New McBride Purolator depot location providing delivery solutions for area residents

By Andrea Arnold

Uncle Mark’s has stepped in to fill the role of Purolator depot after unpredictable deliveries and no pick-up location has caused almost two months of headaches as locals outside village limits tried to receive orders to their homes. These online shoppers will be happy to hear that Uncle Mark’s, located at 926 -1st Ave in McBride began their partnership with Purolator on Monday, February 24th. 

The previous depot location, Horseshoe Lake Ventures, ceased their package holding services on January 4th. The scope of work had increased and required more staff than they could provide.

During the interim, customers have been sharing experiences and information through the McBride Discussion Board on Facebook, and through conversations on the street. Some customers reported that yes, the delivery was made to their house, while others said they received notices that their package was undeliverable and had been sent back to the shipper, only to have it appear on their doorstep a few days later.

One customer suggested that if a package was missing, checking the snowdrift was a good option, as that is where he found his.

Jan Bratton said that the tracking information had recorded that her package had travelled back and forth between Edmonton and Prince George, passing through McBride four times. 

“I switched the delivery address to my work address – in town – and still received information that it was undeliverable,” she said. “I was finally able to pick it up from Uncle Mark’s today.”

Others were told their undeliverable package was being held at the Prince George depot for pickup, completely negating the point of ordering online. These and many other complaints and comments were shared with Purolator customer service over the past two months.

In an email sent to Purolator last week, The Goat asked how an individual can receive packages if their address is outside the village limits. 

“Unfortunately we don’t have a shipping agent in this area,” came the response from their customer care department. “The closest is in Prince George, 1631 1st ave.”

During this time of limited service, people were also told that if they put their post office box number on their order, the packages would be delivered through Canada Post.

To help deal with a backlog of packages that are now considered undeliverable, a pair of Purolator employees drove to McBride on a Sunday a couple times and spent several hours handing out packages in a parking lot so that people could retrieve them without having to travel to Prince George.

“We were delivering to some homes outside of town, but roads and driveways got bad,” said one of the employees. “The delivery van is only two-wheel drive, and when it gets stuck it’s a bad situation. So we are not delivering out of town anymore.”

The pair said February 16th would be the last time they set up shop in the parking lot as Uncle Mark’s will be taking over. 

“We will be receiving undeliverable packages and holding them for pick-up,” said Uncle Mark’s representative, Diane Roth. “We saw a way that we could fill a need in the community, and it will increase traffic into the store.”

Diane’s husband, Darrell, agreed that it was an easy way to add to the business and they felt like it was a good fit. 

Diane Roth said they have the storage space and undelivered packages will be available for pickup the day after the delivery attempt is made. They will also offer services for outgoing packages. In order to help accommodate pick-ups, they are extending their hours, effective Monday, February 24th, to 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. At this time, they do not have plans to offer a delivery service.