An update on my New York Times delivery problem:

On Monday, I sent the following e-mail to circulation@nytimes.com:

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to elaborate on a complaint I sent yesterday via the New York Times Customer Care website. My subscriber account number is XXXXXXXX.

I have been a New York Times delivery customer since the fall of 2001 and my delivery has usually been flawless. Starting with the weekend of February 5, 2005, I signed up to have my weekend newspapers delivered to a new address: XX XXX Street, Apt. XXX, New York, NY, 100XX. Since moving to my new address, I have had New York Times delivery problems every weekend.

Simply put, my newspaper does not arrive on Saturday or Sunday mornings. In fact, there are several New York Times subscribers in my building, and none of our newspapers arrive on the weekend. None of our copies of the Saturday and Sunday New York Times arrive until Monday morning. In fact, one Monday morning, at 8:30, I actually saw the deliveryman deliver the weekend newspapers and then go out to his delivery truck and drive away.

This is unacceptable.

Except for one day, I have had to call the customer hotline, 1-800-NYTIMES, every Saturday and Sunday since the beginning of February to register a complaint. Usually a credit is applied to my account and I am told that the carrier or the distributor will be called. On February 26 or 27 I was told that the distributor would be told to get a new carrier, and I thought my problem was solved. On Saturday morning, March 5, I received the Saturday and the Sunday advance sections. (Curiously, it was only my newspaper that arrived; nobody else’s did.) Then, on Sunday morning, March 6, I did not receive any newspaper at all. I called the hotline and received a credit.

This morning, as I left my building for work, I noticed a stack of Saturday and Sunday New York Times newspapers. They had just been delivered this morning – Monday, March 7.

It is clear that whichever carrier is assigned to deliver Saturday and Sunday copies of the New York Times to XX XXX Street has utterly failed in its job. Weekend newspapers should be delivered on the weekend, not on Monday morning. I would guess that this particular carrier does not do business on the weekend. In that case, a new carrier should be assigned delivery of the New York Times — one that can handle weekend newspaper delivery.

Starting next weekend, I expect my Saturday and Sunday newspapers, as well as those of the other subscribers in my building, to be delivered on Saturdays and Sundays.

Please keep me apprised of developments in regard to this matter. Thank you.

Sincerely,

[me]

P.S. I was informed by someone on the customer care hotline that the proper mailing address for complaints is: New York Times, P.O. Box 70, Northvale, NJ, 07647-0070. I am sending this to that address as well.

So what happens? This weekend I receive FOUR copies of the Sunday New York Times.

Yesterday morning I went to the lobby to find the Saturday paper and the Sunday advance sections with my name and addresss handwritten on them, and I brought them upstairs. Later in the day, Matt and I went out, and waiting for me in the lobby was another Saturday paper with the Sunday advance sections, also with my name and address on them (in a different person’s handwriting). This morning, I went downstairs and found one copy of the Sunday regular sections with my name and apartment written on them in yet another person’s handwriting, one copy of just the Sunday advance sections, with my name and apartment written on them in someone else’s handwriting, and one delivery of the entire Sunday paper (advance and regular sections), with a printed out name/address label.

So, um, I’ve got four copies of the Arts & Leisure section if anybody wants them.

Oh, and there have been no weekend New York Times deliveries for anyone else in the building. I guess those will come tomorrow.

This is ridiculous.