The other day I received a curious package in the mail. It came in a bubble wrapped envelope with my name pre-printed on the label. There was no company listed on the return address, but instead a random P.O.Box in St. Cloud Minnesota. The package was labeled “time sensitive.”I was confused and slightly frightened. Despite my fear, I ripped open the package and found this:
Needless to say, I was perplexed and a little more scared. So I decided to to further research on the origin of this book. I took a closer look at the return address and noted the zip code in Minnesota. I googled post offices in the St. Cloud area and got the appropriate office on the phone.
“Hello,” I began tentatively. “I received a random package from your post office from P.O. Box 3000. Can you tell me who owns P.O.Box 3000?”
“Oh, that is from a marketing company.” said the friendly Minnesota postal worker on the other end. “They send out a ton of packages. You musta signed up for somethin’ and they got your address.”
“Okay,” I said now even more confused “Can you tell me who this company is and how to contact them?” I was determined to get to the bottom of this.
“They are called FSI, Fulfillment Systems.” The friendly worker continued. “I don’t know their number. You would have to look it up.”
I thanked the lovely Minnesota postal worker and continued on with my investigation. I located the website for FSI and emailed them a query regarding their mystery book. I received a response a few days later stating that they wanted more information regarding the numerical code on the package. So I decided to call them up.
I spoke with Cathy and after some research she determined that the origin of the package traced back to….Earth’s Best Baby Food. Some weeks ago I had signed up for the Free Baby Body Care kit. (See previous blog here)Well there was some confusion and Earth’s Best sent me the wrong free item! Instead of the Baby Body Care kit they sent me a free book, which was also being offered as a separate promotion entirely.
Cathy apologized for the mistake and offered to send me the Baby Body Care Kit as previously requested. As I hung up with her a thought occurred to me. My friend Gry had previously collected over $75 worth of Earth’s Best coupons in order to receive the Baby Body Care kit. When she sent in her coupon stash she was told that the offer had expired. Well, I thought, I might as well ask if they can throw in a spare kit for Gry!
So I called Cathy back and she generously agreed to send not one but TWO Baby Body Care Kits along!
I have to say, my private investigation skills were at an all time high this week. I figured out the origin of the mystery book and got two free gifts in the process.