Who would voluntarily use Amazon shipping? They're bad enough with their own packages.
USPS/UPS/FedEx have been sending the same person for years. They know where the mail room is, what the building hours are, who to call for building access when codes rotate, where the elevators are, where the emergency stairs are when the elevators are down, and where the units are.
Half the time Amazon delivery just leaves the package somewhere in the lobby or not even in the building.
But if you can cut off the last mile, Amazon's "pick-up point" service beats UPS's or FedEx's hands down.
Amazon Lockers are 24hrs; never have line-ups; there's one outside every grocery store near me; and in a pinch, my own post office can be used as one, too. (Though I don't do that, because my post office is not 24hrs, and because there's a Locker directly on the way between my home and my office.)
FedEx and UPS, meanwhile, both bounce my packages to a warehouse at the airport (40 minutes away) or in a neighbouring exurb (50 minutes away), and only after first attempting to deliver them to my house (which will never work), with no option to send them straight to the pick-up location. (Yes, I can get the packages redirected from the airport warehouse to a pick-up location once they're already at the airport warehouse, but that means an extra two days of waiting for my package, and then I have to go to a pick-up point that's 20 minutes away from me anyway. I may as well go to the airport!)
I live in an apartment building with a flaky buzzer entry system and no lobby mailroom. "Pick-up from a nearby location" is the only viable option for me. Amazon nails it. Everybody else is way behind.
This is exactly the kind of example that makes vertical integration so often more consumer-friendly.
Surprisingly Amazon has done the best in this situation because they incorporate a distinct step in their delivery protocol: the driver calls me if they can't find my door. I don't understand why FedEx and UPS can't do this.
>I don't understand why FedEx and UPS can't do this.
Amazon can be reasonably certain that the consignee is also the person that ordered the package, and they have that person's phone number. FedEx and UPS do not have this luxury. I've called numbers for alcohol deliveries (Under no circumstances can I release the package to a neighbor or just leave it) and instead of the consignee I was put through to a winery out in California. Thankfully they got in touch with the customer and had them divert the shipment before I had to return to sender the package.
I've actually tried this! UPS operations management does apparently have the description of where my door is, because they can read it back to me when I call them, but the drivers don't seem to use it on the ground.
> As a driver I typically don't have your phone number.
This seems crazy to me! UPS and Fedex do have my phone number because I've registered for their delivery management programs. It boggles the mind that this isn't passed on to the driver.
Thanks for the inside baseball, it's fascinating to learn more about this process.
I guess the notes they can keep and the notes they put in the scanner are separate. Is the door a really really far walk or something? I can't imagine the drivers are just ignoring the note. I'm guessing that it's just not in the scanner. Really what I'd like to see is the ability for drivers to create/edit notes themselves, instead of having to rely on the operations folks to do it for them. Would be better to have all of the access codes in the scanner instead of a giant text message that we pass around
>Thanks for the inside baseball, it's fascinating to learn more about this process.
You're welcome! I still find it fascinating seeing how it all works. What happens in the hubs is basically a giant bucket sort with lots of conveyor belts and sweat
Over the span of about six months, some stuff I got included an electric lawnmower left right in front of my door, motorcycle helmet, cooking appliances, and a foot massager. Every time I called, I begged Amazon to fix this. After the third delivery, I threw my hands up and stopped calling. I figure the recipient calling to complain about missing packages was more effective than me calling to ask them to stop sending me stuff. There were a couple of more deliveries after that before they got the hint.
But yes, I've also noticed when my package ends up in a completely different building on the other side of town because of missed cardinal direction on the address. Our office manager has working relationship with the office manager on the other side of town with an address similar to ours because of how often they have to trade wrongly delivered/addressed packages/mail.
But, for home shipping, I've always lived in 2-3 flat apartment buildings, and Amazon's delivery service has been like a breath of fresh air. They always deliver to the correct location, they're usually conscientious about placing the package in an inconspicuous location if possible, and then you get a push notification on your phone. USPS does the same, but loses points for notifying us by ringing every single doorbell in the building and then walking away, typically during someone's baby's nap time.
UPS, for their part, will generally drop the package at the bottom of the steps, essentially right on the sidewalk. FedEx, not to be outdone, likes to leave it on the sidewalk in front of some random building a block down the street.
The last time it happened it was a Christmas gift and I didn't even know about it until the person it was delivered to IM'ed my wife using one of the neighborhood contact services. Turns out the delivery company even knew they delivered it to the wrong address because they put "delivered to XYZ instead of ZYX" in the delivery notes.
I live on a street with a lot of townhouses, so there's lots of places with similar addresses (3334B vs 3330B) so I understand how it could happen. However, it's never been a problem with UPS, Fedex, or USPS.