"Delivery handed to resident" No, it wasn't!

[Angilion]

Just a bit of of rant to get it off my chest...

I ordered some things from Amazon a couple of days ago (nothing that OcUK sells) and the delivery was due on Wednesday 27/5 with free delivery. OK, that's fine. I'll make sure I get up early on 27/5. I usually work very late shifts, so my day is time-shifted. But as long as I know the delivery day in advance, it's not a big problem.

Then I got an message on Fri 22/5 telling me that the delivery would be on Sunday 24/5. Well, OK. A bit annoying to have things changed without even asking me, but OK.

This morning at 0916 when I was of course in bed, a message was sent telling me that delivery had been changed again and it would be delivered today. Because to hell with the customer. Why give a damn about them? Why should a company care what plans their customers have made based on what the company has told them?

When I got up around 1400 I saw that message, went to parcel tracking and was told that the delivery had been handed to me at 1124. I looked carefully in my bed, but despite the claim on Amazon's website the delivery driver had not teleported into my house and put the parcel in my hand as I slept. They'd just left it on the doorstep. Of a house without any front garden, so the doorstep is on the public pavement. Because to hell with Amazon's customers, they're just an inconvenience to Amazon logistics. Keep changing the delivery date so they can't plan anything. Leave the parcel in a public place on a public street so it can easily be stolen and lie about what you did with it. Customers? **** 'em.

It's not just Amazon, of course. Last week one of my neighbours asked me if I'd recieved a parcel for them. They'd come home to find a card from Hermes stating that a parcel (presumably delivered on a random day different to the day they'd been told it would be delivered on) had been left with their neighbour at <indecipherable scribble>. Wasn't left with me. Wasn't left with the neighbour on the other side. Eventually they found their parcel in the wheelie bin that happened to be on the pavement that day because it was collection day.

People sometimes ask me why I still do most of my shopping at physical shops. This is why.

 

[Angilion]

its covid they put the box down 2 metres from your door and then knock on and walk away assuming your home. (even royal mail are self signing deliveries not the actual recipient now, I guess stealing is rife)
unless they are the ones that can breath and think at the same time the ones that realise, what if someone isn't at home?

It's not really covid-19. I've had a couple of other deliveries during lockdown. The covid-19 procedure is to verify the recipient's presence, not just leave it in the street and hope for the best or just not care what happens. One delivery company took a photo of me and the package. Others have put it down by the door, knocked, seen me give them a thumb's up through the window and left.

you have no garden so your parcel was probably left in the street and driven over by the delivery guy as he left

It was on the doorstep/pavement. Still there 4 hours after delivery. I live in a decent enough neighbourhood. If I hadn't opened the door and found it it would probably have remained there until a neighbour took it in for me or I went out shopping (which wouldn't have been for a week or so). No card left, no indication of a delivery at all, so I initially assumed that either a mistake had been made and it had been delivered to the wrong address or that it had been given to one of my neighbours. I went out to check if any of my neighbours had it. I hadn't even considered the possibility that it had just been left on the pavement.

if I ever get a 'parcel was handed to resident' delivery when it clearly wasn't my first thoughts are it's been delivered to the wrong address or the delivery driver is at it - that's never been the case tho, it'd be slightly easier if they recorded the delivery as 'left under the stairs' or whatever!

If the message had said "we delivered on a random day so you wouldn't know and couldn't be prepared, then we left it on the pavement. You'd better go check if anyone has stolen it!" that would have been much better. Of course, delivering on the stated date would be better still and should be standard level of service.

 

[Angilion]

It's the race to the bottom with consumer parcel delivery I'm afraid.

When Amazon logistics drivers are getting paid like 20p per parcel delivered and having to work 16 hour days on a zero hour contract then of course corners are going to be cut big time.

I usually almost always get my Amazon purchases delivered to the local locker.

I should have done, but skipped it because I'm in every day at the moment (furloughed until who knows when) so naively thought that delivery to my home would be fine.

 

[Angilion]

Seems like the problem could have been avoided had you set up instructions on a safe place [..]

Which would be where, exactly? Are you intending to argue that people too poor to afford higher grade housing shouldn't be allowed to have anything delivered to their home?

The problem could have been avoided if either (a) the delivery was on even the right day, let alone any particular time or (b) it wasn't left on the street without even a card delivered to say anything.

 

[Angilion]

Not quite sure how you make that link. You know what the safe place delivery option is, right?

Yes. It's a delivery to a safe place. Can you name one for a property which fronts directly onto the street and which has no access to the rear except through the house or through someone else's house and over garden walls?

 

[Angilion]

One assumes that rear access is available then and you have a yard? Even if it is via a neighbouring property that gives you right of access?

Why would anyone assume that in response to an explicit statement that it isn't true? I'm genuinely not understanding how you arrived at the conclusion that "no access to the rear" means "rear access is available".

While it's technically true that one of my neighbours might allow a delivery person to go through their house to get to their rear garden and climb over the wall between their's and mine, that's not really access and I doubt if a delivery person would do it anyway even if my neighbour was OK with it and happened to be in at the time.

It's also technically true that the delivery person could approach from the end of the street and climb over ~20 garden walls and go through ~20 gardens to get to mine. That wouldn't require all of those people to be in, only to give permission for it. But do you consider that to be access for deliveries? Also, some of those dividers are wooden fences so not suitable for climbing. Some form of ladders would be required. It's not something a delivery person would do even if they had the necessary permissions and equipment.

With the right equipment it would be possible to build a route over my house, but that's even more impractical for deliveries.

That leaves aerial access. Possible for deliveries that were small enough and light enough. Delivery vehicles could carry a drone on their roof that could be loaded with my delivery, flown over my house and down into my rear garden. But they don't and wouldn't.


So I suppose you're sort of right to assume that rear access is available, but not in any way that is remotely plausible for deliveries except by drone.

IIRC it lists options for safe places including 'none of the above' (alongside a choice of 'anywhere secure'), though I don't know first hand what they do instead by default if you choose that option.

Leave it on the pavement, most likely. "None of the above" would be accurate since there is no such thing as a safe place to leave the delivery, but also useless.

 

[Angilion]

My thinking was more along the lines of if you'd selected 'none' they might take it back and redeliver another day, rather than abandon it in the road

Maybe, but doubtful. That would be an increased cost on their part and the required setup is to provide a minimally functional delivery system at the lowest possible cost to the delivery company. If they don't do that another company will undercut them on pricing. So we have the usual race to the bottom.

 

[Angilion]

Usually there is SOME kind of rear access where it is via a next door property (via that persons property). It is certainly very unusual to have a terrace of houses with walls which back on to nothing with no access.

It's not unusual around here, in low cost areas. I doubt if it's unusual in other low cost areas with old housing.

From many of your replies, I am also going to guess that setting a neighbour as a safe place is not an option for you.

Not everybody has neighbours who are always at home at all times on every day.

And no Amazon locker, or any collection points,

Which are not safe places for delivery at a home address.

Deliveries are deliveries, days change, times change, especially at the moment. Which is why I always, when given the option, set an alternative if I won't be there. Unless you are paying for a courier, then you aren't ever going to have 100% times and days. This is just a great example of how everyone expects everything exactly when they want.

It's a great example of how some people would prefer a delivery company to deliver on the day that company had stated they would deliver on. And of course customers are paying for that delivery.

Anyway, I can tell from the mannerisms in your posting that this will just end up in a tit for tat, so I shall retire from commenting on that.

Very amusing. You openly stated that what I said wasn't true and you're criticising me for "the mannerisms in your posting". Physician, heal thyself!