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| Taken with my iPhone, July 6, 2022 |
“Maybe we should just have our orders delivered to the town house,” I said to Mike.
“It’s
their job to deliver our orders,” Mike replied.
One year at Christmas, a son sent us a board game which didn’t arrive prior to our closing the farmhouse. The UPS driver wisely decided not to attempt the lane, but instead of returning the package as undeliverable, he just dropped it at the bottom of the lane in the snow and reported it as delivered. Months later, a neighbor found it when he came in to check the road during mud season. The box was ruined but the pieces were okay. We really should have complained to UPS, but we let it go.
Then came the Christmas when the UPS driver tried to come in and got stuck in the lane. We arrived just ahead of him and were already stuck ourselves. You can read our post on that experience here.
The following summer, Mike ordered a heavy item that he needed here, and the route driver didn’t want to deliver it. (Probably the same driver that got stuck in the lane.) Discussion evidently ensued among route drivers at the UPS regional hub. “I know Mike Warnock,” said our town delivery guy. “I’ll just take it to their town house.” They didn’t call or notify us. Mike was furious when the needed item did not arrive. Tracking info said it had been delivered, but he had to investigate to find out where it had been dropped. UPS didn’t tell us because it was just an arrangement between drivers. Mike complained to the regional manager, and we received a refund of the price of that item.
Then a couple of summers ago, my phone rang. “I’m in Orofino,” said the UPS driver, “and I have a delivery for you, but I don’t want to go to your place. Do you have a place in town where I could deliver it?” I explained that we were at the town house. “In the Valley!” he said. “I’ll take the truck back to the hub and bring it to you in my car on my way home,” he said. And he did.
At this point, I became even more paranoid about UPS deliveries to the farm. “UPS does not want to deliver here,” I said to Mike once again. “It is their job!” he said. I quit ordering anything delivered here while he has something delivered about once a week.
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| Evening light and shadow |
The other day, UPS drove in with Mike’s most recent order.
“Thank
you for being here at this place,” said the driver as he handed me the package.
“REALLY!” I said, skeptically. I thought he was being facetious. “My impression has been that UPS hates to deliver here.”
“I love to come here,” he said. “It’s such a beautiful place. And besides, it’s my job.” KW
4 comments:
Love the pictures! Very cool!
Ha! I'm here this week without the camera, so I took those with my phone. Perhaps it's better than the camera. However, it takes more steps to transfer photos from phone to computer.
Thanks for the comment, Becky.
That was a nice UPS driver. UPS is known for paying piece-rate, which in the city is probably a pretty good deal for a scrappy driver. Such an arrangement wouldn't be very fair for a country driver--perhaps they're just paid a flat rate and so they're happy to go wherever.
I saw a news item about a pilot program where Amazon is contracting with small businesses to deliver in rural areas. It was about this woman with a specialty shop in a small town. UPS delivers all regional packages to her, and she delivers from there. It was promoted as a win-win. Her business gets a shot in the arm. She knows the territory, and UPS doesn't have to drive their big trucks over the countryside.
When UPS first began deliveries -- was that in the '70s? -- my mother commented that all the drivers were friendly and outgoing. She thought the company must train them in customer service. It hasn't really been that way for many years.
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