Do you remember today’s post where I described how much I love Amazon Prime and their sometimes-available free same-day delivery service?
The order was “guaranteed” to be delivered today, 7/6/2016, by 8pm. In one place it mentions 9pm, but in multiple places it says 8pm.
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8pm, 9pm, it doesn’t matter, it’s now 9:20pm and there’s no package in sight. It’s not in the mailbox, not outside anywhere else. The tracking still says “arriving today.” Doubtful.
*Pause* Even though it’s dark outside, and well past the arrival ETA, I went to turn the porch light on, just in case.
I’m hold with Amazon, and they’re trying to figure out what’s going on.
WHOA. So, I just heard a thud outside. I was thinking of what to say about the last-mile shipper, which I’ve had some problems with before, although not for a while, since most items have been shipping via UPS, USPS, or Amazon’s own last-mile delivery service.
I went to check my mailbox, and there on the front step was a padded envelope with my order.
It’s too late for me to put to use, and a bit later than the 8pm and even 9pm ETA, but they guaranteed a 7/6/2016 arrival, and they made it happen.
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I guess I’m happy? I was a little disappointed when 7pm rolled around with no sign of the package, and then more disappointed at 8pm, and then when 9pm rolled around I was very disappointed. Usually when one of my Amazon orders misses its delivery estimate, it means that it’s lost or severely delayed.
Ultimately, my order arrived, a little later than I would have liked, but 9:25pm today is better than 6pm tomorrow or the next day.
Here’s an oddity: My order arrived at around 9:25pm. After 9:45pm, after being nearly done with this post, I just checked the Amazon order status, to see what it said, and the deliverer logged the delivery as 7:55pm. I guess they were tasked with getting it delivered by 8pm and said it was delivered at 7:55pm so that they wouldn’t get in trouble. I was on the phone at around 9:15pm, with the Amazon associate noting that it was still on a truck for delivery, but it’s unclear as to whether they’ll investigate the lateness further.
Maybe Amazon is overtaxing this delivery service, or the padded envelope fell behind a larger package and ended up the last to be delivered today. Who knows.
Still, I’m happy they were able to make the delivery today. I know it can’t be easy making deliveries past 9pm, so thank you my regional last-mile driver, for not giving up and calling it a night.
I’ll have a chance to put the new cutter to use tomorrow morning or early afternoon.
I can’t really complain about the price, either. I didn’t spend a penny more than I would have for Prime 2-day shipping.
fred
Interesting.
I’m not sure what to make of that 7:55PM assertion. While “a little white lie” may not be really harmful – and it certainly was not in this case – I would think it would be better all around for everyone to know and tell the truth – that way expectations can be better understood, managed and then met.
Stuart
Sears used to do this whenever I went to pick up an online order in-store. They’d stop the clock and then search for my order, so that it wasn’t on record that it took longer than 5 minutes to fulfill an order pickup.
Blythe M
They’ve done the same to me, about 5 seconds before I was going to get my free $5 or whatever it is
Dan
I’ve had the same experience with OnTrac. On one occasion, they entered into the database that they delivered the package, but it was no where to be found. An investigation by OnTrac failed to learn where it was actually delivered. One of the OnTrac drivers told me they get about 50 packages at 5PM and are supposed to deliver them all by 8PM.
Adam
I’d recommend complaining; you may get a refund. I actually had a similar issue this week. Ordered some T20 and T25 bits over the weekend for a big deck job. Made sure I chose Amazon fulfilled products so they would get here Tuesday. Tuesday came and went so I checked on the status and it said it was delayed – literally telling me to check back if it doesn’t arrive by Saturday. Miffed with that I emailed Amazon. They replied this morning and refunded me 25% of my Prime membership. A weird response but that’s worth more than the bits order so I was pretty happy. And the bits arrived tonight.
Jim Felt
They’re just trying to head off the next inevitable paradigm shift. Where nearly everyone will have their own in home maker.
Okay. Not this year. Maybe ten? Maybe?
Bob
Seems pretty standard practice. I’ve had a lot of packages where I get notifications that it is delivered around 8 and it doesn’t show up till later. I think Amazon is pushing their carriers to the breaking point. It is still amazing that they can do what they are doing.
Pat R
I wasn’t so lucky, my next day delivery belt tensioner disappeared somewhere in the system. Had to take the bus to work since I was counting on that to get my car back together!
Dani
They’re struggling to keep decent workers in the FC’s, and the delivery system is very much a work in progress.
BigDan
Better than it arriving beat to hell, dented, and wet. Fedex is so good at that.
I would agree its overtaxed, especially this month with these $10 off promos for 2hr shipping (at least in Orlando) and prime day, they’re going to see high volume traffic.
Maybe trying to tax the system on purpose to see what real demand looks like so they can load balance better.
Steven B
Having had Prime for many years, I can tell you to always complain. In particular, complain if they say a package was delivered but wasn’t. They always will ship a replacement. I have gotten a lot of free extra photo gear and tools that way (all mine were under $200). I live near a college in an urban area, so theft is a concern and I am worried someone will steal the package off my doorstep, so I report discrepancies immediately.
I also got a partial refund for a mildly corroded ladder they shipped, so complain if things are not in good shape.
What I found is they will use any low-end service for last-mile delivery. Just now, they seem to have taken on last-mile delivery themselves in the Boston area. However, they used to use LaserShip and the workers there would always report the package as being delivered before it actually was (makes me guess they have quotas to meet in a day). I had a package they said was delivered, but showed up the next day. I called to complain, assuming it was stolen off my porch, and they sent out a replacement. They never wanted me to send it back, so I got a free duplicate of the shipment. This happened to me about a half-dozen times.
TJ
we used the same-day for some medical supplies we had forgot at home while on vacation in DC. package never arrived, but Lasership marked it as delivered. After a couple of hours on the phone with both Amazon and Lasership, we got nowhere. Lasership told me that if I don’t receive the package withing 2 weeks to call them back. 2 weeks on a same day delivery. I called Amazon back and may or may not have made that person cry, but Amazon refunded the purchase amount and the items were reshipped the next day through a different carrier. About a month after we got back home, I received an email from Lasership (I had tried contacting them every way I could) to see how they could help me.
Justin Phillips
I’ve had good success with them in Phoenix. 2 day, 1 day, and same day all work pretty well. 2 day comes in from one of the major carriers (FedEx, USPS, UPS) and always shows up early in the day. 1 day and same day come in with Ontrac, and they are a bit more all over the place. I’ve had some earlier, some quite late, but never not on the proposed day (knock on wood).
Do you have Prime Now in your area? That is an amazing service with 1 or two hour windows (1 hour is an extra 7.99). They don’t deliver everything Amazon.com does, but its a pretty wide selection. You get notifications when the driver leaves the warehouse, and you can see their location on a map their entire way.
pete
If you tell amazon that your address is a “buisness” they’ll deliver it before 5pm. If i need something the same day i’ll source it locally. Or if i need it in two days i’ll order it on amazon then see if i can find it locally and cancel the order from amazon or “return to sender” when the delivery driver tires to drop it off.
Christopher Luce
At least they didn’t say they attempted delivery and no one was home, when you were there all day. And coincidentally didn’t leave a delivery attempt sticker.
I’ve had that happen more than once. Sometimes the delivery mysteriously appears later in the evening/night and sometimes not until the day after.