Amazon Locker - Sucks

[puma1552]

I ordered a new phone case in the wee hours of this morning. Amazon said if I ordered in the next X hours and paid extra for shipping that I could receive it today, same day.

I paid for the expedited shipping to make sure I received it today.

I then selected the nearest Amazon locker location.

After I placed the order, it said it would be arriving by 9 PM today. All day I've waited for this thing to move and it didn't even leave the warehouse on a truck until 4:36 in the next city over. Yeah ok, absolute end of the day delivery like literally everything I've ever ordered in my life, nothing new there, but that's fine - I'll get it today either way.

Well, I just realized that the Amazon Locker location I shipped it to closed at 6, and the package hasn't been delivered. Meaning they are delivering it after hours, and I won't be able to get it, meaning I wasted money on expedited shipping.

1) Nowhere on the site does it say anywhere that they deliver to locker locations after hours, so it is therefore reasonable for me to expect/assume that they are delivering within the normal business hours of the locker location to ensure I am able to pick it up that same day.
2) If Amazon knew right away as I was placing the order that the delivery would be sometime by 9 PM, then a locker location for a place that closes at 6 should've never been a shipping option for someone paying for same day delivery.

Is it a big deal, no, but I waited all d*mn day for the shipment to even start moving which didn't happen until after 4:30 on a Saturday, while they had 9 whole business hours today they could've delivered it during (9 AM - 6 PM). Yet somehow it won't show up until sometime between 6 PM - 9 PM, well after the business is closed. 25% chance they'd deliver after hours, and sure enough.

I emailed Amazon for a shipping refund based on 1) and 2) above, I'll see what they say.

Moral of the story: don't bother with an Amazon locker location if it isn't a 24/7 business, or you might not get your stuff on the delivery date.

/rant

 

[AustinIllini]

Amazon lockers are awesome. Especially for returns

 

[boast]

Makes sense. Their system should be smart enough to at least WARN you based on locker hours.

 

[puma1552]

Just got a delivery failure message saying they were not able to access the building and that *I* needed to call Amazon to sort it out.

So I did, they had the business hours in their system as 10-8 instead of 9-6 today. So I guess they don't deliver outside of business hours which is good, I am just surprised I'm apparently the first person this ever happened to at this location.

They refunded the shipping.

I asked if the guy could just drop off the package at my house and was told no because I live more than 1 mile from the locker location (like 2 miles, come on...).

No option other than to wait until locker redelivery tomorrow.

 

[C DM]

I ordered a new phone case in the wee hours of this morning. Amazon said if I ordered in the next X hours and paid extra for shipping that I could receive it today, same day.

I paid for the expedited shipping to make sure I received it today.

I then selected the nearest Amazon locker location.

After I placed the order, it said it would be arriving by 9 PM today. All day I've waited for this thing to move and it didn't even leave the warehouse on a truck until 4:36 in the next city over. Yeah ok, absolute end of the day delivery like literally everything I've ever ordered in my life, nothing new there, but that's fine - I'll get it today either way.

Well, I just realized that the Amazon Locker location I shipped it to closed at 6, and the package hasn't been delivered. Meaning they are delivering it after hours, and I won't be able to get it, meaning I wasted money on expedited shipping.

1) Nowhere on the site does it say anywhere that they deliver to locker locations after hours, so it is therefore reasonable for me to expect/assume that they are delivering within the normal business hours of the locker location to ensure I am able to pick it up that same day.
2) If Amazon knew right away as I was placing the order that the delivery would be sometime by 9 PM, then a locker location for a place that closes at 6 should've never been a shipping option for someone paying for same day delivery.

Is it a big deal, no, but I waited all d*mn day for the shipment to even start moving which didn't happen until after 4:30 on a Saturday, while they had 9 whole business hours today they could've delivered it during (9 AM - 6 PM). Yet somehow it won't show up until sometime between 6 PM - 9 PM, well after the business is closed. 25% chance they'd deliver after hours, and sure enough.

I emailed Amazon for a shipping refund based on 1) and 2) above, I'll see what they say.

Moral of the story: don't bother with an Amazon locker location if it isn't a 24/7 business, or you might not get your stuff on the delivery date.

/rant

Just had a Prime order being delivered by Amazon Logistics that was already being tracked showing up on a truck a few blocks away with the driver only having 3 more stops to go, only to suddenly change to a delivery delay and then no further updates for three days.

Of course I contacted them the next day already and they took another day reaching the delivery people (as in their own delivery service) just to come back to me to say that they are considering the order as lost and will be issuing me a refund.

How's that for the order literally being shown as just a couple of blocks away.

 

[puma1552]

Just had a Prime order being delivered by Amazon Logistics that was already being tracked showing up on a truck a few blocks away with the driver only having 3 more stops to go, only to suddenly change to a delivery delay and then no further updates for three days.

Of course I contacted them the next day already and they took another day reaching the delivery people (as in their own delivery service) just to come back to me to say that they are considering the order as lost and will be issuing me a refund.

How's that for the order literally being shown as just a couple of blocks away.

That's pretty bad, I haven't had that happen but I have had that service say 5 deliveries to go only to revert back to "being delivered later today" or whatever and not getting it until hours later.

 

[Huntn]

This may not be the case, but if I pay for one day shipping, and it’s confirmed as within the time limits for a delivery tomorrow, I expect to get it the next day or I’ll ask for a refund of the extra shipping cost, I paid for.

 

[puma1552]

This may not be the case, but if I pay for one day shipping, and it’s confirmed as within the time limits for a delivery tomorrow, I expect to get it the next day or I’ll ask for a refund of the extra shipping cost, I paid for.

Correct, agreed, and that's what I did and Amazon was cool about refunding the shipping.

When I spoke to the guy yesterday, he said the tracking should update to no longer say I need to contact them. This morning, upon looking at the tracking details, I do see that it went back to the hub at 10:45 last night, but the overall tracking still tells me they couldn't deliver and to contact Amazon, just as it did yesterday.

I decided I had better call them this morning just to reconfirm it was indeed going out for redelivery today, especially being that it's Sunday and being that the locker location has pretty short hours today (11-5, Hallmark store). Glad I called because she was showing tomorrow as the delivery day, so she submitted a redelivery request and then started rattling off the still incorrect store hours that the guy yesterday supposedly fixed. So I corrected her on the store hours again and she said they should save this time, and that it should be getting delivered today, but I'm pretty suspicious - it's already 11:00 here and they've got just 6 hours to see that request and process it, stick the stuff on a courier vehicle and actually deliver it.

Honestly, considering the first guy I talked to yesterday clearly didn't get the store hours updated correctly or even the delivery day, I'm not holding my breath that I'll get it today.

Note to self, next time you do an Amazon locker, use a 24/7 location or don't use it at all.

 

[puma1552]

This experience has continued to be awful.

3:30, no movement, no tracking update, still tells me to call them and the package has just been sitting at the hub since last night. Locker business closes at 5 PM today.

Call again.

Night runs go out between 4-5 PM she says. Not sure why this is a night run, should not be. Zero chance of receiving it again, and zero guarantee from CS that it is even going to go out tomorrow. They can reroute to a residential address within a 1 mile radius. I live about 2 miles away. No dice. There is another 24 hour locker location within 1 mile, but they can't/won't reroute to there. Not being able to reroute anywhere, 1 mile or not, when it's still sitting at the hub and hasn't left is ridiculous.

Canceled the order and just overnighted a fresh order myself because of Amazon's incompetence. All three people offered to refund the shipping, not sure why the 2nd and 3rd couldn't see that it had already been done.

Asked if I could get a $10 credit so I wouldn't have to pay for overnight shipping again for the fresh order. She gave me a $10 credit, but it was an Amazon credit. My items are not shipped by Amazon, so no real help there.

What a joke. Just sending the new ones to my house tomorrow instead.

Never again.

 

[Tomorrow]

I don't understand the charm behind the "locker" thing. If I want something delivered, I want it to be delivered - to me. If I want to go pick something up somewhere, I'll go to the store and buy it.

 

[C DM]

I don't understand the charm behind the "locker" thing. If I want something delivered, I want it to be delivered - to me. If I want to go pick something up somewhere, I'll go to the store and buy it.

Seems like the idea has more to do with the fact that you might not be there when it gets delivered and you don't want it just left somewhere where it could get stolen perhaps.

 

[AustinIllini]

I don't understand the charm behind the "locker" thing. If I want something delivered, I want it to be delivered - to me. If I want to go pick something up somewhere, I'll go to the store and buy it.

It's a no-brainer in a large metropolitan area where things get stolen off of front doorsteps.

 

[Tomorrow]

Seems like the idea has more to do with the fact that you might not be there when it gets delivered and you don't want it just left somewhere where it could get stolen perhaps.

It's a no-brainer in a large metropolitan area where things get stolen off of front doorsteps.

Those doorstep thefts have occurred in my neighborhood, too - that isn't lost on me.

No, my point is that the entire reason (to me, anyway) of having something delivered is so that I don't have to go get it. Having it shipped to a locker means I still have to go get it, which completely defeats the purpose.

If it's something I worry about having stolen, I have it delivered to me at work. If I have to go pick it up anyway, I'll just go to the store and buy it. Having it shipped to a locker seems to me like I"m paying for the inconvenience of having to go pick up something and then possibly being unable to pick it up, like in the OP.

 

[C DM]

Those doorstep thefts have occurred in my neighborhood, too - that isn't lost on me.

No, my point is that the entire reason (to me, anyway) of having something delivered is so that I don't have to go get it. Having it shipped to a locker means I still have to go get it, which completely defeats the purpose.

If it's something I worry about having stolen, I have it delivered to me at work. If I have to go pick it up anyway, I'll just go to the store and buy it. Having it shipped to a locker seems to me like I"m paying for the inconvenience of having to go pick up something and then possibly being unable to pick it up, like in the OP.

I understand the idea of what you are saying, just that in real life it's not as simplistically practical for many as it could be for some (or theoretically should be). Not everyone can have something delivered to their jobs or they aren't in the same place everyday as part of their job. Not everyone can find everything they might need at local stores or at prices that are good, compared to somewhere online, for example. And certainly even if something can be picked up at some store, picking up something at a locker location that is on your way or very close to where you live or work is probably still simpler and faster for some than some store that might be out of the way. Certainly quite a few variables and variations in play in different situations.

 

[AustinIllini]

Those doorstep thefts have occurred in my neighborhood, too - that isn't lost on me.

No, my point is that the entire reason (to me, anyway) of having something delivered is so that I don't have to go get it. Having it shipped to a locker means I still have to go get it, which completely defeats the purpose.

If it's something I worry about having stolen, I have it delivered to me at work. If I have to go pick it up anyway, I'll just go to the store and buy it. Having it shipped to a locker seems to me like I"m paying for the inconvenience of having to go pick up something and then possibly being unable to pick it up, like in the OP.

There are no stores closer to me than the nearest Amazon locker.

 

[puma1552]

Got my new case I ordered separately yesterday, the other one they failed to deliver 2x is who knows where, who cares. Refund incoming at some point.

 

[C DM]

That's pretty bad, I haven't had that happen but I have had that service say 5 deliveries to go only to revert back to "being delivered later today" or whatever and not getting it until hours later.

So, just to "round-out" my story, after all that ordeal, got the refund, and ordered the same thing late on Friday, and got it delivered without issues early Monday...the difference being that this time FedEx was used.

 

[maflynn]

I love the idea of Amazon lockers and its been quite helpful for my needs.
[doublepost=1524567590][/doublepost]

2) If Amazon knew right away as I was placing the order that the delivery would be sometime by 9 PM, then a locker location for a place that closes at 6 should've never been a shipping option for someone paying for same day delivery.

Isn't that your responsibility, i.e.., know the details to where you selected as the destination? It's not Amazon's responsibility to tell you the hours of a third party location that houses the lockers. I will say i've seen Amazon lockers outside of shops, not just inside, so I think its not feasible for amazon to manage the hours of every business that agreed to sublet floor space for the lockers.

 

[puma1552]

I love the idea of Amazon lockers and its been quite helpful for my needs.
[doublepost=1524567590][/doublepost]
Isn't that your responsibility, i.e.., know the details to where you selected as the destination? It's not Amazon's responsibility to tell you the hours of a third party location that houses the lockers. I will say i've seen Amazon lockers outside of shops, not just inside, so I think its not feasible for amazon to manage the hours of every business that agreed to sublet floor space for the lockers.

No, because it doesn't tell me that it's arriving by 9 PM until I first look at the tracking AFTER the order is placed (and thus, after the shipping location is selected). I don't know that Amazon is setting a delivery window of "by 9 PM" the next day until after the order is placed - but Amazon surely already knows that when they are telling me on the product page that I can receive it by day X to zip code Y if ordering within the next Z hours.

Anyway if you read the rest of the thread you'd see that's not how Amazon operates, they do only deliver during normal business hours, they just didn't have the right hours in their system. Amazon does manage the hours of the third party locations and can only deliver within them, as they don't have access after hours.

 

[C DM]

Isn't that your responsibility, i.e.., know the details to where you selected as the destination? It's not Amazon's responsibility to tell you the hours of a third party location that houses the lockers. I will say i've seen Amazon lockers outside of shops, not just inside, so I think its not feasible for amazon to manage the hours of every business that agreed to sublet floor space for the lockers.

To be fair, while some of that is in the realm of the customer, it's Amazon's responsibility to provide appropriate information about their shipping and delivery methods and options and they themselves provide or arrange (and the carrier and timing associated with the carrier they use along with the lockers and their location are things that are within Amazon's realm of responsibility, unlike let's say delivering to some random business or location that they have no association with).

 

[Johnsontulane]

I see pros and cons to this argument, but honestly it really is difficult to implement a safe and reliable system like they are trying to do. Especially when it is so far down on their priority list.

 

[C DM]

I see pros and cons to this argument, but honestly it really is difficult to implement a safe and reliable system like they are trying to do. Especially when it is so far down on their priority list.

Seems like keeping track of hours of locations where lockers are placed (given that they know those locations as they themselves install them) shouldn't be even close to complicated. Now, whether or not they would invest that bit of common sense work into it, that's a somewhat different question.

 

[SPCW!]

Nothing has improved in the year since the last post. I just had a similar experience: Ordered a delivery to an Amazon locker location, the location was OPEN and the shipper was unable to deliver TWO days in a row. I don't know what the issue was, but Amazon support wanted to put me in touch with their "Locker Team". I said NO, have the "Locker Team" contact the shipper and tell them how to deliver to the locker. And in the mean time refund my money because I am done with your lockers. Which they did.

 

[ActionableMango]

Moral of the story: don't bother with an Amazon locker location if it isn't a 24/7 business

Note to self, next time you do an Amazon locker, use a 24/7 location or don't use it at all.

3:30, no movement, no tracking update, still tells me to call them and the package has just been sitting at the hub since last night. Locker business closes at 5 PM today.

It looks like you forgot the "moral of the story" and the "note to self".

 

[puma1552]

It looks like you forgot the "moral of the story" and the "note to self".

Boy you sure showed me a year later!

Oh, and BTW, the "moral of the story" and the "note to self" were based on the experience described in your third quote. I didn't go and do a delivery to an Amazon locker again after having a bad experience - what you quoted was part of the single bad experience that resulted in the "moral of the story" and "note to self".

If you want to get a smart-ass jab in there a full year later and act all high and mighty, at least make sure your insult makes sense and you know how to read.