A solution to the scourge of couriers

JonJ678 · 28 Jan 2015 at 19:48

Today I received a card instead of my parcel. Enough of this.

Who else is enraged by the state of parcel delivery in the UK? Who else has been begrudgingly putting up with driving to the post office, or a depot in the middle of nowhere, on the grounds that the parcel at least got partway here?

From this day forth, I shall shop exclusively with companies who will deliver to somewhere near my house, but not actually to my house. A nearby co-op that never shuts sounds ideal. Or some form of locked metal box in a convenient place.

Thus:

I will never again receive a "sorry we're not very good at this" card. Worst case scenario, they'll hand the card into the shop.

I will never again have to deal with "sorry we couldn't find you", or "sorry we didn't bother to put the package on the van".

Problem solved. Embrace the new age!

JonJ678 · 28 Jan 2015 at 19:51

That's way less subtle than "some form of locked metal box" !

JonJ678 · 28 Jan 2015 at 19:57

How about a few quid less for the convenience of the shop delivering lots of things, simultaneously, to the same pickup point?

JonJ678 · 28 Jan 2015 at 20:25

A distributed set of dedicated pick up points sounds like a credible replacement for the high street. Until that point, a lot of shops are willing to fill the role in exchange for the increase in foot fall.

You're right about cutting down on impulse purchases too. Easy website, easy purchase, week long fight with couriers. Just isn't very appealing.

JonJ678 · 28 Jan 2015 at 22:20

MadMossy said:
As a "delivery" driver myself, the number of times Ive had to leave a card because someone wasn't in at the specified time they were notified of up to 24 hours ago is staggering and it ****** me right off.

Why order something if your not going to be in to receive it.

You may be surprised to hear that there is a whole stack of things that are more important than being in for a delivery. Going to work for one. I doubt I'm the only mug who has taken a day off work for a delivery that just didn't turn up.

You may also be surprised to hear that a specified time of 9am through 7pm just doesn't cut it. Sitting around at home for an entire day, unable to go out, in case by a minor miracle a delivery actually turns up and actually has your parcel, is just not a good plan. Life is too short.

I don't want to wait for you to turn up. You don't want to drive around looking for individual buildings with approximate addresses. This is madness. Just take it to a local business instead.