Your snow plow didn’t show up. Here’s what to do next.

First, check whether you were actually due

Before anything else, check the snowfall against your agreement. If your trigger is over two inches and your area got 1.8, you were not due, even if the driveway looks bad. Look at the local total, not the forecast, and look at when it stopped: many companies do not start the route until snowfall slows, and a storm that ends at 5 a.m. may mean a 9 a.m. clear for a stop late on the route.

If you were clearly due and it is well past your usual time, move on to the next step.

Contact them once, in writing

Text or email is better than a fourth voicemail. Send one short message:

That message does three things. It tells a busy office exactly who you are, it gives them a way to answer without calling you back, and it creates a timestamped record in case this turns into a billing question later.

If you need out right now

Do not try to clear the whole driveway. Clear the minimum that gets a car out safely:

1. The apron first. The end of the driveway, where the road plow left its ridge, is the part that actually traps you. It is also the heaviest snow on the property.
2. One car-width lane from the garage or parking spot to the apron.
3. A path to the car door, so you are not stepping into knee-deep snow in work shoes.

Take breaks, push instead of lifting where you can, and stop if you feel chest pain, pressure or shortness of breath. The American Heart Association specifically warns people with heart disease or risk factors to have someone else do this. Our guide on shoveling and your heart covers the warning signs.

One more rule: throw snow onto your own property, not into the street. Depositing snow on a roadway is a civil infraction in Michigan under MCL 257.677a, with a fine of up to $100, and it creates exactly the kind of ridge that just trapped you.

If you cannot shovel at all

If you are elderly, injured or have a medical condition, do not force it. Call family or a neighbor first. If you have a medical emergency, call 911; do not wait on a plow. For the non-emergency version of being stuck, our guide on what to do when you are snowed in and cannot shovel lists the options in order.

How many misses before you switch?

A reasonable rule:

• One miss with an explanation and a return visit: it happens. A car across the apron or a truck that went down at 3 a.m. is a real event.
• One miss with no explanation: ask directly how they track completed stops. If they cannot tell you, expect it again.
• Two misses, or any miss followed by silence: that is a capacity or tracking problem, and it rarely improves in January. Switch.

Switching snow companies in the middle of winter

Mid-season switching is common, and most of the calls a snow company gets in December and January are from people doing exactly this. A few things make it smooth:

• Check your agreement. Per-visit service usually has nothing to cancel. A seasonal contract may have terms about cancellation or performance; your written record of misses matters here.
• Document the misses with dates, snowfall totals and photos.
• Be realistic about route position. A company adding you mid-season fits you where its route has room. Ask where that is.
• Mention what went wrong before. If a departure time or a steep apron was the problem, say so. It goes on your stop notes.

We take on mid-season clients where our routes have capacity, and we will tell you plainly if yours does not. When you do join, you are on the route automatically from the next storm past the trigger.