Is it so hard to deliver a parcel properly?

[motco]

Gareth79 said:

stevensdrs said:

Best not to put FRAGILE on a box being shipped unless you want it drop kicked in the warehouse. Anonymous box very well packed will have a much greater chance of making it through.

And at best, "fragile" or "this way up" is ignored.

I have always taken the view that you should wrap an item to withstand a 1 metre drop onto concrete, because it's likely that will happen.

I've posted this chap delivering an acid filled car battery before but it's always worth a close look at the markings.

[motco]

kuro said:

I've lost all confidence in Amazon. Two parcels in the last few weeks disappeared without trace. It appears they've opened a temporary depot to cope with Christmas deliveries and that's where the issue is. They appear to have forgotten my preferred safe place so I have taken to taping written instructions to the front door complete with arrows pointing out where it should be left.

This is an out of season Amazon delivery. The preferred place is the 'enclosed front porch' which is the doors on the left of frame. We were at home as it happens but he didn't bother to ring the bell.

[HTP99]

TBH it's our own fault with the drive for wanting everything as cheap as possible,

[jayymannon]

surveyor said:

One of the geniuses left a parcel in our recycling wheelie bin a couple of weeks ago... not too bad, apart from the fact that it was out on the street waiting for the bin lorry...

Had this last week, courier left package in recycling bin and put a note through saying where it was. Unfortunately it was bin collection day. Luckily the bin collectors checked the bin before emptying a put my parcel outside my front door. Unfortunately it then rained all afternoon and my parcel of books got soaked through

[DoubleD]

HTP99 said:

TBH it's our own fault with the drive for wanting everything as cheap as possible,

Yep this. We all want cheap as chips then complain when things go wrong.

[KP328]

Last Sunday i noticed a parcel laying on my driveway about the size of a shoe box which had fragile written on it. It had been dropped over my gates which are about 8 ft high and locked. The address was for a house in another street that the delivery driver must have passed to get to my house, anyway i took the parcel round to the rightful owner and the old bloke was so grateful to receive it.

[KingNothing]

Had 2 instances of getting an email through saying an Amazon delivery had been attempted, both times I'm sat in the living room at the front of the house with the lights and TV on, no-one tried to deliver jack st either of those times, first time I emailed Amazon and they didn't seem to care that the people they employed to deliver the parcel was obviously taking the piss out of them and me, and knocking off early.

Also I don't get the mentality that because the people delivering it at are low paid that means a st service is acceptable and expected, I know people in low pay and a) they still do the best job they can regardless of the pay, and b) would get sacked if they were doing a st job.

[DoubleD]

Because they get paid so little to deliver each parcel, so they do it as quickly as possible. If we paid more we would get a better service.

[Timbuktu]

I've had the opposite experience. I have a very obvious enclosed front porch and Amazon always just drop stuff in the porch without ringing the bell as it is my preferred safe place.

This suits us both as the driver doesn't waste time waiting for me to answer the door and I don't waste time answering the door.

I've never had a damaged delivery box.

I just wish all the companies could set a default safe place rather than having to arrange it every time you have a delivery.

Obviously there is a time and a place for signed for deliveries but my latest bed time reading or bulk buy of printer paper doesn't warrant that!

[steveo3002]

we demand the cheapest and thats what weve got

if amazon /ebay had gadget £10 free delivery or £10 plus £15 for a nice carefull delivery , 99% of folk are going to take the cheapest one

[motco]

DoubleD said:

Because they get paid so little to deliver each parcel, so they do it as quickly as possible. If we paid more we would get a better service.

I wish that were true. Incompetence and carelessness exist quite happily in parallel with a decent wage. No-one would say senior NHS consultants are poorly paid but there are still too many tales of woe about them.

How would one choose a 'better service that costs a little more' when none such appears to exist?

[peterperkins]

I agree we have all lost out in the rush to the bottom (As usual)
Low paid drivers in a frenzy to meet drop counts or quotas, people not in and insisting stuff has to be signed for.
It's a logistical nightmare..

Starting a nationwide delivery business it not really something you can do easily from scratch either.
So there aren't loads of entrepreneurs queuing up to launch an efficient and reliable delivery service.

Lets just say you were going to deliver UK nationwide and compete against all the others.. Herpes, Ddp, Post Office, Ledoy etc
You need guesstimated 5,000 vans and drivers on day one to cover the geographical area, as well as all the distribution centers, IT infrastructure, back room staff etc That's assuming they have any parcels to deliver on day one.

Most I suspect start local and just put anything out of the area into the post box, leaving them to do the difficult bit of actually delivering to people nationwide.

London is probably the only place you can start off an independent delivery business, and that already happens with cycle couriers etc.
Once outside the M25 your on your own..

Lets not get started on the excess packing issue, amazon one box fits all principle from a micro sd card to a fridge freezer.
OK not quite but your know what I mean.

How about if you buy from amazon you have to have a bluetooth/3g gizmo secured box at your premises.
It only opens (once) when the driver scans it with his gadget and it takes a picture of the box contents once the lid has been closed.
Something that can be mounted reasonably securely on the wall or floor and is decent sturdy plastic and shower proof.
It sends you a text with picture showing time date delivery has occurred.

If you don't have/want a box and want a man on a PH living wage with chamois gloves to caress your parcel on it's journey, signed for delivery for the gold bullion and PH watch collection, then that is £25 extra for all the faffing about.. Presumably you will have paid extra for proper insurance anyway in this case.

Edited by peterperkins on Sunday 16th December 09:55

[mcg_]

Joe Lycett tickets lost recently by UPS.

Luckily the venue had two spare tickets left on the front row so we were able to buy them.

I assume the seats we were meant to stay in were empty as we couldn’t get replacement tickets for them.

[JMGS4]

vsonix said:

Was quite shocked to see random agency staff DELIBERATELY mishandling stuff marked 'Fragile' and even cheering when they heard shattering noises.

Nothing new; back in the early 70s I had to meet a London train in Bristol Temple Meads for a VERY fragile Red Star parcel (clearly marked, red tape etc etc), only to see the parcel flying in a high arc out of the goods van to land with a splintering noise alongside Fred who stepped away deliberately letting it crash after he was told it was a "careful fragile" parcel....... needless to say the scanner was u/s.
Complaints describing the act were handled as all such BR complaints were, "foxtrot oscar, we're unionmembers"......

[Teddy Lop]

mcg_ said:

Joe Lycett tickets lost recently by UPS.

Luckily the venue had two spare tickets left on the front row so we were able to buy them.

I assume the seats we were meant to stay in were empty as we couldn’t get replacement tickets for them.

you should be able to get lost tickets cancelled and reissued.

[DoubleD]

motco said:

DoubleD said:

Because they get paid so little to deliver each parcel, so they do it as quickly as possible. If we paid more we would get a better service.

I wish that were true. Incompetence and carelessness exist quite happily in parallel with a decent wage. No-one would say senior NHS consultants are poorly paid but there are still too many tales of woe about them.

How would one choose a 'better service that costs a little more' when none such appears to exist?

Their isnt enough call for a more expensive service. Too many want cheap.

[funkyrobot]

For everyone saying the issue is due to the low cost, I have to disagree in this case. As mentioned above, I paid £9.00 to have this item delivered.

I was drop 91. If everyone else had been paying similar, that's nigh on a grand of delivery money paid for that van yesterday.

I doubt my parcel was damaged by the driver. I'm betting it was done at the warehouse before it got in the van.

My replacement is due maybe tomorrow. Typical as I'm not in for most of the day. Will see what state that arrives in.

[Thats What She Said]

I bought one of these and stuck it by the front door.

It's as ugly as sin, but it means I get my parcels delivered to a safe and secure place when I'm not in. Plus it means the parcel doesnt get soaking wet, and I dont have to go to the depot to collect it.

[Teddy Lop]

It's daft that the not-being-in scenario is a problem this day and age. Plenty of smarter options exist that are easier for both parties, such as ups using local stores as drop points and I've noticed Amazon lockers in petrol stations.

[DoubleD]

funkyrobot said:

For everyone saying the issue is due to the low cost, I have to disagree in this case. As mentioned above, I paid £9.00 to have this item delivered.

I was drop 91. If everyone else had been paying similar, that's nigh on a grand of delivery money paid for that van yesterday.

I doubt my parcel was damaged by the driver. I'm betting it was done at the warehouse before it got in the van.

My replacement is due maybe tomorrow. Typical as I'm not in for most of the day. Will see what state that arrives in.

£9 still isnt a huge amount of money though. Not when you think of how that parcel will have got from point A to point B. Dont forget that your £9 has to pay for collection and delivery to you. It will have to go through various stages before it even reaches the delivery van.