Buy a Kindle Online; Pick it up at a 7-Eleven

[tubemonkey]

And the big box stores take another hit.

In the 21st century, having to waste half your day waiting at home for the cable guy or UPS because they can’t tell you exactly when they’re coming seems absurd. Where’s the app for that? It’s also a major deterrent from ordering anything of value online. I don’t want to worry about a box left out on the sidewalk, and I don’t want to have to drive all the way to the airport to pick up my invariably missed delivery.

Now Amazon has taken a small step toward eliminating the UPS wait with a service inspired less by the internet and more by the Port Authority. Amazon Locker allows you to have your packages sent to the equivalent of single-use P.O. boxes housed in 24-hour convenience stores, grocery stores and drug stores. Amazon sends you an email with a pickup code, which you enter on a touchscreen to open the door of the locker containing your package. You have three days from the delivery date to pick it up.

The lockers just arrived in 7-Elevens in the San Francisco Bay Area, and they’re already in place in Seattle, New York, Washington, D.C., and London. Clearly, they could be coming soon to a city near you, and Amazon’s brick-and-mortar competition should worry if they start to catch on.

More details can be found here: Amazon Locker Delivery

[VaporPunk]

If Americans were 1/2 as innovative in the field of medical science as we are in customer service/convenience, cancer would have been cured decades ago. 7-11's must love this too, more people come in, impulse buys, etc...

[odiakkoh]

If this was available near me I'd actually pay for amazon prime. I hate dealing with the delivery guys around me.

[HarryT]

Do courier companies in the US not have local depots? I have both a FedEx and a UPS depot about 5 minutes drive from my house, and if the Post Office miss a delivery, I can simply collect it the next day from the local Post Office.

Amazon operate a similar service in the UK for returning items. You can drop off a package to be returned to Amazon at a large range of local convenience stores.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Do courier companies in the US not have local depots? I have both a FedEx and a UPS depot about 5 minutes drive from my house, and if the Post Office miss a delivery, I can simply collect it the next day from the local Post Office.

In Sweden the depots are in out of way places that are very hard to get to without a car. So it is very annoying if you happen to miss delivery.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Do courier companies in the US not have local depots? I have both a FedEx and a UPS depot about 5 minutes drive from my house, and if the Post Office miss a delivery, I can simply collect it the next day from the local Post Office.

Amazon operate a similar service in the UK for returning items. You can drop off a package to be returned to Amazon at a large range of local convenience stores.

We have them, but most people have no idea as to where they are.
In my town Fed Ex and UPS are in two different Industrial Parks.
Apache

[JD Gumby]

Originally Posted by VaporPunk

If Americans were 1/2 as innovative in the field of medical science as we are in customer service/convenience, cancer would have been cured decades ago. 7-11's must love this too, more people come in, impulse buys, etc...

Nah. Benefits them to make customers happy. Does NOT benefit them to find cures for anything (since you only need one cure per person, rather than selling them something they have to take every day for the rest of their lives to relieve the symptoms and keep them alive longer).

[BeccaPrice]

also, cancer isn't one monolithic disease - there will never be a cure for "cancer" - there may well someday be cures for a specific type of cancer.

[taustin]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Do courier companies in the US not have local depots? I have both a FedEx and a UPS depot about 5 minutes drive from my house, and if the Post Office miss a delivery, I can simply collect it the next day from the local Post Office.

7-11 is open 24 hours a day, pretty much always. And the service is usually better (which is saying something), plus, in this case, you don't have to deal with an employee anyway.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by taustin

7-11 is open 24 hours a day, pretty much always.

Interesting. Knowing nothing about it, had I seen the name, I would have jumped to the conclusion that it represented the opening hours . What is the significance of the numbers "7-11"?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Interesting. Knowing nothing about it, had I seen the name, I would have jumped to the conclusion that it represented the opening hours . What is the significance of the numbers "7-11"?

It used to be it's operating hours - 7am to 11pm - right after WWII. In the early 60's, they started changing to 24 hours a day.

[TimW]

Originally Posted by taustin

7-11 is open 24 hours a day, pretty much always. And the service is usually better (which is saying something), plus, in this case, you don't have to deal with an employee anyway.

I'm not sure if all UPS depots are the same but my local depot isn't well set up for customer service...very little parking and only one customer at a time can be helped. Also, they're only open from 3 PM to 6 PM.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by TimW

I'm not sure if all UPS depots are the same but my local depot isn't well set up for customer service...very little parking and only one customer at a time can be helped. Also, they're only open from 3 PM to 6 PM.

That is how most of them operate. They want you to call them to come pick it up. And they charge for that. Businesses that want UPS to come by every day for pick up also pay a monthly fee.
Apache

[taustin]

Originally Posted by TimW

I'm not sure if all UPS depots are the same but my local depot isn't well set up for customer service...very little parking and only one customer at a time can be helped. Also, they're only open from 3 PM to 6 PM.

The nearest one here is open for normal business hours, and has multiple lanes for dealing with the public, but they're still 15+ miles away, and their customer service is about as bad it could possibly be short of actually beating customers with sticks. And I expect it's one of the best and most efficient of all their pickup centers. So far as I'm concerned, the proper pronunciation for "UPS" is the same as for "oops." I may be a tad cynical.

[taustin]

Originally Posted by Apache

That is how most of them operate. They want you to call them to come pick it up. And they charge for that. Businesses that want UPS to come by every day for pick up also pay a monthly fee.
Apache

Depends on the business. Or, more precisely, it depends on whether or not they're coming by every day anyway, to deliver.