By 
A STRABANE man was left well and truly pine-ing after a Christmas tree he ordered at the end of November failed to turn up until almost a month later – long after Santa had returned to the North Pole.
John Paul McCauley, who is renowned as the man behind the Johnny Cash tribute band, Cash Returns, had hoped to spruce up Christmas for his family by replacing an ageing pre-lit tree whose lights had finally given up the ghost (of Christmas past). Instead, what should have been a straightforward delivery turned into a tree-mendous festive fiasco
“I ordered the tree in plenty of time as I know that there are a lot of deliveries at this time of year and was told it should take about a week to be delivered,” said John Paul.
“A week came and went and I contacted Amazon to check the status and they said it was out for delivery with Evri. I put it out of my head and eventually contacted Evri.
“After several emails and phone calls with a lady called Charlene, they were unable to locate the tree and, after having escalated the issue, I was eventually told the tree was lost.
“How on earth do you lose a seven foot Christmas tree?”
With Christmas approaching and no sign of the missing evergreen, John Paul was forced to bring out his old tree, buy new lights, and use it as a back-up.
Surprisingly, the new tree then reappeared from the wilderness on December 29.
“While I understand that Christmas is a busy time for delivery companies it’s frustrating that an item I ordered a month in advance took so long to arrive. I find it bizarre also that, one minute they said the tree was lost, the next it arrives.”
When contacted by the Chronicle, Evri apologised to Mr McCauley.
A spokesperson said, “Evri handles more than 900 million parcels a year with the vast majority being delivered successfully on time.
“Customer satisfaction is at the heart of what we do – we’re very sorry that Mr McCauley’s parcel was delayed and for any inconvenience caused.”
The spokesperson added: “Our customer service has been back in touch with Mr McCauley who has confirmed the retailer has refunded him but have offered some additional goodwill as an apology.”
