New York Times delivery how does it work?
January 19, 2018 8:01 AM Subscribe
I live in the Raleigh/Durham area. I am interested in receiving the NY Times Delivery to my address. I am not interested in delivery by mail. Who delivers the NY Times in areas such as Raleigh? Is it private contractors? The same people who deliver the local papers? The reason I ask is I tried to get delivery of the local daily paper and they could rarely get a paper to my door. I don't think it is people stealing the paper and my address is right in the middle of the Triangle so I am not in a rural area. If it's the same people delivering the local paper I don't even want to bother.
The Times is delivered by people who privately contract with the company to do it. I find my deliverers have always been excellent. If you have delivery problems, you can call the Times and they've been very responsive for me in the past - including requests like "please put the paper on the porch, not in the driveway," etc. They seem to have higher standards for delivery performance than local papers or even the majors like the Boston Globe (which famously cut pay drastically for delivery people a couple years ago). If you had a consistent delivery problem they would likely make an effort with you to get it solved.
I can't say whether it would be the same people that deliver your local paper. It's not likely there's any kind of company that delivers all the papers locally, but it is possible that there are people who deliver more than one paper. Currently, the person who delivers my Times and the one who deliver my local paper are married, but do different routes for different companies.
Here is some FAQ stuff about NYT home delivery.
posted by Miko at 8:13 AM on January 19, 2018
I can't say whether it would be the same people that deliver your local paper. It's not likely there's any kind of company that delivers all the papers locally, but it is possible that there are people who deliver more than one paper. Currently, the person who delivers my Times and the one who deliver my local paper are married, but do different routes for different companies.
Here is some FAQ stuff about NYT home delivery.
posted by Miko at 8:13 AM on January 19, 2018
I respectfully disagree with Miko - I’ve tried to get NYT Sunday delivery in both Oregon and Florida and the paper has literally never made it to my home. I found the customer service to be lacking in that the issue could never be explained or resolved. However I believe they did refund the charges when I called to cancel the most recent attempt. This continues to make me really sad - I really want the paper at my house on Sunday! - but I’m not willing to try again.
posted by tatiana wishbone at 8:41 AM on January 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by tatiana wishbone at 8:41 AM on January 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
I've been getting the NYT delivered to multiple homes in Raleigh for the past 8 years, and delivery to 1 address in Durham for 2 years before that. In Raleigh, the NYT is always delivered by the same person that delivers the N&O. I have also seen the same delivery person deliver the Financial Times to a neighbor up the street. My delivery arrives in my driveway about 5:30 am. I received the paper every day during this recent snow storm.
In the the past 10 years we have had occasional delivery problems, but never an ongoing problem. If you do decide to try delivery, report every single problem. You can report delivery problems for the NYT on the website. And although I haven't had to report a problem in over a year, the last time I reported one there was an option to either have the paper re-delivered, or to get a refund. I believe with the N&O you still have to call in delivery problems.
posted by donovangirl at 8:44 AM on January 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
In the the past 10 years we have had occasional delivery problems, but never an ongoing problem. If you do decide to try delivery, report every single problem. You can report delivery problems for the NYT on the website. And although I haven't had to report a problem in over a year, the last time I reported one there was an option to either have the paper re-delivered, or to get a refund. I believe with the N&O you still have to call in delivery problems.
posted by donovangirl at 8:44 AM on January 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
I get NYT delivered on Sundays in Pittsburgh. It's a private contractor (who left a holiday card with our delivery on Christmas Eve) and the only time I had a problem was the first week after I signed up. I reported it and got a refund for that week. Since then, I've gotten it without fail every Sunday around 6 AM (long before I'm awake, but I sometimes hear the car door) through all weathers.
I wish WaPo had delivery outside of DC Metro. I prefer it as a paper, but needs must.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:48 AM on January 19, 2018
I wish WaPo had delivery outside of DC Metro. I prefer it as a paper, but needs must.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:48 AM on January 19, 2018
I have had NYT delivery both personally and through work and have actually had terrible experiences with getting the paper and erroneous billing in both cases.
I loved getting the Sunday Times in print but gave up and finally switched to digital after getting fed up.
posted by forkisbetter at 10:01 AM on January 19, 2018
I loved getting the Sunday Times in print but gave up and finally switched to digital after getting fed up.
posted by forkisbetter at 10:01 AM on January 19, 2018
Here in Oakland CA it's the same people who deliver the local papers, and it is absolutely terrible. I get the Sunday Times, and in the three years I've been getting it here it has never once been delivered on time. 75% of the time it's delivered sometime in the early-late afternoon (1-4pm), 15% of the time it's delivered Monday, and 10% of the time I never get it at all.
Calling the Times has done nothing; calling the delivery guy himself (he leaves his number every month or so in the paper) does nothing, and this delivery guy has even come to my door one Monday afternoon and harassed my wife about why I was complaining so much about him.
I do feel like a sucker continuing to pay for delivery, but I do like getting the physical paper even late -- it's just so frustrating.
posted by crazy with stars at 10:08 AM on January 19, 2018
Calling the Times has done nothing; calling the delivery guy himself (he leaves his number every month or so in the paper) does nothing, and this delivery guy has even come to my door one Monday afternoon and harassed my wife about why I was complaining so much about him.
I do feel like a sucker continuing to pay for delivery, but I do like getting the physical paper even late -- it's just so frustrating.
posted by crazy with stars at 10:08 AM on January 19, 2018
In Tallahassee, FL, I get the weekend NYT (printed in Mobile, AL) delivered by the same person who delivers the local paper. The thinner Fri. and Sat. editions of both are often wrapped together in one bag.
They've never missed a day.
posted by easement1 at 10:13 AM on January 19, 2018
They've never missed a day.
posted by easement1 at 10:13 AM on January 19, 2018
In Philly my Sunday NYT and Inquirer are delivered by the same person. I made a request to have the papers pushed through the mail slot in my front door to deter an occasional theft problem, and they complied. It's usually here before 7:00 AM. Very rarely have they missed delivery, only in terrible snow and ice, and they have allowed me to choose next-day delivery or a refund.
My delivery person also delivers a yearly holiday card - with his address on the return envelope. It's for a holiday tip, which I gladly send every Christmas.
posted by citygirl at 10:25 AM on January 19, 2018
My delivery person also delivers a yearly holiday card - with his address on the return envelope. It's for a holiday tip, which I gladly send every Christmas.
posted by citygirl at 10:25 AM on January 19, 2018
Yes, the carriers are independent contractors. Frequently they deliver for more than one paper, but there's no way to know for certain what the situation is where you are. I live in Carrboro, and the same carrier delivers the daily N&O and the Sunday NYT to us. Our particular carrier delivers the N&O, NYT, WSJ, USA Today, Herald Sun and others.
If it's just a matter of the carrier putting the paper in the wrong place, then talking with the carrier is your best bet for a fix (yes, this means looking out for them at 5am). We had an issue where the carrier was putting the paper in the driveway, but the way our neighborhood is, it wasn't always the right driveway (houses are close together and it's easy to mix them up, esp in the morning dark). I caught her one morning and showed her a better place.
Complaining about service problems to the paper can work--carriers get dinged a significant amount when a missed delivery is reported. (I know because one former carrier gave us her cell phone number to text if we were missing a paper--she wanted to take care of it herself right away, rather than be fined.) So, they do have some incentive to get it right.
If you want to try out the NYT, you can subscribe and see how it goes. Several years ago when we first started our NYT subscription, the delivery service wasn't good but the Times was good about crediting our account for missed papers. We gave up after awhile, then resubscribed a year or more later. No problems since then.
posted by msbubbaclees at 10:29 AM on January 19, 2018
If it's just a matter of the carrier putting the paper in the wrong place, then talking with the carrier is your best bet for a fix (yes, this means looking out for them at 5am). We had an issue where the carrier was putting the paper in the driveway, but the way our neighborhood is, it wasn't always the right driveway (houses are close together and it's easy to mix them up, esp in the morning dark). I caught her one morning and showed her a better place.
Complaining about service problems to the paper can work--carriers get dinged a significant amount when a missed delivery is reported. (I know because one former carrier gave us her cell phone number to text if we were missing a paper--she wanted to take care of it herself right away, rather than be fined.) So, they do have some incentive to get it right.
If you want to try out the NYT, you can subscribe and see how it goes. Several years ago when we first started our NYT subscription, the delivery service wasn't good but the Times was good about crediting our account for missed papers. We gave up after awhile, then resubscribed a year or more later. No problems since then.
posted by msbubbaclees at 10:29 AM on January 19, 2018
Commenters have already said most of what we've experienced here in DC. Our delivery person does seem to be the person who failed to deliver the Washington Post with enough reliability to keep paying for it (one morning they delivered the Washington Post instead of the NYT, in fact). We had canceled the Post not because the delivery was unreliable, though, but because the customer service after a missed delivery was so bad. In that regard the NYT is pretty good.
That said: our Sunday NYT was pretty regularly two or more hours late, and I used to report it missing until I noticed that whenever I did that we'd end up with two copies (the redelivery and the missing one, which was just horribly late, not missing). So I started just reporting the paper as late, and it still showed up eventually, only we didn't have to pay for it that week. After about a month of that, though, the Sunday paper started showing up before I got up. It hasn't failed to beat me to the porch in months now. Whatever pull the NYT has with its drivers, it's better than the Washington Post's pull.
posted by fedward at 7:19 PM on January 19, 2018
That said: our Sunday NYT was pretty regularly two or more hours late, and I used to report it missing until I noticed that whenever I did that we'd end up with two copies (the redelivery and the missing one, which was just horribly late, not missing). So I started just reporting the paper as late, and it still showed up eventually, only we didn't have to pay for it that week. After about a month of that, though, the Sunday paper started showing up before I got up. It hasn't failed to beat me to the porch in months now. Whatever pull the NYT has with its drivers, it's better than the Washington Post's pull.
posted by fedward at 7:19 PM on January 19, 2018
In Tallahassee, FL, I get the weekend NYT (printed in Mobile, AL) delivered by the same person who delivers the local paper. The thinner Fri. and Sat. editions of both are often wrapped together in one bag.In a twist surprising no-one, I didn't get my NYT this morning. Guess I deserved that...
They've never missed a day.
posted by easement1 at 5:34 AM on January 20, 2018
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posted by something something at 8:11 AM on January 19, 2018