Word has it around town that the StarTribune is not being delivered to residences in Becker or the nearby townships.  

From local reports, this has gone on for about two months since the regular carrier for Becker had surgery. The carrier told his customers in a card that he would not be coming back as he was still wheelchair bound at Christmas. 

Finally, for the past three weeks or so, the Tribune is being dropped off at the gas stations and stores, such as Bill’s Supermarket and possibly the local hotels. The paper is also being  dropped off at the Briggs Lake General Store despite not being delivered to residences on the lake or in Clear Lake. 

“Quite a few of us that go to the Senior Center —as well as BCC —  who subscribes for the Senior Center have finally cancelled our subscriptions,” said one disgruntled customer who has had a subscription for 20+ years.  

“When I called to get credit for another 22 days of missed papers it was suggested we cancel and let the paper just refund the five remaining months of our subscription. So I did.”

The annoyed customer says it takes many calls to get through to circulation when a paper is missed. 

She contacted the  customer relations department at the StarTribune who explained they did not get word of the on-going problem. 

“We know there continues to be some delivery issues in your zip code,” said the customer service representative in an email. “We want to reassure you that we’re working to solve these issues as quickly as possible.”

“We’re focused on addressing every problem we know about and ask that you continue to help us by reporting any delivery problems you experience,” the email went on to say. “Please know that you are a valued subscriber and your satisfaction is important to us. If you don’t get your paper, please report a missed delivery using one of these methods — going to StarTribune.com/myaccount or calling 612-673-4343 and choosing the automated delivery option, which will allow you to report your missed delivery with no hold time.”

The customer service rep in the email finished by saying, “We apologize for the inconvenience and frustration you may be experiencing. We appreciate you allowing us some additional time to solve this problem and thank you for your loyalty to the StarTribune.