Worry-Wort

On September 4th, my camera stopped working. I took a picture of James and Barry at karaoke and it died. No matter how many different sets of fresh batteries I put in it, it would not power on. Saying that I'm addicted to taking pictures and that my camera is like another appendage is not an understatement.

For a month and a half, I tried to find the bill of sale for my camera. When DM was over for my birthday weekend I finally found it right next to my computer. Luckily the camera is still under warranty and I opened a ticket with Sony to have it repaired.

While dealing with the defaulty DVD-player, DM and I stopped by a Fed-Ex/Kinko's to ship the camera back to Sony. The representative gave me two receipts with the shipping number and I put one in my little notebook and the other in a folder I bought at Kinko's. All of this happened on October 21st.

At the beginning of last week (October 31), I pulled one of the receipts to track the package on Fed-Ex's website. The tracking number pulled nothing up. I checked Sony's site and nothing showed under my reference number. Worry started to set in, but I figured I could wait until the next Monday, thinking I just had the wrong tracking number and that the camera probably hadn't been processed by Sony yet. I checked every night during the next week, giving the entire process two weeks before I completely freaked out.

I checked again today and still found no record of the shipment or repair. I became quite concerned. I called Fed-Ex and they had no records of the shipment. The representative told me to go to the store that shipped the package.

Driving in rush hour to Anoka is a joy and so as I was driving I pulled out my notebook and found the other receipt. The tracking number was different and I decided to swing by my mom's to use her computer (I was closer to her place than mine).

Success! The package had been shipped and received by Sony. Now I only had the problem of Sony having no records of the repair.

I called Sony (twice because the phone disconnected as I talked to the first representative - I'm sure the cell phone signal just got lost) and they couldn't find it. As it turns out, the package was shipped to a repair company that works for Sony and not Sony itself and they don't update well with Sony.

The second representative gave me a number to call (but couldn't connect me - I have no clue why because it is a toll-free number) and didn't bother to inform me that the place was closed. I called and found out the hours, but also found out there is a website for that company.

I pulled up the website and my reference number for Sony was able to pull up information on my camera! The site shows that it was repaired and given to UPS today to be sent back. I should have it in a few days and hopefully it works. I am anxious to have it back and have it working. I miss taking pictures and sharing the stories. It was hard to not have my camera for October. I would have liked a few pictures on my birthday and on Halloween. But I'm getting it back and that is good news.