Amazon delivery gone wrong

[LostInTyme]

Yesterday, I ordered four light bulb sockets from Amazon. The kind you can screw a light bulb into and then plug it into a receptacle.

Here are pictures of the delivery vehicle after the driver stuck it after failing to make the turn successfully. The front wheels off the drive and starting down the hillside.

 

[tonyb]

It appears Amazon’s contractor had to rent a truck.

I once worked with a shady “logistics” outfit that often rented trucks when its “fleet” of beaters wasn’t up to the task. If the original shippers knew their stuff had been entrusted to that outfit they’d never ship that way again.

 

[Fifty150]

Amazon lost a bunch of my packages a few weeks ago. Then the same thing happened yesterday. And again today.


Now I'm on the phone with somebody in a call center in another country. That person correctly pointed out that there are photos of the delivery.

Yes. But all the photos show different places, none of which are my address.

Am I sure? No doubt. I know my own address. I know I don't have the items. And I know that those photos are of places I don't recognize.

 

[Fifty150]

It appears Amazon’s contractor had to rent a truck.

For a startup company, that gets you all the vans that you need, without having to spend the upfront cost of buying them. You only have to pay for the trucks that you need, for that day. You don't have to buy a fleet of trucks, for $50,000 per truck, maintain those trucks, et cetera. On days where you don't need as many trucks, you don't pay for them.

They do the same thing with employees. Hire temporary workers from a staffing agency. They don't have to hire permanent employees to sit around when it's slow.


Most of the equipment is also leased. The entire office, with office furniture and computers, the forklifts, et cetera.

Same way you lease a building, instead of buying it.

 

[AHP91]

Yesterday, I ordered four light bulb sockets from Amazon. The kind you can screw a light bulb into and then plug it into a receptacle.

Here are pictures of the delivery vehicle after the driver stuck it after failing to make the turn successfully. The front wheels off the drive and starting down the hillside.


View attachment 621670 View attachment 621671 View attachment 621672 View attachment 621673

What’s the point of this post? These amazon drivers have incredibly tough gigs for not so great pay. That same driver who tried to navigate those seemingly difficult private roads probably had 150 other packages to deliver that same day while you were sipping on lemonade waiting for your light bulb. All before a certain time deadline. I hope you offered the guy a water bottle.

 

[LostInTyme]

Well, first off, the delivery person was female. Yes, we gave her a 16 ounce Gatorade, thank you very much. The purpose of the post was my desicision, and none of your concern. Since you seem to know EVERYTHING, one might think you could have surmised my reason for posting. Perhaps, you should not read any of my future posts, since they seem to cause consternation for you. Have a wonderful day, and read on fellow enthusiast, and let others know how you feel.

Oh, I almost forgot, I did not order, nor did I receive light bulbs, but light bulb sockets. Perhaps you have never heard of them.

 

[tonyb]

For a startup company, that gets you all the vans that you need, without having to spend the upfront cost of buying them. You only have to pay for the trucks that you need, for that day. You don't have to buy a fleet of trucks, for $50,000 per truck, maintain those trucks, et cetera. On days where you don't need as many trucks, you don't pay for them.

They do the same thing with employees. Hire temporary workers from a staffing agency. They don't have to hire permanent employees to sit around when it's slow.


Most of the equipment is also leased. The entire office, with office furniture and computers, the forklifts, et cetera.

Same way you lease a building, instead of buying it.

The OP’s photos are the first I’ve seen in recent years an Amazon delivery made in something other than a vehicle in Amazon livery. (Not that it’s a large sample size.) Am I to take it that Amazon occasionally is left to provide contractors with vehicles from, in this case, Ryder?

 

[tonyb]

Amazon lost a bunch of my packages a few weeks ago. Then the same thing happened yesterday. And again today.


Now I'm on the phone with somebody in a call center in another country. That person correctly pointed out that there are photos of the delivery.

Yes. But all the photos show different places, none of which are my address.

Am I sure? No doubt. I know my own address. I know I don't have the items. And I know that those photos are of places I don't recognize.

Some time back the neighbors to the right got my Amazon packages and I got theirs. More recently my stuff was left at the porch of the neighbor to the left. Unlike your unfortunate situation, mine were easy fixes.

 

[Fifty150]

The OP’s photos are the first I’ve seen an Amazon delivery made in something other than a vehicle in Amazon livery. (Not that it’s a large sample size.) Am I to take it that Amazon occasionally is left to provide contractors with vehicles from, in this case, Ryder?

These are usually contractors and subcontractors.

Kind of like FedEx, the delivery routes are sold to "entrepreneurs".

You start a delivery company to deliver Amazon packages. You bid on, then buy the route. You get paid per package. Now you're a small business. Responsible for buying, leasing, or even daily rental of your fleet, payroll, employee benefits, etc. You are the contractor.



Some people will bid on, win the bid, buy the route, then take a piece off the top and kick the work down to subcontractors.


Let's say that you have the capital, and you buy 25 routes. You obviously can't drive 25 trucks. But you can find 25 people who don't have the money to buy their own routes. You let them drive the truck, and you take your share off the top. They are not your employees. They are subcontractors

Somewhere along the way. Someone wants to be his own boss. Does not have the money to buy a route or a van. But he could rent the van daily and he becomes a subcontractor.


People do that to drive rideshare. Rent a car for the day. Drive uBer and Lyft. Hope that it offsets enough for you to make money.