Waiting impatiently for a new piece of Apple gear to arrive via FedEx, I searched for others in the same boat… and discovered that a little information is a dangerous thing.
Have a look at this thread of customers (link removed) who got their FedEx tracking numbers and logged into the FedEx web site, only to discover…
May 18, 2004 4:17 am Held at Sort Facility INDIANAPOLIS IN
1:28 am Release for delivery INDIANAPOLIS IN
12:28 am Arrived at Sort Facility INDIANAPOLIS INMay 17, 2004 8:53 pm Left FedEx Ramp SHANGHAI CN
2:46 pm Left FedEx Sort Facility ANCHORAGE AK
1:09 pm Arrived at Sort Facility ANCHORAGE AKMay 15, 2004 11:33 am Pickup status SHANGHAI CN
Package received after FedEx cutoff time
11:33 am Left FedEx Origin Location SHANGHAI CNNow, I don’t know how you read this, but it looks to me like the package was shipped from Connecticut, sent by airfreight to Alaska and then back to Connecticut! From there it went to Indiana where I hope it will be shipped out to me in Oregon. Sometimes I have to wonder if FedEx knows what they are doing…
As several contributors to the thread point out (with varying degrees of charity), Shanghai is actually just a little east of Connecticut (which explains why a Google search on “Shanghai chowder” turns up zero results… until this post gets spidered, anyway). And the parcel didn’t criss-cross the Pacific several times; that’s an illusion caused by time zones, which the FedEx server apparently failed to parse properly.
I was a little surprised to realize you can be a reasonably accomplished web surfer — to the point of running your own blog — and still not recognize the name of one of the world’s most important cities, and the commonly-used abbreviation of its most populous country.
But what’s even more interesting to me is now many people still aren’t aware of just how globally integrated their economy is. As one participant puts it,
Add me to the list of people assuming there’s a Shanghai in Connecticut. My brain was thinking APPLE = PIE = MOM = BASEBALL = USA = CONNECTICUT instead of APPLE = COMPUTER = ELECTRONICS = MADE IN CHINA.
Several of the thread participants assumed their computers would be made at home — at a time when that’s nearly never the case with electronic gear. These days I’m floored if I see that any gadget that takes batteries was made (or even “assembled”) in North America.
Lesson for FedEx and others conveying information with international content: you may need to spell things out a little more explicitly for the less geo-savvy.
I know. Mercifully, there’s no “And how stupid does FedEx have to be to get the state abbreviation for Connecticut wrong?!” complaint in that thread.
I don’t mean to just point and say “haw, haw”, by the way. This is more a cautionary note as to just how much, or little, knowledge you may be able to assume your users have…
But, but, but… the abbreviation for Conneticut is CT, not CN.
Just ignore the fact I spelt the state wrong. I got the abbreviation right!
Aereolis, you may want to look around a bit too. :) The quotes are from the thread I referred (and linked) to. I’m fully aware that my iPod was (note past tense! hurray!) coming from China. But thanks for the note.
If you looked around a little bit, you would realize that your iPod or whatever it is you were ordering was coming from Shanghai China (CN is the abbareviation for china). It is flown by air to anchorage in alaska, where it is then sent to indianopolis (central american sorting facility, by air or truck, i dunno how) and it is then sent to the destination (your house).
Oh… Well I had gathered the info from that site too.. but when i clicked the link today, it wasn’t working.
Huh, you’re right — it’s now behind a password wall. Um, I wonder if that’s because of me.
You know, I’m going to remove the link, and I should have thought a little more carefully about this. There’s a useful point to be made here, but not at the expense of singling anyone out for embarrassment.
i was also one who assumed there was a Shangai in Connecticut.(BIG LAUGH) I had no idea my pod had to be shipped from China. I would have just bought it at Best Buy. I ordered it on a Sunday and paid an extra $11 bucks to have it shipped express since I am going on a vacation and it might be just sitting on my doorstep until a week from now when I get back. It’s wednesday now and I still haven’t gotten it. Fedex has it in Alaska, poor thing. They need to explain things more clearly on the APPLE site in my opinion. There is no way it can be shipped WITHIN 24 HOURS as they say, if it is coming from half way round the world.
Well, the shipping can begin in 24 hours, anyway… :)
You guys are all stupid for even caring about this. I’m 14, and I saved my money for a 60 GB iPod video. When I ordered it, it didn’t take long to realize it was coming from China, even though my initial reaction was that it was coming from a FedEx abbreviation of Connecticut. It seems to me like the future is in my hands because you grown-up retards don’t even know that shipped within 24 hours means that’s when it leaves the source. And that you care enough to start a site up just to argue about it.
Wow, Bob is a little testy. I think maybe he is having his period.
My buddy works at the Apple store in town and said that they usually come out of PA, but when that warehouse is out, they come direct from China. My 60gb black is in Shanghai right now.
Ah-so.
Man. i just searched for abbreviation CN shanghai, because i thought that it might be an abbreviation for connecticut or some other state i was forgetting when this site popped up. Now im mad that i paid an extra 11 bucks 2 get it shipped in “2-3 business days” in the hope that it would come before the weekend. Its now wednesday, my ipod has been sent from china, but ill be amazed if it can get here in two days, im expecting ill have 2 wait till monday 2 get it… which doesnt neccesarily bother me 2 much. but still…
This is Hilarious!!! I thought the same thing too! i ordered a black 60gb iPod and thought “why in hell is it in Shanghai, Connecticut? is there even a Shanghai in Connecticut?” I feel sooooo dumb….. especially that i wondered why they were sending it from Connecticut, to Alaska, then to my home in iowa! man….
Haha, it was quite funny when I read this and thought about my 80 gb coming in the mail. I too saw the Shanghai, CN on it and thought nothing of it until I read about all of you guys. I then looked at my old 20 gb ipod box and it says: Designed in California, Assembled in China. Surprisingly enough with all the cheap labor they got going in China Apple still charges an arm and a leg and a torso for an ipod… Well, that’s pop culture for you I guess.
i’m in the same exact boat as everyone else (my pod is currently leaving anchorage i think), and i remember the shock when i got all the other crap i ordered from apple the same day i ordered the ipod (roadtrip, dock, case) this afternoon, and the shipping e-mail said that the ipod was going to arrive in the middle of next week!
the apple website said that i was supposed to receive it tomorrow, and when i e-mailed them describing my dillema they immediately returned the 13 bucks i spent for 2 day shipping (even though i got the other said junk in two days =P), so no major loss (and i get a spiffy engraving for having to wait a week instead of running out to radioshack, w00t!)
wow..hahaha, frankly I’m appalled at the number of people who thought shanghai was shanghai Connecticut. I immediately thought China. Nothing shows the true ethnocentricity like Americans assuming there’s no outside world and, whatever outside world there is doesn’t matter. If you are one of those who thought so, you shouldn’t be having a chuckle over it. You should be seriously considering the possibility that you are an idiot.
Alright, you guys need to go back to 1st grade and learn that CN an CT are different. Also, why would a huge company pay a couple hundred people $6.75 when they can pay the entire workforce of China a few cents an hour. Oh yeh, it says MADE IN CHINA for a reason.
Package received after FEDEX Cutoff time. This phrase is automatically inserted in the FEDEX tracking whenever it appears the shipment will be late. You will always notice that within hours the package is a thousand miles from the pickup point within hours, so how could it be late? It is a cost cutting measure that is used to deny refunds against the late delivery guarranty. It is also used selectively. When you call 800-622-1147 (press 0 immediately) you will get a human agent whose first question is “what is your FEDEX account number?” Your shipping volume over the last year determines everything. If you are big, you get a refund no sweat. If you are not, you get all kinds of BS, starting with the “fact” that you did not meet the FEDEX cutoff. If you point out the package’s location hours later, he will switch to equipment failure, or weather, or any number of exclusions, none of which appear in the Terms and Conditions that form FEDEX’s tariff. If you hold your ground, he will eventually give up and put your application through “as a courtesy” but it won’t be paid. It is surprising how many people think this phrase is real.
I actually thought SHANGHAI CN was referring to Canada. Something inside kept saying “that’s China” but I didn’t want to believe it lol Canada seemed so much better!
We really shouldn’t be surprised as everything electronic comes from China in todays market.
Okay. I’m with most of you. I struggled with the idea that my Mac computer would be coming all the way from China, and would arrive at my door in Nova Scotia, Canada 5 days later. I asked my boyfriend and he figured it must be Connecticut. After some googling and reading this forum, I am pleasantly surprised at the departure place of my laptop, and I am anxiously awaiting its arrival on Thursday.