked up the first order? I responded to him that nothing had arrived, nor was the first order picked up.

Then I asked him where he was located. I have traveled the world and can generally place where the person lived based upon their accents. His English was fluent, but he wasn’t from the UK, even though his first name was Lionel. It turns out that Lionel lives in South Africa.

Lionel then called UPS so that he and I could discuss this matter with someone from UPS. We got two stories…the second package was delayed, and the other story was that it was lost. Lionel asked why the first order wasn’t picked up? The person said they had tried a couple of times, but no one was home. My retort was that wasn’t true. Lionel then ended the call.

In our first call, I told Lionel about getting this desk for my granddaughter, who would live in my home while going to college. He asked when she would be arriving at my home. I told him about my family in Myanmar and that she was getting her student visa.

I thanked Lionel for help and said I would reorder the computer desk. Lionel responded that he had just ordered it for me. Finally, I told Lionel how much I appreciated all this help. He went more than the extra mile to resolve my problems. I told Lionel that I didn’t want to fill out Amazon’s survey about the helpfulness of one of their employees. I wanted the email address of his supervisor. He responded that he would transfer me to that person. However, he would call me when the third computer desk arrived.

His supervisor lives in Costa Rica. He heard my accolades about Lionel. There aren’t enough people like Lionel. Then I added that I was writing an article about my computer desk and Lionel.