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| What can I say, they are total boobs |
As for the gas fan heater, it is nice and works well but we are both kind of worried about putting gas driven apparatus on constantly when and where we sleep. A small malfunction and it is goodbye. Hence we bought an electric oil heater to warm up the room.
Anyway, sending off the microwave oven was simple enough. Just packed it in a box and brought to the post office. They scanned the bar code from the auction site and that was it. The address and all info was there and they printed out stickers and put on the box and the cost was charged to the auction site.
They do have limits on the size of the package being sent, which is adding height, width and depth should be maximum 170 cm. A couple of days after the microwave oven was sold it was time to send the mini tiller which was the biggest of the three items.
I folded its handle and cleaned it up a bit. The small see through gasoline tank was already empty so I just let it be open and put it outside over night to be sure. Next day I wrapped it in plastic and put it in the biggest cardboard box I found outside of a store. The box was just big enough though, and it didn't have the top lid, so I had to cut out another box and tape it over the package as a lid. It measured about 175 cm in total but I figured what the heck. However, I wondered if it wouldn't be better to just remove the makeshift top and send it off like that. If I did so, maybe the post guy measuring the box would be nice and disregard the 5 extra centimeters because the top half of the box contained just the handle going diagonally across it, and the rest of the top was empty, and in fact the top half could preferably be folded in. So I decided to ask the post office guy, if doing so would count as smaller package. Huge mistake.
I showed him the package and asked him which he preferred, with lid or folded in without lid. He said with lid, so I started to secure the top part as he started measuring the box. Suddenly he stopped and asked me what was in the box, and if it contained engine, if it had been used before and if there was any gasoline in it. I showed him that I had emptied the tank and that there should not be any issues. He left to check with his supervisor and his supervisor took a look and went off to consult with his own supervisor. After about 20 minutes of consulting the first guy came back and told me sorry, we cannot send it but please try some other shipping company like Yamato or UPS.
Grrr....OK, thanks for your service. Bow and leave. And curse myself that I was considerate enough to ask them what they preferred. If I could do it over I would just bring it in with a lid and pretend I don't speak Japanese. Maybe that would get them to disregard the extra 5 cm...
But wait, I could try it again. I took the box on the train to the next station and into the post office next to that station. Showed them the bar code and the box and said please send. They measured the box as 173 cm and didn't ask me what was inside it. Then scratched their head for a minute or so and punched in the box as 170 cm anyway, and off it went. Yeay, so much for safety rules. I just hope no terrorists decide to sent stuff with mail cause it seems completely random.
A week later the gas fan heater was sold so I packed it in. The box I found was big and it has lid as well so I just taped it shut having learned my lesson, and took it to the post office of my station.
Doh! The same guy who denied my tiller being sent was there. And worst part was he spotted me coming so he came out from the counter to the front to greet me. Damn... But my conscious was clean so I just said hi and asked him to help me send the package off. He started asking me about the mini tiller, so I gathered he probably thinks I am trying to send the same thing again. I told him I already sent off the tiller with Yamato. And that this is not a tiller. What is it then? He asked, and in my stupid confidence I blabbed out "GAS fan heater" and realized in the same moment that I have made another huge mistake. But the guy was kind of suspecting me for something anyway, so even if I had said computer or just electric heater he probably would not have believed me. I guess it was my 3-4 days unshaven beard which corresponds to what takes a year or so in this country to achieve. I probably looked like a terrorist to him since he doesn't see bearded men exactly every day.
Anyway, he just heard "Gas" and that was it for him. Seeing his reaction to the word gas, I followed right away with explanation of what it was and how it worked. And that it doesn't have an engine nor a tank, nor uses gasoline. That it is connected to the city gas pipe through a hose, and as soon as the hose is disconnected nothing flammable is left. I also told him that it is that same as sending a gas stove. Same same but different.
He nodded and ran off to his superior, came back 5 minutes later and told me that his superior is now checking with his supervisor but it seems like probably it will be difficult, maybe. So I just repeated everything I said before, plus pouted a bit, and said but this one is totally safe, so UNLIKE the mini tiller. (Emphasizing the unlike part hoping that it would subconsciously change his mind and that he in his turn would persuade his manager etc)
He went back and I just heard the word gas gas gas being repeated by more and more people as they discussed. I assumed some kind of alarm had been raised and everyone was running around in panic and asking their superiors what to do with my package etc etc. Once everyone had gone through the headless chicken mode for about 20 minutes, the guy came back out with a smile and said it seems we can send your package. He scanned in my bar code and said that they must write "gas fan heater" on the label, which I didn't mind at all. Just when I thought he had come to his senses and I was in the clear, he turned as if remembering something and said, oh yeah, and we need to actually see the contents of the box with our own eyes to make sure it is safe.
What an insult. Well that confirmed my beard theory. From now on, I guess I have to get used to being strip searched every time I want to send something off. And if I want to send anything that could remotely cause concern, like a watch or a fork for example, I better go to the post office in the next station, because I am forever branded in this post office as the guy who possibly will one day send a bomb. With this post office I can only send off cotton, paper and alike. Of course given that they make sure it actually is cotton.
Yeah yeah, sure, open the package and have a peak I said. But I don't have any tape so tape it properly afterwards by yourself
He agreed and checked and seemed happy Not that he would have spotted a ticking bomb inside the heater if there was one. He didn't even lift the thing out of the box. Then, just before closing time of the post office, my package was sent off, and I was escorted out. At the exit he bowed and told me he was sorry for the trouble, and I apologized too for having caused him and his superiors to work.
Morons.
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