I called Bell at 3:30PM Tuesday about my junky Novatel Mifi 2 crapping out on me. The tech didn’t even have me do any troubleshooting. She knew what was wrong and that I needed a new one. Once we established that going to a store was out of the question, she agreed to Priority post one overnight.

I suspected that my device would be leaving from out east (I was right, Mississauga), so we were right at the end of business day there. So I was wasn’t surprised when I called back Thursday to confirm the order had shipped that it hadn’t gone out till Wednesday morning.

Instead of Priority, it was sent the slightly slower Xpress post route. Having worked in shipping, I know that outside of major centres, Priority and Xpress are pretty much equal in speeds, but not in price. So I wasn’t miffed at all, just disappointed that Canada Post estimated that delivery would be Monday.

So imagine my surprise this morning when I got a call from the post office in Assiniboia telling me the package had arrived! That’s right, the post office called me. Talk about service!

I drove out to town, got my package, and went back to the truck to make sure the new Mifi would work before sending back the old one.

The Mifi 2 is so badly designed that it takes fingers the size of a Barbie doll with the grip strength of the Hulk to remove the SIM card. I am not exaggerating. It took me 20 minutes to get the damn thing out of there and I only succeeded by slamming the device hard against the dash to force out the SIM card. If the device wasn’t dead before, it surely is now. But there is no evidence of my brutal SIM card extraction as the device’s programming might be crap, but the its casing is very sturdy.

Inserting the SIM card into the new device was slightly easier (you just needed the Barbie-sized fingers or longish fingernails). I was pleased that the battery was charged. The device powered right up and I had no trouble connecting with my iPad. Success!

I repackaged all the pieces (device, battery, cord, 120V adapter), keeping all the new stuff they’d sent, and brought the box back into the post office to be taped shut and mailed.

I didn’t even notice that Bell had included a prepaid PUROLATOR bill of lading. The post master was at a loss. He said that he knew Purolator delivers to Assiniboia and that maybe I could bring the package to ‘Great West’ to be picked up there, as he knew they got Purolator stuff regularly, but that I should check with Purolator first.

I spent 20 minutes on the phone with Purolator. The guy wasn’t even able to confirm that they service Assiniboia. Finally, he called a supervisor over and the supervisor said that I should take the post master’s suggestion, but that there was no guarantee ‘Great West’ would accept to hold my package or that a driver would pick it up without knowing s/he had something to pick up.

So I decided to mosey on over to ‘Great West’ and see what they had to say. Worst case, I would call Bell for an alternative sending method.

I left my truck at the post office and walked the block to Centre Street, turned left, and what did I see but a Purolator truck!!! It was pulling out, but the driver’s window was rolled down, so I called out. The guy stopped and I asked if I could give him a package. He asked to look at it and said, “You’ve got a label and it’s being paid third party; perfect. I can take it!”

Talk about serendipity!

I got home and couldn’t get online. I glanced out the window and noticed that the antenna had moved so I realigned it and tried again. Success!

Now, I am going to file a Better Business Bureau complaint against Novatel with the hope of recovering lost wages and the money spent on fuel this week since I have evidence that they know their device is prone to crapping out and they are still forcing it on an unsuspecting populace.

But first, a post about my week!