Some people
include a telephone number in their street address information in order to
improve the chances of a package being delivered. In fact, some countries
include a telephone number in their official address block format. But in a
world where parcels are increasingly chucked over fences or launched from
moving vehicles in order to achieve faster delivery times as margins become
ever smaller, what chances are there that a courier would take the
time to call a number to try to improve the chances of a package being delivered?
Even the better courier companies have, thanks to Covid-19, abandoned getting signatures
acknowledging package receipt. The way things are going, I foresee package
delivery going down a tariff path similar to that followed by airlines and
health services – the standard price you pay just gets your parcel into the
system. If you want it treated well and delivered to the intended recipient,
you would have to pay the premium.
But even if
it were practical for the courier to use their time to call the intended recipient
to help them get to the delivery point, how useful would it be? We all know
that it’s not easy giving accurate directions to somebody even when they’re
standing next to you and you’re both facing in the same direction. What are
the chances of providing enough useful information when you don’t know where
the courier is, in which direction they’re pointing or which positional coding
app they happen to have on their phones?
If they cannot find you with the address information already provided, would
a telephone call provide enough information to help? Apart from the occasional “I’m
outside the front entrance, which floor are you on?” type of request, I wonder
about the usefulness.
What do you
think? Have you experienced telephone numbers in addresses providing a useful
addition? Are they actually being used? Any anecdotes? I’d love to know.
