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Borrego Springs, CA

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Trouble in Sock City

Remember when I ordered a boat load of Thorlo walking socks about a week ago?  Well, two days later I received an email that said there was a problem with the order, and I should call them to clear it up.  I did so, and they just asked me to verify my billing and mailing addresses.  I was then assured that the socks would be on their way to me.

I haven’t received them yet, and even though there’s been the New Year’s Holiday in the mix, I decided to check on the progress of my order.  As I tried to sign in, the company didn’t recognize my email address, and there was a message that the order had been cancelled by the customer.  What??

So I called customer service, and once again verified my addresses.  Yep, it appeared that the order had been cancelled.  I sure didn’t do that!  Then I had to start all over.  Of course, since it was the new year the total was different since the ‘buy three get one pair free sale’ was no longer on.  Baring teeth smile I let them know I was not happy about this since I had ordered them in December.  The result was I was put on hold.  Eventually, Karen, came back on line and said they would give me the sale price and one time complimentary free shipping.  I pointed out to her that their website stated that all sales over $59 automatically got free shipping, and she just sputtered around about how they were doing me a favor.  Really?

While we were talking, I checked my bank account to be sure they hadn’t already charged me for the initial order.  So now I’m waiting once again for the socks, and you can be sure I’ll be checking the order status.  The kicker to all this is that I even got a comment last week from Thorlo on my post about ordering their socks.  That comment touted their wonderful customer service reps.  Phhtt!!  So much for that!  They’re the ones that cancelled the order.  I probably just should have asked one of my kids go to a PX and buy them outright for me.

IMG_5375                                                                           American Pipit

Anyway, my plans for today were to do my waterbird surveys on the refuge, but there was a high wind alert.  I went to some of the areas where I have to survey, but because of the winds I decided to put that off until tomorrow.

IMG_5398

Ruddy Duck---As breeding season nears, the males will have a blue beak, bright white cheek patch, and ruddy red feathers on their bodies.

Those high winds had many of the ducks piled up on the little islands just all huddled together.  Makes it hard to identify them when they’re all mushed together, so I’ll try again tomorrow after the winds die down.

IMG_5134                                                                Northern Shoveler – drake

This is what a Northern Shoveler male is supposed to look like at this time of the year.  As the weeks go by, it’s head will turn more green, the front breast will be pure white, and the rustiness of it’s sides will be more pronounced.  They are a handsome bird, but I found an oddity today.

IMG_5382

Ready for a new word in your vocabulary?  This is also a male Northern Shoveler, but an amelanistic bird.  That means it has some lacks of pigmentation in its feathering.  I guess it also means that its bill is orange instead of the normal black color for males.  Not a very common occurrence, but that big shovel-like bill is diagnostic.  I haven’t done any scientific study on birds like this, but I just have a feeling that all those white feathers make them easier for predators to pick out.  I do know for a fact that when I was banding raptors, lure birds with lots of white in their feathers attracted the most hawks to come down on them.  Just one of nature’s anomalies. 

I’ll give the surveys another try tomorrow, and shall endeavor to put up with the sagging tops to my socks until the new order finally gets here.  Confused smile

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

26 comments:

  1. Maybe you need suspenders! I sure love the Shoveler photos.

    Hope you are keeping warm. Tonight in Red Bay, Alabama, it is mighty cold.

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  2. Good luck with your socks. Think I would have asked where Thomas was. He was so helpful in his comment.:-) Stay warm.....

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  3. Its cold in Freeport, FL too...winds at 21mph and a high of 49*F tomorrow.
    What an interesting word, amelanistic... thanks so much for the lesson with pictures.
    I hope your socks arrive soon.

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  4. Oh the trouble we go through for good socks! Hope this time they arrive!! And that you are only charged once :)

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  5. How do those males change the color of their beaks? I can see females possibly having a change with the hormones of pregnancy, but how does the male do that?

    I hope that Northern Shoveler isn't discriminated against since he is different. Still looks cute.

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  6. Paul and Marsha I was wondering the same thing. He doesn't look all that happy either. Poor guy.

    Hope your socks show up fast. That really isn't right for the company to not honor that order.

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  7. … that's hilarious that you caught her in her free shipping spiel… love it ...

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  8. I get really annoyed with that kind of customer service, and like to vote with my feet-no pun intended:) I was just wondering: is "mushed together" a birding technical term?

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  9. Thorlo socks are sold lots of places. Most camping goods places like REI have them. Shoe stores that sell hiking boots often have them. Keep your eyes open for future sources.

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  10. Hi Judy, Do you know how to knit? You can get wonderful yarns these days , and make your own socks. There are even patterns for the double sole if you like that. I like wool socks and love nothing more than a full drawer of hand knit socks!

    Jo

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  11. I went to their website to check out these socks...you might want to call them back and read them the riot act...says you can buy three get one free til Jan 4... https://www.thorlo.com/?gclid=CKGlx-2M4bsCFfPm7Aod_0UAUw

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  12. I ordered a hat for my son for Christmas on December 15. Supposed to go second day air. He finally got it December 30. And that was through the Post Office not FED EX or UPS. Don't you just love it. Sure hope your socks show up soon. And keep an eye on the amount they charge you.

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  13. If your winds were half as bad as the ones we had in Port Aransas today, I'm surprised you were able to open the door to your rig to get out. Hopefully the Thorlo socks are now on the way to you -- for real this time.

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  14. Customer no-service is mostly what we get these days. I'm always just amazed if I actually get good service and that just isn't how it should be. You are amazing with your bird identifications. I don't know how you do it. Who else would be able to say what the shoveler without pigmentation, that isn't in any of my id books, was. If there is an id book that could be used tell me what it is and I will definitely buy it.

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  15. Interesting information about the duck. I guess with that coloration, that poor fellow really is a "sitting duck". I buy my Thorlo socks through Campmor. I have found buying online directly from the manufacturer can be a pain. I had the same problem with ordering direct from Avalon Organics. Never again.

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  16. New word for me... then I had to find out the difference between Albino and Amelanistic... one thing just leads to another ;-) Sorry about the socks... customer service is a lost art these days.

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  17. It was a new word for me, too, and I spent too much time googling the difference between albinism and amelanism. Still a bit confused but they are basically the same thing I think. Reading blogs is always a learning experience!

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  18. Academy sells Thorlo socks. Looks kinda like a Sprague's Pipit to me with all that striping down the back, but then pictures can be misleading.

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  19. ARtgghh "customer service" is such a mis-nomer nowadays! What happens is that the customer has to do ALL the service work! LOL ... checking the order, checking the billing, checking the address, calling back, calling again, straightening out all THEIR mistakes. And they are the ones making the money?

    Bugger is that by letting your money do your talking and by removing your order and going somewhere else... chances are their customer service is just as bad!

    Just knit your own.... I have patterns I can share!

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
    Karen and Steve
    (Blog) RVing: The USA Is Our Big Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com
    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

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  20. I ordered lip balm on December 16th and they didn't ship it until the 30th. Still not here. Feel your pain!

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  21. You certainly are a lady with many talents. Not everyone can lose their socks before they even get them! :cD

    Don't worry, these things happen to everyone. We just got our mail from our forwarding company, opened it up and it was all someone else's. No way I'm paying his bills!!!

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  22. Good luck on the socks, and great photos of the birds!

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  23. Interesting about the duck. He looks like a dapple Dachshund. Catherine said maybe he is a dapple duck.

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  24. I guess if anything is going to droop it's better it be your sock than your drawers. No one wants to go around with the nickname "Droopy Drawers." But on a serious note I sympathize with the order cancellation experience. One wonders at times about how some of these internet companies operate. I know more than once I've ordered something that must have gone down in company annals as their first ever order, and lived through the confusion of "What Do We Do Now That We Actually Sold One Of These?"

    You're getting the cold, we are too, but we may also finally be getting our much needed winter rains… Hooray!

    Cheers,
    Peter
    A retired photographer looks at life from behind an RV steering wheel.
    Life Unscripted

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