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I live in France and in the working hours of the delivery guys I'm at work in a different city. I ordered a number of things to my personal address, and the sto

I live in France and in the working hours of the delivery guys I'm at work in a different city. I ordered a number of things to my personal address, and the story is typically like: "package delivered" with some strange message from the delivery guy where to find it, or no message at all. Out of the last 3 things I ordered, 2 didn't get to me (I made a claim on Amazon and they reimbursed me, no questions asked - at least), and 1 other was delivered to a shop three streets from my place, and after 2 weeks when no one came to get the thing, a good guy from the shop noticed my phone number on the box and called me. I try to avoid buying physical stuff in the internet now, way too much stress.

gcp 9y ago
Believe me, even if you are home 100% of the time, packages will still not get delivered because "nobody was home". IIRC DHL is especially prone to this. I think the drivers try to catch up time or whatever.
- lostlogin 9y ago
  Wonder if we have it all wrong. If we paid for shipping on receipt there would be motivation to deliver.
  - gcp 9y ago
    Some of the vendors allow you to select the delivery company. I like this. It's pretty hard to get back to a seller and try to explain him the delivery company he is using is potentially scamming, especially as it only affects me (the receiver), not the shipper.
  - cjsuk 9y ago
    In the UK we can get our money back if the goods don't make it into your hands. It's up to the seller / courier to prove otherwise although it's usually a battle arguing with them. Royal Mail delivered a £560 multimeter to the wrong address and to a signature which wasn't mine. Never saw it again. That took a nightmare battle from hell to get sorted.
    - kennydude 9y ago
      Royal Mail is just terrible at doing anything it seems.
    - megablast 9y ago
      This is the same in every single country. However, if the mail say it was delivered then what do you do? You lose.
      - cjsuk 9y ago
        I actually found that in the UK at least, you get on twitter and call them thieving bastards repetitively until they are fed up with you and just give you the money to shut up :)
- st4rbuck 9y ago
  It also happens in germany. I once talked to a deliery guy from DHL. He told me, he has 3 minutes for a delivery. That's insane. Just one red traffic light and the 3 minute windows is fucked up. When you call dhl you only get lame exuses. "Maybe you doorbell isn't working?" Sure, DHL, sure.
  - emodendroket 9y ago
    The person you call almost certainly has no actual insight into the problem or way to contact the driver
- JohnBooty 9y ago
  Yeah I imagine the drivers do this to save time when they're behind schedule. Which makes me feel bad for the drivers, really. I'm gonna guess that they have some very tough schedules.
  - maigret 9y ago
    You don’t need to guess, it’s been documented. Most have impossible schedules. Ugly industry, and it would be costly to make it less ugly. So we all look away.
- wott 9y ago
  DHL is mostly subcontracted to local companies. Yes, drivers do that when they have a residential address, because they cannot pull the same trick with companies at factory/office hours, they hope it goes unnoticed with individuals. But I also have a DHL driver doing the opposite: you stay at home all day and nobody rings; then you notice that the parcel is marked as delivered on the website. What? You get outside and you see the parcel was thrown in your yard over the wall/fence/portal. You go back to DHL website and you download the receipt, to discover a beautiful fake signature of yours forged by the driver. So he just didn't bother to ring the doorbell to save 20 seconds. He saves 20 seconds and you lose several hours waiting for him... Also, in this subcontracting company, the drivers have very bad equipment, they do not have winter tyres (and we are talking about a mountain area...), they do not have enough large enough vans, so the drivers try to ditch as many parcels as possible in any 'possible' way because otherwise they have no room for pickups... The driver even showed up one day with a regular compact car... He had to come back.
  - crankylinuxuser 9y ago
    > But I also have a DHL driver doing the opposite: you stay at home all day and nobody rings; then you notice that the parcel is marked as delivered on the website. What? You get outside and you see the parcel was thrown in your yard over the wall/fence/portal. You go back to DHL website and you download the receipt, to discover a beautiful fake signature of yours forged by the driver. IN cases like that, I would have a very hard ethical time in pushing that issue of fraud onto the driver. To be honest, I haven't done that... but the thought would definitely cross my mind.
    - sdoering 9y ago
      I wouldn't think twice. I would absolutely do that. Why? While in school I was working as a delivery driver and never resorted to shit like that. And we were not only pressed for time. We were paid by delivered parcel. Nothing else counted. And we had to deliver the packets that were not successfully delivered to the central logistics station by 6pm. So if we didn't perform we were f..ed.
- mstade 9y ago
  This happens every single time with PostNord, the postal service in Sweden and Denmark. Every, single, time.
  - widforss 9y ago
    Second that.
- emodendroket 9y ago
  As I understand it (no personal experience, just hearsay), the quotas given to drivers are unrealistically aggressive, encouraging this behavior.
nothrabannosir 9y ago
Amazon lockers are the best thing since sliced bread. They put the ball back in your court to pick it up, when you have time. Removes the stress completely and makes ordering pleasant again. Keep an eye out for them, if you can.
- smcl 9y ago
  This kinda thing is extremely good and I'm surprised it hasn't caught on in a bigger way. Many (most?) purchases are made online these days, but when you do so you have to make one of a couple of awkward choices: 1. request a delivery at work, let the receptionists at your office sign for the package and very politely thank them each time (and don't do this too often) 2. place the order to be delivered at your home address, knowing that you won't be there and that you'll have to pick up the "you were out..." slip, and duck out of work and cross town later in the week to the post-office sometime during opening hours and suffer the queues there. The reason I use the word "awkward" is that I feel like I'm misusing some facilities no matter what I do (expecting a receptionist to handle my packages, or making a postman bring a package all the way to my flat and then all the way back home and fill out forms etc). These temp lockers are such a great idea.
  - jakub_g 9y ago
    Fully agree. Unfortunately the lockers are not very popular yet in France. But I've seen a few added in the last months in my area, hope it catches the steam, because it's way better. The problem though is that most of the time I can not choose the delivery company, and I've only seen La Poste having the lockers.
    - xbmcuser 9y ago
      With the all the home deliveries that people have these days I think it should be mandatory for all new constructed condos etc to have delivery lockers. The item gets delivered to the locker the code is messaged to you retrieve when you get back home. The current place I am living in has the security gate intercom dial my handphone. So for any package delivery I tell the guy I will open the door for him but I am not at home so to leave the item outside my apartment door.
m_mueller 9y ago
This kinda stuff makes me appreciate being in Japan (for now). Cannot beat Japanese customer service. Gonna miss that the most.
- firefixfox 9y ago
  It seems to me that being an expat in Japan is a win win with no downside, as one can enjoy everything that works within their society while avoiding all the social pressures the Japanese suffer. We are planning a trip soon to investigate our insight.
  - jakub_g 9y ago
    Haven't been there, but anecdata from my friend who spent 2 years there says yes, but you have to probably work remotely, because Japanese companies are very rigid, hierarchical and conservative - culture clash might be hard and you might be suffocating.
    - m_mueller 9y ago
      Agreed. But working remotely from Japan can be a great lifestyle if you can pull it off. Almost all of Japan's downsides come from working for traditional Japanese companies.
    - emodendroket 9y ago
      The wages are also very low for computer programming compared to the US, despite a cost of living that is not much lower.
MrBuddyCasino 9y ago
Use a PaketShop, much better. Not sure how they're called in proper english.
crottypeter 9y ago
Is it not possible to have stuff shipped to our workplace address. I've been doing that for years.
0care 9y ago
It has been my experience that if you order with a credit card and the item is not delivered you will not be charged. I usually let the credit card company handle it to avoid the hassle.
qquark 9y ago
Also being in France, I find that the most reliable and practical way to get something shipped is to use a "point relai" (when delivery at work is out of the picture because of company policies). Delivery services generally know better how to find them and deal with them, since other people use them too. When your package is damaged, some will even offer to add a note to your delivery, without you asking, in case there's a problem later. I order very regularly from Amazon, and I think I have never had a single problem receiving packages this way, and it's pretty easy to find one on your way from work or somewhere that suits you. Some of them are even open on Sunday, depending on what their main business is, very convenient ...
- jakub_g 9y ago
  Yes I'm trying to use point relais right now whenever possible. However oftentimes Amazon says to me that the items I want to buy can't be delivered to point relais (probably there are restrictions on size and type of products).
BrandoElFollito 9y ago
Bienvenue à Colis Privé. This shitty company is the worst delivery one I know but for some reason Amazon France uses it to deliver to me (west of Paris). I either get a "we were there" note when I was home, or nothing. I complained to Amazon but it is maybe time to get it to social keyword with a #DropThatShittyCompany or something.

gcp 9y ago

Believe me, even if you are home 100% of the time, packages will still not get delivered because "nobody was home". IIRC DHL is especially prone to this. I think the drivers try to catch up time or whatever.

lostlogin 9y ago
Wonder if we have it all wrong. If we paid for shipping on receipt there would be motivation to deliver.
- gcp 9y ago
  Some of the vendors allow you to select the delivery company. I like this. It's pretty hard to get back to a seller and try to explain him the delivery company he is using is potentially scamming, especially as it only affects me (the receiver), not the shipper.
- cjsuk 9y ago
  In the UK we can get our money back if the goods don't make it into your hands. It's up to the seller / courier to prove otherwise although it's usually a battle arguing with them. Royal Mail delivered a £560 multimeter to the wrong address and to a signature which wasn't mine. Never saw it again. That took a nightmare battle from hell to get sorted.
  - kennydude 9y ago
    Royal Mail is just terrible at doing anything it seems.
  - megablast 9y ago
    This is the same in every single country. However, if the mail say it was delivered then what do you do? You lose.
    - cjsuk 9y ago
      I actually found that in the UK at least, you get on twitter and call them thieving bastards repetitively until they are fed up with you and just give you the money to shut up :)
st4rbuck 9y ago
It also happens in germany. I once talked to a deliery guy from DHL. He told me, he has 3 minutes for a delivery. That's insane. Just one red traffic light and the 3 minute windows is fucked up. When you call dhl you only get lame exuses. "Maybe you doorbell isn't working?" Sure, DHL, sure.
- emodendroket 9y ago
  The person you call almost certainly has no actual insight into the problem or way to contact the driver
JohnBooty 9y ago
Yeah I imagine the drivers do this to save time when they're behind schedule. Which makes me feel bad for the drivers, really. I'm gonna guess that they have some very tough schedules.
- maigret 9y ago
  You don’t need to guess, it’s been documented. Most have impossible schedules. Ugly industry, and it would be costly to make it less ugly. So we all look away.
wott 9y ago
DHL is mostly subcontracted to local companies. Yes, drivers do that when they have a residential address, because they cannot pull the same trick with companies at factory/office hours, they hope it goes unnoticed with individuals. But I also have a DHL driver doing the opposite: you stay at home all day and nobody rings; then you notice that the parcel is marked as delivered on the website. What? You get outside and you see the parcel was thrown in your yard over the wall/fence/portal. You go back to DHL website and you download the receipt, to discover a beautiful fake signature of yours forged by the driver. So he just didn't bother to ring the doorbell to save 20 seconds. He saves 20 seconds and you lose several hours waiting for him... Also, in this subcontracting company, the drivers have very bad equipment, they do not have winter tyres (and we are talking about a mountain area...), they do not have enough large enough vans, so the drivers try to ditch as many parcels as possible in any 'possible' way because otherwise they have no room for pickups... The driver even showed up one day with a regular compact car... He had to come back.
- crankylinuxuser 9y ago
  > But I also have a DHL driver doing the opposite: you stay at home all day and nobody rings; then you notice that the parcel is marked as delivered on the website. What? You get outside and you see the parcel was thrown in your yard over the wall/fence/portal. You go back to DHL website and you download the receipt, to discover a beautiful fake signature of yours forged by the driver. IN cases like that, I would have a very hard ethical time in pushing that issue of fraud onto the driver. To be honest, I haven't done that... but the thought would definitely cross my mind.
  - sdoering 9y ago
    I wouldn't think twice. I would absolutely do that. Why? While in school I was working as a delivery driver and never resorted to shit like that. And we were not only pressed for time. We were paid by delivered parcel. Nothing else counted. And we had to deliver the packets that were not successfully delivered to the central logistics station by 6pm. So if we didn't perform we were f..ed.
mstade 9y ago
This happens every single time with PostNord, the postal service in Sweden and Denmark. Every, single, time.
- widforss 9y ago
  Second that.
emodendroket 9y ago
As I understand it (no personal experience, just hearsay), the quotas given to drivers are unrealistically aggressive, encouraging this behavior.

nothrabannosir 9y ago

Amazon lockers are the best thing since sliced bread. They put the ball back in your court to pick it up, when you have time. Removes the stress completely and makes ordering pleasant again. Keep an eye out for them, if you can.

smcl 9y ago
This kinda thing is extremely good and I'm surprised it hasn't caught on in a bigger way. Many (most?) purchases are made online these days, but when you do so you have to make one of a couple of awkward choices: 1. request a delivery at work, let the receptionists at your office sign for the package and very politely thank them each time (and don't do this too often) 2. place the order to be delivered at your home address, knowing that you won't be there and that you'll have to pick up the "you were out..." slip, and duck out of work and cross town later in the week to the post-office sometime during opening hours and suffer the queues there. The reason I use the word "awkward" is that I feel like I'm misusing some facilities no matter what I do (expecting a receptionist to handle my packages, or making a postman bring a package all the way to my flat and then all the way back home and fill out forms etc). These temp lockers are such a great idea.
- jakub_g 9y ago
  Fully agree. Unfortunately the lockers are not very popular yet in France. But I've seen a few added in the last months in my area, hope it catches the steam, because it's way better. The problem though is that most of the time I can not choose the delivery company, and I've only seen La Poste having the lockers.
  - xbmcuser 9y ago
    With the all the home deliveries that people have these days I think it should be mandatory for all new constructed condos etc to have delivery lockers. The item gets delivered to the locker the code is messaged to you retrieve when you get back home. The current place I am living in has the security gate intercom dial my handphone. So for any package delivery I tell the guy I will open the door for him but I am not at home so to leave the item outside my apartment door.

m_mueller 9y ago

This kinda stuff makes me appreciate being in Japan (for now). Cannot beat Japanese customer service. Gonna miss that the most.

firefixfox 9y ago
It seems to me that being an expat in Japan is a win win with no downside, as one can enjoy everything that works within their society while avoiding all the social pressures the Japanese suffer. We are planning a trip soon to investigate our insight.
- jakub_g 9y ago
  Haven't been there, but anecdata from my friend who spent 2 years there says yes, but you have to probably work remotely, because Japanese companies are very rigid, hierarchical and conservative - culture clash might be hard and you might be suffocating.
  - m_mueller 9y ago
    Agreed. But working remotely from Japan can be a great lifestyle if you can pull it off. Almost all of Japan's downsides come from working for traditional Japanese companies.
  - emodendroket 9y ago
    The wages are also very low for computer programming compared to the US, despite a cost of living that is not much lower.

MrBuddyCasino 9y ago

Use a PaketShop, much better. Not sure how they're called in proper english.

crottypeter 9y ago

Is it not possible to have stuff shipped to our workplace address. I've been doing that for years.

0care 9y ago

It has been my experience that if you order with a credit card and the item is not delivered you will not be charged. I usually let the credit card company handle it to avoid the hassle.

qquark 9y ago

Also being in France, I find that the most reliable and practical way to get something shipped is to use a "point relai" (when delivery at work is out of the picture because of company policies). Delivery services generally know better how to find them and deal with them, since other people use them too. When your package is damaged, some will even offer to add a note to your delivery, without you asking, in case there's a problem later. I order very regularly from Amazon, and I think I have never had a single problem receiving packages this way, and it's pretty easy to find one on your way from work or somewhere that suits you. Some of them are even open on Sunday, depending on what their main business is, very convenient ...

jakub_g 9y ago
Yes I'm trying to use point relais right now whenever possible. However oftentimes Amazon says to me that the items I want to buy can't be delivered to point relais (probably there are restrictions on size and type of products).

BrandoElFollito 9y ago

Bienvenue à Colis Privé. This shitty company is the worst delivery one I know but for some reason Amazon France uses it to deliver to me (west of Paris). I either get a "we were there" note when I was home, or nothing. I complained to Amazon but it is maybe time to get it to social keyword with a #DropThatShittyCompany or something.