Getting Rid of Amazon Prime...

LionAquaLooper

robgilmo said:

CavemanGrogg said:

robgilmo said:

I had a leak in my kitchen yesterday,washing machine hose joiner thingy let go, Amazon will deliver a new one today, 7 stops away, cost me 4 quid, sometimes you just cant fault Amazon at times like this.

Driving to screwfix would have taken an hour or so sound trip and a load of diesel, my floor is pretty much ruined though, so there is that.


I forgot about Rings of Power, its brilliant, new season this year too.

You can see. especially with how Amazon handles their deliveries, why Alan Bates - the postmaster, has recently been calling for the Royal Mail/Post office to be sold off to Amazon for £1.00 in the press recently.

I think for parcel delivery they are great, they really nailed it, RM just couldnt compete, then the likes of Hermes or whatever they are called nowadays are just a joke.

And this is why: 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/mar/11/amazon-delivery-drivers-bathroom-breaks-unions

robgilmo

LionAquaLooper said:

robgilmo said:

CavemanGrogg said:

robgilmo said:

I had a leak in my kitchen yesterday,washing machine hose joiner thingy let go, Amazon will deliver a new one today, 7 stops away, cost me 4 quid, sometimes you just cant fault Amazon at times like this.

Driving to screwfix would have taken an hour or so sound trip and a load of diesel, my floor is pretty much ruined though, so there is that.


I forgot about Rings of Power, its brilliant, new season this year too.

You can see. especially with how Amazon handles their deliveries, why Alan Bates - the postmaster, has recently been calling for the Royal Mail/Post office to be sold off to Amazon for £1.00 in the press recently.

I think for parcel delivery they are great, they really nailed it, RM just couldnt compete, then the likes of Hermes or whatever they are called nowadays are just a joke.

And this is why: 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/mar/11/amazon-delivery-drivers-bathroom-breaks-unions ;

Broken link?

robgilmo

LionAquaLooper said:

robgilmo said:

CavemanGrogg said:

robgilmo said:

I had a leak in my kitchen yesterday,washing machine hose joiner thingy let go, Amazon will deliver a new one today, 7 stops away, cost me 4 quid, sometimes you just cant fault Amazon at times like this.

Driving to screwfix would have taken an hour or so sound trip and a load of diesel, my floor is pretty much ruined though, so there is that.


I forgot about Rings of Power, its brilliant, new season this year too.

You can see. especially with how Amazon handles their deliveries, why Alan Bates - the postmaster, has recently been calling for the Royal Mail/Post office to be sold off to Amazon for £1.00 in the press recently.

I think for parcel delivery they are great, they really nailed it, RM just couldnt compete, then the likes of Hermes or whatever they are called nowadays are just a joke.

And this is why: 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/mar/11/amazon-delivery-drivers-bathroom-breaks-unions ;

Ah, are you talking about pee bottles? Most drivers do it, unless rural and you can pull into a layby, Its not just Amazon drivers, the motorway hard shoulders are littered with pee bottles. Its the way O the road Bubs.

LionAquaLooper

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/mar/11/amazon-delivery-drivers-bathroom-breaks-unions

Or just google "Amazon drivers toilet breaks". Like i said in a previous post, this is all widespread and well documented. It's disgraceful to be honest 

This is happening globally as well, not just Amazon drivers in UK. 

robgilmo

LionAquaLooper said:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/mar/11/amazon-delivery-drivers-bathroom-breaks-unions

Or just google "Amazon drivers toilet breaks". Like i said in a previous post, this is all widespread and well documented. It's disgraceful to be honest 

This is happening globally as well, not just Amazon drivers in UK. 

I totally agree, but whats the solution? Fitting a toilet into every van? A delivery drivers rout may not take them past a public toilet and most garages these days, at least round here, dont have a public toilet.

Sporky

The solution is not penalising them for stopping to use the toilets at a petrol station.

Bezos is possibly the richest person in the world. Why does he pay his employees so badly? He's got more money than he can ever need.

If a full stop represents a million dollars, his net worth is over 200,000 full stops. Page upon page of them. About 10,000 double Lottery rollovers. He can afford to let people stop for a wee. 

LionAquaLooper

The lack of toilet breaks is an after effect of unreasonable pressure and deadlines placed on the drivers. That's the root cause and is what really needs to be addressed.

Then these drivers unionise and Amazon sack them. No win situation really. 

But Amazon are already working on a better solution for these drivers. They're just slowly replacing them with drones and robots. 

robgilmo

But you simply cant stop for a toilet break if there is no toilet to stop at, I have no doubt they are over worked, I have no doubt they are made to feel replaceable and get little respect for their work, thats not just delivery drivers, that in quite a lot of industries, and as for pay, its not just Amazon, again these problems are across many industries.

Sporky

robgilmo said:

But you simply cant stop for a toilet break if there is no toilet to stop at

Almost every petrol station has a public toilet.

LionAquaLooper

Hmm dunno cos I've never read or heard of Parcelforce, Yodel, DHL, UPS etc drivers complaining about toilet breaks, being penalised for such breaks, being sacked for joining unions, or having to piss in water bottles while driving around. Seems to me like it IS just Amazon.

Its fair you ask what the solution is but frankly I'd leave that for Amazon to answer. That's their job. The question at our level is whether we should be contributing to that or avoid it like the plague. I personally would rather do my bit and not add to that demand. 

robgilmo

Sporky said:

robgilmo said:

But you simply cant stop for a toilet break if there is no toilet to stop at

Almost every petrol station has a public toilet.

LionAquaLooper said:

Hmm dunno cos I've never read or heard of Parcelforce, Yodel, DHL, UPS etc drivers complaining about toilet breaks, being penalised for such breaks, being sacked for joining unions, or having to piss in water bottles while driving around. Seems to me like it IS just Amazon. 

Not round here they dont, the neraest public toilet is a half an hour away and even then, if its open, and even then I think I would rather use a bottle than use that toilet.

I am sure other delivery drivers have the same problem, PF, Yodel etc, I think Amazon get talked about a lot mopre though, usually also refering to how rich the guy who owns it is.

There is a factory up the road from where you live, they work for minimum wage, forced overtime to actually make a little money and are probably treated badly, but you have no idea who owns it, you have no idea how rich the owner actually is, you never see or hear much about it. 

CavemanGrogg

Sporky said:

The solution is not penalising them for stopping to use the toilets at a petrol station.

Bezos is possibly the richest person in the world. Why does he pay his employees so badly? He's got more money than he can ever need.

If a full stop represents a million dollars, his net worth is over 200,000 full stops. Page upon page of them. About 10,000 double Lottery rollovers. He can afford to let people stop for a wee. 

How many petrol stations, not the ones along motorways, major roads, or have other services like serving food, have bathrooms nowadays?  None of the ones local to me do,and as far as public toilets go, there are none around me, and I don't just mean in the village that I live in, but also in all the surrounding towns and villages, in fact the closest we have where I live to a public toilet is the toilets at Tesco, ASDA, M&S, and such.

boogieman

Sporky said:

Philly_Q said:

I think "saving the high street" is a lost cause.

I've tried many times. Needed some plasterboard Fixings yesterday; the DIY shop in the village (motto being 'we probably have it') yet again didn't have it.

Twelve minutes further away is a Toolstation. Bought online, collected, home.

The high street was poisoned years ago by business rates rising beyond reason. 

Yup. We have a small diy shop about 10 minutes drive away. I bought some copper pipe from them a while back. It was £15 for a 2 metre length. Wickes were selling it for £7. I understand why it happens but I can’t afford to support a business that costs me double every time I need something. 

Sporky

robgilmo said:

Not round here they dont, the neraest public toilet is a half an hour away

One point of anecdata disproves nothing.

And if you're right, the drivers need longer breaks.

You can't seriously be saying people shouldn't be allowed appropriate toilet breaks? 

Shrews

I've always been really happy with Amazon Prime and don't even use some of the features. I hate going shopping so for me ordering online is a must and have to say the vast majority of goods I've ordered and the delivery of them has been excellent. I'm also a person who if I feel the need to order something I want it next day, not have to wait, so for me that's another bonus.

I like using Prime Video for The Office US. I usually watch an episode or two a day and to me it's like spending a bit of time with friends. I find it relaxes me and takes the edge off the day. To have all 189 episodes at the touch of a button is awesome.

No complaints from me, although I agree the adverts are a step backwards. 

robgilmo

Sporky said:

robgilmo said:

Not round here they dont, the neraest public toilet is a half an hour away

One point of anecdata disproves nothing.

And if you're right, the drivers need longer breaks.

You can't seriously be saying people shouldn't be allowed appropriate toilet breaks? 

Thats not what I am saying at all, I understand the problem, I also understand a solution isnt as simple as 'give them more toilet breaks'.
I also understand that not every driver has this problem, some do actually have public toilets on their route. I also understand traffic and parking might be an issue in built up areas, so , there are many aspects to this problem but not many solutions, it matters not how rich the owner of amazon is, he cant suddenly make a toilet appear every time one of his drivers needs to pee.

Sporky

But the problem is that they're penalised for stopping for more than three minutes. It's darned near impossible to stop, have a wee, and get going again in that time. It's not "more toilet breaks". It's any breaks at all. 

Giving them time for breaks would effectively cost a bit of money. Amazon has metric fucktonnes of money. So not letting drivers have sensible breaks is a deliberate decision that money is more important than the drivers' wellbeing.

Why bring Bezos' wealth into this? Because if he footed the difference himself it'd barely be statistical mouse compared to the personal fortune he's made from the company. The two aren't unrelated. 

maharg101

I won't use Amazon for my own purchases.

I'm required to use AWS (Amazon Web Services) as part of my work, so that's my only interaction with them.

robgilmo

Guys, lets be clear on something, Amazon drivers do get breaks, some choose not to take them because they want to get their round completed, its not that Amazon dont give breaks, Amazon load their drivers up with so many parcels that they are pressed to get through it all, thats the problem, you are aware of the regulated breaks in a workplace? Drivers even have an app to remind them that they havent had a break should they forget.

I am not defending Amazon, but lets get it right.

And why are we all of a sudden shining light on Amazon? A large proportion of employers in the UK treat their workers like shit.

Philly_Q

robgilmo said:

And why are we all of a sudden shining light on Amazon? A large proportion of employers in the UK treat their workers like shit.

Purely because it's a thread about Amazon, I'd imagine.