A Ruralinfo.net editorial
A couple of years ago, Amazon had an epiphany. They decided they could start their own delivery service to cut out the middle man. (i.e. UPS, Fedex, USPS) So they went full steam ahead and started hiring people off the street to deliver their parcels. It started first in the big cities, but now it has moved out to smaller towns across the country.
Have you seen them? The white vans slowly rolling around neighborhoods with a driver looking very confused? Several have stopped me to ask for directions. Which is fine. I understand everyone has to begin somewhere and I don’t mind giving them directions. And while I know the Amazon parcels were good business for the Postal Service, I am not really sorry to let some of those parcels go to the Amazon delivery service.
Wow.. How can I say that? I can say that because most Rural carriers didn’t get paid a dime to deliver those huge boxes of cat litter and dog food. Remember? The Amazon drop offs did not start until a week or so after mail count ended.. That is for a different article.
On to the Amazon delivery fails. First of all, they began putting their deliveries in mailboxes on my route and other routes in my area. It took a phone call to some higher ups in the USPS to calm that down, but it still happens.. Now we hear the USPS is confiscating these packages and forcing customers to pay postage for them. See more
Then, they began misdelivering parcels for my route to a different route in my post office. So that puts the customer’s parcel a day or so late by the time they make it to them. Then they would misdeliver them on my route to addresses that were nothing near the correct one.
Now, let me tell you about my personal with the Amazon delivery service. I had an order coming and it said it would be delivered by Amazon Logistics instead of one of their partners. OK fine, they have delivered to me before, so I really didn’t have any misgivings about the delivery.
So, I get the text message.. Your parcel is on the way, and it will be there on this date. So, I think all is going well and my parcel will be here when they said it would. Then, the text message of doom… I got one that said it had been returned because there is no such address. Yes, no such address. This is to my address which they have delivered numerous times before and my address is very easily pulled up on Google. So panic ensues thinking I will never get my package.
When Amazon has a delivery problem, they send out an email and ask for further delivery instructions and they give you an email address and phone number to talk to them. So I shot off an email to them telling them, hey, hellooo. My address does exist and I am here.. Please redeliver. I give them very specific delivery instructions.. Ok I feel better now.. A little 😉
Now, it’s the next day and I get an email that my package is out for delivery once again.. Yay.. Happy happy joy joy.. My parcel is on it’s way..
So at 3:30 PM, I finally get a “Your package has been delivered” text.. Yay! I wonder to myself how I could have missed them because I was home all day, but no bother.. I’m just going to skip on outside to get my parcel. Hmmmm, no parcel on the porch, no parcel by my driveway.. Oh snap.. I bet they left it in the mailbox.. Hello?? So I skip out to the mailbox only to find it as empty as my soul is beginning to feel without my parcel. I scour the ground around it thinking they may have just put it by the mailbox. Nope… Nothing.. Nada.. Zip.. Zilch. I have no parcel..
So I trudge (I’m no longer skipping) back inside to double check the text message.. Yep.. Delivered at my address… but not delivered..
So, I scour my email to find that phone number to call “Amazon logistics” I get a rep on the phone and they tell me my parcel has been delivered.. Ummm, not at my house it hasn’t.. She says, yes, it was delivered on a front “enclosed” porch.. I do not have an enclosed porch.. Hmmmm.. So she tells me to give them until 8pm to deliver because they might have scanned it early.. Ok, I can do that.. I’ve heard of mail carriers doing that.. Scanning parcels early.. So I wait.. and wait.. and wait.. No parcel ever arrives. I check their website and this is what I see!!
So, now we are 2 days past my original delivery date. My parcel has probably been delivered to an Ebay Queen who kept it to sell on Ebay. I call them back and ask them to send a replacement out and to use the USPS this time if possible.. (Had to get that one in, even though I really don’t want to deliver it, lol)
Now we are at 3 days past my delivery date and they email to tell me they can’t give me a replacement because it was not fulfilled by Amazon.. I return the email to tell them ok fine, just give me a refund.
Finally 4 days after my original delivery date I get a refund from Amazon.. So basically, they refunded me and are at risk of me buying my stuff somewhere else after this debacle. And they are out the original misdelivered parcel full of overpriced ink cartridges that has probably already been sold on Ebay. Not to count the labor cost of having someone return it the first day, and deliver (misdeliver) it the second day.
What I get out all of this is that Amazon thought the delivery game was easy. They thought you could just hire a bunch of people, throw them on the street and get stuff delivered. Take into account what I went through (and I’m not the only one), and all of the parcels being delivered in mailboxes illegally and you have a whole lot of lost money in this tossed together venture.
Maybe Amazon should stick to selling things and leave the deliveries to the professionals!