Golden Book Traveler

First item dropped from backpack1/7/2010

Tomorrow I´ll be leaving Lisbon to Madrid, which means I have to pack up my backpack again. I decided to drop my Merkur Travel Razor. The reason I brought this razor with me was because it was the only TSA approved hand-held razor I could find on the market.

Normally I wouldn´t post something that involves throwing away an item that took maybe .001% of my backpack but there´s a real interesting story behind it. I actually recieved this razor plus shaving cream FREE. A $60+ value.

(I´ll let the company save face and call them Company X)

I ordered the travel razor for $40 from Company X´s online website. What they sent me was something completely different, a razor I had never seen before and one I knew I wouldn´t be able to take on a plane with me. That is unless I wanted a long chat with U.S Customs.

Here is the exact razor I recieved.

Again, this resembled more knife then razor. I called Company X furiously and demanded they immediantly send me what I ordered and to take back their junk. The salesman asked me to describe the item I recieved. Soon I began to hear tonality of his voice immediantly change. Orginally they reccomended I buy a new Merkur Travel Razor and once they recieved the item that they had sent me, I was to recieve a refund for the new purchase.

However, he then offered to overnight me a new razor along with the best shaving cream avalible in exchange for the item they had mistakenly sent me. Oh ya, the travel razor and shaving cream would be 100% free!

After a bit of research, I was shocked to find that what they had sent me was the most expensive item on their website, valued at over $500! OOPS! The handle was made out of the bones of a wolly mammoth and the frame was plastered in gold. I persoanlly would never use any razor like this because it looked like something my grandpa would use. Even if I sold this razor for half the value I´d still come out way ahead.

I ultimately decided to return the item. Someone really must have recieved a tounge lashing for this mistake. I still came out ahead as I recieved my orginal order plus shaving cream free.

So after all that mess, I was able to recieve a free travel razor, free shaving cream, and a good story for my last speech in toastmasters. All in all, a very good haul for a razor I didn´t even want!

Now I´ve dropped the Merkur Travel Razor from my backpacking adventure.  Its too bad, but I had to let this razor go because the blade was tearing up my face and I wasn´t getting the closeness of shave I´d get from a more traditional hand held razor. I replaced the Merkur Razor with a collection of throw aways.

Thanks for the memories!