I am sure that to some of you that know me and my particular situation will be very surprised to know that I am now in Warsaw to wait for my fiancee to arrive and be with her for the interview.
Just to make a note. Never use FED-EX to express anything overseas. I told FED-EX that I wanted to send my documents (I-134, letter of employment,tax returns, etc....) to my fiancee in Odessa Ukraine by the 14th of Jan. because she was leaving by train for Warsaw on that date and they said no problem that it would only take a couple of days. The lady even looked it up in her books about delivery time.
So I called a few days later to make sure that it was delivered and the FED-EX lady told me that it would not make it there until Jan. 17th which is only a day after her interview in Warsaw.
I was so mad I could have gone postal (and did over the phone). So the lady explained that the book the lady in the office used only gave the number of days it took to reach that country. It did not mention that it would sit in customs and take several more days to reach it's destination in Odessa.
I was so angry. By the time I found out it was too late to use any other carrier. DHL could have done it in 4 days but it still would not have made it in enough time.
So, I booked a flight to Warsaw and when I explained to the lady at FED-EX on the phone that I had to hand deliver documents to Poland because of their mistake she at least refunded my money for sending those documents and then she said that the most they could pay for damages done would be $100.00
Well, at least that was better than saying there was nothing they could do but I will NEVER use FED-EX ever again.
So now I am in Warsaw. I had Delta flights from Louisville through JFK and then LOT to Warsaw. Everything went smooth as silk with the flights.
I am staying in the Grand Warsaw Hotel and it is pretty nice. Sort of like a Super 8. The room is small but clean and has anything I could need (except for my fiancee) She will arrive at 8:35 tonight at the train station and I will meet her there. The train station is about a 15 minute walk from my hotel and the US Embassy is about a 10 minute walk. I think for the price and convenience it is a good deal. Her interview is tomorrow on Jan. 16th and then we should fly out on Jan. 17th.
FED-EX has not heard the last from me yet. I plan to rant and rave until I feel better. I just cannot believe that a company as big as FED-EX has been in business this long with such business practices. It is truly terrible.
But for now I can only think of my reunion with Anna tonight and what the evening will yet hold for the two of us. ;-)
I will try to take some photos of Warsaw and post them on the internet and to post any other usefull info. I can think of.
Take care all and wish me and her luck.
Jim
