Amazon offers new perk for Prime

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Amazon can hardly be ignorant of that fact. I find it impossible to accept that NOBODY but me has ever told Amazon this. This is like an insurance company and actuarial tables and lawsuit settlements--it's probably cheaper for Amazon to reship missed items, issue a small gift certificate, etc., than to use UPS or another reliable delivery method over the larger delivery population. So, until it's so widespread that it costs them more to solve the constant issues, they're not going to change it. From a purely money standpoint, that makes sense. From a customer-centric standpoint, it doesn't. I'm not completely sure how it could be solved--but a form on the customer's profile with a question: do you have a community mailbox?--would be a start.

If their history is an indicator, they ARE customer-centric, and REALLY don't want to tick off their customers. If so, then the problem is either smaller in scope that the personal experiences posted here might suggest (see below) or, like you, they really don't yet know how best to address it. Or, perhaps they are in the middle of fixing it. Maybe this perk, and the Prime price increase are about BOTH cost AND complaints. They need to find a way to cover the costs of addressing the complaints.

I'm willing to hang on a bit and see if they come up with something.
But of course, that's easy for me to say, since my packages always show up right at my door in two days.

Originally Posted by stormcloude

but get this: a mail carrier lost the keys to the bigger boxes. *facepalm*

I realize that, as we always say around here, this is all anecdotal, and the folks with problems are the most vocal and so it doesn't prove that there is widespread problem, etc...but...geesh, I think I'd better start leaving nice size holiday tips for my postal carriers and other delivery people. It seems they are AWESOME compared to some!

ApK

[ApK]

P.S. As for considering USPS substandard to FEDEX, need I remind you:

I still choose Priority Mail over FEDEX or UPS whenever possible.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by ApK

P.S. As for considering USPS substandard to FEDEX, need I remind you:

Folks shouldn't live behind locked gates

[pidgeon92]

A couple of years back Amazon started shipping my items via a local courier service, I forget the name. After bungling several shipments, I sent Amazon a message that this courier was terrible. They stopped shipping via that courier (to me, anyhow) pretty much immediately.

[JSWolf]

Hitch, question.. in the picture you posted of the community mailboxes, I see the larger space for larger mail items to go such as packages and large envelopes. Do none of your orders from Amazon fit in that cubbyhole? We have the newer community mailboxes and occasionally the larger cubbyhole does get used for something that won't fit in the normal small space.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Hitch, question.. in the picture you posted of the community mailboxes, I see the larger space for larger mail items to go such as packages and large envelopes. Do none of your orders from Amazon fit in that cubbyhole? We have the newer community mailboxes and occasionally the larger cubbyhole does get used for something that won't fit in the normal small space.

Wolfie:

Some do, some don't. For example, I purchased some keyboards--didn't fit. Too long. I purchased a big sack of cat litter--ditto. The Box isn't that large, really. A few print books? Sure. But anything weird-sized or shaped, nope. I could never buy something large, like say...a box of pots and pans. Or a larger TV. (I know that these would be unusual, just picking items). I purchased something large-ish lately, and I had it sent to my private PO Box, just to be on the safe side, and sure enough, it was shipped USPS. If I'd sent it to my home, it would have gone to the USPS station, and waited.

It's a weird scenario when you can't be comfortable ordering something until you know precisely what SIZE it and its packing material is/are, and whether or not it'll fit in your damn mailbox or the community "bulk package" mailbox. Particularly when you're paying for it to come to the door. I guess, push comes to shove, I'm paying for convenience, not INconvenience. I wouldn't mind (and don't) schlepping the half-mile down to the community box; but I do mind that damn drive to the USPS station. It's around a mountain, down a freeway, over and up, and the lines there are ALWAYS egregiously long. Always. Never been there when they weren't. I don't mean 4-5 people, I mean a dozen or two.

And I shouldn't HAVE TO. That's the thing. If they'd tell me upfront that they were going to use USPS, I'd find another place to buy it, or shop locally. I'm not asking them to change everything "just for me," but if those of us in that situation could know, pre-shipment, WHAT the carrier is, we could abort the purchase in time. Really, that's the thing, isn't it? PRIME is supposed to be convenient, 1-2-day shipping. Not a game of shipping roulette, with ME having to do all the heavy lifting of emailing the vendor, if there is one, asking how it's being shipped, etc. Why should I pay for PRIME if I have to do all that? Why is the onus on me, all of a sudden?

Yes, I could repeatedly order things, get the green slip, call Amazon, tell them I'm not going to go pick it up, make them send me a new one via UPS, (which I've done), but who needs all that brain-damage? I mean, talk about something going Tango Uniform!

{shrug}

Hitch

[JSWolf]

I feel for you. Our local Fedex pickup place is not exactly convenient. But it is more convenient then your USPS location.

If it was me, I'd be on the phone to Amazon and complaining big time and often. I don't care how much of a bother I caused. They say Prime is 1-2 days and it's not when you have to shlep to the USPS location to get it.

[BillCollins]

The post office in my town of 300 is cutting back their hours, too, from 6.5 to 4 hours. They will be closing at noon, so the person who works days is just out of luck on picking up anything.