Where Grounded Requests Aren’t Desirable 

The caller is shipping an order to Hawaii from mainland US.

Me: “Looks like that’ll go second-day air, so you’ll see that on Thursday.”

Caller: “Second-day air sounds expensive. Can’t you just ship it ground so it’ll be cheaper?”

Me: “Did you say ground?”

Caller: “Yeah, that’s always cheaper.”

Me: “No, I’m sorry, ground isn’t an option to Hawaii.”

Caller: “Why not?”

I’m struggling to think of how to say this without sounding like a total jerk.

Me: “Because, um… ground requires roads.”

You can practically hear the light bulb turn on.

Caller: “Can we back up to before I asked for ground shipping?”