So another example as to how adulting is SO much fun.  Let me see if I can recall the timeline of everything here.

At the end of June I went on vacation for a week.  A guy who works for my company in another part of the country flew in to cover me.  Apparently he's pretty knowledgeable about the machines we work with so he spotted a few things he wanted to replace.  When I got back from that vacation my coworker emailed me about the parts he needed and asked me to order them from the company.  He would be covering me again in September when I am taking my second week of vacation (coming up in about a week now.)

So in early July I emailed the company that makes the machine and as instructed ordered 5 replacement wheels as well as a cable and a socket.  The company responded that they needed pictures of the wheels so I took the pictures immediately and emailed back.

A week or so later a package arrives.  It has the cable and 3 wheels.  I didn't know if the rest was still coming and it kind of left my mind until my coworker emailed me in August once again requesting that I order 5 wheels, a cable, and a socket.  I was like I already ordered this, but then I recalled they didn't send me everything so I had to contact them again and be like, hey, I still need that socket and like 2 more wheels.  I made sure to send pictures and everything spelling out what I needed and why.  

They responded within a couple days saying they needed to forward the request to their engineers.  On August 16th I got an email asking if I had sent back old parts.  I responded that I didn't have any old parts as the guy wasn't coming until September and he would be replacing stuff then.  I could send any parts that he replaced at that time.

A couple days after that I get another email from the company saying that now they need my contact number because they need to talk to me about these parts I need to order.  I'm like "Really?  What is there to discuss?"  But I dutifully replied with my phone number.  A couple more days passed and I didn't hear from them before receiving an email saying they were still waiting for my contact number - in the SAME email chain where I can see I sent them my number.  Before I had a chance to respond to that I got a phone call from them, so evidently they eventually realized I had sent them my number.

So the guy on the phone tells me that wheels aren't under contract and they consider them to be a cosmetic fix so if I need more wheels I'm going to have to ask for a quote and get a purchase order.  The socket is apparently under contract so they can send that but he wants to know if we want to pay an arm and a leg for wheels so they can send them all at the same time.  Keep in mind they already sent me 3 wheels earlier with no mention of a purchase order.  I don't know if we want to spend money on the additional wheels, but I told the guy I'd check and get back to him.

So I emailed my coworker who's going to replace everything and let him know they now need a purchase order for any additional wheels.  I waited a couple days and he didn't reply back so I figured let's just go ahead and forget about the wheels for now and just get that socket so it'll get here before I leave town.  I emailed the guy I had talked to on the phone and I get an instantaneous automated response that he's out of the office until 8/30.

So I waited to see if he would respond to that email, and of course, I heard nothing so finally this morning I figured I should email again because I'm leaving in about a week and I really need to get that socket before I go.  I realized that throughout this process I've apparently been emailing to a few different people at the company and apparently communication between them doesn't seem to be awesome.  To make sure I'm covering my bases I made sure I replied to all this time in the comment chain as I asked once again for the socket to be sent.

I get a reply asking me why I need a new socket and that they can't just send out replacement parts for no reason.  Then they asked me again if I had sent them back old parts.  

By this point I'm getting super frustrated and I wrote back with the same pictures I had sent like a month ago and explained once again why I need this socket.  This is my third time asking for it.  I also had to re-iterate that I don't have any old parts and I won't have any until I replace them with the new parts I've ordered.

I got a response back acknowledging that I need a new socket and that they understand that I can't send it back until it's replaced but that they were referring to earlier parts shipped and an email from August 16th that I never responded to.  Except, I totally did respond to it on 8/16.  Apparently I just replied to the person who sent it to me and didn't "reply all" to everyone included on the link so I guess that's why the person I'm talking to now thinks I never responded.  Like I said apparently they don't have great communication between them.

They also kind of scolded me about "typically when contract part replacements are sent out the old parts are expected to be sent back within 30 days.  First of all, this is the first time I'm hearing about this.  Secondly the only parts I received earlier are the 3 wheels, which apparently aren't under contract anyway and that cable, none of which has been replaced yet because my coworker isn't coming for over a week.  I assume these are the old parts they're referring to as I haven't gotten anything else from them.  

I responded again with a "reply all" thanking them for finally agreeing to send the socket and explaining once again that the guy is going to be here in September to replace stuff.  I mention I can send back the wheels and the socket once they're replaced, but nothing has been replaced yet.  I've sent them my shipping address before but I included it again just for convenience sake.

So then the guy I talked to on the phone earlier who never responded to my earlier email asking to just send the socket jumps in with a response about how as per our phone conversation they can't send wheels without a purchase order.  Also what address do I want the socket shipped to?

It's taking everything I have not to curse in the emails as I explain once again I don't need any more wheels right now, just send the socket.   To my address which I just included in the last email.  

So that's where we're at in this saga now.  Supposedly they're sending the socket out today.  We'll see if it gets here before I leave for vacation.  If it doesn't they're not getting any old parts back anytime soon, because I don't even know how to replace this damn socket.  As it is I'd better emphasize to my coworker that he needs to save any old parts he replaces so I can send them back.  We'll see.  I'm not holding my breath when I come back to town there will be anything left for me to send.

For that matter, I'm not even 100% sure if they want the old wheels back.  They never specified in the emails they sent, they just mentioned "old parts" and there seems to be some confusion as to if they should have even sent me the wheels that they did.  They're apparently not under contract.  And why do they want dirty old wheels?  Maybe they just wanted the old cable back?  I can send that, I guess, but it hasn't been replaced yet either.  The current one is working okay, it was more my understanding this new one is like a backup.  But whatever.  This whole thing would be funny if it weren't immensely frustrating.