FedEx Office Traps Customer
Sometimes, there’s just no leeway when it comes to making deadline. Chris Galvan had to learn that the hard way.
No, Galvan isn’t a printer; he’s closer to being a print buyer, to use the term loosely. OK, he was just a random dude in a San Antonio, Texas, copy shop when he discovered that closing time meant closing time … ready or not. Galvan apparently wasn’t ready, but that didn’t stop the town’s FedEx Office Print & Ship Center from shutting out the lights and closing/locking the door, with the customer still inside. Oops.
What is really interesting is how Galvan didn’t notice the store going into shutdown mode. Unless they make the stores bigger down in Texas—like everything else in the Lone Star State—it’s not likely that Galvan was wandering down aisle 33 of a sprawling printing campus.
Apparently, Galvan had brought his laptop into the FedEx Office just prior to closing, plugged in and began preparing documents to print, the San Antonio Express-News reported. But when Galvan sought to pay for his copies, that’s when he noticed he was all alone. The employees had exited the store via the back entrance.
Galvan could have left through the front door, but he was worried that unlocking it might trigger a store alarm. So he called another FedEx branch and asked for someone to come set him free. But Galvan’s rescuer was loathe to arrive, leaving the trapped man to his own electronic devices.
Galvan started making videos of his FedEx adventures, which he then posted to Twitter. He had ample time to do so, for the manager did not show up until 11:30 p.m., or two and a half hours after the store had closed. In the interim, he did jumping jacks and tried sleeping on the hard counter (he was taking part in a fitness competition the next day). A friend came to the store and snapped photos of Galvan, trapped inside the store, prompting the creation of the hashtag #FedExPrisoner, the paper said.
When the manager finally arrived, she had only two words for Galvan as she unlocked the gate: “Get out!” Galvan thanked her and promptly made his way to the 24-hour FedEx Office branch, where he received complimentary copies for his trouble.
In a statement, FedEx Office said it was investigating the situation and apologized for inconveniencing the customer. Galvan, meanwhile, was inundated with interview requests from national media including the “Today” show and “Entertainment Tonight.” Stupidity, it seems, does not go unrewarded.
“I made lemonade out of lemons,” Galvan told the Express-News. “It was something out of my control.”
As is common sense, apparently. PI
