On February 11 of this year, Miss Tian got into a simple argument that would later change her life. Miss Tian, a resident of Beijing's Haidian District, ordered a courier service to deliver a package to her friend. As per regulation, couriers often inspect the contents of the package before shipping so that no one can accuse them of breaking or stealing anything. Miss Tian's courier inspected her package which included cigarettes, a pair of shoes, and a pen. He did not re-package the cigarettes properly, despite her urging. When her friend received the package all of the cigarettes had been crushed and the pen was missing. Miss Tian complained to the company and to the police; the company punished the courier and took away his yearly bonus.
Shortly after, Miss Tian began to receive a strange number of harassing phone calls. “I was with my parents over New Years and I kept getting tons of phone calls. The other person on the line would say things like, 'Aren't you a prostitute?' Sometimes my parents or others would hear them. I would ask them where they got my phone number and found out that it had been written down on two different places including a service door of a building under renovation. I had no idea how my number had come to be there but then I realized that I had written it down for the courier as a contact number for the delivery.” She investigated the situation further and found her number written on walls and inside an elevator alongside the words, “prostitute,” and “call for a good time.”
On March 12, Miss Tian called the courier company to complain again and to ask them to deal the situation but they did not reply. Miss Tian also worked with the police to settle the issue. In the end, the courier was forced to pay her 10,000 Yuan in compensation. She originally asked for 50,000 Yuan but the courier could not afford it.
“He is taking care of his elderly parents and his children. If you lose your job it's very hard to find a new one. He is very sorry for his moment of anger and regrets his actions,” said the courier's brother.
