Giving Them A 1-2-1 About 121

My dad owns two properties right next door to each other: one which we live in, and one which he rents out to my great uncle, who is deaf and communicates via sign language. For the sake of simplicity, they’ll be referred to as 121 and 127, respectively. 121 has a long, winding driveway while 127 has a straight driveway. The driveway on 127 is located just enough between the two houses that it could be interpreted as a shared driveway. This is compounded by the fact that, for some reason, the mailboxes for 121 and 127 are both located on 127’s driveway. This has resulted in many deliveries intended for 121 instead being delivered to 127. It’s not much of an issue until the delivery day of a particularly important package.

The driver delivering this package is by far the biggest offender in mixing up addresses. Today is no exception; he attempts to deliver the package to 127 instead of 121 while I’m at work. I return home to find no package. Upon checking the tracking, I notice that the package’s status is listed as “could not be delivered.” I ask my sister if anyone came, but she tells me that nobody did, so I go over to my great uncle. He tells me that someone tried to deliver the package to 127. He tried to tell them that it had to go to 121, but apparently, the driver did not understand sign language, so he put the package back in the van and left.

Annoyed, I call the company and explain the situation to the rep on the other end. They tell me that the driver claimed the package was refused and that it was actually getting ready to go back! I tell them to try delivering it again and they agree. I go into painstaking detail about which house it needs to be delivered to, and that the driveway for 121 is winding, not straight. The representative tells me that they will inform the driver about the details.

I have the following day off, so I stay home to make sure it will be delivered to the correct house. I also ask my great uncle to accept my package and hold it for me in case the company tries to deliver it to him again. Incredibly, even with the specific instructions, they once again attempt to deliver it to 127! After collecting the package from my great uncle, I call the delivery company again and file a complaint against the driver. They tell me that they will put notes for all future deliveries to 121 that the driveway is not shared.

Unfortunately, that specific driver wasn’t fired, and he still insists on delivering packages addressed as 121 to 127 to this very day. I’ve tried everything: having notes added to packages, putting very clear numbers on each house’s respective driveways, and even getting permission from the post office to put 121’s mailbox on 121’s driveway. None of it has gotten through to that specific driver. At this point, it’s honestly a miracle that he’s still working for the delivery company.