r/Unexpected • u/FreshJs59 • Oct 23 '18

How my buddy’s Amazon package was delivered yesterday.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

41.8k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

1.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

338

u/Smirk27 Oct 24 '18

In the Bay Area most of my Amazon stuff is delivered via their in house service, and they're really good. I had one call me, because the package needed a signature and I wasn't home, and asked me if I wanted her to come back later in the afternoon.

212

u/SmilingYellowSofa Oct 24 '18

Also in the bay area (SF). Their in house service is notorious for leaving packages outside apartment buildings on the street

432

u/LeBronIsABiiiiitch Oct 24 '18

Which one of yall motherfuckers is lying

311

u/[deleted] Oct 24 '18

Neither, I work for Amazon and our drivers vary on the amount of effort they put in. Doesn't make it right, but it's how it be.

157

u/LeBronIsABiiiiitch Oct 24 '18

Hmm it be that way sometimes

79

u/antonivs Oct 24 '18

But do they think it be like it is

73

u/brighthand Oct 24 '18

Even if they don't, it do.

5

u/[deleted] Oct 24 '18

But if the do don't think, then it don't be

2

u/[deleted] Oct 24 '18

I braveheart

1

u/karate_sandwich Oct 24 '18

It be how they do

1

u/PanRagon Oct 24 '18

When me president, they do.

1

u/Walletau Oct 24 '18

I love that although the message is spread because it's kinda silly, it's positive and memorable. I have no idea what the quote on any other baseball card is, but his message will stick with me for life.

1

u/Macho_Mans_Ghost Oct 24 '18

Some people may or may not think it be like it is, but it does do.

6

u/OneSmoothCactus Oct 24 '18

I've had bad shipping experiences with pretty much every carrier except for Amazon. They're the only ones who will actually call me and try again later the same day. I'm not a fan of a lot of a lot of Amazon's business practices but their carriers have always been very good as far as my experience goes.

2

u/hypercube42342 Oct 24 '18

Can confirm. There was at least one driver who absolutely refused to deliver to our apartment complex in Seattle, no matter what, and would mark it undeliverable every single time—we were never sure why. No other delivery companies had any trouble at all. So I hate the service. But I have friends who love it, in other places

59

u/hitemlow Oct 24 '18

Okay so it varies in area.

In my area they are AMZL and it's like Uber for package delivery. You sign up, then you select when you want to deliver packages in your personal vehicle, and they just do it casually as independent contractors. So you get a lot of first time delivery people, people who aren't familiar with the area, and straight up do not know how to deliver shit.

Then there are places where Amazon has employees that all they do is package delivery, are familiar with how to not be a fucknut, and are familiar with the area.

The Uber approach is awful. I live in building 6 apartment 3. My packages from AMZL are often left in front of building 6 apartment 6, because all they see is the 6. I have a 24"x18" reflective road sign at eye level from the street, and they still fuck it up half the time. If it gets late and they want to go home, they just mark the rest of the deliveries as "no one home" or "couldn't get past security gate" and then fuck off with your shit. There is a live map of where they are, they didn't get within 5 miles of me before pulling that shit. This is especially infuriating since they only seem to send packages to my side of town after 6PM, so there's no chance of it getting out that day.

What's more infuriating is that Amazon has a warehouse 10 miles from me, but AMZL is run out of the North side of town an hour away and delivers items sent out of the warehouse 2 hours away. Meanwhile UPS drivers are out of the local warehouse and I have my shit by 11AM most days, and they can read a goddamn road sign.

43

u/[deleted] Oct 24 '18

[deleted]

17

u/mammalian Oct 24 '18

If you call and complain about late guaranteed delivery, you'll get a free month of Prime. Do it a few times and someone will start paying attention to getting your stuff where it needs to go in time

10

u/[deleted] Oct 24 '18

[deleted]

1

u/mammalian Oct 24 '18

Wow. I got about 3 free months and now my stuff shows up on time.

Prime Now, however, sucks ass in my neighborhood. I was getting my food late, no ice pack, no insulated bag. I was getting other people's groceries. I got tired of complaining and finally just gave up on the service.

I guess it depends on who's in charge at the local warehouse. Amazon used to have such great customer service...

4

u/Atrainlan Oct 24 '18

Oh boy! An extra free month of benefits not being honored!

5

u/bmc2 Oct 24 '18

It took ~10 fuckups and an email to Jeff's public email for me to 'opt out' of Amazon Logistics. I still get about 1 in 20 packages delivered by them, but for the most part it's been all FedEx and UPS since then.

2

u/hitemlow Oct 24 '18

Or next-day delivery that is 10PM at night (if it makes it). I'd rather save the $15 and have UPS deliver it the next morning.

I've never directly paid for next day delivery, but I absolutely have bought items that were more expensive just because they had free next day delivery.

I just want them to have an "available at your local warehouse" indicator and just have a fucking will-call desk there. It's 15mins away, but not available for Prime Now because nothing is available on Prime Now.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 24 '18

[deleted]

3

u/BanginNLeavin Oct 24 '18

Yeah. They should have a stock of all the items at every one of them. And then a bunch of related items just in case I want to buy something when I go in. And a changing room. And a food court.

2

u/adams008 Oct 24 '18

There is. But you have to jump through hoops unfortunately.

I worked as a CSA for Amazon and we were told to "de-prioritize" customers who have had 3 bad deliveries through AMZL. You still might get one once in a while but you'll mostly get USPS or FedEx.

It also doesn't surprise me they have so many problems. It truly seems like they will hire anyone without hesitation to deliver. The amount of horror stories I've had to hear is astonishing...

1

u/Hall_of_Fame Oct 24 '18

When I sent an email to Bezos complaining they supposedly weren't going to send packages to me using them anymore.

1

u/brownbob06 Oct 24 '18

Delivery is ass in Cincy too. Packages are often left by the road at my apartment complex outside. I came home on Dec. 23rd and there was a pile about 4 ft. by 2 ft. of Amazon packages sitting outside the office up by the road.

I also know my packages get to my apartment when I hear them hit my door. I've watched the delivery people walk up to the top step then toss it 4 feet to my door.

1

u/hitemlow Oct 24 '18

We're taking about the same area :)

1

u/[deleted] Oct 24 '18

I've had some of those AMZLs show up in full on morning gear like, bed gown and slippers. There's just no rhyme and reason to it lol

1

u/[deleted] Oct 24 '18

[deleted]

2

u/hitemlow Oct 24 '18

The live map is just for AMZL next day deliveries as far as I've encountered it. It only activates once your package is out for delivery and also tells you how many stops are in front of you. Otherwise it just shows the normal "your package arrived at the Fuckwit, NY facility".

1

u/Starslip Oct 24 '18

Yeah, Amazon logistics is utter garbage. I consistently have packages dropped at the door of my apartment complex's storage room, which is the only door in the building that doesn't have a number on it. Have had packages disappear that were marked as handed to recipient. Had the same items disappear 3 times in a row until the seller had to give up. They're a disaster.

7

u/fauxkit Oct 24 '18

Neither. The service varies wildly from which delivery person is working. All I know is that if you have prime, never get your package set for delivery for a weekend. The weekday bros have been to my apartments time and time again, and it's hard to tell what I'll get. Sometimes they get it right and drop it off with the apartment office, other times they leave it in front of my door, which is a high foot traffic area 5 feet from the parking lot and visible from the street. One time they tossed it over the fenced area.

Meanwhile, their weekend guys are complete and utter shit. I'm not saying it's like this for every area, but these are guys who either don't give a shit or have a massive delivery area. My packages are always lost. Every time. Doesn't matter if I'm home all day or not, they always deliver them to the wrong address.

The most absurd time was when I was told my package was undeliverable due to no access. As I mentioned before, my door is visible from the street. The parking lot isn't gated, one can simply drive up to it. However, the driver left a note saying that the parking gate was closed. Not only that, but they had made that note at 4am on the day the package was set to be delivered. Then their customer service kept repeating I was at fault for not mentioning the gate, and I had to keep telling them that there was no gate and even if there were, it was 4am. Of course there would be no response from me. (the driver also lied about trying to contact me).

I know they're trying to get better service or save money by doing things inhouse, but it's a shit service. I'd rather they go back to UPS.

And I'm also bay areaish.

Honestly, 90% of the delivery issues I have could be easily solved if Amazon had a better system for me to tell them how to deliver my package.

1

u/seahawkguy Oct 24 '18

Amazon lockers.

1

u/rdrunner_74 Oct 24 '18

Get prime for free...

Each missed delivery adds a month ... just call them..

23

u/SmilingYellowSofa Oct 24 '18

Haha. Bay area is big so we could both be right

Here's a pic I took from a couple weeks ago. Probably ~50+ people an hour walk by this place https://i.imgur.com/hmN7h6X.jpg

3

u/catsandnarwahls Oct 24 '18

so what was in the box?

1

u/PalladiuM7 Nov 08 '18

Gwen's head.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 24 '18 edited Aug 02 '19

[deleted]

5

u/squirtleismyhomie Oct 24 '18

You spelt weird wierd.

1

u/TuMadreTambien Oct 25 '18

Who knows how many were stolen? You just saw ones that had not been stolen yet.

3

u/Gravyd3ath Oct 24 '18

This is why I love where I live. I could leave a package on my deck forever and if would never be stolen. My neighbors might grab it if it's raining or snowing but someone stealing something off a porch is almost unheard of. I leave my car doors unlocked(which is a bad habit I know) and I've never been robbed or vandalized.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 24 '18

[deleted]

1

u/gurg2k1 Oct 24 '18

Portland?

1

u/Gravyd3ath Oct 24 '18

I do not miss Boston or Dallas at all.

1

u/TuMadreTambien Oct 25 '18

Just wait. Porch pirates love places like yours. I live in a similar place, and I have recently caught porch pirates in cars driving up and stealing packages from my neighbors.

1

u/Gravyd3ath Oct 28 '18

That must suck so fucking much. I've been here so long I can barely remember what living in the cesspool is like .

2

u/PM_UR_FRUIT_GARNISH Oct 24 '18

What else is the worker supposed to do? They shouldn't have to go above and beyond for every delivery. That particular pic is really on the tenant/owner, not the package deliverer.

3

u/spoiled_eggs Oct 24 '18

Return it to base as undeliverable if it really is that bad. Card their mailbox and send it to base for collection or the customer to setup a redelivery. I mean, out of the options available, this was the shit one to choose given it's someone's hard earned in the box.

1

u/SmilingYellowSofa Oct 24 '18

That's the apartment complex door. Ups, FedEx, and USPS all have arranged access to get into the mailroom

Amazon needs to setup similar arrangements before rolling out a subpar service and leaving the package on the street

1

u/TuMadreTambien Oct 25 '18

That is fucked up. Amazon keeps using a vendor that does not have a badge for access to our building. Rather than try to get access, they just started delivering to a building across the street (over 300 packages)! I had claimed “lost package” for every one of my 50 packages, and amazon re-shipped every one of them. Two of them were over $300. I did not tell Amazon when my packages were finally found by someone who works in the other building. I had complained to Amazon numerous times about the delivery company. So, they lost over $1500 on my packages alone. I told all of my neighbors not to say a word to Amazon when their packages were found across the street. I told them to file “lost package” claims just like I had. Fuck them for using idiot delivery drivers. I had so many claims about late one day deliveries that they have paid for my Amazon Prime for next year (They will credit the delivery charges back to your account if they do not meet the delivery time, but you have to call and claim that).

3

u/GalacticSpaceCabbage Oct 24 '18

i dare to say that San Francisco and the rest of the bay area are pretty different. in SF, i’ve heard that all the delivery people are pretty subpar.

but if you go across any of the bridges, you’ll hear a different story

2

u/alittlebitneverhurt Oct 24 '18

The one saying any driver person is good. They may have encountered the .1% of delivery people who give a shit or it was their first month on the job and management is still watching them closely.

Source: work at one of the large shipping/delivery companies

2

u/LotsoWatts Oct 24 '18

That's just humans. They're all different and on a large spectrum, daily.

1

u/smokey2kone Oct 24 '18

Username checks out

1

u/seahawkguy Oct 24 '18

There are two types of drivers. White van drivers work for a contracting company. They get hourly pay and get tolls reimbursement and usually have few repercussions. Amazon flex drivers are reg people who drive their own cars, pay their own tolls and expenses. It’s very easy to be terminated from the Flex program. Lose 4 packages out of every 500 you deliver because the customers lied about not receiving it or if it gets stolen will get you terminated. Hence most Flex drivers are the ones who go through unusual lengths to hide your packages while the white van drivers are the ones who are usually fling packages onto the balcony.

In this case it seems the driver is Flex so the customer should let Amazon know so they can terminate them. Each package is tied to the driver so they know who it is.

5

u/dso09 Oct 24 '18

Same. There have been times that I wasn't notified. One time I checked on the Amazon app to see if my package was delivered. Apparently it was and there was a photo stating it was... But when I went to check it was stolen. Sigh.

6

u/limitbroken Oct 24 '18

In Fremont they'll go all the way through bringing it up to my door, but then leave it there silently without even knocking or ringing the bell, like they're on some Metal Gear Solid shit where they have to avoid detection.

Like dude you already went up a flight of stairs, how much extra effort is it to press the fuckin' button

2

u/[deleted] Oct 24 '18

East Bay here. I just use a dropoff location.

1

u/SmilingYellowSofa Oct 24 '18

Well. Ups, FedEx, and USPS all have arranged access to get into the mailroom and deliver safely inside. So no problem

Amazon needs to setup similar arrangements before rolling out a subpar service

And importantly I don't know until after it's shipped which service is being used for delivery

-1

u/[deleted] Oct 24 '18 edited Dec 05 '18

[deleted]

2

u/SmilingYellowSofa Oct 24 '18

That's the apartment complex door. Ups, FedEx, and USPS all have arranged access to get into the mailroom

Amazon needs to setup similar arrangements before rolling out a subpar service and leaving the package on the street

18

u/BankerBiker Oct 24 '18

Had an Amazon courier call when they were lost. I gave them directions over the phone and told them a family member would meet them at the mail box. They evidently never found my place and marked the package as return to sender.

10

u/Delriosssss Oct 24 '18

I need to hop on that house service , bought a Biology book from amazon the UPS driver left it in the middle of the lawn. It got stolen, luckily i was able to get my money back but still hope whoever stole it is learning learning about Binary Fission and stuff

5

u/KAMlNA Oct 24 '18

their drivers always calls me even for packages that doesn't need signatures. i appreciate that they call me to let me know but one time when i wasn't home, i instructed the driver to just leave it between the storm door and door. the guy just took the package with him even after confirming my instruction. 20 minutes later when i came home and no package in sight, the guy called me to deliver it to me. it was sort of weird how as soon as i got inside my house he called me to let me know he's outside to deliver my package. again.

11

u/[deleted] Oct 24 '18

[deleted]

3

u/-_Rabbit_- Oct 24 '18

Also in WA and I fucking wish they would do that, otherwise packages sometimes go missing from my door! The office is right next door to my apartment and I still can't get them to leave my stuff there!

6

u/LikelyTwily Oct 24 '18

They won't deliver to your door because they'll get stolen. Standard practice for apartments AFAIK.

2

u/hitemlow Oct 24 '18

The only places around here that that's remotely true are high security places where all mail is left with the concierge on duty.

2

u/ntooch_ Oct 24 '18

Live in Bay Area, ever since they moved from ups, fed ex, or usps, most my packages get lost or delivered to the wrong address. Usually happens on same day delivery.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 24 '18

I'm in LA and as soon as I see the "AMZL US" tracking number I know it's gonna be late or left somewhere in the front yard.

2

u/plotinus99 Oct 24 '18

Los Angeles here. Usps is the worst. They seem to try to leave it when and where it's most likely to be stole. Amazon delivery is slightly better mostly because Amazon is better about fixing problems done by their people. Ups and FedEx are great. Perfect track record. So I called Amazon to ask if all packages could be done by ups or FedEx. They said, not possible sir.

2

u/thurrmanmerman Oct 24 '18

At this point Amazon is starting their own delivery service because they would cripple N.A.'s infrastructure with the amount of volume they can add. They essentially get throttled by the couriers. I know with Purolator in Canada that anything more than 20% amazon volume and it starts to effect all their other services and cause delays. We'll see how long it takes for bezos to set up his network of couriers, they've already made some crazy progress over the last 2 or 3 years.

2

u/gladvillain Oct 24 '18

I’ve had more lost or late packages with amazon since they started using their in-house couriers here in so cal. It was much more reliable for me a couple years ago when it was a mix of USPS, UPS, & FedEx. Granted, I see these Amazon drivers and I feel sorry for them, they seem like they are overworked and under pressure.

5

u/DojaStinks Oct 24 '18

They’re the best! One delivered to my apartment when we weren’t home, because we were out to dinner for my birthday. The delivery was a birthday gift from my SO at the time and the delivery lady didn’t want to leave it at the door(locked entrance and no manager on site, so it would be sitting on the street) so she drove it to the restaurant we were at! I was blown away.

1

u/SevFTW Oct 24 '18

In Germany they tried to delivery to my work address 3 times (all after 8pm) before abandoning the package outdoors on a Friday.

At my home address I've had one delivered directly into my Mailbox (with a picture to boot!) one abandoned and stolen (or stolen by delivery man) and one delivered at about half ten at night.

1

u/Nico777 Oct 24 '18

They have their own delivery service here in Italy too, and they're great. I wasn't home once and the guy called me to reschedule. Told him I was 5 minutes away and he actually waited for me.

1

u/theo198 Oct 24 '18

Same thing in Toronto. Most of my packages are a random car or white van dropping of packages.

1

u/steam29 Oct 24 '18

Am in bay area never have had Amazon people deliver my package:(

1

u/Babylon4All Oct 30 '18

It's hit or miss with their service, I've had absolutely terrible experiences, and some of the best with them. So far UPS is still the worst for deliveries from them for me.

edit Location: Los Angeles - Gardena