The Unforgettable Day My Delivered Amazon Package Went Missing

Diary entry – Wednesday, June 21, 2023

The main story begins.

I was working from my house today and was waiting for a phone holder for my bicycle to be delivered. I purchased a type of bicycle called a hybrid on May 20, 2023, but I haven’t had the opportunity to explore the various biking paths in Ottawa as I would like to use Google Maps to guide me.

Due to my poor sense of direction, I’m not familiar with most of the trails and would probably get lost. To overcome this, my plan was to attach my phone to my bike’s handlebars securely. This way, I can easily follow the voice-guided directions of the Google Assistant and occasionally check my phone’s GPS while riding to make sure I’m heading in the correct direction.

Time travel to the past.

Sam, the helpful salesperson at Full Cycle who helped me choose my bike accessories, suggested that I buy a Quad Lock phone mount on Amazon.

The mount had excellent reviews on Amazon. It seemed like a fantastic product. However, it was expensive because I had to purchase two parts: a Quad Lock Case for a Google Pixel 6 Pro and a Quad Lock Out Front Bike Mount. Together, they cost $96.03, including taxes.

As I’m working hard to reduce unnecessary or unplanned expenses, I had to include it in the budget for my upcoming paycheck.

Surprisingly, my work supervisor gave me a Bravo Award on June 12. This award was for my outstanding support in leadership, planning, and teamwork for the office event I assisted in organizing. The award came with $100, and it made me very happy.

I mentioned the office event in my posts, Being the recipient of the Silent Treatment from Ms. Flow and How a Startling High Five Dramatically Altered My Day.

An important condition was that the award could only be received as a gift card. This gift card could be used in various stores and services, and fortunately, Amazon was one of the choices available.

I bought a $100 Amazon gift card and used it to order the 2 items on Sunday, June 18 at midnight. The items were to be delivered between Wednesday, June 21 and Friday, June 23.

I was really hoping it would be delivered on Wednesday as I would be working from home that day. Plus I was looking forward to exploring new routes on my bicycle.

Present Day

Today, around 9 in the morning, when I checked the package status, it seemed highly probable that it would be delivered on the same day because it had reached an Ottawa carrier facility from Mississauga at 1:18 in the morning.

I looked at the package’s status at around 11am and saw that Canada Post had delivered it at 10:04am. I was surprised because I didn’t hear a knock on the door then. Anyway, I rushed to my front door to get it.

There was nothing there! Zilch!

My first thought was that the delivery person was lazy as instead of pressing the buzzer to ask for entry into the building, they left my package at the entrance of the apartment.

With this idea in my mind, I quickly went back into my apartment. I grabbed my key from the dining table, locked my door, and then took the elevator down to the ground floor with the sole purpose of saving or rather collecting the package.

To my dismay, the entrance area was also empty. I was Shook!!!

Keep in mind that this was happening during working hours. Mehn, I completely forgot about work as I tried to manage my panic. I had to think logically about the next steps to take.

Who Took My Package?!

I recalled that the resident manager of my apartment’s previous owner had informed me about incidents of stolen packages. He had advised me to be at home when packages are delivered to collect them directly.

My first thought was that someone had taken my phone mount, which made me very upset. The worst-case scenario was that it was stolen and I would have to spend my own money to buy a new one. This was difficult because I had already planned to use the money for something else. It also meant I couldn’t ride my bike on new routes.

I knocked and tried to open the site manager’s office in the apartment building. However, it was locked and there was no reply. I even checked the apartment’s buzzer to make sure it was working, and it was! I went back to my own apartment sorely disappointed.

When I looked at the Amazon page again, I noticed that I could directly get in touch with the seller, Quad Lock CA, to ask about the tracking information. I quickly sent them a message at 11:22 am conveying the following words:

“Tracking says the package was delivered but there was nothing left outside my door. Nor when I went to the foyer on the ground floor of my apartment. Kindly confirm the exact location of the package delivery. If possible, please add a picture. Thank you.”

At 11:31am, I got an unexpected reply from Quad Lock Support. Here’s a screenshot of it.

The part that caught my attention was:

“…If you’ve tried reaching out but still couldn’t track down where your package is, I’d be happy to arrange a reshipment or a refund…”

It made me feel less anxious. And I decided that if I couldn’t find any answers, I would probably choose to have the item shipped to me again as a last resort. And this time, it would be sent to my workplace where it wouldn’t be stolen.

So, feeling motivated, I emailed the management of my building at 11:36am to inform them about the missing package and to ask if they could check the security camera footage to confirm whether the package was delivered at the entrance or my doorstep. And if someone took it?

I received this reply by 11:40am.

“We have reported the incident to our site manager, and are waiting to see if there is a CCTV covering that area.”

While thinking about what to do next, it occurred to me that I should check if the package was in my mailbox. The package was delivered by Canada Post, so there’s a chance it might have been left there.

So, I went downstairs again to the entrance hall to check my mailbox. I looked around again to see if by some chance the package would be lying around. No such luck! However, the mailbox had a weird key in it. I had no idea what it was for or what it opened up.

This sentence from the supplier message kept going around in my mind: “or have you had any additional correspondence from the carrier about the status of your package?” It felt like I was missing an important hint.

Getting Smarter!

And all of a sudden, I had a moment of realization!

And what was the brilliant idea, you may wonder? Track the package straight from Canada Post’s website by using the tracking ID (a sequence of 16 numbers).

I did that and Voila! It said that the package had been “Delivered to your community mailbox, parcel locker, or apartment/condo mailbox…” THIS was the missing clue to finding my package. Additionally, it would probably explain why there was a strange key in my mailbox.

At 12:01pm, I told the building management about this and asked where I could find the apartment’s mailbox since I hadn’t seen it before.

By 12:23pm, they said that no package was delivered at the front door during the mentioned time. They also mentioned that the mailbox for the apartment building was in front of unit 112 on the ground floor.

I went downstairs once again (thank God for elevators) to put my old laundry card in the mail slot at the site manager’s office. I brought the unusual key with me. I met an older man who was opening the door to the office. Coincidentally, we had both been in the elevator.

At the entrance, I gave him my old laundry card and asked him where the apartment mailbox was. He kindly showed me the exact location. It was right across from unit 112. To be fair, I had never been in that part of the building.

Here’s what the apartment building’s mailbox looks like.

Just like Sherlock, I began to piece together the clues. I took out the unusual key I had found and saw that it had a letter that matched the alphabetical labelling from A to F on the mailbox of the apartment. Additionally, right above it, there was a clear label saying “Parcel Locker” with the number 1 next to it.

After a short moment of uncertainty, I inserted the key into the Letter “E” keyhole. And to my astonishment, it fit perfectly!

I turned the key to the right and it unlocked. I opened the locker door, and I couldn’t believe my eyes! It was my lost package, finally finding its way to its rightful owner. The joy I felt was indescribable, like winning the lottery.

You can watch the dramatic discovery of the package in the parcel locker on my Instagram Reels. Just click here. It’s no surprise that this Reel has received the most views so far.

I happily collected my package, secured the mailbox, and placed the key in the designated slot. I quickly went to my apartment unit, feeling joyful and enthusiastic this time.

Opening my precious package.

I attempted to open the package using just my hands, but unfortunately, it didn’t work. So, I decided to use a paring knife, to cut it open instead.

If you’re interested, you can watch the funny mistakes I made while trying to open it in the YouTube Shorts video below. I must say that Amazon does an excellent job of securely sealing packages. I’ll give them that.

I successfully tore open the envelope, revealing the long-awaited treasures inside.

Later, at 12:42pm and at 1pm, I informed the people in charge of my building and the supplier respectively, that the package that was previously considered lost had now been located.

All’s well that ends well!

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Have you ever had a similar experience? Did it turn out okay? I hope it did! Whether it did or not, please share your missing package experience(s) in the comments. I’m excited to read it!

Also, I’m curious if you were in my shoes, would you have acted differently? If so, how or at what moment?