And of course amazon now using Amazon Logistics, instead of the normal couriers for some orders.
Amazon Logistics is very often subcontracted to other couriers - locally to me (which is very convenient for the Ridgemont warehouse) I believe it's Action Express, a fairly small local courier based near Junction 13 of the M1. So in the same manner as Amazon Marketplace helping small businesses sell stuff to a wider audience (at a price), Amazon Logistics is probably helping smaller couriers do a bit of business.
It's also quite a good service to the customer (the tracking, for instance, is quite good, and they do evening and Saturday deliveries at no extra charge - while you can't specify that they often choose to deliver to residential addresses in evenings/at weekends to minimise missed deliveries), though one failing it has is that depot collection is not an option. And unlike other couriers a signature is normally not required, so if it fits through the letterbox they just do that.
Neil
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As for midnight at last, one could still try and set up a click and collect order for sending a parcel. Didn't go as far as seeing if they would take my money.
The problem with announcing these things earlier is that you then end up with an unofficial strike. One thing that is being done quite professionally here is that it appears it will be a relatively orderly shutdown, with salaries paid up to the point of shutdown etc.
Neil
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Its a race to the bottom, which courier company can cut their costs the most to charge less to the big retailers to get more business, a high risk strategy with low profit margins per delivery
I have wondered if there should be an EU law stating that before finalising an order they must state who will deliver it (and if that changes contact the purchaser to give them an option to cancel penalty-free). It would be awkward to do that, but would give some consumer choice - and I would certainly dismiss the cheapest option for buying something if that led to it being delivered (or not) by the awful Yodel.
That said, cheap doesn't necessarily mean bad - I've had quite good service from Hermes - in some ways I wonder if the fact that many of their couriers being e.g. housewives who are doing a bit of extra work on the side using their own car means the service is better, rather than a stereotypical white van man spending all day ragging round. Certainly the one I normally get fits the former description, and if you get a misdelivery the courier keeps hold of it for a bit so you can phone and talk to the courier themselves regarding a redelivery, or whether they can lob it over the gate or similar.
Neil
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They used to be worse??????
I don't know what it says about Yodel that if you send a parcel from Germany using DHL, it's Parcel Farce (who lost my most recent one, though the company who originated it sent me another pretty quickly and claimed on the insurance) who do the local bit in the UK.
Neil
