I had ordered something to be delivered to the house. Not such a complex task, I thought, although I acknowledge that our home isn't as easy to find as it could be. You see, we live in a village where most houses have names, not numbers. To make matters worse, our house is set back from the road, behind other houses. Accordingly, I give pretty good directions, and always supply my mobile phone number so that the person making the delivery can call me if all else fails.
I'm not an ogre, after all...
And so, when I received a voice mail yesterday afternoon, asking for more information about my address, I wasn't entirely surprised. I called back, in a spirit of helpfulness - I wanted my delivery to arrive safely - to be told that the goods had been delivered already. "So why was I being asked for more information?", I asked. "I don't know,", was the reply, "but I'll find out and get back to you.". So far, so not entirely impressive, but these things do happen.
It was mid-morning when Ros called. Apparently, the delivery had been made. At 1.45 a.m. To our next door neighbour.
It would be fair to say that she was not impressed. I can't say that I was either. I rang the number in Ayr that had contacted me the day before. They were somewhat surprised, but were keen to wash their hands of the matter, suggesting that I talk to the supplier of the goods. Luckily, Ros had already done that. I, meanwhile, expressed a degree of dismay that the person making the delivery should choose to do so at such an ill-judged time, to a village without street lights. Explanation was there none.
It seems that someone at UK Mail is under the impression that they can deliver whenever they feel like it, and that if that means waking up random strangers unconnected to their task in the process, so be it.
Perhaps I am supposed to be impressed that someone could find my next-door neighbour's house at 1.45 a.m. in pitch darkness, walk across the gravel, wake them up and set off their security lights. It could, of course, all be part of their service.
Somehow, I suspect that it isn't...
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