Thursday, September 22, 2022

I might be walking to the local Hanjin building tomorrow

I ordered a package of methyl cellulose a while back. According to tracking info, the package arrived in Korea way back on September 6 (I'd placed the order on September 1). From the 6th to now, no package, and no message from Hanjin—the service that's supposed to be delivering the package—as to what the damn holdup is.* I've tried using the Hanjin website to see what's up, and I've tried calling Hanjin via their customer-service line. No dice. When I hit the option to talk with a service rep, I got a computer voice telling me that there were too many calls, and that I should try back later. Click.

From my walks down to Bundang, I know there's a Hanjin building not far from the Tan Creek. So my plan tomorrow morning will be to walk down the creek, and when I spot the building (which I can't seem to find on Naver Map), I'll take the first set of stairs leading up to street level so I can physically visit Hanjin and—maybe—get some answers. Labyrinthine corporations and Byzantine bureaucracies the world over are notoriously good at dodging responsibility for anything, so I'm not 100% sure I can resolve my situation by visiting the building tomorrow. But it seems to be the only option I have left since the company is impossible to contact through all the regular channels.

Were I able to find the Hanjin building on a map, I'd simply grab the address and take a taxi there, but the building didn't come up when I did a detailed search of Naver Map, so I'll be walking the route instead.* Hey, it's exercise, right? I'll check my phone when I'm physically at the building tomorrow. Maybe the building will show up on the map then.

I really wanted the methyl cellulose to arrive well before now so I could do some veggie-burger experiments, but at this rate, any experiments will have to wait until I'm back from my two upcoming walks. I've got lentils, farro, and textured vegetable protein all waiting to be used, and methyl cellulose is the one ingredient to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

__________

*I get mixed messages from both Amazon's tracking service and the Hanjin site. Both simultaneously indicate that delivery has happened and that there's been a delay at Customs. So which is it? Is this Schrödinger's methyl cellulose? When in doubt, assume Murphy's Law, so at a guess, delivery has not been effected, and the package is stuck in Customs. I'll check my building's front desk when I leave for work today, just in case the package did get delivered. But I doubt there'll be anything for me.

**I searched two different ways: via name search and via manual search. Manually searching for the Hanjin building meant slowly scrolling along the Tan Creek to see what buildings sat close to the creek. On Naver Map, it's not guaranteed that every single building will be labeled. When I did a name search, that proved unhelpful because a ton of companies are all named Hanjin, which is a common company name. It doesn't help that I don't know the qualifiers: is it Hanjin Shipping, Hanjin Deliveries, Hanjin Freight? I have no idea.


UPDATE: I revisited the Hanjin website and learned the company's formal name is Hanjin Taekbae (Hanjin Home Delivery, roughly)—which is what I was looking for. I went back to Naver Map and found a branch of Hanjin Taekbae in Bundang, very close to Ori Station on the Bundang Line, so I'll be visiting that branch instead of the other one (which still doesn't show up on the map). What's frustrating about all this is that the company never once sent me a message saying there'd been a delay at Customs.

UPDATE 2: I checked with my apartment's front desk: nada.



3 comments:

Charles said...

I would be very, very surprised if visiting a branch site in person actually worked (the people who work there will most likely not be the people who are able to help you), but good luck.

Kevin Kim said...

Yeah—when in doubt, go with Murphy's Law. But I've got to try something.

John Mac said...

What a pain in the ass. I assume you've already paid for your purchase. On the rare occasions I buy online these days, I have it shipped COD. That seems to provide some extra motivation to get me the goods.