After countless hours sorting out delivery issues, Montreal man with ALS tells companies to do better
CBC
Herman Jacobs depends on online ordering and home delivery for everything from groceries to medical supplies.
He uses a wheelchair and lives in an adapted apartment in Montreal's Pointe-St-Charles neighbourhood.
"The internet is a real lifesaver," said Jacobs, 73, who has ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
But his reduced mobility makes it difficult for him to pick up packages from his building's lobby.
To make it easier, he adds special delivery instructions when he orders from online retailers such as Amazon and asks for his packages to be brought directly to his apartment door.
But over and over again, Jacobs says his packages are dropped off in the lobby, which is not secure and is several floors below him. Sometimes the delivery driver doesn't even ring his apartment to alert Jacobs that his order is there, which has resulted in a few stolen packages.
Although he received refunds, Jacobs said it's a major inconvenience.
His worst experience is with one of Amazon's delivery partners, Intelcom, followed by Amazon's own delivery service.
"Every time, I am assured that this delivery was an anomaly and it won't happen again," said Jacobs. "Yet it does, order after order."
If Jacobs has to fetch the packages himself, it can take at least 10 minutes to wheel down to the lobby and back.
"It's very exhausting and long," said Jacobs.
Complaining also isn't as simple as just picking up the phone.
Due to his ALS, Jacobs's speech is hard to understand, so he relies on email, online messaging or a computer program, called IP Relay, to communicate.
It's time-consuming and Jacobs isn't convinced the companies take his feedback seriously because it keeps happening.
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