Why I hate Purolator

Here's how FedEx works. When someone sends me a package with FedEx, the company's local driver comes to my house to deliver it. It used to be that if I wasn't home, they would call me to see if I would be around soon so they could drop it off. If I wasn't, they would come back the next day. (Now the way it works is they leave it in a pre-arranged spot whether I'm home or not.) When I want to send something via FedEx, I call them and they come pick it up. Or I take it to the local drop, and they pick it up from there.

Here is how Purolator works. They come to my house with a package. If I'm not home, they don't try to deliver it again. Instead, they leave a note saying the package is available for pickup at their local agent. Is their local agent the post office? You know, an outlet of Canada Post, which actually owns Purolator and has convenient hours, like opening at 8 AM?

No, their agent is a local business that sells wine and beer-making supplies and bottled water, and offers dry cleaning and a Sears pickup service. They open at 10 AM most days.

I take the note off my door, and naively head down to the local agent to pick up my package. "Oh no, it won't be here today. He'll drop it off when he comes back tomorrow." Because they only open at 10, of course, if you have a job in the city or somewhere else to be that takes you out of the community earlier in the morning, you are screwed.

How about using Purolator to send packages? 1) Go to the post office (a branch of the corporation that owns Purolator, remember). 2) Hand over the package. 3) Be told that Purolator won't deliver to that address. 4) Listen to suggestion that maybe the UPS store or the local weird little bottled-water-and-whatever store might know if there's a way to get Purolator to deliver that address ("They really don't tell us anything about Purolator") and 5) Send package using another company before 6) Remembering to ask clients to please use FedEx instead.