Updates about your Bubble Lamp Order
Hey everyone,
I apologize for the non-responsiveness if you emailed me about a status update. I decided to make this page to keep everyone updated with all the news about their bubble lamp order, rather than constantly send out new emails. Please bookmark/save this page for future updates.
First of all, I really, really hope everyone had a chance to get notified about the lamps being delayed past Christmas delivery. I sent everyone 2-4 emails these past several days trying to make sure everyone got a chance to learn about the situation, but it has come to my attention that a small minority of people had all 4 emails go straight to their junk folder for some reason - I'm so sorry if this was you. These are the emails again for everyone's reference:
12/14: Email # 1
12/16: Email # 1 again ---> only sent to people who did not open email #1 (making sure they get notified)
12/18: Email # 2
12/19: Email # 2 again ---> only sent to people who did not open email #2 (making sure they get notified)
Now, for the continued updates, I'll keep adding more information below:
Update 12/26/18 from Moiz
Good news! All the orders have been packed and prepared in our fulfillment warehouse in Los Angeles. We are really hopeful to get everything shipped out today - the FedEx truck just needs to do around 4 round trips to pick up all the orders (too much to fit in one go), but it's still early in the West Coast so we're hoping to get it done!
Thanks everyone for your patience. You can check your tracking info tomorrow afternoon to get more information about its whereabouts.
Update 12/25/18 from Moiz
I've created all the labels for our bubble lamp orders! We are going to use FedEx primarily because they are much more reliable in our experience. As I said before, we anticipate shipping out all the orders tomorrow.
The remainder of the gift cards will be issued today. I will start requesting fulfillment for the wall brackets today as well.
Let me know if you have any questions ---> support@sensorymoon.com
Update 12/23/18 from Moiz
Here's an update of everything that happened since I sent the emails:
On Thursday morning 12/20, 8 days after its arrival at the Pacific Container Terminal in Port of Long Beach, CA, our container of bubble lamps was finally released. While our fulfillment agency's truck driver waited for the appointment to go pick up the container at the terminal, two things were done: 1) our fulfillment agency started assembling, preparing, and taping all the boxes the bubble lamps were to go in, so we could start packing orders as soon as the container was brought back to the warehouse, and 2) I started generating all the USPS and FedEx labels needed so we could start shipping immediately after. Unfortunately though, we were not able to pick up the container that same day. As it turned out, the terminal was so overly congested with trucks trying to pick up their consignments all at the same time, it wasn't possible for our fulfillment agency's truck driver to pick up the consignment that day - despite waiting several hours in line late into the night.
On Friday morning, 12/21, we knew we had very limited time to pick up the container and ship out orders. Our fulfillment agency was supposed to close at 12 pm PST to send all their workers home for the holidays. The priority was to 1) pick up the container, then 2) ship out as many orders as feasibly possible before their deadline. At this point, we were paying upwards of $60 to get Express Shipping Labels so we can get lamps to our customers as soon as possible. If any of you received a notification that your item had "shipped" and received tracking info, this was automatically done once I generated these labels. Unfortunately again, at 11:42 AM PST, I received the following email update from the head of our fulfillment agency, Brandon:
"Hi Abdul/Moiz
I’m sorry to tell you this, but it doesn’t seem likely that the container is going to get here on time to process the orders. I have been contacting the truckers and trying to find alternate options on getting this container here sooner but all the terminals are heavily congested right now and it is taking longer than usual to haul them from the port. Please call me at the office so we can explore what our next steps will be.
Thank you,
Brandon"
After having a phone call with Brandon, he very kindly and willingly agreed to stay later on that day past closing time at 12 pm so that when the container comes, we can still get out some orders (all of them wasn't possible at that point). But as many of you can probably guess looking at your tracking info, even this wasn't possible. By the time our truck driver finally got the container back after waiting so many hours there in line, they had no time left to process any orders to ship.
I apologize to everyone who got notified that their package has been shipped, but the tracking still indicates it is still in CA. The next step for us now is that we will try to ship out everyone's order the day after Christmas, 12/26. This is the earliest we can do, because the fulfillment center is closed until then. The good news is we finally have the container, a lot of the packaging boxes pre-made for shipment, and a FedEx freight truck on standby to pick up the orders. I will probably generate the rest of the labels on Christmas day, because I don't want to send anyone any more "order has shipped" updates to add more confusion. I would expect your package before or on New Year's day, depending on where you live in the country. Please email me if you have any questions.
I'll keep updating this page with further updates, probably come Tuesday/Wednesday as we prepare to ship out the lamps. If you ordered a wall bracket with your order or extra fish with the gift card, we will ship out those orders around then, as well.
Moiz
Email #1 sent on 12/14 and 12/16
"Hey,
Moiz here, from SensoryMoon. I just wanted to give you an update about your bubble lamp order.
Basically, due to some circumstances beyond our control, the expected shipping date has gotten delayed a bit :-/
The full story is that we have been working tirelessly to make sure everyone's bubble lamps would ship December 16th as promised. And while we DID manage to produce all our bubble lamps in time (they are currently all ready in a port in Los Angeles right now) --- the terminal that's supposed to release them *keeps delaying the release date*.
At first we thought they would release it on the 11th. Then the 12th. Then the 13th. Then today. And now, it looks like we'll have to wait until Monday (the 17th) to hear back from them :-/ Obviously, that's later than we promised.
The GOOD news is if they release it before December 19th, we might still get everyone's orders delivered before Christmas. We'd just have to pay over twice the shipping cost for express (which, as you can guess by our prices, means we might lose money on every order... but it's okay).
The bad news is I have no idea when they actually will release it... all we can do is pray it's soon.
I'm really, really sorry about this whole situation. I feel terrible, and I really hope we can get everyone's orders delivered before the 25th (we really did everything in our power to make it happen.) But if not, I hope it won't cause you or your family too much trouble. I know you were probably hoping to have it that day to give as a gift - so we can still talk about cancelling your order for a full refund if that's what you prefer.
I'll keep you posted about the whole situation. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.
Sincerely wishing for the best,
Moiz Rauf"
Email #2 sent on 12/18 and 12/19
"Hi,
I've spent the past few days calling the port terminal in LA where our container of bubble lamps are currently awaiting release, hoping for good news. Unfortunately, just a few moments ago, they let me know that due to an unexpectedly heavy back-log at the terminal, they don't expect our container to be released for another few days. This puts our shipping date outside the time-frame for Christmas delivery :-(
I'm really sorry to everyone we disappointed. We have never in our experience had the release date of container delayed 6 days and counting - but this is no one's fault but our own. We made a promise we didn't keep. And I know many of you have been waiting several weeks for this.
Anyone who would like to cancel their order for an immediate refund can respond to this email. (If you had already emailed me previously, I will work on cancelling your order now).
If you would like to keep you order and are willing to wait, we will be sending out $10 gift cards you can use for anything in our store. This includes bonus fish, balls, a wall bracket, or other accessories you can use with your bubble lamp.
To claim your gift card, you just need to fill out the form below:
https://goo.gl/forms/dCjZm3MGv8fpGxuw1
Sorry again for all the difficulty I put on you and your family,
Moiz Rauf"