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Amazon Flex

flex.amazon.com

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Re: Amazon Flex

#401

Post by jroseattle »

dragonwriter wrote: post #156
suvelx wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I don't understand, is why I can't pick my delivery slot for free. Everybody has jobs. Everybody finds it annoying to buy something on line. You never know when it's going to turn up. You have to take a day off, and hope your driver is competent at his job. Why can't you just say "I'll be at home on Thursday after 5pm. Call me on #555-333-9999 if you have any issues". Courier delivers the package after 5pm on Th…

> What I don't understand, is why I can't pick my delivery slot for free. Because picking a delivery slot imposes a constraint which creates a cost for the delivery provider. > Everybody has jobs. Everybody finds it annoying to buy something on line. You never know when it's going to turn up. You have to take a day off, and hope your driver is competent at his job. Most everybody has jobs, but most people I know don'…

Perfectly reasonable responses.

This is also an opportunity waiting to happen.

Re: Amazon Flex

#402

Post by voltagex_ »

patrickyan wrote: post #217
suvelx wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I don't understand, is why I can't pick my delivery slot for free. Everybody has jobs. Everybody finds it annoying to buy something on line. You never know when it's going to turn up. You have to take a day off, and hope your driver is competent at his job. Why can't you just say "I'll be at home on Thursday after 5pm. Call me on #555-333-9999 if you have any issues". Courier delivers the package after 5pm on Th…

You can use a service like Doorman in SF or Parcel in NYC. UPS also has MyChoice.

Hahahaha. I tried to use MyChoice while on holiday in Canada. I was in an AirBNB, so wasn't listed on the building directory. This resulted in [1], repeating until I sat at home and waited for the UPS guy to arrive.

[1]: https://i.imgur.com/r6yB77e.png

Re: Amazon Flex

#403

Post by manigandham »

suvelx wrote: post #8

I've got a suspicion that Amazon has been trialling/building this in the UK since their purchase of Yodel, perhaps earlier. A number of times some bloke in a car has turned up and delivered me a package. No uniform, no branding. Just a phone running Amazon software. I can't say it's the greatest experience.

What would be a "great" delivery experience?

Seems on-time or faster with no damage is all that's needed. I prefer not even having to see/interact with a person for it.

Re: Amazon Flex

#404

Post by shostack »

jcfrei wrote: post #79
ekianjo wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and introduce a universal basic income policy here we go again with this... What's wrong with such jobs ? AS mentioned by Amazon you don't need to work 9 to 5, you can just work for extra if you need. Even if you HAD basic income this kind of part-time job could make sense to make a bit more money that the nothing you would get to survive on your own.

The problem with the ongoing commoditization of work is that it causes it to lose value. As a result the economy becomes more efficient. However the question is who benefits from this increase in efficiency? It certainly isn't the worker, whose labour becomes cheaper every year (there hasn't been an increase in real wages for over a decade now in the US). The consumer certainly benefits from lower prices. However who…

>"However these gains are unequally distributed between the proprietors (ie. Amazon and it's shareholders) and the employees. While incomes for many employees have stagnated for over a decade, the shareholders of Amazon keep getting richer (https://www.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chds=1&chdv=1&...) creating more inequality."

Do you own any shares in a fund that tracks the S&P 500? Congrats, you too are an Amazon shareholder getting richer at the expense of said employees.

Re: Amazon Flex

#405

Post by works_remote_ »

vhold wrote: post #382
digikata wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't the probability of something going wrong higher if the delivery infrastructure isn't staffed with full time people? I would guess that mishandling, loss, misdelivery, theft would all be more likely under the flex model.

I think Amazon already operates on a risk-taking model for package delivery. When I first started using Prime it was very conservative about requiring signatures, and overtime that became relaxed and I'd come home to find packages on my doorstep. Now sometimes they aren't even at my door, but instead downstairs away from my apartment. I think they'll just keep taking more risks to save money until they start losing p…

There has been more than once where a package will fail to be delivered in a timely manner (the website indicates its been out for delivery for 5+ days), and they have always overnighted a replacement without charge or expectation that if the original shows up that I return it to them.

These missing packages have been primarily from when UPS/FedEx decides to use a last mile delivery service, instead of delivering it themselves, which is primarily staffed by low wage workers with frighteningly high turnover.

Re: Amazon Flex

#406

Post by Kalium »

speby wrote: post #395
gherkin0 wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is a massive lack of imagination. I highly doubt the only motivation from Amazon's perspective is strictly about cost-cutting. > For example, what about a 5-minute tutorial for a new product you just ordered? I highly doubt people who are essentially doing low-wage contract piecework will have the motivation or ability to give me an effective 5 minute tutorial on the random gizmo I just researched and ordered.…

While I certainly can't prove your comments any other way, my point isn't to declare that I somehow know what Amazon is going to do with this, rather that there are a lot of interesting possibilities when you control the whole process, including the final delivery step of getting a product to the actual customer. There are things you just can't do when you are contracting that through a normal courier (UPS, FedEx, US…

There is a lot of potential value in white-glove services, yes. It's also something most people aren't all that interested in paying a reasonable amount for.

Think for a minute about the cost of sending someone trained out for a five-minute introductory session when a given gizmo is delivered. Think about the training required. Think about all the additional delivery complications this introduces. And so on.

There's value here, but it's not easy to realize. Places like Best Buy offer it through Geek Squad, but only in conjunction with a B&M service.

Re: Amazon Flex

#407

Post by wmeredith »

manigandham wrote: post #403
suvelx wrote: post #8

I've got a suspicion that Amazon has been trialling/building this in the UK since their purchase of Yodel, perhaps earlier. A number of times some bloke in a car has turned up and delivered me a package. No uniform, no branding. Just a phone running Amazon software. I can't say it's the greatest experience.

What would be a "great" delivery experience? Seems on-time or faster with no damage is all that's needed. I prefer not even having to see/interact with a person for it.

I was going to ask the same thing. My normal delivery experience is picking up my package off the porch as I watch the ass-end of a delivery truck mosey on down the street.

Re: Amazon Flex

#408

Post by shostack »

tokenizerrr wrote: post #257
jschwartzi wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US, our self-checkout is a machine that stops the transaction and complains if you so much as breathe on the scale. It's terribly awkward to use, and so I much prefer to use a live cashier rather than suffer the incessant blathering of a machine that doesn't even bag my groceries for me.

I've not seen those machines. The ones I've seen you just scan everything as you put it in your bag, and then you pay. No cashier will bag your groceries for you either, and they will laugh at you if you ask. You do that yourself here, either way.

That's interesting about the bagging. One of the bigger issues with this in the US is that people are just really poor grocery baggers most of the time compared to someone whose job it is.

When there are only a handful of these self-checkouts, you end up with a situation where it is often quicker to wait for the line with the cashier and bagger because they just process customers SO MUCH FASTER.

In college I knew someone who was a grocery bagger for a while, and when we'd go to the store he'd bag his stuff and I'd bag mine. The speed and thoughtfulness that went into the placement of various things in his bag was rather humbling...almost akin to watching an expert Tetris player in the zone.

So ultimately more machines could help solve the long line issue, but that is still definitely a factor as it stands today. Given that grocery stores often leave most of their checkout lanes unattended, I'd love to see more converted to self-checkout to increase overall checkout speed.

Re: Amazon Flex

#409

Post by manigandham »

digikata wrote: post #351
thieving_magpie wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Man I couldn't care less who hands me my package if it arrives intact and on time. I'm not looking for a "delivery experience".

Isn't the probability of something going wrong higher if the delivery infrastructure isn't staffed with full time people? I would guess that mishandling, loss, misdelivery, theft would all be more likely under the flex model.

Why? What are you basing this on?

Why would part-time people be any less responsible? They have less to deal with, more time to deliver, use their own car, choose their schedule, and set the radius and familiarity of their route. I'd expect them to make better deliveries and more accurately.

Uber/Lyft have shown this model works fine.

Re: Amazon Flex

#410

Post by kingnothing »

dankohn1 wrote: post #296
ihsw wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> although less than it seems once you take into account depreciation of your personal automobile (which is why the future transit and bike options are particularly intriguing.) Vehicles depreciate a fair bit when they roll straight out of the parking lot. Vehicles depreciate over time staying parked in your drive way/garage. Racking up miles on the odometer will definitely inflict wear and tear, especially in winter…

> I think depreciation should be the least of our concerns Here is a superb article showing that depreciation (and fuel) costs 19% of an Uber driver's pay: http://citypaper.net/uberdriver/ So, that's $14.58 to $20.25 instead of $18 to $25.

If you're working 40 hours a week, that translates to $30,000 - $40,000 per year. That's a very livable wage for completely unskilled labor.
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