Thank you for thinking of my safety....NOT (another tale)

[Racket_Man]

with the record snowfall last week (almost 15 inches), our area is mostly dug out.

What bothers the hell outta me is, YES IT HAS been a week since the last significant snow fall. how hard is it then you ask is it for homeowners and apartment dwellers alike to have NOT cleared off their steps????

How friggin hard is it for you, at the end of the storm, to after cleaning your sidewalks (as required by city statue/law) at least take a broom and sweep off your steps. and to you apartment dwellers I expect that you should be a little diligent in this as to NOT unduly burden your landlord with a potential lawsuit and a huge claim again their liability insurance.

you know there are going to be people trudging up and down these steps and yet you choose to be a lawsuit waiting to happen. I am refering to not only mail carriers and delivery persons but friends, family, small childern, etc.

the worst offenders seem to be the houses converted to upper/lower duplexes with outside staircases. yes those dreaded outside stairs that are at a 60 degree angle, wood construction, painted, minimal handrails and are at least 30 - 40 years old.

Try holding a full pizza hot bag and a lit flashlight (because as you know it is always a good idea to NOT put on the outside light when expecting a delivery) and navigating a perilious steep stairway that is covered in either ice or a couple of inches of packed down snow.

[42_42_42]

Can you call them from your cell and have THEM trek down the stairs?

[patiokitty]

In some places it is up to the manager/landlord to remove the snow from walkways and staircases for their rental units. It's the same way where I live, but because I know that I can't trust my landlord to actually do their job I have a shovel so I can shovel at least a two-foot wide path from doorway, down the driveway, and to the street so my son and I can get out...only to listen to her bitch that I didn't shovel the driveway! Hello, no car or I would have. Besides, I don't think I should have to clear the entire driveway just so her nightly bootycalls can park. The Rental Act says that snow removal must be provided by the homeowner or designated landlord...guh...

[Amina516]

I second 42. Tell them its too dangerous for you to go or something similar. Regardless of whos responsible for removal, if its not clear, then they come to you! (in a perfect world, anyways.)

[Racket_Man]

Quoth 42_42_42

Can you call them from your cell and have THEM trek down the stairs?

Quoth Amina516

I second 42. Tell them its too dangerous for you to go or something similar. Regardless of whos responsible for removal, if its not clear, then they come to you! (in a perfect world, anyways.)

in short no for the reasons listed below

this would come under the category of
1. inconvencing the almighty customer

2. they would call the store or make a complaint on the internet howling about how THEY had to come out in the cold and snow when it is the drivers JOB to do this. this means that I would get yelled at, the SC would get lots of free stuff and I would get the "HAHA I got you in trouble" stare when delievering there again. why should the company care about my safety.

3. that also means the customer would actually have to do some work in the process and God forbid the SC actually has to do some work (other than getting their butt off of the couch and openning the door)

4. the customer might actually be the one to fall and injure themselves and Heaven forbid the CUSTOMER put themselves in danger when it is some wage slave's job.

and unfortuneately this would lead to the dreaded no tip/stiff situation and in (dreaded phrase I know) "this economy" I need to make as much money as I can.

the worst one I have encountered was Jan of 2009. it was a regular house. now the owner was nice enough to ACTUALLY shovel and clear the sidewalk and walkway TO the house. but what he forgot to do was take care of the slick and VERY smooth 1 inch layer of ICE that was under the snow. I took one step and almost lost it. I had to trudge through the middle of the front lawn in a foot of snow to make it to the door. And YES I did mention the hazard to the owner stating to him that he could have a huge liability on his hands if he did not take care of the problem.

[Andara Bledin]

I wonder if you can get strap on cletes for when you have to deliver to those sorts of places.

^-.-^

[ReverendBSB]

We had a similar situation when I was a manager as a Pizza Hut years ago. There was a dangerous neighborhood (Gardere for those in BR) that was not in our delivery area, but our ghetto manager made us deliver to anyway. I had one driver return one day from a delivery with the pizza. He told me how the apartment he was delivering to had no lights on outside. The buildings have four apartments, two ground, two second floor, two of each in the back. So the driver would have had to go to the back of these apartments in the pitch black, where who knows what could happen.

I told him he did the right thing, called the customer, and told them they had to turn the lights on or meet the driver in the front. When they said it was the landlords responsibility I told told them to call him then, but my terms stand.

As for the driver I paid him his delivery fee anyway, and used a couple of extra coupons to get him a few extra bucks for his trouble. I always took care of my drivers.

[EvilEmpryss]

Aw, damnit! Self-sighting on this subject about 15 minutes ago.

We've got a bit of a snowstorm happening where I live; the first of the season and nothing for anyone who's survived North Dakota, but for the locals, well, let's just say there was a serious run on bread and milk. I decided to order a pizza toight. When the delivery came, I opened the door to see a walk full of snow and an icy set of steps! And after I read this thread, too!

I apologized to the pizza guy and tipped him well for his troubles, so hopefully I didn't come across as too sucky.

BTW: Doesn anyone know why people rush out to buy milk when a winter storm is on the way? If the power goes out it's just going to go bad.

[Mikkel]

Quoth EvilEmpryss

If the power goes out it's just going to go bad.

Not if you put it outside.

[KiaKat]

We have a huge storm scheduled to come through this afternoon/tomorrow morning. The big joke is that you cannot find bread or milk in any local store. For a funny story about it, read this.