For the third year in a row, Marjean McIntyre said Saturday, "Windstream has dropped phone books by the road, littering."
LISA MUNGER / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Friday, December 28, 2007 6:00 pm
A former mail carrier from Eagle is fed up with digging her phone books out of roadside snowbanks.
Marjean McIntyre said phone books dropped along the roadside to rural residents create a mess after mail carriers drive over them to get to mailboxes. Her complaint could lead to fines for littering.
“For the third year in a row,” McIntyre said Saturday, “Windstream has dropped phone books by the road, littering.”
McIntyre said she lodged a complaint last year with a local Windstream representative, who promised her the practice would stop. She called the Cass County Sheriff’s office Saturday when her phone book was again delivered roadside.
Windstream spokesman Chris Hunt said Windstream contracts with Denver-based Local Insight Media to deliver the books.
Because of the holiday weekend, Hunt said, he was unable to find out the facts behind McIntyre’s complaint.
“It is our goal to make customers satisfied,” Hunt said. “We work very hard to provide the best service.”
When McIntyre retired from her mail route last year, Susan Rockenbach, also of Eagle, took over.
This year, Rockenbach said, she saw phone books sitting by the roadside over the past few days.
“There were quite a few in the ditch,” she said. “It looked like they threw them up in the snow and they slid down from there.”
Rockenbach said she had to drive over quite a few books to reach mailboxes.
Hunt said Windstream will provide new books to customers if phone books are damaged.
“It is our intent to make sure phone books are delivered in good shape,” he said. “We pay an extra expense to have them wrapped in high-quality plastic.”
Representatives from Local Insight Media were not available for comment.
Sgt. Larry Bonnema said an investigation is under way in Cass County regarding McIntyre’s complaint. If it is determined the books were dumped along the roadway, a littering ticket would be issued.
In this case, a fine of up to $500 per book could be levied.
McIntyre now owns her own business.
“If I wanted to promote my business, I couldn’t just throw things out the window to market myself,” she said.
Reach Lisa Munger at 473-2646 or lmunger@journalstar.com