Getting stuff for free is fun. As a writer and relentless self promoter, I’ve been given many things for either review purposes or because the PR team thought I’d like and then write about them.

Klout, an oft-argued about company that tries to measure influence online, recently offered to send me a PSP, with a special Ice Cube music video, to promote a new sitcom “Are We There Yet.” I was stoked, as who doesn’t want a free PSP?

So I waited. I checked my mail box daily, went to the management office every other day and started researching cool games I could buy. Now, regardless of what you think about Klout or anyone sending people they deem as influencers cool stuff, I bet most people would agree that if something is offered and/or promised, it should be delivered.

They said it would was delivered at 4:02pm on February 2nd. I wasn’t home that day, as I had a meeting at the Starbucks up the street, but I did come home by 5pm. No PSP.

I never got my PSP. I then spent nearly two weeks going back and forth with Klout trying to determine its whereabouts and we eventually discovered that FedEx had left the package by the door, as it didn’t require a signature (who doesn’t require delivery confirmation on a $200+ product?) and as such, it was gone.

You are responsible for your subcontractors. Whether you subcontract with a shipping company, someone to do some drywall or a graphic designer to make your words look pretty, no matter what happens, you are responsible to your client if something doesn’t get done.

Someone hired Klout to ship me a gift in hopes that I would promote their show. Klout, though not directly responsible for losing the item, failed to uphold their end of whatever agreement was on the table. They could have required signature confirmation (hell, the two copies of Now Revolution were waiting at my apartment office for me, NOT at my door) or some other far more secure shipping method, but they did not.

Businesses need to remember that smart people won’t blame the middle man. They also won’t like excuses like this, either:

Don’t ever pass the buck. It makes you look incompetent.

PS…thanks for my Southland Nike Golf jacket, Klout!