Another post in this morning on the American site seems to back up what I have heard already. I think it is time to put the lie to the outrageous and disgusting accusations levelled at Amazon drivers, as well as the company:
I hauled Amazon for almost 2 years before I got my own trailer. It’s cheap freight, but it’s light and I got home every night.
Until this past October 2023 I never had a problem with Amazon schedule times. I averaged 5 stops a day and I drive 61 MPH.
Now if you are ahead of schedule, they update your schedule to make your appointment time earlier.
On the occasional time or two the dispatch is illegal, I post a message to their operations center to inform them the schedule is illegal and give them a good eta.
There was a movie by Ken Loach which I think was called ‘Sorry We Missed You’ which was meant to be a portrayal of a van delivery driver, and must say it didn’t reveal a particularly rosy picture.
Thats multidrop in general not just Amazon. Of course if you provide a likely delivery slot then far more people would be likely to be at home because we all got fed up with the 1 day slot and that didnt always actually happen a few years back. Hermes were far worse to their drivers, the drivers had to arrange for someone else to deliver the parcels if they were ill or taking a day off etc. Believe that has now changed and hopefully using your own fuel, vehicle and 50p per drop.
Even Yodel has apparently improved a bit in the UK.
Contrast that with UPS here in France who this month, on a single-item delivery from the UK
insisted I wait for them from 8am to 7pm on 3 different delivery dates UPS had confirned. Wasting my time as no delivery each of those 3 days.
appeared at the property on 3 other, different, dates chosen by them ‘on the day’. Trouble was, I’d already rebooked for a different.date after each of their last failures, and I had specifically named the dates they then chose themselves to turn up, as specific dates there was no one at the address to receive.
On the 3rd agreed delivery date they failed, UPS France claimed it was because [with 2 previous fsilures to deliver on the date they’d confimed for this one parcel] their driver had ’ not been able to call or sms as he didn’t have a work phone’ and ‘hadn’t been able to find the address’.
Doubtless the same driver that decided to.try to come the following day when a 4th date had already been arranged and on that wasted attempt had no trouble finding the address - so he knew where it was - and even put in a phone call shortly before randomly pitching up - but again only on the wrong day - when already been told this was a date I would not be there to receive.
Turned out UPS, who had been ok previously, had subcontracted to local Jardel, who used to perform the same lazy lying tricks when they subcontracted for Chronopost a few years back.
Lets not confuse Europe with the USA or we’ll question life itself. That said a lot of multi drop drivers cannot find facilities when required. What practices go on in American companies is thankfully different from over in the UK and EU.
I guess we can go on arguing forever or as long as we can both find articles saying the opposite. Here’s a buit of home grown,not about drivers but UK warehouse workers https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-warehouse-workers-have-to-pee-into-bottles.
To get back to Amazon, I continue to use them at least once a week thus saving me but costing them. Knowing that all the posh shops suppliers use slave or child labour, I don"t feel bad about using Wish, Shein, AliExpress and Temu. They sell exactly the same items at totally different prices ! Often 25% of High Street prices.
As I have stated previously in the UK providing welfare facilities is a legal requirement so peeing in bottles? I take it the many women workers do the same? Oh page 404
Social media bullshit as usual, just to keep people infigjting so the rich can carry on behind the scenes getting richer still.
I needed a small part for my bicycle. I decided to wait until next time I was in town to visit the bike shop to hopefully buy the item for a euro or so , it was only a tension screw for the brake cable. The shop had closed but a sign directed deliveries to Pure Bike . I went there, a large showroom with bikes priced in the thousands. They didn’t sell small parts. I would have to buy the entire brake handle fitting, which they would order for me. I didn’t even bother asking the price. I looked on Amazon and got a pack of 10 bits for €3.70 all the way from China. My point is that there seems to be no place for a small independent trader on the bricks and mortar high street. Too expensive, so online shopping has either killed the shops or lack of shops has fuelled the online shopping boom.
For things like spare parts and other small items, online shopping is inevitably going to win out.
A small local shop could never carry all the various bits that people might need, whether for bikes, electrical devices, or hobbies etc. - and if they did the cost of inventory would be out of all proportion to the potential local sales.
An online shop can reach a much bigger market nationwide or worldwide, using an inexpensive web-based “shopfront”, and spread the cost of keeping stocks over many more customers.
We might lament the demise of the local ironmongers or other specialist retailer, but inevitably they can’t compete for those kinds of sales.
Where they can succeed is on providing personal service and advice, selling items that people need to see and touch (or try on) before buying - or things that are custom-made.
Except the shops could order from Amazon
But that may smack of customer service which would never do. They just need to tell the customer yes and it will be a day/few days to get the order in.
The lawnmower dept of our local BricoMarche already do this. My mower belt or blade was not stocked so the chap was “looking it up” but this canny Brit caught sight of Amazon on his computer!
The online market for lawnmowers is massive.
My ride on is due for a service which I religiously do in accordance with the handbook.
Last friday I ordered the parts plus some spares for next time. 2 oil filters, 4 spark plugs, a fuel filter and air filter all for the princely sum of 44 euros delivered to my door 2 days ago from a company 400km away.
And all rhe parts had likely been made and shipped from China in the first place.
How do they do that?
