r/nottheonion • u/PrintOk8045 • 2d ago
'Stressed' Amazon driver abandons 80 packages in Mass. woods during holiday shipping rush
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/stressed-amazon-driver-abandons-80-packages-mass-woods-holiday-shippin-rcna1853436.1k
u/kalamari__ 2d ago
Would i be pissed if it was my package? Yes. But I also know these guys usually get treated like shit.
2.8k
u/tigergoalie 2d ago edited 2d ago
I'd be pissed at Amazon for overpromising and creating the environment that led to this, not the worker for being human.
426
u/KeystoneGray 2d ago
At our ER, an Amazon driver passed out getting out of his truck in front of the entrance. It was blocking the emergency entrance so we guards had to move it. They fired him because he didn't call his supervisor to move the vehicle instead.
He came back a few days later to ask for the paperwork we did to document moving his vehicle. To say we were pissed was an understatement. I hope he won his civil suit, because fuck that.
169
u/whogivesashirtdotca 2d ago
I’m an Etsy seller, and Amazon has completely ruined some buyers’ expectations. I had Americans ordering handmade items as late as Friday evening, then asking for refunds when I reminded them it wouldn’t be delivered in time.
Funnily enough, the customers ordering my union themed pins last month were totally understanding when I warned them there was a postal strike on! It was refreshing to see those buyers show solidarity!
34
u/Flitter_flit 2d ago
It's really heartening that at least some people get it :)
17
u/whogivesashirtdotca 2d ago
It really was. Especially as almost all of them said they were intended as Christmas gifts, "But they'll understand."
→ More replies15
u/plusminusequals 2d ago
God I wish most Americans weren’t so ugly with their convenience worship. Haven’t used Amazon in years and my life hasn’t changed at all, other than the planet getting warmer…
319
u/OblongGoblong 2d ago
Same. If the products get lost or stolen whatever, Amazon will send replacements eventually.
I really feel for the poor worker.
→ More replies113
u/CrumpledForeskin 2d ago
Bezos having a 600 million dollar wedding this weekend is the icing on the cake.
We need to flog these folks publicly.
→ More replies126
u/Monte924 2d ago
Ya, frankly i think that "free two day shipping" should have NEVER become a thing. Like, ofcourse customers would want to have it, but those customers aren't thinking about the stress those demands put on the workers. Amazon offered it because they knew it would give them a leg up against all of the competition, but they had no plans for actually making it feasible for their workers. "free two day shipping" would have required a lot more workers which likely would have made it unprofitable. Instead, Amazon just demanded their workers work harder and faster for no extra benefit.
55
u/ATLfalcons27 2d ago
Any package delivered in ana Amazon branded sprinter van is delivered by someone that isn't actually employed by Amazon.
DSPs (delivery service providers) pay for the right to deliver Amazon packages. They are in charge of sourcing, hiring, and paying these hourly workers. Amazon holds the DSPs to strict metrics and they lose better routes to other DSPs if they don't keep up their metrics.
Not saying Amazon isn't responsible here as this model exists to benefit them but I don't think many people know how it works
Then there's also Amazon flex where it's basically like doordash and people deliver in their own vehicles
57
u/Monte924 2d ago
Amazon is 100% responsible for the sprinters and the flex drivers. Normally independent contractors are supposed to have a great deal of freedom to complete the job the way they want to. However, while they might be independent contractors on paper, in practice Amazon treats them EXACTLY like employees with all the same limitations but none of the benefits. Amazon controls everything about their jobs. The flex drivers basically get an app that tracks everything the driver does; it tells them what to deliver and how fast to deliver it and if they screw up too many times then they can be fired by the app.
Really, the entire arrangement just exists so that Amazon can avoid giving them the same legally required benefits of employees, and it gives them a way to shift any legal blame for anything that happens away from themselves. Those drivers are just doing what Amazon tells them to do and try to meet the demands that Amazon requires of them.
15
u/ATLfalcons27 2d ago
Yeah you're not wrong. The metrics the drivers have to meet aren't coming from the DSP themselves (they are more enforcing it).
The only reason I made the comment to clarify is because the vast majority of people think these people are all Amazon employees.
Yeah it's 100% set up like this to not make them employees and to also have depreciating assets (the vans) not on their balance sheet and not have to deal with repairs
→ More replies8
u/deliveRinTinTin 2d ago
An Amazon driver posted a video this week where he couldn't hand over a package to an angry lady because she didn't have the four-digit code. She was losing her mind and then she eventually dropped a racial slur as she walked away.
Yeah that's really worth $20 an hour to deal with.
6
u/ATLfalcons27 2d ago
Definitely not. The job is awful even if you don't come across any people. Just the sheer speed you're expected to deliver is crazy.
→ More replies3
u/livsjollyranchers 2d ago
The 1st world is a world of increasing convenience. Eventually, the 'convenience' gets too great and leads to too much suffering. Compromises must be made.
Yes, the companies should treat their employees well, but we should still point the fingers at ourselves as consumers who actively enable this system too, and benefit from it.
5
4
u/SanityInAnarchy 2d ago
I ordered something from Amazon lately, and it was late enough that they didn't promise one-day or two-day shipping, and made a point to say "Arrives after Christmas." And I wasn't pissed at anyone except myself for not ordering sooner.
If they did that more often, maybe things like this wouldn't happen.
→ More replies4
22
372
u/prosound2000 2d ago
I suspect this could also be the simple idea of driving when you don't know where you are. Not saying Amazon can't do better. It is obvious that they can. I just have the utmost respect for people who do this job daily, for years on end.
I'm just saying that the person probably got lost because of shitty GPS and next thing you know they're making more wrong turns and getting more and more lost while the clock is ticking.
Is it both sides, sure, but if you've ever been lost and frustrated you know the feeling of just wanting to just walk away from the car and hoping a spaceship offers you a ride instead.
152
u/Rickshmitt 2d ago
Agreed. But it's also who they get to drive. We had a bridge out near our house, so they had to use the other road in. For 6 months they could NOT reconcile the change in route. The logistics officer called us 4 time on the phone, so we explained what roads they had to take to get here. Not mad, just kind of astounded at the lack of flexibility and adaptation. Packages didn't matter if they were late, its not medicine, and the modern convenience of 2 day shipping is a luxury I dont require or consider. They get paid shit and treated like shit, I feel like shit for even using them half the time.
150
u/Delanorix 2d ago
You have to follow Amazons GPS set up or you get in trouble. Amazon beats into the drivers that they aren't supposed to think for themselves.
Sounds like the app never updated the new route and the drivers aren't paid to think.
→ More replies6
u/IISuperSlothII 2d ago
I once dealt with that when I delivered passports, luckily we weren't generally as stressed as Amazon drivers, but rather than drive the 15 minute diversion to the open entrance, I legit dumped the van and legged it through the closed road to the house and back.
→ More replies4
u/Bigjoemonger 2d ago
That's something I really don't understand. This mindset that everything needs to show up as fast as possible.
Sure in some cases it's nice to have, or even important to have if its urgent, and as a customer I'm willing to pay a little extra to get that. But in most cases you tell me it's going to take three days to ship something across the country, I fully accept that.
One time I was out of town and I was reminded of something I wanted to order. So I ordered it so I wouldn't forget. I chose the cheapest shipping option because I wanted it to show up 3 days later when I'd be home.
The next day I get a notification it's been delivered. The package then sat outside my home for two days. I'm lucky it wasn't stolen by the time I got home.
33
u/Delanorix 2d ago
The GPS system Amazon uses is pretty robust.
I dont know the driver but I doubt it was being lost.
Its the BS Amazon puts you through.
I tried Flex, did like 6 deliveries and noted out.
70 for 4 hours and 100 miles is BS. They also don't tell you how many packages or anything before you accept.
50
u/drhead 2d ago
UPS's management recently had the brilliant idea of removing the map from their drivers' GPS system, probably under the reasoning that they think their calculated routes are more efficient than what drivers have come up with through their years of experience. It made everyone slower and less efficient and they have not reverted the change since that would require one or more MBAs acknowledging that they were wrong about something.
20
u/Ditovontease 2d ago
They really are trying so hard to turn people into robots. And robots would behave exactly as that driver did lol (“malfunction” and then go off grid without packages delivered)
Humans are better than robots for good reasons.
→ More replies32
u/Delanorix 2d ago
I really hate MBAs.
They hire 26 year olds with no experience.
I have a friend going for one and hes an actual idiot. He doesn't know the difference between fiat vs currency. Terrible at economics.
Hes got a job lined up as a junior VP or some shit at a manufacturing plant lol
→ More replies20
u/lostmonkey70 2d ago
We have to update this stereotype, just like everywhere else no business is hiring a 26 year old and giving them power. They're hiring a 35 year old who has never worked a real job to make decisions about how people working those jobs have to do them. It's not lack of experience, it's thinking you know better because of irrelevant experience
→ More replies→ More replies8
u/BurnAfterReading4640 2d ago
The app is far from perfect but most of that is input errors unrelated to GPS. whatever carrier service the phone has will always have blind spots in rural America. These apps require 5g, nothing below will suffice. I’ve been sent for some real rough rides more than once on the eastern plains of Colorado cursing at the app to start working again
33
u/NuncioBitis 2d ago
Absolutely. That would be me.
I have literally walked away from things, to come back later/next day to have a fresh take on the situation (against my desire to get as far away as possible)→ More replies→ More replies28
u/Vegabern 2d ago
The driver literally said they left the packages there because they were stressed
→ More replies15
u/big_guyforyou 2d ago
dave chappelle fled to south africa because he was stressed. at least they didn't go that far
→ More replies40
u/meowmeow_now 2d ago
They refund or replace anything that isn’t delivered, seemingly no questions asked in my experience. They must have calculated that this is less expensive then giving drivers less pressure.
20
u/ames27 2d ago
Not my recent experience. Didn’t deliver 2 packages that were said to be delivered and took 5 chats and 3 phone calls to get them refunded. Absolute horrible customer service.
→ More replies4
u/meowmeow_now 2d ago
I’ve needed to have direct chat with customer service and it takes like half a hour and sometimes needed to be transferred to be authorized but it’s been same day refund.
→ More replies→ More replies9
u/girlikecupcake 2d ago
Not always, no. My dad had a package marked as delivered, that delivery notes claimed that he signed for it (he did not). The picture was of a house, not his apartment, and because it was "delivered" and "signed for" they would not redeliver or refund.
14
u/curtydc 2d ago
I think most of us would be pissed, but any sane person would direct that ire towards Amazon and not some underpaid, overworked delivery driver.
I don't blame them for cracking and giving up.
→ More replies7
→ More replies10
3.2k
u/cheerfulsarcasm 2d ago edited 2d ago
I had an Amazon shipping container just like that left on my steps a week ago, filled with my packages AND a bunch that were not mine. I contacted Amazon and they told me it was an error and not to worry about it. I thought about keeping them for a hot second but the guilt would eat me alive, they were all local addresses so instead I drove around town and dropped them off myself like a bootleg Amazon driver lol
1.0k
614
u/Fake_rock_climber 2d ago
Careful, you might give Bezos an idea. Free delivery labor.
269
u/DietInTheRiceFactory 2d ago
I would hardly be surprised if Amazon started "paying" people with 🎉🎉 ad-free PRIME VIDEOOOOOOO 🎉🎉 if they provided their porch as a neighborhood hub and distribution station.
144
u/SlayerBVC 2d ago
*AD Free Prime Video is not a guarantee of having an AD Free Prime Video experience. You may still see curated advertisements in the Prime Video interface, as well as prior to your content playing. Amazon reserves the right to revoke this at any time.
21
u/jmlinden7 2d ago
That's basically what it was before they added ads. They'd play a short skippable ad before your programming.
→ More replies→ More replies16
u/Mbinguni 2d ago
Yeah I’m paying the $3 a month for no ads and I still get ads. I’ve contacted them and they blame “technical difficulties”, but I don’t believe that for a second.
→ More replies30
u/Vomix 2d ago
"Honey, I got promoted at my job! A raise? Kinda... I can now claim a 1$ discount on eligible digital purchases!"
8
u/Greedy-Designer-631 2d ago
Lol what's depressing is this is what most modern promotions are like.
5% increase and you better smile for at least three months straight about it otherwise it becomes 2.5%.....
→ More replies37
u/llama-friends 2d ago
Save $1 on this order if you deliver a neighbors package too! It’s called Amazon Package-Share!
Your package and a neighbors will be in the same box.
They can even leave you reviews too!
35
37
101
u/ddbrown30 2d ago
That was a nice thing to do but all of those people would have either received a refund or a replacement item. So instead of you getting a bunch of free stuff, all the people you delivered to got free stuff. It's still a nice surprise for all those affected but don't worry about the guilt next time. It's only Bezos being hurt and he doesn't deserve your kindness.
54
u/genflugan 2d ago
For real, I’m a delivery driver and people ask me all the time what they should do with the package they got by accident. I’m like “Amazon will be sending them a replacement or a refund. Amazon won’t ask you to mail back that package so you can literally just keep it or throw it in the trash, up to you.”
→ More replies21
u/DarthLokiii 2d ago
I'm gonna go brush my teeth with the sensodyne I got delivered a box of by mistake. Was it a cool gift? Nope. But was it useful? The year I've spent not buying toothpaste says yes.
→ More replies→ More replies17
u/yaypal 2d ago
I doubt many of them would have received the replacements before Christmas though.
→ More replies8
19
6
u/ChickensOneFour 2d ago
They left one of those containers on my porch earlier this week too. I left it there hoping they would grab it next time they were here but it's still there. It's a nice bag, but I am not sure I really need it for anything. Thankfully it was only our packages or I would have had to do the same thing you did.
→ More replies4
u/h4mburgers 2d ago
I got one left at my place too, i use it to carry broken down boxes to the dumpster.
5
u/Enverex 2d ago
they were all local addresses so instead I drove around town and dropped them off myself like a bootleg Amazon driver lol
Petty sure in that scenario they would have been marked as not delivered and another sent out for all the ones that never reached the customer. So now everyone has two, haha.
6
u/Blahblahblahrawr 2d ago
lol I think I would do the exact same thing and think how did I end up here 😅
→ More replies18
u/FernwehHermit 2d ago
Fun fact, you're legally entitled to keeping all of the packages. This law came about to combat scammers who would send/leave unsolicited packages at someone's house and then send a bill demanding payment since it wasn't returned.
→ More replies
1.7k
u/Zak_Rahman 2d ago
I blame Bezos for this.
All he had to do was create a system where his employees are treated well.
Instead he chose to enrich himself with more money he can actually use.
He is another bastard who no one would cry over is he was Luigi'd.
330
u/Key_Floo 2d ago
He's got to plan his upcoming 600 million dollar wedding to a wooden board with plastic fillers! No time to think about the plebs and peons!
46
u/Nazamroth 2d ago
No, most of the money goes into developing the bleeding edge of dick shaped rockets.
→ More replies→ More replies10
73
u/Eyfordsucks 2d ago
You can’t be a billionaire by treating people well.
Hoarding that much money away from the rest of society is evil.
He put profits above human quality of life and the betterment of society.
→ More replies32
→ More replies58
u/JustAtelephonePole 2d ago
Hey now, we would cry! But they’d be happy tears mixed with streams of urine falling on his grave 🤷♂️
→ More replies
531
u/nfjsjfjwjdjjsj4 2d ago
Poor guy.
That's happened in my country too. They're told to deliver 1000s of packages a day. If they don't make it in their schedule, they're expected to keep working as long as it takes to deliver them all, and it's not considered overtime even if it takes 20 hours.
So workers straight out throw them in the trash, mark them as delivered, and when the client complaints the companies lie and say it was delivered. In my work we're trying to punish the companies but theyre slippery as fuck.
→ More replies40
u/halfcockhalfcock 2d ago
Why not just steal them lol
75
u/IIlIIlIIlIlIIlIIlIIl 2d ago
It's pretty much all junk. Anything valuable requires a code upon delivery.
17
u/Special_Loan8725 2d ago
Because they’re being recorded in their vans and idk if it’s all but a lot require a picture drop off verification. They would see your van go off route etc.
→ More replies5
u/nfjsjfjwjdjjsj4 2d ago
The bulk of those were letters, this was a privatized postal service, not amazon
152
u/bonkerz99 2d ago
"are considering this a human resources matter" Sadly, the only thing that they are going to change is the driver.
→ More replies34
u/PlatypiiFury 2d ago
How many drivers are dumping packages in the woods over stress?
Would you say it's more or less than 50%?
25
u/Nastreal 2d ago edited 2d ago
A lot less. I've worked Amazon delivery and while it's hard stressful work, dumping whole totes is a crazy overreaction.
17
154
u/mnbull4you 2d ago
Drivers buddy didn't get to the stash in time.
37
u/DroneStrikesForJesus 2d ago
This makes more sense. I was thinking they weren't so stressed that they didn't return the vehicle so why not just leave the packages in the vehicle if you're going back anyway?
→ More replies22
→ More replies20
90
u/ProperPerspective571 2d ago
Abandoned? They were coming back for sure
40
u/REDACTED3560 2d ago
Yeah I don’t buy the story for a second. Guy was hoping those packages would fall through the cracks of Amazon’s bureaucracy and he’d have some free stuff.
→ More replies9
u/TrankElephant 2d ago
It definitely seems like a different story than the delivery person that used a dumpster...
Anyhoo, I hope this brings awareness to how overworked the Amazon people are, especially during this time of year. And hey, even if the worker actually intended to 'abandon' the stuff, it would be a drop in the bucket compared to how much waste Amazon the company produces as a whole. It's basically built-in to their business model.
11
u/FollowingNo4648 2d ago
This happened with my company a few years ago. Used this crappy company for our deliveries that over estimated their capacity. Ended up finding our customer's supplies in dumpsters and abandoned delivery trucks. They were medical supplies for patients who are covered under Medicaid and Medicare.
77
u/InvasionOfScipio 2d ago
Bullshit.
Dude left them to be stolen by a friend.
52
u/DoTheThingTwice 2d ago edited 2d ago
I don’t understand how people don’t get this.
He dumped them in the woods?
So he took the time and effort to remove them from the truck but he was “too stressed” to actually do the deliveries?
Then proceeded to drive the truck back and act like nothing happened?
Right at Christmas?
Dude was clearly trying to get some free gifts.
→ More replies→ More replies10
u/cainy1991 2d ago
I donno it's tough.
I use to work for Aus Post...Christmas time is fucking insane, drivers who would normally have maybe 200 packages on average start getting 500+ around late October, by mid December it can be double that..
Your expected to deliver two packages a minute for 8 hours straight, many aimed more realistically for a package a minute for 16 hours or so...All while doing your standard sort, mail run, flyers, PO box drop offs etc in between..
More than a couple workers have freaked out after having worked 17+ hours thinking they where done, to return to find three more bins of mail dumped in their section... for the 9th day in a row of a "5 day week" they where promised when signing on.The chick who did the run before me lost her contact when they found out she had been dumping all non tracked packages and mail in a mine shaft for at that point.... months of time.
→ More replies
6
30
u/realKevinNash 2d ago
Just take the truck back and quit. Or pull over and call them and do it. I dont get the logic.
→ More replies
5
u/Heroinkirby 2d ago
Is that where my package is? Lol I'm not even kidding. I do feel bad for the person tho. The Amazon delivery guys work really hard and it's not an easy time of year
6
14
u/MarryMeDuffman 2d ago
How can a bunch of packages disappear undelivered without the driver being charged with theft?
Stealing mail is a felony.
→ More replies8
u/Tad_zeeky 2d ago
Yes stealing mail is a felony. That’s anything with paid postage. Packages sent through Amazon, fedex, ups, etc are not registered mail.
→ More replies
99
u/H2DK_ 2d ago
Stressed and unemployed now.
107
u/Muellercleez 2d ago
Some jobs ain't worth it
47
u/SteelMarch 2d ago
For some people these are the only jobs they are qualified for. Welcome to hell.
→ More replies→ More replies18
u/Lungomono 2d ago
Sadly, sometimes some people, have been there myself at a low point in my life, you can’t pick and choose. Any job which gives a paycheck is needed, and if circumstances just are against you, it can be hard getting any job again. So having the option to just quit aren’t in the cards.
7
u/Muellercleez 2d ago
Absolutely, and I'm not taking a shot at anyone. You do what you gotta do to make ends meet and care for your family.
I'm saying that the working conditions of some jobs are horrendous, and it sounds like being a warehouse worker or driver for Amazon are right there on the list.
16
u/Acrobatic_Switches 2d ago
If it's a bathroom break or a shitty job? I'm taking my bathroom break.
→ More replies→ More replies3
u/Darnell2070 2d ago
Why not just quit instead of ditching the packages though. No reason to do that if you're gonna get fired anyway.
5
u/No-Knowledge-789 2d ago
Drivers should just deliver what they can & at the end of their day, just take the truck back to the warehouse with what's left. 🤓
4
u/Matt_M_3 2d ago
Why is stressed in quotations? Because they know what it insinuates. Poors can’t be stressed, they are just being lazy. The media is 99.9% at fault for the state of affairs. They are an affront to democracy and twist every syllable and punctuation mark to silently narrate everything they write.
3
u/hawktwas 2d ago
Amazon is getting more and more counterfeit or fake products by the day. I saw someone open a gift that was a fake last night. The person that bought it felt horrible.
I’ve stopped using it almost entirely except for things I can’t find in person. And even then I try to shop at other places first. Point being, they treat their workers horribly, which should be enough to stop using them. But they also have shit products. So what’s the actual benefit of using it? They don’t even ship quickly anymore, so I don’t get it.
3
4
4
u/Superhumanevil 2d ago
I have this one Amazon driver 22-year-old kid every time he comes he hits my joint, he hits my pen, he downs a 24. He’s back in the truck in like seven minutes. Amazing speed in everything he does.
4
4
u/Fuckkoff- 1d ago
“I am proud of the way our Lakeville Police officers handled and investigated this matter.".
They found it and called amazon. I would imagine thats what everybody would do, given the circumstances.
3
u/cheesey_sausage22255 2d ago
I had a driver drop off a package at 10pm Christmas Eve. I felt so fucking bad I don't know they delivered outside business hours. I wish I could've told them they can hold onto it until the 27th fucking hell.
3
u/gnapster 2d ago
I think something like that happened to my package his week. I watched it go across the country, come to my town yesterday then today it was ‘being sent back to carrier, here’s your refund). I’m guessing the box was obliterated and that’s why they couldn’t deliver? Had to order it again today.
3
u/Mr_Whompy 2d ago
Highly recommend 'The Great Amazon Heist' by Oobah Butler if you want to know why they can't unionize. And also the piss bottle thing. https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8ozl3s
3
u/eristicforfun 2d ago
I was a delivery driver for a decade, you will get them tomorrow, eventually. There are strict federal laws for hours, even in smaller vehicles under 10,000 gross. I can guarantee Amazon should be investigated.
3
3
u/ATX_native 1d ago
Meh.
Amazon pays shit wages and has ridiculous quotas.
You never heard about this type of stuff from UPS when they paid amazing wages.
→ More replies
3
8.0k
u/Any-Ad-446 2d ago
This is why Bezo is kissing Trumps ass to prevent Amazon organizing a union.