
Poll Shows People Don't Want Amazon Deliverers to Have Access to Their Homes - aaronbrethorst
http://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/11/02/25538061/poll-shows-people-dont-want-amazon-deliverers-to-have-access-to-their-homes
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snapetom
If this is Amazon's solution to missing packages, it's the wrong one.

I've never had an issue with Amazon delivery until they used their own
drivers. I now frequently have my packages never arrive (I have cameras on my
porch. Not being stolen) and four times in the last six months have received a
delivery for someone else. It isn't like a package for my next door neighbor,
either. They're packages to addresses up to three miles away.

If Amazon wants to reduce missing packages, they need to hire drivers who
actually give a shit or go back to using USPS/FedEx/UPS.

~~~
sliken
Had some issues with an amazon delivery and talked to the driver about fixing
it for next time. They shrugged and said amazon pays like crap and the driver
turn over is high. So high that I'd likely not get the same driver for my next
delivery.

Does seem like a bad way to run a business.

Seems strange for amazon to propose entering into a house instead of just
selling a locked box that you and deliveries could use.

~~~
user5994461
As in all labor intensive industries that require no particular skill.
Turnover is not an issue, it's a consequence.

You can't significantly improve the job and the work conditions, it is what it
is. You can't pay more, that'd impact costs too significantly.

The consequence is high turnover and you can't fix the root cause. Lucky you,
there is an endless supply of fresh blood that can and are willing to do the
job so it's a viable business model.

~~~
noobermin
You seem to forget there were and are companies like fedex and ups that
deliver things just fine and don't have these issues. It might have something
to do with how they train and pay their employees.

~~~
user5994461
Let's not idealize the situation at other delivery companies. Delivering is
not a dream job.

It'd be interesting to see how much business is B2B and repeated addresses for
UPS/Fedex vs Amazon.

Amazon is likely to be distinct. High amount of one off consumers. Varying
routes every day. Customers being away during delivery. Exactly what ruins a
delivery company.

~~~
noobermin
A number of people have already attacked one of your fundamental assumptions
about low skilled labor. I think one way to say it is you're making the
assumption that what you call "low skilled labor" is in fact "zero skill
labor." I think you underestimate the level of skill required to deliver goods
efficiently and quickly, and yes, the cost that is involved in it. (to be
fair, you seem to be saying that I am overestimating that skill in your first
sentence.)

Also, "one off consumers. Varying routes every day." Well, delivery company
employees will have precisely fewer of those because their job is to deliver
things, seems like the reason not to trust Amazon drivers over Fedex.

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tlb
For historical perspective, I remember in 1996 when polls said most people
would never use their credit cards to buy things over the internet. Bezos
surely remembers that too.

~~~
synicalx
To be fair, lots of people use debit Visa/Mastercard cards instead. If I had a
credit card, I don't think I'd be comfortable buying something online with it.

~~~
ghaff
The risk is pretty much the opposite of what you think it is. One gives access
to your bank account. The other you are protected from paying fraudulent
charges.

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moonka
If I had a separate mudroom I'd consider it, but having dogs makes it a no-go
as it is set up. I'm surprised Amazon hasn't set up a "Amazon Locker" style
box that you can get placed on your porch for deliveries. A relatively small
one would take care of 90% of my packages.

~~~
corvallis
Amazon doesn't have to set this up. I know a handful of people who bought a
durable plastic trunk for their porch, and leave it open with a padlock
available. There's a sign on it instructing for deliveries to be placed in the
trunk and then padlocked. They have the key and are able to retrieve it when
they get home from work.

~~~
ghaff
And, frankly, just asking for deliveries to be put in a plastic bin probably
helps a lot at the margins. Never been an issue for me but just not having a
package in visible sight can probably be useful.

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yeukhon
Solutions

1\. Every house installs a dropoff box. This box allows owner to activate or
deactivate which delivery companies get to access it

I like this. No more write special delivery note.

2\. Open more amazon lockers that allow bigger sizes and more flexible
delivery time

Actually #1 is the right solution

~~~
chatmasta
And when you receive a package, the flag is up?

Sounds like a mailbox, just bigger.

The real complication is not isolated houses, but apartment buildings with
shared entryways and/or limited space.

~~~
yeukhon
It would be eletronic

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imgabe
Who are they polling? I think there's a fairly limited amount of people who
would really want this, and lot of people who wouldn't.

You need to live in a city, but not in an apartment building, which is a
pretty small (and wealthy) proportion of people. If you live in the suburbs or
the country, you probably don't mind leaving packages on the porch. In the
city if you don't have a doorman, a package is almost guaranteed to get
stolen.

Homicidal maniacs who want to kill total strangers for no reason are pretty
rare. Packages thieves are ubiquitous.

~~~
djrogers
> In the city if you don't have a doorman, a package is almost guaranteed to
> get stolen.

That’s taking a pretty narrow view of ‘the city’ - very few places on the west
coast have a doorman for example (I’ve never actually seen one), and there are
plenty of cities where you could have a package _not_ stolen. Of course if
your definition of a ‘city’ only includes Manhattan then you may be correct.

~~~
ng12
Not sure why you're singling out Manhattan: Queens and Brooklyn are famously
unsafe for packages. Even when I lived in the Sunset (the sleepy half of SF) I
had packages go missing.

In fact I would argue that if a package can reliably last 8 hours on your
porch you don't live in a city (at least for the purposes of this discussion).

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deweller
There are a lot easier ways to break into a house than to do it through the
front door while access is logged and you are being monitored by a video
camera.

~~~
williamscales
To some extent, practical security isn't about closing off every avenue of
attack. Obscuring obvious avenues of exploitation is a big part of it since
most crimes are crimes of opportunity. I would be worried that an Amazon
employee who is somewhat dishonest might feel tempted by the previously
inaccessible opportunity to enter my home.

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aetherson
Then those people don't have to use the service.

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chiefalchemist
I read (read: scrolled through) the original survey. For those who did not /
will not:

\- It's long.

\- It's mostly about products being Made in America.

\- The question in question is near the end (which could contribute to taker
fatigue)

\- The question in question makes no mention of Amazon. In the case of this
service, brand matters.

\- I didn't see anything (read: I could have missed it) saying if these are
Amazon customers or not.

\- I didnt see any question along the lines of: Has a delivered package ever
been stolen from your porch?

This idea is new. No doubt some people won't use it, at least not right away.
But it could catch on. Maybe.

That being said, I don't see this survey being a good indicator. It feels far
from a ideal survey (to me).

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mynegation
I wish Amazon went for low hanging fruit in select markets.

In Toronto, Canada, if given the option, I always prefer FlexDelivery, when I
can choose delivery to any post office even if it is not anywhere close to my
home. It is much easier for me to mosey up to the post office steps away from
my office in downtown and then bring stuff home, than try to make it to the
office in my neighbourhood before closing.

Unfortunately, too many shippers do not support FlexDelivery, and this is a
hassle. Amazon could start with that or strategically place the electronic
lockboxes around downtown: the ridiculous amount of people work in a
relatively small area of downtown core.

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sergers
I wouldn't allow Amazon or any stranger in my house without me being there.

They're making this optional only if wanted so I this doesn't matter to me I'm
sure some people have some value.

For lower-cost items Amazon just puts it under my welcome mat (just got one
today under the mat) at my front door that is covered. From the street u can
see there is a package as it there is only shade and not well lit.

A few times they have called me especially in bad weather conditions on where
to leave. Like leaving it in the backyard under the covered deck or with the
renter in my basement Suite

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rabboRubble
There is already a solution out there and it works. Japan has something called
Takyubin-box. Delivery person arrives at door, nobody home, opens box, puts in
package, sets a pincode, puts pincode in person's mailbox, person comes home,
retrieves packages. Some T-boxes are enabled with fancy features, some have
simple tumbler locks with manual one-time code setting.

I can't believe Bezos and company can't take that concept and retool for the
US market.

~~~
krapp
Those exist in the US as well.

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nl
Err.. markets aren't democracy: "voting against" something just means you
don't use it.

What this poll _actually_ shows is that Amazon _already_ has 32% of people who
want this is some form.

This is kind of like those "if we can just get 1% of 1% of the population we
will make millions" things, except in this case they have 38%(!)

The product managers of this service must be beyond joyful seeing acceptance
like this.

~~~
mikeash
Yeah, the headline doesn't seem to be remotely correct for the numbers in the
poll. I assumed "people don't want" meant that the acceptance rate was some
tiny number, like 1%. But no, 15% of adults are "very comfortable" with it,
that's huge! Another 13% are "somewhat comfortable," making it even huger.

A better headline might be, "Poll Shows 70 Million American Adults Comfortable
With Amazon Deliveries Into Homes."

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keerthiko
I would let a delivery drone have access into my house. Not a human.

I would happily install a remotely accessible window not accessible from the
street, and give amazon the authentication to open it and close it for their
drone to drop stuff in my house, IF losing packages was a recurrent problem
for me. It isn't, but drone delivery is plausible in future so worth thinking
about.

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leggomylibro
They have a separate pilot program for letting residences/communities/etc buy
one of their 'lockers' \- freestanding lockers that they deliver to and give
you a code to type into for picking up your package.

Seems better for most situations, but it might be the sort of thing where you
need a few dozen people to sign up for your location before they'll give you
one.

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mrits
In a house with multiple people using Prime this could get pretty awkward. I
rarely answer my door or even look to see who is there when someone knocks.
Last thing I want is Mr.Amazon walking in my living room while I'm on the
phone.

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ckdarby
Same thing everyone said with Uber & Airbnb.

