Great Courier Receptions

Many at the 'sharp-end' of the courier business have seen it. In
fact, sometimes it's more of a sixth-sense than anything else. It's
that sinking feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you
arrive somewhere to make a delivery and you just KNOW it's all going
to go pear-shaped.The warning signsOne of the best indicators that a
courier job may go wrong is when you arrive at destination only to
spot some immediately visible worries, including such gems as:� Gates
being padlocked;
� A security guard sitting at a desk in reception not
trying too hard to hide the fact that he or she is playing a computer
game;
� A completely empty car park;
� The 'Closed' sign hanging in
the front window.OK, so you don't have to be a great detective to
realise that any of these things may be a pretty powerful indicator
that you're probably going to have trouble making that delivery. There
are, though, a few more subtle signposts the courier experiences from
time to time.Body languageIn this category, things may initially look
promising. Maybe the building's open and buzzing with life, the sun's
shining and everything looks good. Don't get too carried away with the
'joie de vivre' though, because those courier warning bells might
start to ring again very shortly.That's when:� The person on reception
looks at you as though you're clearly deranged when you say you're a
courier trying to make a delivery;
� Your mention of the recipient's
name results in a baffled look, followed by the receptionist starting
to thumb half-heartedly through their internal directory to find the
person concerned (this one is often accompanied by loud sighs and a
sad shaking of the head from side-to-side as they try and find the
name);
� The receptionist is "calling up" to try and find out what's
going on and all you can hear is one side of the conversation,
consisting of one or more of: "no, I've never heard of them either";
"wasn't that the guy that left 6 weeks ago?"; "aren't they based in
our other office up north?"; "I'm not telling him - you come down and
tell him";"that's not my responsibility, so if you won't sign for it
then I'm not";
� As the phone is put down, even if you haven't heard
anything along the lines of the above, you suddenly find the
receptionist is unable to look you in the eye and starts fidgeting in
their chair - that's often accompanied by those immortal words
"someone will be down to sort you out in a few minutes" (the
expression 'sort you out' is almost ALWAYS a bad sign - be warned!);
�
You sit down in reception patiently waiting for the 'sorter-outer' to
arrive and then spot the receptionist whispering conspiratorially to a
colleague and pointing in your direction.Of course, none of these
things necessarily mean doom and gloom for the courier but.......Done
and dustedLet's assume that in spite of all of this, the delivery has
somehow managed to take place and you're in the process of leaving.
Job done. Mission accomplished. It's time to take that mental lap of
honour and on to the next courier job. Or is it?If you're an
experienced courier, you're probably worldly-wise enough to know that
once you've got that signature, then you need to get out of there like
greased lightning. That's to avoid any remote possibility of the
sudden "hang on - I'm not taking responsibility for this!" call and
re-think on the part of the consignee. So, your feet are really
motoring towards that exit door, then the alarm bells ring again as
you hear the person signing for it saying to the receptionist one or
more of:� "I thought these were only shipped in lead-lined
containers"
� "I'm surprised he agreed to deliver it like that given
what's inside"
� "I'm not touching it without a bio-hazard suit"
�
"Oh no! It's leaking out of the bottom!"
� "Get the safety tongs and
I'll carry it downstairs".That's when you have to decide whether to
continue letting your courier instincts drive your feet out of there
as fast as possible or whether you turn back and say "er, excuse
me...". Tricky call! But don't worry, we're pretty sure this one will
never happen, but you have been warned!