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  • #1

    Mobility advice - delivery people.

    I have mobility difficulties. As such I can't get down the stairs very quickly at all times. When I move I'll be moving to a ground floor flat instead.

    However the delivery people seem to believe I have a teleport device and that I can appear behind the door Lurch style before the doorbell barely rings.

    Like today: I'd spotted the van, got to the top of the stairs and the doorbell rang. Before I could even shout "on my way" the guy had thumped the door 3 times and then gone for the doorbell *again*.

    The advice part: Is putting up a sign saying "resident has mobility issues, please allow time to get to the door" or something wise or just 'lowlife bait"?

    Luckily today I didn't actually do anything bar stress my leg a little but still ended up riled and upset because I felt I had to rush.
    I am so SO glad I was not present for this. There would have been an unpleasant duct tape incident. - Joi
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  • #2
    I'd be thinking something like this....

    I am so SO glad I was not present for this. There would have been an unpleasant duct tape incident. - Joi

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    • #3
      Cpuld you put it as part of a delivery instructions instead? I know it wouldn't help with all deliveries but I would be cautious of putting the note on the door.

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      • #4
        Technology could also help... I'm sure an intercom system with a unit at the door would be nice. (Not sure where to find one that wouldn't be too costly, though...)

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        • #5
          I would hesitate to put something on your door, as that could invite unwanted attention. I agree with making it part of the delivery instructions instead. If you owned your home, I'd also agree with an intercom system, but I'm not sure that's worth the investment in a rental.
          At the conclusion of an Irish wedding, the priest said "Everybody please hug the person who has made your life worth living. The bartender was nearly crushed to death.

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          • #6
            Definitely tell them on the phone whenever possible. If ordering online see if there's a place to put special instructions.

            I'm not even mobility impaired but I had to tell the electric company meter readers not to tap once on the door and then beat feet back to the van. Had to tell them more than once. We had to come down the stairs from the second floor flat, and by the time we even got to the window to tell them we were coming, they'd be getting in the van to drive away!
            When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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            • #7
              I concur that a sign on the door might mark a target of opportunity for bad guys.

              Delivery instructions where available would help discreetly in most cases, but some delivery folks went to the same reading school as SCs.

              Radio-based intercoms are cheap and plentiful on ebay, and can be as easy to install as a lego and take with you when you move. There might even be models with multiple stations so you're never far from one.
              Suckiness is reinforced up OR down at every transaction. Accepting BS makes them worse for all of us; firm fairness trains them to suck less.

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              • #8
                Look into something like this.
                Life is too short to not eat popcorn.
                Save the Ales!
                Toys for Tots at Rooster's Cafe

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                • #9
                  Whenever I order delivery at home, I always ask them to have the delivery person call my cell phone when they get there, because I don't always hear the door. This has nothing to do with any hearing issues, which I don't have, but just the way my apartment is. Basically, if I'm in my room, I'm not likely to hear the door.

                  Amusingly, the local Chinese place I order delivery from no longer needs to be told....they've started calling me on their own when they get here.

                  In your case, you could probably ask them to have the delivery person call when they're a couple minutes away, giving you a chance to get down to the door.

                  "The Customer Is Always Right...But The Bartender Decides Who Is                   Still A Customer."

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                  • #10
                    Thanks all. I'll look at door systems and I do try to put information in the delivery field where possible. I just have a lot of times I can't.

                    Think I'll stick without using the sticker for now - although might put it out when I know I'm expecting a delivery and having a bad day mobility wise and then remove it asap once delivery has occured.
                    I am so SO glad I was not present for this. There would have been an unpleasant duct tape incident. - Joi

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                    • #11
                      Food delivery is definitely more likely to comply with these instructions, in my experience -- after all, following them gets them in and out faster, and en route to their next run, and they're essentially under a time limit. Package delivery...eh...it varies. If you do mail order a lot and find that one company or another is really good about this, reward them by giving them your business

                      An alternative for package/nonfood services that I had to resort to after one too many expensive computer components ended up sitting on the ground, next to my door for hours (once in the rain) with no knock (I've been sitting in the front room before when they came, and only know something had arrived when I heard the van driving off) --- If it's possible, have stuff delivered to your place of work. At a retail store, probably not gonna happen; but, if you work at an office, or have a reliable roomie/relative who does...
                      "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                      "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                      "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                      "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                      "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                      "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                      Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
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                      • #12
                        Because of a couple annoying and unpleasant experiences I've had with package delivery at my apartment, I now get many things (though not everything) delivered to my work. As long as management is cool with it (mine is), it's a pretty good way to do things. Even if I'm not there, the package gets signed for and is kept securely where I can get it, and out of the elements.

                        "The Customer Is Always Right...But The Bartender Decides Who Is                         Still A Customer."

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                        • #13
                          I live in a second floor apartment and not only can it take a few minutes to get down the stairs, I keep odd hours. So I may have to roll out of bed, grab my glasses and put on my pants.

                          I have a sign that goes:

                          ATTENTION
                          FED-EX/UPS/ETC
                          DELIVERIES TO APT. [number]
                          I AM home, but it takes a few minutes to get down the stairs.

                          Sign the front door to my section of the building has a big window, I just tape that to the inside of the window when I'm expecting a delivery.

                          I started doing that after several UPS deliveries where the *truck* was gone by the time I rushed downstairs. Basically, the drivers were ringing the bell twice, then sticking the note on the door and leaving.

                          With my sign, they didn't dare, because they realized that if they *didn't wait, I'd be on the phone to their boss as soon as I got back to my apartment.

                          The problem is when somebody ships something without any sort of tracking info (or with the outfit that ships my diabetic supplies, the delivery gets here before I have a chance to see the email!)

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                          • #14
                            An intercom and a sign which asks people to use the intercom is unlikely to make you seem vulnerable, but might help a great deal.
                            Seshat's self-help guide:
                            1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
                            2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
                            3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
                            4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

                            "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

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                            • #15
                              Well that worked ... NOT.

                              Put a note on the door saying "Please note it does take me a couple of minutes to get downstairs. Thank you for your patience".

                              The delivery guy (royal mail) then thumped the damn door half a dozen times *before* ringing the doorbell......

                              I will look at an intercom once I move and if possible get things delivered to work once I am working again.
                              I am so SO glad I was not present for this. There would have been an unpleasant duct tape incident. - Joi

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