I’m writing today to address a topic that has, unfortunately, been all too real for many of our dedicated home delivery subscribers. In many towns across the Pioneer Valley, our delivery service has simply not been good.
Since I joined the Gazette as publisher in January, the greatest volume of calls/emails/letters that I receive have been problems with our home delivery. They include delivery instructions not being followed, late deliveries, next-day deliveries and in some cases, no delivery at all. While we don’t have solutions to all of this yet, I thought you deserved an update from me.
The biggest problem we are facing is a lack of carriers. As you may know, one of the many significant effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the impact on recruiting hourly and service-oriented workers. This has affected businesses such as retail stores, home improvement contractors and restaurants across the Pioneer Valley and beyond. However, this is not our only problem, and Circulation Manager Mark Galat and I are intensely focused on restructuring every aspect of our delivery operation.
Although I can’t promise immediate success, as hiring continues to be a significant challenge, I am confident that the changes we have made will help us improve our service to you, our valued home delivery subscribers.
If these problems have affected the delivery of your paper, please accept my apologies, as well as my thanks for your patience as we continually work to improve our service. If you experience a delivery problem, please contact our customer service department at circulation@gazettenet.com or call (413) 586-1925.
Remember, all home delivery subscriptions include full digital access to both our electronic edition, which is a digital replica of the daily paper, and unlimited access to gazettenet.com. If your delivery is running late or is missed, you can still read the paper and keep up with breaking news throughout the day. If you wish to transition your subscription from home delivery to digital only, we can help you with that too. Just ask one of our local customer service associates to assist you.
And lastly, if you or anyone you know is interested in an early morning part-time job delivering the Gazette, please let us know that as well.
Shawn Palmer is publisher of the Daily Hampshire Gazette.