# The U.K. Gig Economy



## Marty1 (Oct 23, 2019)

I couldn’t find a gig economy thread so here it is.

Director Ken Loach of ‘I Daniel Blake’ fame premiers his new film, ‘Sorry We Missed You’, tonight in Newcastle.

This new film focuses on the UK gig economy and the impact it has on the lives of those exploited by it.



‘_Loach and Laverty’s efforts reflect their aim: to state a problem in society and to show how horrible that problem can be. They don’t poke too much into the politics of the gig economy, but they drop straight into the houses of those affected by it. Sorry We Missed You unveils the probable story behind the hands that give you Amazon parcels and request a signature. And maybe, I hope, viewers will consider those stories before complaining about another delayed delivery’._

Sorry We Missed You review - HeyUGuys

From what I’ve just seen from the trailer, I can instantly relate to the delivery driver scenes.

Anyway, I hope this film turns out to put a much needed spotlight on Amazon and associated driver agencies disgusting exploitation of workers in this modern day version of Dickensian employment.

Hopefully the gig economy as a whole will be eventually brought to an end and workers finally be treat like human beings instead of disposable commodities open for abuse.


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## Badgers (Oct 23, 2019)

Marty1 said:


> Hopefully the gig economy as a whole will be eventually brought to an end and workers finally be treat like human beings instead of disposable commodities open for abuse.


I fear the worst but share your hopes too


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## Epona (Oct 24, 2019)

One day recently, Nate ran around London having been accepted for shifts that then got cancelled while he was on his way there, or turned out to be shorter than average - he traveled to 3 shifts in one day and ended up working a total of around 7 hours, with about the same amount of travel time and of course costs.  There is no penalty to the employers using this agency service if they cancel a shift at very short notice or even once someone has turned up leaving them out of pocket for travel, and unable to earn money somewhere else.  His pay is typically £8 per hour, but that is only for time he is working.  Short shifts or cancelled shifts can actually cost him money.  The other thing is the uncertainty, he does usually get plenty of work but it's not stable.


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## hash tag (Oct 24, 2019)

I see the film is based upon the sad death of Don Lane, a driver who missed hospital appointments and died while trying to deliver Christmas. 
Yes, I shall go and see this film, which is a bit of preaching to the converted. It saddens me that even on here, a slightly Leftie forum, that there are still many that don't really care enough to stop using the likes of Amazon and it's far reaching exploitation. We live in consumerist times and we have to have as much shit as possible at the cheapest possible price with little thought for those who struggle to deliver it. Nuff said.


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## Marty1 (Oct 24, 2019)

hash tag said:


> I see the film is based upon the sad death of Don Lane, a driver who missed hospital appointments and died while trying to deliver Christmas.
> Yes, I shall go and see this film, which is a bit of preaching to the converted. It saddens me that even on here, a slightly Leftie forum, that there are still many that don't really care enough to stop using the likes of Amazon and it's far reaching exploitation. We live in consumerist times and we have to have as much shit as possible at the cheapest possible price with little thought for those who struggle to deliver it. Nuff said.



Yes, Don Lane worked for DPD who at the that time used to shamefully fine drivers £150 per day for being off work if driver couldn’t arrange someone to cover their route.  I’m not 100% sure but I think that since his death DPD have stopped that practice, but obviously shouldn’t have taken a death to do so.

Back in 2016 I walked away from chance to work at DPD after going to one of their recruitment days - they wanted £600 paid upfront, non refundable, to cover cost of their uniform for starters but the deal breaker was when they mentioned the £150 per day fine if you were off ill.  Also, you didn’t get paid for parcels you couldn’t deliver and you had to pay for your own diesel and you had to use their vans.

It was quite amusing to hear the DPD recruiter try to sell the job by gushing that the van hand over was ‘amazing’ - I think they put a blanket over it for the big reveal whilst a couple of DPD workers started clapping.


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## maomao (Oct 24, 2019)

hash tag said:


> It saddens me that even on here, a slightly Leftie forum, that there are still many that don't really care enough to stop using the likes of Amazon and it's far reaching exploitation.


Fuck off. When my family can afford something other than our basic food, clothing and travel needs we're forced to buy from the cheapest possible source. I'm not going to be sneered at by a rich liberal twat for buying my kids the odd cheap toy off amazon. Amazon's disgusting behaviour needs to be dealt with at a political level, by unions and by Parliament, not by boycotts that some of us can't afford to participate in.


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## Monkeygrinder's Organ (Oct 24, 2019)

Shit treatment of delivery drivers isn't particularly an Amazon thing anyway is it. Any company sending stuff mail order uses the same few delivery companies. There isn't an ethical option there. The issue isn't going to be solved by consumer choice, the whole system needs addressing.


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## neonwilderness (Oct 24, 2019)

Marty1 said:


> Director Ken Loach of ‘I Daniel Blake’ fame premiers his new film, ‘Sorry We Missed You’, tonight in Newcastle.


I was going to go to that, but it had already sold out. There's a screening with a panel discussion after next Sunday (3rd) which might be interesting, so I might try and get to that. 

Tyneside Cinema are doing a series of things about zero hour contracts - Zero Hour - Tyneside Cinema


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## Idaho (Oct 24, 2019)

maomao said:


> Fuck off. When my family can afford something other than our basic food, clothing and travel needs we're forced to buy from the cheapest possible source. I'm not going to be sneered at by a rich liberal twat for buying my kids the odd cheap toy off amazon. Amazon's disgusting behaviour needs to be dealt with at a political level, by unions and by Parliament, not by boycotts that some of us can't afford to participate in.


The issue isn't about systematic exploitation, it's about consumer choices. There is no need to focus on the actions of large corporations. We need to concentrate on individual and isolated examples at the local level.


Oh because this is urban and someone will kick off - [/sarcasm]


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## hash tag (Oct 24, 2019)

maomao said:


> Fuck off. When my family can afford something other than our basic food, clothing and travel needs we're forced to buy from the cheapest possible source. I'm not going to be sneered at by a rich liberal twat for buying my kids the odd cheap toy off amazon. Amazon's disgusting behaviour needs to be dealt with at a political level, by unions and by Parliament, not by boycotts that some of us can't afford to participate in.



Exactly.


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## maomao (Oct 24, 2019)

hash tag said:


> Exactly.


You live in zone one and your family has how many cars again?


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## hash tag (Oct 24, 2019)

I do not consider myself especially rich. Even at my ripe age to earn something akin to an average wage, I have to work shift work. I could go on...


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## maomao (Oct 24, 2019)

hash tag said:


> I do not consider myself especially rich


Neither does the person who just had a (real life) rant at me about how terrible pork sausages are and how they only eat venison ones these days. And you didn't answer my question either.


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## Marty1 (Oct 24, 2019)

Monkeygrinder's Organ said:


> Shit treatment of delivery drivers isn't particularly an Amazon thing anyway is it. Any company sending stuff mail order uses the same few delivery companies. There isn't an ethical option there. The issue isn't going to be solved by consumer choice, the whole system needs addressing.



Absolutely, with regards the whole system needing changing, I’ve heard discussions of possible benefits of introducing tachometers to courier vans which would prevent drivers from working ridiculous hours.

Amazon routes are supposedly 9hrs but I found I was often out 10 - 11 hours due to the pressure of complying with Amazon’s expected 99% delivery rate.  The driver agencies that contract to Amazon get percentage points awarded against them if they have a parcel return rate over 1% which can lead to Amazon reducing the amount of routes they receive so that high pressure is passed directly onto the drivers.

If a driver is injured whilst on route, dog bites are quite common, falling over etc, the first thing your point of contact will say when you call the injury in is along the lines of, don’t worry you’ll be ok just crack on and sort yourself out after you’ve completed the route.

One driver I know had a dog latch onto his finger as he put a ‘sorry we missed you card’ through a customers door, took a good 5mins before he managed to get his hand out and the dog took his finger down to the bone, only after the customer arrived back home and got her dog off him.


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## hash tag (Oct 24, 2019)

maomao said:


> Neither does the person who just had a (real life) rant at me about how terrible pork sausages are and how they only eat venison ones these days. And you didn't answer my question either.



Directly - 2. Simply because I have to have one for work.


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## maomao (Oct 24, 2019)

hash tag said:


> Directly - 2. Simply because I have to have one for work.


I'm sure it's a lack of imagination on my part but I'm struggling to imagine a job describable as 'shift work' that requires a car for anything other than convenience in zone one London. Also why does needing one car mean having two? Do you ride them like roller skates?


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## hash tag (Oct 24, 2019)

Why is it I make a general statement and you take it as a personal attack and deem fit to attack me in return and derail someones thread about a film to boot.
My job is explained in posts elsewhere and I am not going to repeat them for the sake of it.
For the record I have just finished the 6th of 7 straight night shifts.


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## butchersapron (Oct 24, 2019)

hash tag said:


> Why is it I make a general statement and you take it as a personal attack and deem fit to attack me in return and derail someones thread about a film to boot.
> My job is explained in posts elsewhere and I am not going to repeat them for the sake of it.
> For the record I have just finished the 6th of 7 straight night shifts.


You set yourself up for it hippy.


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## maomao (Oct 24, 2019)

hash tag said:


> Why is it I make a general statement and you take it as a personal attack and deem fit to attack me in return


So you can dish it out but you can't take it? Don't make condescending comments about people using amazon and you won't get abuse in return.


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## hash tag (Oct 24, 2019)

Fair enough.


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## baldrick (Oct 24, 2019)

Out of interest is there a delivery company who are not totally shit and exploitative?

Whenever I have a parcel to send I use the post office, who I assume are the least worst option. But you rarely get a choice when buying online.


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## Marty1 (Oct 24, 2019)

baldrick said:


> Out of interest is there a delivery company who are not totally shit and exploitative?
> 
> Whenever I have a parcel to send I use the post office, who I assume are the least worst option. But you rarely get a choice when buying online.



Ive worked a couple of days here and there for DHL, covering for other drivers who worked for the same driver agency as I used to and though their routes can be equally as  challenging as Amazon, there is not anywhere near the amount of pressure to deliver all parcels, far more relaxed and without penalty.

But yes, the entire courier delivery industry requires a overhaul as it’s mostly a sliding scale of exploitation and dehumanisation.


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## Proper Tidy (Oct 24, 2019)

Marty1 said:


> the DPD recruiter try to sell the job by gushing that the van hand over was ‘amazing’ - I think they put a blanket over it for the big reveal whilst a couple of DPD workers started clapping.



Lol fucks sake


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## Proper Tidy (Oct 24, 2019)

Marty1 said:


> Ive worked a couple of days here and there for DHL, covering for other drivers who worked for the same driver agency as I used to and though their routes can be equally as  challenging as Amazon, there is not anywhere near the amount of pressure to deliver all parcels, far more relaxed and without penalty.
> 
> But yes, the entire courier delivery industry requires a overhaul as it’s mostly a sliding scale of exploitation and dehumanisation.


One of my best mates was a DHL courier for years, employed, but they basically forced out the employer couriers maybe ten or twelve years ago as wanted self employed. He moved to UPS, employed, and drives one of those brown vans with the mad doors. Rates them more than DHL. Think it is almost all or entirely business stuff too, not consumer


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## hash tag (Oct 24, 2019)

I see Ken Loach is on Question Time tonight.


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## Marty1 (Oct 24, 2019)

hash tag said:


> I see Ken Loach is on Question Time tonight.



Superb, I’ll be watching


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## hash tag (Oct 24, 2019)

Was on my way to work when it was on and then straight out to a client. Any good?


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## Marty1 (Oct 25, 2019)

hash tag said:


> Was on my way to work when it was on and then straight out to a client. Any good?



I missed it too unfortunately but will have to catch up on it for sure.


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## hash tag (Oct 25, 2019)

I'm tried watching at work; the crap computers make it unsearchable


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## hash tag (Oct 25, 2019)

There are many reasons why the gig economy is crap and it's not just workers being restricted in how many breaks they can take, worried about losing their jobs etc. Delivery drivers when working when too tired to do so. Hgv drivers are restricted in the hours they are allowed to work and for good reason and many other drivers.
Just stumbled across this again Rail worker killed by train was fatigued and on zero-hours contract


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## hash tag (Oct 25, 2019)

"A working class hero"  'Hero' Ken Loach's Question Time speech about van driver 'killed by gig economy'


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## pug (Oct 25, 2019)

hash tag said:


> There are many reasons why the gig economy is crap and it's not just workers being restricted in how many breaks they can take, worried about losing their jobs etc. Delivery drivers when working when too tired to do so. Hgv drivers are restricted in the hours they are allowed to work and for good reason and many other drivers.
> Just stumbled across this again Rail worker killed by train was fatigued and on zero-hours contract



Multidrop drivers are covered by the current driving hours legislation it's just not enforced and the responsibility to comply is down to the 'self employed' driver, the managment of these delivery companies are well aware that the delivery rounds will require the driving time to be exceeded, the break times non existant and the speed limit to be broken in order to complete the allocated number of drops.

Driving a van



> *In the UK*
> If you drive a van for business for more than 4 hours a day, you must follow the Great Britain domestic rules on drivers’ hours.
> 
> They outline your working hours and the rest periods you must take.
> ...



If a driver has 150 drops(separate delivery destinations) thats about 14 an hour or one every 4-5 minutes, ie 4-5 minutes to ger out of the van, get in the back and find the parcel, find the front door and ring or knock, wait for the person to answer or not answer the door, (if not in then write out a card and/or tap up a neighbour), get back to the van, get in it and drive to the next drop and park before repeating the same. This is why drivers often dont use the seatbelt and why you might find that theyre filling out the card even though they've only just rung the doorbell, you might think or say to them 'can't you wait a minute?' but they only have four and a half minutes to make your delivery and drive to the next one.


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## hash tag (Oct 25, 2019)

Thats well informed pug cheers. HGV's have taco's whereas a van driver doesn't. For the self employed drivers, there is no way of enforcing those limits, thus putting
themselves and others at risk. I am not sure employers will be that hot on enforcing the hour limits.
I was reading during the night that Amazon have been taking a hit because they are working hard on Prime - 24 hour delivery. This can only make, matters worse


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## belboid (Oct 25, 2019)

.


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## hash tag (Oct 25, 2019)

Your timings, of course, pug are for easy, straight forward house drops. There are flats near me when finding the block entrance...5 minutes to be let in, then another 10 minutes to find the flat after that. I visit these places on emergencies 
Often fancied bit of couring work, driving round in a van with a few drops, not. I don't envy you guys, not one bit.


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## Marty1 (Oct 25, 2019)

hash tag said:


> "A working class hero"  'Hero' Ken Loach's Question Time speech about van driver 'killed by gig economy'



BBC iPlayer - Question Time - 2019: 24/10/2019


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## pug (Oct 25, 2019)

hash tag said:


> Thats well informed pug cheers. HGV's have taco's whereas a van driver doesn't. For the self employed drivers, there is no way of enforcing those limits, thus putting
> themselves and others at risk. I am not sure employers will be that hot on enforcing the hour limits.
> I was reading during the night that Amazon have been taking a hit because they are working hard on Prime - 24 hour delivery. This can only make, matters worse



The whole point of them being self-employed means that they don't have employers, they're contractors, I don't want to sound hair splitty because I know what you mean but its an important point to distinguish,- that the responsibility has been shifted onto the worker. And thats not the only thing that's shifted, if there's a turndown in business the driver still has to deliver the packages alotted to the round which could mean doing 20 drops, the fuel cost is not much less and effectively the driver is paying to work, this is shifting the business risk onto the worker.
This arrangement is really a situation where a whole lot of loopholes are being allowed to be exploited and the costs bourne by by society in terms of lower road safety, loss of tax revenue and damage to peoples lives and health as depicted in the film. 
If a self-employed contractor were to abide by the letter of the law in respect of driver hours, rest breaks, speed limit, seatbelts and driving whilst unfit due to illness theyd soon be charged for the deliveries they didn't make and then the contract terminated leaving them indebted to the insurance and the hire/purchase charges for the vehicle so once theyre in theyre almost indentured to continue until the debt for the vehicle is paid off.


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## Marty1 (Oct 25, 2019)

pug said:


> The whole point of them being self-employed means that they don't have employers, they're contractors, I don't want to sound hair splitty because I know what you mean but its an important point to distinguish,- that the responsibility has been shifted onto the worker. And thats not the only thing that's shifted, if there's a turndown in business the driver still has to deliver the packages alotted to the round which could mean doing 20 drops, the fuel cost is not much less and effectively the driver is paying to work, this is shifting the business risk onto the worker.
> This arrangement is really a situation where a whole lot of loopholes are being allowed to be exploited and the costs bourne by by society in terms of lower road safety, loss of tax revenue and damage to peoples lives and health as depicted in the film.
> If a self-employed contractor were to abide by the letter of the law in respect of driver hours, rest breaks, speed limit, seatbelts and driving whilst unfit due to illness theyd soon be charged for the deliveries they didn't make and then the contract terminated leaving them indebted to the insurance and the hire/purchase charges for the vehicle so once theyre in theyre almost indentured to continue until the debt for the vehicle is paid off.



Yup, there’s absolutely zero protection for drivers, it’s exactly as Ken Loach remarked on QT, it’s a master - servant relationship.


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## pug (Oct 25, 2019)

hash tag said:


> Your timings, of course, pug are for easy, straight forward house drops. There are flats near me when finding the block entrance...5 minutes to be let in, then another 10 minutes to find the flat after that. I visit these places on emergencies
> Often fancied bit of couring work, driving round in a van with a few drops, not. I don't envy you guys, not one bit.



No, timings just an average, the easy drops (residential drops are not the easy ones really for various reasons) could be bashed out at 2-3 minutes each and that provides the time to piss about at the block of flats, if it's a bad day then the block of flats could be skipped claiming that the person wasn't in. I don't do this work anymore thank fuck but I cant imagine taking 10 minutes to find a flat once i'm in the door.


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## pug (Oct 25, 2019)

Marty1 said:


> Yup, there’s absolutely zero protection for drivers, it’s exactly as Ken Loach remarked on QT, it’s a master - servant relationship.



The thing is the shift of the business's business risks onto the worker makes the companies more profitable for shareholders it's more or less direct effect of freemarket capitalism on the worker and that's where the individualistic notion that people buying stuff that's delivered by these workers are responsible for their conditions don't hold much water, it's the owners/shareholders of the companies that are responsible.


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## Marty1 (Oct 25, 2019)

pug said:


> The thing is the shift of the business's business risks onto the worker makes the companies more profitable for shareholders it's more or less direct effect of freemarket capitalism on the worker and that's where the individualistic notion that people buying stuff that's delivered by these workers are responsible for their conditions don't hold much water, it's the owners/shareholders of the companies that are responsible.



Amazon are now starting to muscle in on the profits of the logistics companies they use to deliver by leasing out their own Amazon liveried vans. 

The various logistics companies make a handsome return by the lease of their vans to their drivers, company I used to ‘sub contract’ with charged £188 per week, (£9776 per annum), deducted from wages, so Amazon being the insatiable greedy mercenaries that they are see an opportunity.

I use/used my own van as it’s cheaper than renting a van long term but it may be possible that one day Amazon only allow logistics companies to lease vans  off Amazon.


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## hash tag (Oct 25, 2019)

Maybe you stick an Amazon logo on your own van.
for a fee of course.


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## weltweit (Oct 25, 2019)

I know someone who delivers for one of the supermarkets, I don't think it's as bad as the courier companies but when they went to make a suggestion to one of the managers about how something could be better, the manager just said "if you don't like it you can fuck off!"


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## Duncan2 (Oct 25, 2019)

weltweit said:


> I know someone who delivers for one of the supermarkets, I don't think it's as bad as the courier companies but when they went to make a suggestion to one of the managers about how something could be better, the manager just said "if you don't like it you can fuck off!"


The point was made on QT that van drivers are the tip of the ice-berg.I doubt whether reliable figures exist for the numbers of Agency-Workers in sectors such as distribution-but its the norm-they are doing the bulk of the work that is done at very many sites.The majority of these could be described as being on zero-hours contracts-all of these cannot raise objections without being told "if you don't like it you can fuck-off"-all could be described as being in a "master-servant" relationship with their employer.None of this is news except to the middle-classes.


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## pug (Oct 26, 2019)

hash tag said:


> Maybe you stick an Amazon logo on your own van.
> for a fee of course.



That kind of thing works more like, if you dont have our vinyls then you cant deliver our parcels, the vinyls cost £300 with fitting on top and once the van has the 'livery' it mustn't be used for any similar type of work for anyone else.


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## hash tag (Nov 3, 2019)

5* review for the film, which, judging by today's paper sounds grim. From earlier in the week though Sorry We Missed You review – Ken Loach's superb swipe at zero-hours Britain | Peter Bradshaw's film of the week


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## colacubes (Nov 3, 2019)

hash tag said:


> 5* review for the film, which, judging by today's paper sounds grim. From earlier in the week though Sorry We Missed You review – Ken Loach's superb swipe at zero-hours Britain | Peter Bradshaw's film of the week



I saw it earlier today. It’s a great film but one of the most depressing I’ve seen for a while. I liked that it also showed up zero hours contracts in care  and how shit they are for both the carers and the “clients”. I see a lot of care agency staff round my way during the day and I often think about how they aren’t paid for travel time and the like.


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## hash tag (Nov 3, 2019)

I come into contact with a few carers and many people they try and care for, or not maybe. I haven't seen film yet, but wonder if it's a bit OTT to be believable. Might see it tomorrow.


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## colacubes (Nov 3, 2019)

hash tag said:


> I come into contact with a few carers and many people they try and care for, or not maybe. I haven't seen film yet, but wonder if it's a bit OTT to be believable. Might see it tomorrow.



I think it’s not in the slightest from the care perspective. Possibly a tiny bit on the delivery front, but not so much to make it unbelievable. And tbf the case it’s based on was totally unbelievable were it not actually real. Extreme but not unbelievable. I know people who’ve worked in both worlds.


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## Winot (Nov 4, 2019)

Saw this on Saturday at the newly accessible Ritzy (yay!). Very good I thought - rang true and horribly depressing. 

Smuggled the kids in (12 and 14 - film has a 15 certificate) and the 12 year old found it quite upsetting. I suspect it got a 15 because of the swearing; in fact the subject matter is the thing that’s difficult to take, and quite right too.


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## hash tag (Nov 8, 2019)

Great film, suitably gritty, perhaps a little OTT. Seb and Liza deserve mentions.
I suspect, to a point it's preaching to the converted. As for others, I hope it hits a nerve with them but have my doubts.
saying this, I've seen things close up from the carers viewpoint and felt the film glossed over some of their issues.


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## hash tag (Nov 9, 2019)

I am working with 3 others today, 2 are "leftie", the other is a film buff. None will go to see sorry. I'm trying to encourage my film buff daughter to go see it.


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## hash tag (Nov 11, 2019)

Tonight 


hash tag said:


> Read the book (hired), seen the film (sorry we missed you), heard and read the horror stories and now another television programme Dispatches - Episode Guide - All 4


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## Marty1 (Nov 19, 2019)




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## hash tag (Dec 8, 2019)

hash tag said:


> the van is your toilet, you do not make right turns, you do not reverse
> Driven to the edge: life on the Christmas parcel delivery run


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## Marty1 (Dec 8, 2019)

Very good article.  

It’s heartening to see the likes of the Guardian keep  update reporting the delivery driver field as it keeps it in the public focus and reminds the likes of Amazon how unjust and ultimately untenable the current system is.  

Three drivers were ‘off boarded’ (sacked) by Amazon from the agency I work for last week for failing to ask for photo ID on age verified parcels (alcohol, vape stuff etc) - we used to be able to use our discretion before and only ask for ID off customers if they looked under 25yrs old but Amazon decided to make it mandatory which is pretty pathetic when you’re delivering a bottle of wine to a pensioner.


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## hash tag (Dec 17, 2019)

Amazon delivery worker's 'priceless' reaction to snacks left outside goes viral


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## Marty1 (Jan 8, 2020)

So sat around in a holding yard for 2 hours this morning only to be told that there isn’t any work for me today, so - have a day off (unpaid of course), but they will definitely have work for me tomorrow, so I’m told.

Fks sake, but I should be used to this by now as after the glut of non-stop work of Xmas peak season, January is the polar opposite and if you make it past the mass cull of excess drivers, you then face days like this.

But basically, the gains you make over Xmas only act as cover for losses incurred in January.


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## Marty1 (Jan 8, 2020)

hash tag said:


> Amazon delivery worker's 'priceless' reaction to snacks left outside goes viral



That’s superb - cheered me up a little


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## hash tag (Jan 8, 2020)

Oh Marty, swings n roundabouts, highs and lows......I guess you don't turn up ou pay a penalty. Whats good for them.....they cant offer you anything, how about they pay a penalty? Seems fair.


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## B.I.G (Jan 8, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> So sat around in a holding yard for 2 hours this morning only to be told that there isn’t any work for me today, so - have a day off (unpaid of course), but they will definitely have work for me tomorrow, so I’m told.
> 
> Fks sake, but I should be used to this by now as after the glut of non-stop work of Xmas peak season, January is the polar opposite and if you make it past the mass cull of excess drivers, you then face days like this.
> 
> But basically, the gains you make over Xmas only act as cover for losses incurred in January.



I blame brexit and the tories.


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## Marty1 (Jan 11, 2020)

All drivers had to go for a drug and alcohol test yesterday morning before work - 6 drivers failed  and were finished on the spot.

Apparently one driver who failed had just bought a new van.

Just say no kids.


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## cupid_stunt (Jan 11, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> All drivers had to go for a drug and alcohol test yesterday morning before work - 6 drivers failed  and were finished on the spot.
> 
> Apparently one driver who failed had just bought a new van.
> 
> Just say no kids.



The question is, what did they fail on? Having a spliff the night before?

Sounds like an easy way of culling drivers after the pre-Xmas rush.


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## Marty1 (Jan 11, 2020)

cupid_stunt said:


> The question is, what did they fail on? Having a spliff the night before?
> 
> Sounds like an easy way of culling drivers after the pre-Xmas rush.



I should have mentioned it in the post but - the reason for the drug and alcohol test is because my logistics company are (for whatever reason) changing name so, everyone including the boss had to fill in new job application forms and the drugs and alcohol testing is part of that process.

We were advised of this about a week ago and the test results are shown to you before anyone else is informed of a pass or fail - basically you piss in a container then sit in a room with the test guy as the test indicates pass or fail.  The alcohol test is like the road side one where you blow into an alcohol detection device.


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## Saul Goodman (Jan 11, 2020)

hash tag said:


> Amazon delivery worker's 'priceless' reaction to snacks left outside goes viral


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## Marty1 (Jan 13, 2020)

Speaking to my accountant earlier today he told me about new HMRC rule IR35 which may or may not come into effect this year, apparently it may be delayed a year until after Brexit.

Might have this wrong but from what I gather, if you contract more than 70% of your services to one company you could be classed as an employee of that company.

I asked how that could affect myself as a delivery service provider for Amazon and my accountant just laughed saying the likes of Amazon will no doubt find some loophole way around this like they always seem to do 





__





						Understanding off-payroll working (IR35)
					

Off-payroll working rules for clients, workers (contractors) and their intermediaries.




					www.gov.uk


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## ruffneck23 (Jan 13, 2020)

IR35 has been around for quite a while, and has been the bane of many a contractor.


----------



## Marty1 (Jan 13, 2020)

ruffneck23 said:


> IR35 has been around for quite a while, and has been the bane of many a contractor.



I must have got the wrong end of the stick then, maybe it’s proposed changed to IR35 then?


----------



## Saul Goodman (Jan 13, 2020)

*Hermes parcel delivery depot a shocking mess in leaked photos from depot*

A worker at the depot, in Bradford, West Yorkshire, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed the issues shown in the pictures are a daily occurrence.

They added: “It’s horrific, nobody cares, I’ve seen people playing football with customers’ parcels.”






Packages are taken back to the depot, where they are “flung” onto the conveyor belt ready for transit, says the worker.

They added that staff are expected to collect up to 900 packages a day.

Such a large amount will often not fit in vans safely and carefully, claimed the worker.

But, they are loaded in anyway.












						'Playing football with parcels' - leaked photos at Hermes depot show what really goes on
					

Delivery company Hermes has launched an investigation after shocking photos emerged of packages strewn in the back of one of its vans and scattered…




					www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk


----------



## Epona (Jan 24, 2020)

Some of the clothing/uniform items that employers using agencies for temp staff want those staff to provide for themselves is ridiculous.

"Must have black leather closed top shoes, no trainers, converse, ballet pumps.  Black tailored trousers, no skirts.  White shirt with stiff collar and BLACK buttons. (sorry, wtf?)  No logos on any item of clothing.  Layer up underneath that uniform because you will be working outdoors.  5 hour shift, £8 per hour, £40"

(And you'll be trying to make your way home on the night bus because the shift finishes at 3am or something daft)

Oh another one, a certain south london nightclub requires casual bar staff (including barback, who tend to end up covered in beer by the end of the night) to wear navy jeans, and spotless white logo-free trainers - you could end up spending your entire shift pay on another pair of white trainers for the next shift (what they should require is non-slip safety footwear in any fucking colour you have)....


----------



## hash tag (Jan 24, 2020)

I was in Calder's @ Waterloo earlier in the week and bought Riding For Deliveroo by Callam Cant. Another take on the gig economy, this time from a push bike riders experience, though moped riders are touched upon. 
At first it seemed politically heavy, touching on Marx and Engels but now seems to be getting down to experiences. Not sure if it's better or worse than the van drivers lot; it certainly sounds grim. It could even be extracts from his thesis.








						Fighting Deliveroo: how to resist in the gig economy
					

Many people’s experience of Deliveroo is hungover; when you’re opening a door and taking a bag of food. Or perhaps you’ve seen a worker sat on a street corner staring at their phone, or you work in a restaurant and watch a steady stream of fluorescent jackets bustling through the kitchens. You...




					www.huckmag.com
				







__





						Riding for Deliveroo by Callum Cant | Waterstones
					

Buy Riding for Deliveroo by Callum Cant from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.




					www.waterstones.com


----------



## Epona (Jan 24, 2020)

Honestly really the agency that Nate works for is not bad in the grand scheme of things - it's a bit faceless (all done by phone app), but always pays on schedule, tends to have plenty of work, and seem to treat employees reasonably fairly.  Compared to the one he used to work for, which often messed up his pay, frequently double-booked him or insisted he work back to back shifts, and phoned him at any and all hours night and day with no regard for the fact that he might have just come off a long shift (which they ought to know) and be asleep!


----------



## Marty1 (Jan 26, 2020)

Epona said:


> Honestly really the agency that Nate works for is not bad in the grand scheme of things - it's a bit faceless (all done by phone app), but always pays on schedule, tends to have plenty of work, and seem to treat employees reasonably fairly.  Compared to the one he used to work for, which often messed up his pay, frequently double-booked him or insisted he work back to back shifts, and phoned him at any and all hours night and day with no regard for the fact that he might have just come off a long shift (which they ought to know) and be asleep!



What type of work does Nate do?


----------



## hash tag (Feb 4, 2020)

Is it the gig economy that is all bad. I mate I was out with recently is employed. He receives a monthly bonus if his team does well.
Striving to help his team meet that goal he recently put his back out. He admits he breached health and safety and it
was his own stupid fault. So how much peer pressure was he under from his team or his employers to meet the targets.
Not only that, he has been signed off sick for a month. Because he has been signed off for a month, he has NO pay!


----------



## Marty1 (Feb 4, 2020)

hash tag said:


> Is it the gig economy that is all bad. I mate I was out with recently is employed. He receives a monthly bonus if his team does well.
> Striving to help his team meet that goal he recently put his back out. He admits he breached health and safety and it
> was his own stupid fault. So how much peer pressure was he under from his team or his employers to meet the targets.
> Not only that, he has been signed off sick for a month. Because he has been signed off for a month, he has NO pay!



Amazon driver or similar?

Yeah, it’s a brutal ‘job’ - we’ve had two drivers finished last week - Amazon told our firm that they wouldn’t be offering those drivers any more routes (apparently due to poor performance), click their fingers and - you’re gone.

We’re now getting WhatsApp updates throughout the day showing every drivers current progress - if your name is in yellow you are behind, red is classified as ‘at risk’ (6 or more drops behind) - total pressure cooker.


----------



## hash tag (Feb 4, 2020)

Funnily enough, he has a class 1 HGV, but neither, which is what's shocking, a straight employee of smallish company.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 4, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> Amazon driver or similar?
> 
> Yeah, it’s a brutal ‘job’ - we’ve had two drivers finished last week - Amazon told our firm that they wouldn’t be offering those drivers any more routes (apparently due to poor performance), click their fingers and - you’re gone.
> 
> We’re now getting WhatsApp updates throughout they say showing every drivers current progress - if your name is in yellow you are behind, red is classified as ‘at risk’ (6 or more drops behind) - total pressure cooker.



That's horrific.


----------



## Marty1 (Feb 8, 2020)

Doing an ‘X’ route today, start work between 10.30/11am, though I’ve had to go to Amazon depot to be informed I’m doing this route today, so I’m now back home - I’ll have driven approx 24miles already just going back and forth to Amazon depot before I actually start route - how is that efficient or good for the environment considering there will be about another 10 drivers doing the same on X routes?

*X routes are routes for parcels that have been delivered late to the depot so can’t be assigned to regular routes and are a mixed bag - sometimes they are easy with low drops or a pile of shit where you’re out late, fingers crossed.


----------



## hash tag (Feb 8, 2020)

I guess taking an X route it might be more interesting and varied, hopefully less pressure.


----------



## hash tag (Feb 18, 2020)

will the deliveries become more difficult Marty1 I wonder. I've been reading consumer advice stuff about people who sign for their delivery only to find the box is empty. The general recommendation was for people to open package and check contents before signing for it. How many will start doing this? Will you be given allowances for it? Fearing the worst...


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 18, 2020)

hash tag said:


> will the deliveries become more difficult Marty1 I wonder. I've been reading consumer advice stuff about people who sign for their delivery only to find the box is empty. The general recommendation was for people to open package and check contents before signing for it. How many will start doing this? Will you be given allowances for it? Fearing the worst...



I think that kind of shit is pulled by ebay sellers, be very suprised if it happened from Amazon. Plus they may be dicks to their staff, but in my experience their customer service is really good.


----------



## Marty1 (Feb 18, 2020)

hash tag said:


> will the deliveries become more difficult Marty1 I wonder. I've been reading consumer advice stuff about people who sign for their delivery only to find the box is empty. The general recommendation was for people to open package and check contents before signing for it. How many will start doing this? Will you be given allowances for it? Fearing the worst...



Drivers usually notice empty packages before they are delivered and it’s only the white with blue Amazon/Prime logo liveried soft packet types that get shipped with no contents - we spot them as one of the packet ends is usually open - not particularly common - we just mark it down as a damaged package - as soon as that is actioned the customers order is auto- reordered for next day delivery.

Never come across standard (cardboard) parcels arriving with no contents in the years I’ve being doing this job.


----------



## Marty1 (Feb 18, 2020)

hash tag said:


> I guess taking an X route it might be more interesting and varied, hopefully less pressure.



Yeah, X routes (were) a bit of respite from standard parcel routes.

Unfortunately they are currently shelved as Amazon have put our start time back so that these late arriving parcels can be absorbed into normal routes, which inevitably means we finish later with more parcels to deliver - but this is Amazon so being constantly fucked over is nothing new.


----------



## Marty1 (Mar 27, 2020)

Words of encouragement from Amazon during this coronavirus pandemic.


----------



## Marty1 (Apr 3, 2020)

Well, today Amazon have provided us drivers with face masks!  I’m not going to lie but I’m finding wearing one quite a novelty (obviously it’s a welcome PPE addition to the rubber gloves they also supply).

These masks are disposable types so not sure what level of protection they offer but they fit well.


----------



## izz (Apr 4, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> Well, today Amazon have provided us drivers with face masks!  I’m not going to lie but I’m finding wearing one quite a novelty (obviously it’s a welcome PPE addition to the rubber gloves they also supply).
> 
> These masks are disposable types so not sure what level of protection they offer but they fit well.


Have actually wondered about this for delivery people and I'm glad you've been given something.


----------



## Marty1 (Apr 4, 2020)

izz said:


> Have actually wondered about this for delivery people and I'm glad you've been given something.



Yeah, they seem to have ramped it up, though today they didn’t have any masks but did provide every driver with hand sanitiser.  Disposable gloves were also running low but I managed to get a pair.


----------



## Marty1 (Apr 17, 2020)

So - I’m parked up outside of Amazon depot waiting for text to go in and you’d think there was a warehouse rave going on inside - low bass loud rumbles, some sort of EDM going on.

Amazon do this to quicken the pace for workers inside and drivers to speed up their load time.

228 fucking parcels to deliver today and I’ll not get to my first drop until around 11am if I’m lucky.

Bit overcast here but forecast says sun may come out later.


----------



## planetgeli (Apr 17, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> So - I’m parked up outside of Amazon depot waiting for text to go in and you’d think there was a warehouse rave going on inside - low bass loud rumbles, some sort of EDM going on.
> 
> Amazon do this to quicken the pace for workers inside and drivers to speed up their load time.
> 
> ...



I'm vaguely interested in the 228 parcels bit Marty. This seems about average for you these days (and I know it is actually more on par with Christmas or Black Friday). But you can't mean 228 drops because that would not be possible. So how many drops is it out of interest? And how many miles a day would that be on average?


----------



## Marty1 (Apr 17, 2020)

planetgeli said:


> I'm vaguely interested in the 228 parcels bit Marty. This seems about average for you these days (and I know it is actually more on par with Christmas or Black Friday). But you can't mean 228 drops because that would not be possible. So how many drops is it out of interest? And how many miles a day would that be on average?



Ive stopped for some lunch.

Here’s where I’m up to so far:



Drops showed this morning as 170 but bear in mind that one drop can sometimes be a multi-drop where you deliver to more than one address in the same street (piggybacks as we drivers refer to such).

So yes, my route today was 170 drops (excluding piggybacks), 228 parcels.


----------



## planetgeli (Apr 17, 2020)

Cheers Marty1 

How many miles a day do you average do you know? 

Are your routes mainly urban or rural? (I certainly remember you posting some pretty nice rural pics before which were presumably off your round). I'm trying to get my head around 170 drops in what, 10 hours? 17 an hour?? One every three minutes? Just wouldn't be possible where I live.


----------



## Marty1 (Apr 17, 2020)

planetgeli said:


> Cheers Marty1
> 
> How many miles a day do you average do you know?
> 
> Are your routes mainly urban or rural? (I certainly remember you posting some pretty nice rural pics before which were presumably off your round). I'm trying to get my head around 170 drops in what, 10 hours? 17 an hour?? One every three minutes? Just wouldn't be possible where I live.



80 - 100 miles per day.

Teeside area.

63 drops to do / 84 parcels, 2 reattempts left.


----------



## Marty1 (Apr 21, 2020)

The Truth About Amazon, tonight on Channel 4.

Should be interesting.


----------



## nick (Apr 29, 2020)

Should you be interested in (or fearful of) IR35 reform:

This seemed the most likely thread upon which to post this

 Lords call for complete rethink of IR35


----------



## yield (Apr 29, 2020)

nick said:


> Should you be interested in (or fearful of) IR35 reform:
> 
> This seemed the most likely thread upon which to post this
> 
> Lords call for complete rethink of IR35





> End zero-rights employment
> 
> Throughout the report, which IPSE described as a “much-needed dose of sense in the IR35 fiasco”, the issue of ‘zero-rights employment’ was focused on. The Lords made a point that many contractors tend to agree with – that individuals operating inside IR35, where they pay employment taxes, must receive employment rights in return.


Doubt anyone would disagree with that?


----------



## FridgeMagnet (May 4, 2020)

Tim Bray, a VP at Amazon, has quit because of the company's treatment of warehouse whistleblowers.





__





						ongoing by Tim Bray · Bye, Amazon
					





					www.tbray.org
				




Although one is tempted to say "it took you this long to realise, Tim?"


----------



## Edie (May 4, 2020)

Christ Marty1 i canny believe how shit your working conditions are and those of all other delivery drivers. Absolutely shocking.


----------



## Marty1 (May 4, 2020)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Tim Bray, a VP at Amazon, has quit because of the company's treatment of warehouse whistleblowers.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Link doesn’t seem to load, wonder if it’s been deleted?


----------



## belboid (May 4, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> Link doesn’t seem to load, wonder if it’s been deleted?


Only from the guardian which republished without asking.


----------



## FridgeMagnet (May 4, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> Link doesn’t seem to load, wonder if it’s been deleted?


Possibly overwhelmed with traffic as it's going around a lot on social - a bit ironic for someone who worked on Amazon's flexible on-demand storage systems....


----------



## Marty1 (May 4, 2020)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Possibly overwhelmed with traffic as it's going around a lot on social - a bit ironic for someone who worked on Amazon's flexible on-demand storage systems....



It finally loaded - very interesting and Bray does suggest racism involved with the sacked whistleblowers, which before reading I wouldn’t have thought would be the case as Amazon seem to exploit all colours and creeds equally - but Bray thinks so and his opinion holds a lot of weight.

I found this quite saddening  (even though I knew it anyway), but especially now as the aftermath of this pandemic is going to result in even more unemployment for Amazon to exploit without mercy.



> What about AWS? · Amazon Web Services (the “Cloud Computing” arm of the company), where I worked, is a different story. It treats its workers humanely, strives for work/life balance, struggles to move the diversity needle (and mostly fails, but so does everyone else), and is by and large an ethical organization. I genuinely admire its leadership. ¶
> 
> Of course, its workers have power. The average pay is very high, and anyone who’s unhappy can walk across the street and get another job paying the same or better.
> 
> Spot a pattern? · At the end of the day, it’s all about power balances. The warehouse workers are weak and getting weaker, what with mass unemployment and (in the US) job-linked health insurance. So they’re gonna get treated like crap, because capitalism. Any plausible solution has to start with increasing their collective strength. ¶



Edit: well done to Tim Bray for calling out Amazon, he didn’t have to do this as he explains but had the moral fortitude to do so.  I hope more follow in similar position, the more the better to keep pressure and focus on Amazon’s vile de-humanising practices.


----------



## hash tag (May 5, 2020)

Marty1 has there been a change in protocol with social distancing. Is it not a case of drop and photo? If so, I guess it's much easier than waiting for the door to be answered and faffing around with signatures.


----------



## FridgeMagnet (May 5, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> It finally loaded - very interesting and Bray does suggest racism involved with the sacked whistleblowers, which before reading I wouldn’t have thought would be the case as Amazon seem to exploit all colours and creeds equally - but Bray thinks so and his opinion holds a lot of weight.


If you give people the ability to arbitrarily exercise power, they will often do so according to their prejudices. Amazon as an entity isn't going to be super bothered either way but will approve of picking the targets with the most prejudice against them, because it makes them easier to attack.


----------



## Marty1 (May 5, 2020)

hash tag said:


> Marty1 has there been a change in protocol with social distancing. Is it not a case of drop and photo? If so, I guess it's much easier than waiting for the door to be answered and faffing around with signatures.



Yes, no signatures at all.

We  put parcels on doorstep, knock on door/ring doorbell then step back at least 2 metres. Once customer has opened door we wave them off and move onto next drop.

Face masks whilst delivering are mandatory now.

The most stupid process is AVD’s (age verified deliveries) - it used to be the case that the driver could use their discretion on whether the customer was over the age of 25 - if they didn’t then we’d ask for photo ID.  Then they changed it so that it was mandatory for drivers to request ID no matter how old the customer looked.

During this pandemic you’d think Amazon would have reverted back to the original driver discretion procedure - but no - we have to ask for ID - get the customer to put their ID on doorstep and ask them to step back 2 metres for us to then hover over ID and enter their DOB and name - it’s a total fuck on and very time consuming but if you get caught not following process off Amazon - you’re gone in a heartbeat.

The other day I delivered a bottle of wine to an address - the customer took a while to get to the door - she apologised as she’d just got out of hospital from chemotherapy and felt weak and out of breath - I had to ask her to produce ID which was heartbreaking as she said she had to get it from her bedroom upstairs which was a struggle for her   I empathised with her and she understood I had to follow thru procedure but still - felt terrible having to enforce Amazon fucking cunts gestapo orders.

On a different note - I was asked by my boss if I could work 6 days a week for the next 3 weeks - I stupidly said yes as he called when I was in the middle of a drop and instantly regretted agreeing to it as I need 2 days off the physically recover.

Today I was support - where I don’t have a route but take excess drops off other drivers to help anyone struggling or just wants less pressure.  I took 42 drops off one driver but felt absolutely exhausted so called office and explained and they let me go home for the day - I also asked to cancel my 6 days and go back to 5 which they also agreed.

After the lockdown is eased and some sort of normality returns there’s going to be a lot of unemployed people - I pretty much know that Amazon will already be scheming on how to maximise this opportunity (exploit the fuck out of it), knowing full well that with so much unemployment, workers aren’t going to complain about work load as there will be a queue off into the distance of people looking to step into their shoes.


----------



## Marty1 (May 6, 2020)

Routes today are massive.

One driver has 191 stops, 289 parcels!

How the fuck Amazon are getting away with this beggars belief - all the drivers are moaning.

I’ve got 169 drops, 231 parcels


----------



## hash tag (May 6, 2020)

Someone ordered a single bottle of wine from Amazon
 
there are local independent offlicences and major chains all open and delivering. I guess they will charge for delivery though. Majestic themselves deliver and one of the local uses Uber.


----------



## Saul Goodman (May 6, 2020)

hash tag said:


> Someone ordered a single bottle of wine from Amazon


It's madness, isn't it.
I've just ordered a tube of superglue


----------



## hash tag (May 6, 2020)

For locking up your internet access, your front door or both?


----------



## Saul Goodman (May 6, 2020)

hash tag said:


> For locking up your internet access, your front door or both?


Your mum.


----------



## hash tag (May 6, 2020)

Doubt it


----------



## Marty1 (May 6, 2020)

Saul Goodman said:


> It's madness, isn't it.
> I've just ordered a tube of superglue



Please ensure you are home to receive it or have a safe space notified on your account as drivers can’t leave parcels with neighbours due to the pandemic.

Otherwise the poor sod delivering it will have to make a reattempt at the end of his/her route.


----------



## Saul Goodman (May 6, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> Please ensure you are home to receive it or have a safe space notified on your account as drivers can’t leave parcels with neighbours due to the pandemic.
> 
> Otherwise the poor sod delivering it will have to make a reattempt at the end of his/her route.


The postman leaves everything in the porch, and signs for anything that needs signing for. A bottle of whiskey at Christmas goes a long way.


----------



## FridgeMagnet (May 6, 2020)

Saul Goodman said:


> It's madness, isn't it.
> I've just ordered a tube of superglue


I ordered three balls of string a few weeks ago. I did add some extra random shit on top of that to make it seem like I wasn't just ordering string, but due to various fuckups with the order, all the random shit arrived in separate deliveries anyway.

It's good string. Probably. I've not used it yet. I did need it though.


----------



## Saul Goodman (May 6, 2020)

FridgeMagnet said:


> I ordered three balls of string a few weeks ago. I did add some extra random shit on top of that to make it seem like I wasn't just ordering string, but due to various fuckups with the order, all the random shit arrived in separate deliveries anyway.
> 
> It's good string. Probably. I've not used it yet. I did need it though.


I like to get the most out of my Prime membership. I used to make a list of everything I needed, and buy it all at once, but if I'm getting free shipping, might as well make the most of it, and buy stuff as it comes into your head.


----------



## Marty1 (May 6, 2020)

Saul Goodman said:


> I like to get the most out of my Prime membership. I used to make a list of everything I needed, and buy it all at once, but if I'm getting free shipping, might as well make the most of it, and buy stuff as it comes into your head.


----------



## Saul Goodman (May 6, 2020)

Marty1 said:


>


It depends how you look at it. A common or garden postman delivers most of my stuff from Amazon, and he's here most days anyway, so he might as well drop off something from Amazon while he's at it.
And he does get a bottle of whiskey for his troubles.


----------



## MickiQ (May 6, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> Please ensure you are home to receive it or have a safe space notified on your account as drivers can’t leave parcels with neighbours due to the pandemic.


That's a positive pre-pandemic I used to work from home once a week and there were endless delivery drivers wanting to leave stuff with me, I don't mind the immediate neighbours but one guy wanted to leave a parcel for someone on the main road 100 yards away, he must have gone along looking for a house that looked like it had someone home.


----------



## Marty1 (May 7, 2020)

Saul Goodman said:


> It depends how you look at it. A common or garden postman delivers most of my stuff from Amazon, and he's here most days anyway, so he might as well drop off something from Amazon while he's at it.
> And he does get a bottle of whiskey for his troubles.



Yeah, I’m looking at it from the POV of Amazon delivering.  If it’s a postie then I see your point.


----------



## Marty1 (May 7, 2020)

Fucking great - the van takes about 20 times of turning the key in the ignition to start 

I’ve managed to get it running but I’ve got half a route still to go - rang office and waiting for them to get bk to me.  Clearly I can’t complete the route as there’s a strong chance it won’t start again if I take keys out to do a delivery - so either parcels go bk to Amazon or they get drivers to come out and take them off me.

Luckily my amazing gf has already called Ford for recovery at my home and they’ll be providing me with a courtesy van

My vans warranty expires in June - so I think I’ll pay to extend it.


----------



## hash tag (May 7, 2020)

Will you not get fined for that?


----------



## cupid_stunt (May 7, 2020)

hash tag said:


> Will you not get fined for that?



I would assume not, vehicle breakdowns happen, it's part of life.


----------



## hash tag (May 7, 2020)

I wouldn't make that assumption. It's Amazon or contractors we are talking about, who have fined people for going sick and having to get someone else to cover the round.


----------



## Marty1 (May 7, 2020)

hash tag said:


> Will you not get fined for that?



No, but I’ll only get half a days pay.


----------



## hash tag (May 7, 2020)

And you will count your blessings for small mercies. Young man.


----------



## Marty1 (May 7, 2020)

hash tag said:


> And you will count your blessings for small mercies. Young man.



Well - things have now turned to shit - Ford have got the AA to come out - guy called me to ask what was the issue and said that’s it’s a common fault on Ford’s - I’ll need a new ignition barrel which has to be done at a dealers - which are all shut apart from one which in in reduced hours.

Tomorrow is a bank holiday so Ford will likely be closed, and it’s them I need to speak to again as they provide courtesy vans and sort dealer repair.  I’ve told work I’ll not be in tomorrow due to the above - and that’s about it - total shit


----------



## cupid_stunt (May 7, 2020)

hash tag said:


> I wouldn't make that assumption. It's Amazon or contractors we are talking about, who have fined people for going sick and having to get someone else to cover the round.



marty1, does Amazon do that?

I thought that was DPD.


----------



## yield (May 7, 2020)

cupid_stunt said:


> marty21, does Amazon do that?
> 
> I thought that was DPD.


marty1 cupid


----------



## cupid_stunt (May 7, 2020)

yield said:


> marty1 cupid



Oops.   

Corrected to Marty1


----------



## Marty1 (May 7, 2020)

cupid_stunt said:


> marty1, does Amazon do that?
> 
> I thought that was DPD.



That was DPD - afaik they’ve stopped that after one of their drivers died after missing hospital appointments because he couldn’t find cover for his absence and couldn’t afford the £150 per day fine he would have faced.


----------



## yield (May 7, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> That was DPD - afaik they’ve stopped that after one of their drivers died after missing hospital appointments because he couldn’t find cover for his absence and couldn’t afford the £150 per day fine he would have faced.


WTAF


----------



## Marty1 (May 7, 2020)

Anyway - van is now working again (temporary fix) thanks to AA guy.

Tho - interestingly he wasn’t the AA guy who was originally meant to do the job.

First guy called me and asked what was wrong - I told him and he then asked me if I was a key worker.  I told him yes, I was.  He then proceeded to tell me that the problem sounded like a well known issue with Ford vans and it would require a new ignition barrel but I wouldn’t be able to get one in a hurry due to the lockdown - BUT - he knew a guy who could come out to me tonight and do a temporary fix for £300!!!!  He then proceeded to tell me this contact guy of his had just done a temp fix on another key workers van as they couldn’t afford to have days off as they wouldn’t get paid (just like me).

Alarm bells started ringing with me that this was a scam so I declined the offer - but AA guy said he’d still come out - as he had to take my mileage???

So when they AA guy turned up I thought it was the scam AA guy but it wasn’t - it was another AA guy - the scam guy had passed the job over to a colleague (presumably because he hadn’t got a £300 sale).

I told the AA guy who fixed my van and he basically confirmed this was a scam and shook his head - I’d likely have been charged for the same job he’d done covered under my van warranty.  It sounds like if I’d agreed to the £300 job the original AA guy would have sent one of his mates out to do the ‘job’ and split the cash.

Fucking vultures taking advantage of this pandemic ffs!!!!


----------



## hash tag (May 7, 2020)

Worse than bezos


----------



## Marty1 (May 8, 2020)




----------



## hash tag (May 8, 2020)

People just need to spend money. Have a nice day now.


----------



## colacubes (May 8, 2020)

yield said:


> WTAF











						DPD courier who was fined for day off to see doctor dies from diabetes
					

Don Lane’s widow says he was afraid of getting fined if he did not ensure his round was covered




					www.theguardian.com


----------



## hash tag (May 8, 2020)

Which is exactly where this thread started; Sorry we missed you was loosely based on Don Lane's story.


----------



## Marty1 (May 8, 2020)

Just talking to other drivers earlier - one driver went out yesterday with 305 parcels.

Another driver didn’t finish until 10pm.

Amazon have their boot firmly on drivers faces and are stamping harder than ever.


----------



## weltweit (May 8, 2020)

Hermes delivered to me yesterday by hanging my item on the garden gate. At least they chose the right garden gate but I am unimpressed! 

I had been expecting a phone call and having to give a signature - according to their email. 

Luckily a neighbour noticed and told me, otherwise it could have been hanging there for hours and anyone walking past could have taken it!


----------



## Marty1 (May 9, 2020)

martin6WM said:


> What a disgusting service. Is it your first time to purchase from them?



You don’t actually purchase from Hermes - they are the chosen carrier of company where the poster you’ve quoted purchased goods from.


----------



## Marty1 (May 11, 2020)

weltweit said:


> Hermes delivered to me yesterday by hanging my item on the garden gate. At least they chose the right garden gate but I am unimpressed!
> 
> I had been expecting a phone call and having to give a signature - according to their email.
> 
> Luckily a neighbour noticed and told me, otherwise it could have been hanging there for hours and anyone walking past could have taken it!



Hermes driver delivered a parcel to my mum yesterday - she lives opposite me and I was just finished washing my van so I saw the delivery.

My mum was at her front door as she must have seen the guy walking up the drive, he stopped about 12ft away and frisbee’d the parcel onto the doorstep 

They guy then waved and went bk to his van and emptied a load of parcels onto the road before sorting thru a few and putting some in his front cab.

Maybe he was having a bad day 🤷‍♂️


----------



## hash tag (May 11, 2020)

If that were me, it would be a bad day. 200+ parcels a day and all that grief, no thank you.
A reverse way of also saying respect to you and others that do do it.


----------



## Marty1 (May 12, 2020)

hash tag said:


> If that were me, it would be a bad day. 200+ parcels a day and all that grief, no thank you.
> A reverse way of also saying respect to you and others that do do it.



I’ve spoke with a few Hermes drivers on my travels - they typically do around 100 drops per day and use estate cars of small vans like this VW caddy that the guy who delivered to my mum was driving.







But Hermes drivers are no different from any other delivery driver no matter who they contract to - the whole last mile delivery industry is an exploitative joke.


----------



## hash tag (May 12, 2020)

apologies for the dreadful link. Heard summat about this on the radio this AM. Don't hold your breath is my advice.








						Coronavirus: Government facing lawsuit for 'failing to protect gig economy workers'
					

Workers from Uber drivers to medical couriers are among those most at risk of becoming infected with the coronavirus.




					news.sky.com


----------



## FridgeMagnet (May 12, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> I’ve spoke with a few Hermes drivers on my travels - they typically do around 100 drops per day and use estate cars of small vans like this VW caddy that the guy who delivered to my mum was driving.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Hermes does have a pretty bad reputation, including with me - I'll actively avoid ordering something if I know it's going to be sent via them (but nobody tells you). OTOH I have always put that down to the company being shit, disorganised, overloading people, not retaining drivers because of pay and conditions etc etc.


----------



## belboid (May 12, 2020)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Hermes does have a pretty bad reputation, including with me - I'll actively avoid ordering something if I know it's going to be sent via them (but nobody tells you). OTOH I have always put that down to the company being shit, disorganised, overloading people, not retaining drivers because of pay and conditions etc etc.


They wont even deliver to us half the time - too dodgy an area!  So we have to go miles to collect anything that wont fit though the letter box.


----------



## Marty1 (May 12, 2020)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Hermes does have a pretty bad reputation, including with me - I'll actively avoid ordering something if I know it's going to be sent via them (but nobody tells you). OTOH I have always put that down to the company being shit, disorganised, overloading people, not retaining drivers because of pay and conditions etc etc.



Yep - when I did the rural routes with the other delivery firm I delivered to a Hermes driver and got talking - Hermes drop parcels off at drivers house and they have to sort them into a route order.  He was still waiting for his delivery despite it being around 1pm - he said sometimes if something goes wrong he doesn’t get a delivery but the next day gets 2 days worth to complete in one day ffs.

Afaik, they get paid per drop but they’ve got to pay for their own fuel.


----------



## cupid_stunt (May 12, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> Yep - when I did the rural routes with the other delivery firm I delivered to a Hermes driver and got talking - Hermes drop parcels off at drivers house and they have to sort them into a route order.  He was still waiting for his delivery despite it being around 1pm - he said sometimes if something goes wrong he doesn’t get a delivery but the next day gets 2 days worth to complete in one day ffs.
> 
> Afaik, they get paid per drop but they’ve got to pay for their own fuel.



A mate that used to work for Hermes used to have to wait around, with the rest working locally, at a local delivery off point, the truck was regularly 1 or 2 hours late, and take half an hour or so to unload, for which they weren't paid.

He got paid 50p per drop*, can't remember if that was per package or per address, using his own estate car - they never even advised him to ensure that his car insurance covered him for business use, which it didn't, so he was basically driving around uninsured when delivering.

* That was on an urban route, it was a little more on rural routes.


----------



## Marty1 (May 12, 2020)

cupid_stunt said:


> A mate that used to work for Hermes used to have to wait around, with the rest working locally, at a local delivery off point, the truck was regularly 1 or 2 hours late, and take half an hour or so to unload, for which they weren't paid.
> 
> He got paid 50p per drop*, can't remember if that was per package or per address, using his own estate car - they never even advised him to ensure that his car insurance covered him for business use, which it didn't, so he was basically driving around uninsured when delivering.
> 
> * That was on an urban route, it was a little more on rural routes.



The entire industry needs regulating- this fake self-employed status is a main root of its exploitative evil.

This article is from 2017 but it stuck with me as one of the very worst examples (apart from the poor guy who died at DPD):









						Slave drivers ... Amazon delivery staff forced to work for weeks without pay
					

Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie calls for urgent enquiry after ex-UK Express employee reveals his job hell delivering goods for online giants.




					www.dailyrecord.co.uk
				




The delivery firm I’m currently with are the polar opposite of the above example. [Edit] but I’m still at the disposable mercy of Amazon due to this self employed exploitation.


----------



## Marty1 (May 16, 2020)

I’ve got an appointment for a possible new job on Monday.  

Nothing may come of it but still promising


----------



## Marty1 (May 16, 2020)

Same route today as I had yesterday only with an extra 28 drops.

I finished earlier than expected yesterday so Amazon’s algorithm works out extra drops for the next day so they can pull back any perceived un-worked time - the bunch of fucking twats as it doesn’t work both ways


----------



## Saul Goodman (May 16, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> I finished earlier than expected yesterday so Amazon’s algorithm works out extra drops for the next day so they can pull back any perceived un-worked time - the bunch of fucking twats as it doesn’t work both ways


If you know this is how it works, why didn't you just drive/work slower yesterday?


----------



## hash tag (May 16, 2020)

What would you do?
I want want it over and done with and get home as soon as.


----------



## Marty1 (May 16, 2020)

Saul Goodman said:


> If you know this is how it works, why didn't you just drive/work slower yesterday?



Some days just go that way (rare for me) - plus - the algorithm is very sophisticated and is difficult to game.

I can go into detail later.


----------



## Saul Goodman (May 16, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> Some days just go that way (rare for me) - plus - the algorithm is very sophisticated and is difficult to game.
> 
> I can go into detail later.


I'm genuinely interested. If I worked directly or indirectly for Amazon, I'd be doing my utmost to screw them at every opportunity, or at least trying to make sure they couldn't screw me.


----------



## Marty1 (May 16, 2020)

Saul Goodman said:


> I'm genuinely interested. If I worked directly or indirectly for Amazon, I'd be doing my utmost to screw them at every opportunity, or at least trying to make sure they couldn't screw me.



The algorithm puts a drivers work day performance under the microscope - most routes are in a variety of area types - terraced housing, private estates, commercial, apartments, city, rural, semi-rural etc etc and knows how quick an average drivers can complete certain areas so it knows how easy or hard an area can be.  But if you happen to be familiar with a certain area that is usually harder for most drivers but you do it quicker than the average - the algorithm picks that up too.

So - if you fly through say 3/4 of your route then cruise through the final quarter - the algorithm understands what you’re doing to a certain extent - it will identify the area you are cruising in and allocate you a route the next day that is closer to the first 3/4 of your previous days route to justify giving you that level of route.

Some drivers have flown thru a route in 5 hours then left one drop left to do but not swiped to finish the drop until hours later thinking they can trick the algorithm but - no, it knows that too.

If you’re a new driver you get small 65% routes at first which then increase to 80% then full routes.  The minimum amount of drops per hour Amazon require in a built up urban area is 15.  If you just stuck at doing 15 per hour Amazon would slightly increase the route and drivers would speed up a little to get finished the same time of day - and this continues until you kind of level off.  But there’s also the following to also understand:

I only know a few drivers who beat the algorithm - one guy in particular from my old firm of drivers - he could complete any (urban)  route in 5 - 6hrs.  Amazon’s algorithm can’t add more drops to him as the capacity of his van doesn’t allow it as he’s already maxed the algorithm out.  So this guy - in Amazon’s eyes is getting paid for 9hrs but he’s only doing 5hrs work - that’s how they see it or should I say thats how Amazon code their algorithm to see it as.  The reality is that this guy is delivering a staggering amount of parcels in half the time average/normal drivers would.  So are Amazon losing out (in their eyes) to this laws of physics defying guy?  Probably not - I don’t know if this is exactly true but it wouldn’t surprise me - but one of the managers said that those surplus hours are added onto other drivers routes the next day - evenly dispersed on say - 20/25 separate routes.


----------



## Supine (May 16, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> I’ve got an appointment for a possible new job on Monday.
> 
> Nothing may come of it but still promising



With all your experience you should be able to knock out 100+ interviews a day


----------



## Marty1 (May 16, 2020)

Supine said:


> With all your experience you should be able to knock out 100+ interviews a day



Yeah, only this prospective job is driving 7.5t vans - quite a bit bigger that what I’m driving now.  Makes me a bit apprehensive tbh.


----------



## hash tag (May 16, 2020)

7.5 tonners are fine, Just remember where the steering wheels are in relation to where you are sitting and you'll be fine. Just turn a fraction later....


----------



## hash tag (May 17, 2020)

BTW. It's been years since I drove a 7.5 tonner. No training, nothing. I was handed the keys and told remember where you sit in relation to the wheels!
(this was in central Lonodn for a charity). 
Good luck for tomorrow


----------



## Marty1 (May 18, 2020)

hash tag said:


> BTW. It's been years since I drove a 7.5 tonner. No training, nothing. I was handed the keys and told remember where you sit in relation to the wheels!
> (this was in central Lonodn for a charity).
> Good luck for tomorrow



Not sure I’ll take this job (if I’m offered it).

It’s delivering sofas, garden furniture etc, particularly white goods such as washing machines which require removing customers old machine and installing new one (no hardship other than the physical weight of them but you have a drivers mate to assist in the heavy lifting).  They also mentioned that they deliver quite a lot of American style fridge freezers.  I know at the moment this job is easier than it can be due to the pandemic as you just drop these very heavy items off outside customers homes as they are not allowed to enter inside - but eventually this will stop and the job will entail installing and setting up taking items inside.

They also mentioned the possibility of a ‘platinum service’ which they don’t do yet from their particular depot - but sounded like they would introduce eventually which consisted of delivering flat pack furniture to customers, then assemble it and removing all packaging materials - the last thing I attempted to assemble was a garden bench.  I lost my temper and stamped on it cracking the wood so it ended up being thrown away.

You start work at 6am and finish ‘when the job is done’, covering around 200 miles per day.

Where it’s situated would add approx 5 hrs commute to my week and added fuel costs.

As for the pay - it’s not great, slightly lower than what I earn now though you do get holiday pay as an advantage.

So - yeah, not particularly up for this job tbh.  An ex Amazon colleague works there and loves it and got me the interview which was good of him but I just don’t share his enthusiasm.


----------



## cupid_stunt (May 18, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> assemble it and removing all packaging materials - the last thing I attempted to assemble was a garden bench. I lost my temper and stamped on it cracking the wood so it ended up being thrown away.





Congratulations on your graduation from the Cupid Stunt School of DIY.


----------



## hash tag (May 19, 2020)

You finish when you finish.....estimated time to construct flat pack wardrobe 1 hour 10. Estimated time it would take me...3hours. 
There may be a little flaw in that.


----------



## Marty1 (May 19, 2020)

Fucking clutch has gone now


----------



## hash tag (May 19, 2020)

Looks like storm clouds are brewing


----------



## FridgeMagnet (May 19, 2020)

I ordered some more shit on Amazon yesterday, and after my last string debacle, tried to be efficient and group things into as few deliveries as possible. None of it is urgent after all.

It doesn't bloody let you though. Even after I finished I got more emails saying they'd split the delivery up.


> We thought you'd like to know that we've dispatched this portion of your order separately to give you a quicker service, at no additional cost to you. The remainder of your order will follow as soon as those items become available.


The algorithm has spoken - you must obey, humans.

This is only for things being delivered via Amazon Logistics - other couriers won't have the integration with the stock system to do this, it isn't their job.


----------



## cupid_stunt (May 19, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> Fucking clutch has gone now
> 
> View attachment 213472



How old is your van, it looks fairly new?

And, what make & model, so I can avoid them in the future?


----------



## cupid_stunt (May 19, 2020)

FridgeMagnet said:


> I ordered some more shit on Amazon yesterday, and after my last string debacle, tried to be efficient and group things into as few deliveries as possible. None of it is urgent after all.
> 
> It doesn't bloody let you though. Even after I finished I got more emails saying they'd split the delivery up.
> 
> ...



That normally happens when different items are dispatched from different warehouses, a single Amazon warehouse doesn't hold the complete offering on their site.


----------



## Marty1 (May 19, 2020)

cupid_stunt said:


> How old is your van, it looks fairly new?
> 
> And, what make & model, so I can avoid them in the future?



2017 Ford Transit Custom Limited - was only a year old when I got it, lovely to drive when it works but I’ve had a lot of grief with it but like the recovery guy said - the amount of stop-starting I do with the job causes a lot of wear and tear.

Another lad from our company has a Renault Trafic which broke down a couple of months ago - blown turbo - luckily he’d taken out an extended warranty otherwise he’d have had a fortune to pay out.

This current pandemic is causing absolute mayhem with dealer repairs - mine won’t accept van until 27th so in meantime I’ve got a courtesy van being dropped off tomorrow morning courtesy of Ford through the warranty that’s still left on it (expires next month).


----------



## maomao (May 19, 2020)

FridgeMagnet said:


> I ordered some more shit on Amazon yesterday, and after my last string debacle, tried to be efficient and group things into as few deliveries as possible. None of it is urgent after all.
> 
> It doesn't bloody let you though. Even after I finished I got more emails saying they'd split the delivery up.


I thought this was because the items were in different warehouses.


----------



## FridgeMagnet (May 19, 2020)

cupid_stunt said:


> That normally happens when different items are dispatched from different warehouses, a single Amazon warehouse doesn't hold the complete offering on their site.





maomao said:


> I thought this was because the items were in different warehouses.


It could well be, but I'm not informed of that when making the order, and there's no "actually can you please just send it to me all at once" response I can make.


----------



## Marty1 (May 19, 2020)

FridgeMagnet said:


> It could well be, but I'm not informed of that when making the order, and there's no "actually can you please just send it to me all at once" response I can make.



Amazon are hoping you’ll be super amaze on how quick they are shipping your part order out to you - they don’t cater for the environmentally considerate - consider yourself an anomaly to their system.


----------



## FridgeMagnet (May 19, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> Amazon are hoping you’ll be super amaze on how quick they are shipping your part order out to you - they don’t cater for the environmentally considerate - consider yourself an anomaly to their system.


There's a huge angry essay that I have on this topic but it kind of boils down to:

1. if you can't be smart, be predictable within the limits of your smartness;
2. you are about 1% as smart as you think you are.

Amazon wins on the bits where it doesn't try to be smart in terms of predicting what people want, just physical reality - logistics basically, it has a brutally efficient end-to-end logistics system, which mostly only benefits Amazon but reduces average delivery times. It is toilet when it comes to predicting what people want, no matter how many hugely smart folk they have in their dev teams. When those two things interact the "thinking we are smart" always wins out for corporate decisions, and loses in reality.

But this is standard. They all think they are smart. Advertising has been getting "smarter and smarter" for years now and oh look, internet advertising has been hugely tanking for about the same length of time.


----------



## Marty1 (May 19, 2020)

We’ve been told that our extra £2 per hour hazard pay has been extended again till the end of this month - but then it’s will almost definitely stop and go back to standard rate (you can bet that our routes will still remain heavy).

Meanwhile:









						Amazon’s Jeff Bezos was trending on Twitter as users debated the possibility of him becoming a trillionaire
					

The world’s richest man will be even richer in a few years — the first trillionaire — and a global pandemic may only be speeding up that process.




					www.marketwatch.com
				












						Jeff Bezos might become the world's first trillionaire, and no one can handle it
					

A new study found that Jeff Bezos is likely to become the world's first trillionaire, possibly by 2026. Twitter users are making memes of the news.




					www.dailydot.com


----------



## hash tag (May 19, 2020)

FridgeMagnet said:


> There's a huge angry essay that I have on this topic but it kind of boils down to:
> 
> 1. if you can't be smart, be predictable within the limits of your smartness;
> 2. you are about 1% as smart as you think you are.
> ...


They are smart, millions of people spend billions with them eveyday and helping that nice Mr Bezos


----------



## MickiQ (May 19, 2020)

FridgeMagnet said:


> I ordered some more shit on Amazon yesterday, and after my last string debacle, tried to be efficient and group things into as few deliveries as possible. None of it is urgent after all.
> 
> It doesn't bloody let you though. Even after I finished I got more emails saying they'd split the delivery up.
> 
> ...


I get those emails as well it pisses me off, the machine is not only overruling me, it's demanding I'm grateful for it.


----------



## hash tag (May 19, 2020)

I guess if you use Amazon you except their "rules" as it were. Their marketing, their manipulation etc.


----------



## FridgeMagnet (May 19, 2020)

hash tag said:


> I guess if you use Amazon you except their "rules" as it were. Their marketing, their manipulation etc.


I don't see why.


----------



## Marty1 (May 19, 2020)

hash tag said:


> I guess if you use Amazon you except their "rules" as it were. Their marketing, their manipulation etc.



Speaking of marketing and manipulation:









						Amazon won't commit to Jeff Bezos testimony over misuse of seller data | Engadget
					

Amazon has hinted that it might not send Jeff Bezos to testify before Congress despite politicians' requests..




					www.engadget.com


----------



## hash tag (May 19, 2020)

FridgeMagnet said:


> I don't see why.


Do me a favour. When you have told Amazon what your terms are, let me know what they say.


----------



## Marty1 (May 20, 2020)

So - I’m supposed to be taking delivery of a courtesy van this morning at 10am - when it got to 10.15 and no show so thought I’d check up.

Turns out they’ve got me down as picking up a small caddy van from their local depot   So now they’re scrambling a larger van (as I requested yesterday) to deliver ‘within the hour’.

Ive rang work to tell them the situation but there’s been too many fuck ups to ensure I can get to work in a timely fashion today.

This is what happens when there’s too many moving parts in the chain - Ford recovery who pass it to - AA who then pass it to van hire company = shit.


----------



## hash tag (May 20, 2020)

Can only hope This doesn't have too many financial implications for you.


----------



## Marty1 (May 20, 2020)

hash tag said:


> Can only hope This doesn't have too many financial implications for you.



Im currently in a long waiting list call to my local Ford dealer to try and sort an extension on the van I’ve been provided earlier today as it’s only booked to be with me for 2 days as it was set up via the AA.

It’s an absolute joke tbh, just get passed from pillar to post.  Makes you question the worth of manufacturers warranties when you have to do all the running around.


----------



## hash tag (May 20, 2020)

But there is a "war" on. It's difficult times. Many garage people are still not working.


----------



## weltweit (May 20, 2020)

Marty1 do all Amazon delivery drivers provide / fund their own vans?


----------



## Marty1 (May 20, 2020)

weltweit said:


> Marty1 do all Amazon delivery drivers provide / fund their own vans?



Yes - as using a van provided by work costs £800 per month out your wages.


----------



## hash tag (May 21, 2020)

There are implications of using a work van, if you didn't havecto rent it, I imagine as it could take you a step nearer to being a fully fledged employee as opposed to contractor or self employed with no rights.


----------



## Marty1 (May 21, 2020)

weltweit said:


> Marty1 do all Amazon delivery drivers provide / fund their own vans?



Sorry - I should have said that in my driver agency most drivers have or are moving to getting their own vans but there are still quite a few drivers (new starters) who are hiring vans off agency.


----------



## FridgeMagnet (May 26, 2020)

__





						WATCH: 9 Local TV Stations Pushed the Same Amazon-Scripted Segment – COURIER
					






					couriernewsroom.com
				








> Amazon is taking proactive action ahead of Wednesday’s annual shareholders meeting—at which investors plan on demanding the company address worker safety issues after at least eight warehouse employees have died of COVID-19—by pushing a package to local news outlets that promotes the corporation’s health and safety efforts.
> 
> 
> While most TV news professionals have scoffed at the idea of running Amazon-provided content as news, at least 11 stations across the country ran some form of the package on their news broadcasts. The package—you can view the script Amazon provided to news stations here—was produced by Amazon spokesperson Todd Walker. Only one station, Toledo ABC affiliate WTVG, acknowledged that Walker was an Amazon employee, not a news reporter, and that the content had come from Amazon.


----------



## Marty1 (May 26, 2020)

FridgeMagnet said:


> __
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Total fucking scumbags - trying to control the narrative as some sort of caring company and hero’s during this pandemic ffs.

The reality is they’ve literally exploited workers to death and now are shitting it that the families of those who have died from contracting C-19 at Amazon warehouses will sue them for millions.

Amazon are vultures who have been picking the bones clean off the global economy whilst Bezos cuntface has made billions off the back of it all.


----------



## Marty1 (May 27, 2020)

Amazon are officially ending the extra £2 per hour hazard pay on 30/05/2020 to all Amazon workers including drivers.

So there you go, according to Amazon, from the 30th, C-19 will no longer pose enough threat to workers to justify hazard pay.


----------



## hash tag (May 27, 2020)

Of course it will be safe from June 1, no questions...wasnt there a recent fuss in a German warehouse where staff kicked up a stink about a lack of ppe and safe working practices?
think about this, I guess it could apply to many of their warehouses right now

Wondering if FridgeMagnet got anywhere with negotiating terms with Amazon


----------



## Marty1 (May 27, 2020)

hash tag said:


> Of course it will be safe from June 1, no questions...wasnt there a recent fuss in a German warehouse where staff kicked up a stink about a lack of ppe and safe working practices?
> think about this, I guess it could apply to many of their warehouses right now
> 
> Wondering if FridgeMagnet got anywhere with negotiating terms with Amazon



Certainly explains why Amazon are keen to drum up propaganda news segments (see Fridgemagnet’s post) praising (themselves) of how super they’ve been throughout this pandemic - yes, we’re paying our slaves their normal pittance now but look at this shiny news segment.

I wonder if they stop providing their 4 day PPE packs?  Suppose they’ve got to stop otherwise they’d be contradicting themselves.


----------



## Marty1 (May 28, 2020)

Speaking to another driver this morning - he’s been working 6 days throughout this pandemic and now regrets it.  Couple of days ago he tried to get through a gap that was too small and ended up crumping his side load door and back wing against a fence.

So all the gains he’s made financially are now lost to repair costs.  Says he’s constantly exhausted and puts his accident down to this


----------



## Marty1 (May 28, 2020)

Support driver today - I’m waiting at one of the services on the A19 to meet another driver to take some parcels off him.

A19 is busy, almost back to normal to pre-pandemic times.


----------



## Marty1 (May 29, 2020)

Nice story:









						Amazon delivery driver captured on doorbell camera praying for family's high-risk baby
					

Mother says she's touched 'a stranger would take time out of her day to wish our son well like that'




					www.independent.co.uk


----------



## Marty1 (Jun 8, 2020)

So - as expected, Amazon’s unrelenting insatiable and irresistible greed shines through - hazard pay has ceased yet the work load continues to be massive (higher than Black Monday and Xmas) yet drivers still have to adhere to social distancing delivery guidance and wear face masks.

Meanwhile Jeff Bezos is quietly increasing his net worth by billions whilst virtue signalling on Twitter and social media.  Make no mistake - Bezos gives zero fucks about anyone but himself and his company who have recently been called out by a senior source for racism and exploitation of workers.


----------



## Marty1 (Jun 11, 2020)

.


----------



## Marty1 (Jun 25, 2020)

A welcome focus on Amazon and it’s continued failings:



> At Amazon, many warehouses recognized the day by encouraging workers to dress in black.
> 
> “What does a black shirt do for anybody in terms of social justice?” said Adrienne Williams, a black contract driver for Amazon in the Bay Area, who organized a vigil for Juneteenth. Better pay, she said, would do far more. “That would cut down the pre-existing condition that is poverty,” she said.



Enough of your meaningless words Bezos - hows about some action to stop treating your workers like slaves?









						Amazon Workers Urge Bezos to Match His Words on Race With Actions (Published 2020)
					

From racist graffiti to missed promotions, employees say a “systemic pattern of racial bias” permeates the company.




					www.nytimes.com


----------



## B.I.G (Jun 25, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> A welcome focus on Amazon and it’s continued failings:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



How about you unionise. Useless prick.


----------



## Marty1 (Jul 1, 2020)

Metro Detroit Amazon driver abandons truck, packages and goes viral
					

A Warren man's tweet that he abandoned his Amazon job\u00a0 — and van full of packages\u00a0—\u00a0at a Metro Detroit gas station has taken off on social media




					eu.detroitnews.com


----------



## hash tag (Jul 2, 2020)

I know this is old, doesn't mean it's not relevent








						Campaigners lambast Amazon with crowdfunded spoof advert to deter Christmas sales
					

Amazon Anonymous van drove through central London emblazoned with the line: ‘Enjoy unlimited instant tax dodging subsidised by government hand-outs. Anywhere, anytime’




					www.theguardian.com


----------



## hash tag (Jul 2, 2020)

B.I.G said:


> How about you unionise. Useless prick.



 Suggest you try reading this or similar








						Callum Cant
					

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kH5kFzhV6M&fbclid=IwAR3D1-QxfYuwUmV0P4muJ8XtEJA9Mjtv2I9dVDFy7XcgGackzSUdGw3Ibt4 What is life like for workers in the gig economy? Is it a paradise of flexibility and individual freedom? Or is it a world of exploitation and conflict? Callum Cant took a job with...




					strategyofrefusal.com


----------



## B.I.G (Jul 2, 2020)

hash tag said:


> Suggest you try reading this or similar
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Is it about a doing financially well racist that wouldn’t take a job on less money but for a better employer if it was offered to him?

How many gig economy workers do you know taking two week holidays in the sun like Marty1


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## hash tag (Jul 2, 2020)

Suggest you try it first. I have no idea of Marty's circumstances. There may be any number of ways in getting money for a holiday. It's not for me to make assumptions.


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## B.I.G (Jul 2, 2020)

hash tag said:


> Suggest you try it first. I have no idea of Marty's circumstances. There may be any number of ways in getting money for a holiday. It's not for me to make assumptions.



I’m sure no one that ever unionised faced such harsh circumstances as Marty1

Oh to have a job so easy I can post endless alt-right youtube videos and defend donald trump without breaking a sweat.


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## Marty1 (Jul 3, 2020)

B.I.G said:


> Is it about a doing financially well racist that wouldn’t take a job on less money but for a better employer if it was offered to him?
> 
> How many gig economy workers do you know taking two week holidays in the sun like Marty1



_clicks on show ignored content (and braces for impact)_

Oh how nice of you - not only do you begrudge me being diverse but now you begrudge me any holidays


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## B.I.G (Jul 3, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> _clicks on show ignored content (and braces for impact)_
> 
> Oh how nice of you - not only do you begrudge me being diverse but now you begrudge me any holidays



Marty the Nazi. I begrudge you life. People like you have destroyed so many lives of the vulnerable.

Keep Voting tory you absolute filth.


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## FridgeMagnet (Jul 3, 2020)

ffs


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## The39thStep (Jul 3, 2020)

B.I.G said:


> Marty the Nazi. I begrudge you life. People like you have destroyed so many lives of the vulnerable.
> 
> Keep Voting tory you absolute filth.


Could do with you getting off the thread tbh . I’ve learnt a lot about working practices at Amazon from this thread which affect all workers regardless of their politics or views.


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## Marty1 (Jul 3, 2020)

It’s pretty interesting seeing how our routes have panned out since the beginning of the lockdown (apart from the obvious increase in workload).

As more and more people have relied on Amazon the routes have become incredibly condensed/concentrated.  The route I did today was mega compact - no drop was more than 2 mins away from the previous and a lot of the time around 30 seconds or less between drops.  In some streets/estates of say 20 houses I was delivering to 50/60% of them.

We still can’t leave parcels with neighbours so as people are starting to return to work there’s an increase in people not being home so although my route finish times are quicker, reattempts have increased which takes away from any gains.


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## Marty1 (Jul 7, 2020)

Walmart set to take on Amazon Prime!









						Walmart has again delayed the launch of its Amazon Prime competitor Walmart+
					

Walmart+ will cost $98 a year and include same-day delivery of groceries, fuel discounts, and other perks.




					www.vox.com


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## keybored (Jul 7, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> Walmart set to take on Amazon Prime!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 I was going to say the race to the bottom is only going to fuck workers over even harder but the article headline seems to be bollocks.


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## Marty1 (Jul 14, 2020)

So - since shops re-opened the Amazon routes do seem to have generally reduced in volume from highs of 270+ parcels, to today where I delivered 212 but they can jump around each day between 195 - 240 presently.

We set on a load of new drivers when the parcel volume shot up when the lockdown started and probably have too many now, but excess drivers have been sent all over the U.K. to cover areas like Edinburgh, Carlisle and Maidstone.  Drivers get incentives of increased pay, free hotel room (shared with another driver tho) and fuel there and back to work away.

Still high daily volume tho as there are two loading cycles (cycle 1 is early start first delivery around 9am, cycle 2 is late start first delivery around 12.30pm) which normally only ever happens at Xmas time.  When we go back to only one loading cycle then that’s a sign that things have returned to ‘normal’ - but when that happens, who can really say 🤷‍♂️


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## Marty1 (Jul 16, 2020)

Early morning warehouse rave at Amazon depot (they blast hi-energy dance music to get workers to work faster).


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## Marty1 (Jul 23, 2020)

So they were asking for drivers to consider splitting their route today with other drivers as there wasn’t enough work, so I volunteered.

Ended up splitting with one of the new starters - older bloke who is 62yrs old (think I’ve mentioned him before on here).

He informed that he was leaving on Sunday.  I asked him what he was going to do instead - his answer was - ‘nothing’.  Apparently he’s only been offered 3 days work per week recently and can’t make a living off that.  He hires a van from the agency which is £200 per week so basically with 3 days work, the first 2 days only pays for the van with the third day as his pay.  So he’s been delivering around 600 parcels over 3 days for £116 to live off ffs.

But it gets worse as due to him not being that fast - he’s had support drivers come out to him to take parcels off him at his cost of £1 per drop - so you can take about £60 off his £116 leaving him with £56 for 30hrs work.

On top of that he said he’s never experienced stress like this in his life.

Meanwhile:









						Richest man makes $18 billion in a day
					

The masses of consumers forced to retreat indoors during the coronavirus pandemic has reaped huge rewards for the world’s richest man.




					www.news.com.au
				




Thank you for choosing Amazon!


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## Saul Goodman (Jul 23, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> So they were asking for drivers to consider splitting their route today with other drivers as there wasn’t enough work, so I volunteered.
> 
> Ended up splitting with one of the new starters - older bloke who is 62yrs old (think I’ve mentioned him before on here).
> 
> ...



So this old guy is your dropping partner?


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## Supine (Jul 23, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> So they were asking for drivers to consider splitting their route today with other drivers as there wasn’t enough work, so I volunteered.
> 
> Ended up splitting with one of the new starters - older bloke who is 62yrs old (think I’ve mentioned him before on here).
> 
> ...



So stop working for them


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## Marty1 (Jul 23, 2020)

Supine said:


> So stop working for them



Well that’s the plan as I can’t keep up doing this forever.


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## Saul Goodman (Jul 23, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> Well that’s the plan as I can’t keep up doing this forever.


You should start selling ebooks from your garage


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## Marty1 (Jul 25, 2020)

I shouldn’t have taken a day off yesterday as I’ve gone in today to find - not enough work for me 

Apparently Amazon have told all the driver agencies to keep the large pool of drivers they took on during Covid lockdown as they want to retain them for the Xmas surge (which is fucking months away) as typically it’s a fuck on for them to set on a load of new drivers then.

What this really is, is Amazon yet again fucking over workers without mercy - setting on new drivers over Xmas means they would have to pay them £75 per day for 2 days classroom training and 2 days doing a ride along with an experienced driver followed by a week and a half of paying full route money for 65% then 80% learner routes - so they’re trying to negate those costs as much as possible.  Maybe Bezos need to hit that Trillion dollar personal wealth target quicker than expected?

The reality tho is that there’s not enough work to sustain these numbers of drivers from now till Xmas so a lot of drivers will leave - but due to Amazon’s insistence that driver agencies maintain this high pool of drivers, new recruits will have to be brought in to replace them causing this circle of shit to continue until Amazon either abandon this experiment or it can be stretched out till Xmas.

This job has never felt so precarious as it is now.


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## Marty1 (Jul 28, 2020)

Non work again today and about 10 drivers finished - most of which were brought in during the height of the Covid lockdown.

As I’ve learned today, the main reason for reduction of routes available is due to another depot not having enough work to sustain it so our depot has given them some of their routes, leading to mass layoffs and reduction of work for established drivers like myself.

Apparently routes will be dropping from 9hrs to 8hrs in attempt to alleviate the sudden drop in work.

😐


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## Marty1 (Aug 2, 2020)

Not the best of job reviews from a former work colleague:


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## Marty1 (Aug 3, 2020)

Just had an unexpected £250 bonus for working during the height of the Covid lockdown 

Is Bezos reading this thread and feeing his conscience?


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## Pickman's model (Aug 3, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> Just had an unexpected £250 bonus for working during the height of the Covid lockdown
> 
> Is Bezos reading this thread and feeing his conscience?


He knew how cheaply you could be bought


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## Marty1 (Aug 3, 2020)

Pickman's model said:


> He knew how cheaply you could be bought



So you’re suggesting I shouldn’t accept it?


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## Pickman's model (Aug 3, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> So you’re suggesting I shouldn’t accept it?


Do what you want with it, it's no concern of mine


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## Marty1 (Aug 3, 2020)

Pickman's model said:


> Do what you want with it, it's no concern of mine



Oh, thanks for your input then.


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## yield (Aug 3, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> So you’re suggesting I shouldn’t accept it?


Get every penny you can off Amazon


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## krtek a houby (Aug 3, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> Just had an unexpected £250 bonus for working during the height of the Covid lockdown
> 
> Is Bezos reading this thread and feeing his conscience?



Yes, yes he is. Now, do the right thing and donate it to the Trump campaign.


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## Marty1 (Sep 5, 2020)

Fuck you Bezos.


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## danski (Sep 5, 2020)

Get more done by not wasting your time on the internet. 
Maybe scramble your password.


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## Supine (Sep 5, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> View attachment 229204
> 
> Fuck you Bezos.



If you don't like delivering parcels perhaps you're in the wrong job


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## Marty1 (Sep 5, 2020)

danski said:


> Get more done by not wasting your time on the internet.
> Maybe scramble your password.



Still waiting to load up.

The sun is shining tho - so that’s something at least


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## hash tag (Sep 5, 2020)

Supine said:


> If you don't like delivering parcels perhaps you're in the wrong job


Easier said than done - I am virtually unemployable and would find it very difficult to get a new job
especially in current climate


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## Marty1 (Sep 5, 2020)

Home sweet home - just pulled up on my drive.

Amazon app estimated (algorithm) Id be home at 18.55 so it’s uncannily accurate.



Off for 2 days now


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## Marty1 (Oct 6, 2020)

Calm before the storm routes have arrived.



There’s more drivers than routes so Amazon have to severely water down the routes to keep everyone in work as they need drivers ready for Prime and Xmas.

A temporary reprieve/respite before all hell breaks loose when the full force of peak season kicks in.


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## Jay Park (Oct 6, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> Calm before the storm routes have arrived.
> 
> View attachment 233134
> 
> ...



You deliver for them Marty?


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## Marty1 (Oct 6, 2020)

Jay Park said:


> You deliver for them Marty?



Yup, haven’t I mentioned it?


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## Jay Park (Oct 6, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> Yup, haven’t I mentioned it?



How is it? Sorry not read much of this thread.


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## Marty1 (Oct 6, 2020)

Jay Park said:


> How is it? Sorry not read much of this thread.



99% shit.


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## Jay Park (Oct 6, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> 99% shit.



can I say, take care.


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## Marty1 (Oct 6, 2020)

Jay Park said:


> can I say, take care.



Thank you.


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## Marty1 (Oct 13, 2020)

Amazon started giving us updates via a loud speaker/tannoy as we load our vans for a while now.  I think the Amazon bloke thinks he’s being funny as he starts with ‘Welcome to Amazon’ and ends with ‘Thank you for choosing Amazon’.

The updates are mainly shit like the weather forecast for the day, procedure reminders etc but one thing that caught my attention today was the mention of Thursdays parcel volume forecast to be 100,000!  To put that in perspective, about a year and a half ago (not Prime Day) the depot would do around 35k parcels per day.

On the work WhatsApp group we’ve had a message off two gaffers - good cop/bad cop.

Good cop thanking us for our hard work and necessity to keep it up especially over Prime Day volume as we are now the largest driver agency at the depot and need to lead to maintain and increase the amounts of routes Amazon allocate to us etc.

Bad cop - if anyone doesn’t turn in for work during Prime, don’t bother coming back.


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## weltweit (Oct 14, 2020)

Charming ..


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## Marty1 (Oct 15, 2020)

Lovely Prime day route.  We can’t deliver to neighbours again which adds to the fun.


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## Marty1 (Oct 15, 2020)

Another drivers route.


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## Supine (Oct 15, 2020)

So?


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## Saul Goodman (Oct 15, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> View attachment 234382
> 
> Lovely Prime day route.  We can’t deliver to neighbours again which adds to the fun.


1 down, 172 to go. You'll soon be done.


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## Marty1 (Oct 15, 2020)

Saul Goodman said:


> 1 down, 172 to go. You'll soon be done.



Got home about 40mins ago 😂


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## Marty1 (Oct 19, 2020)

So last week our group of drivers accumulated 80 concessions (black marks awarded by Amazon for breaching delivery process.

We usually only receive 10 concessions per week but during Prime Day (which runs a full week for deliveries) Amazon decided it would be fine and dandy to ram unprecedented volumes of parcels for drivers to deliver, during Covid, where we can’t leave parcels with neighbours - and expect drivers to reattempt to customers not home at first delivery attempt.

The result was massive returns and drivers leaving parcels all over the place rather than be on the road for 12hrs despite being paid for 9.


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## Marty1 (Oct 25, 2020)

Delivered a parcel to an old woman last week - she said she was sick to her back teeth of these Amazon parcels coming to her as she doesn’t have an account with them and the name on the parcels aren’t known to her (same unknown name every time).  This was the 11th time this has happened she informs.

So, I write a note on the address label explaining the situation and return it to mobile debrief who will take it back to Amazon depot - and with my note on address label I know Amazon will have to take note/action to stop this/investigate wtf is going on with it - and stop this old woman from having to deal with it all.

There are days off the following day so I call office to request one (can’t be arsed that day to work as it’s pissing down) to be told that Amazon bloke went ballistic that Id wrote on the address label and demanded one of our office team call me immediately so he could no doubt blast me in person.  Luckily I had my phone on silent as I travelled back from previous days route so missed raging Amazon bloke.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Amazon didn’t just print a new address label and send parcel back out for delivery again - I’ve seen this happen before.


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## FridgeMagnet (Oct 25, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> Delivered a parcel to an old woman last week - she said she was sick to her back teeth of these Amazon parcels coming to her as she doesn’t have an account with them and the name on the parcels aren’t known to her (same unknown name every time).  This was the 11th time this has happened she informs.
> 
> So, I write a note on the address label explaining the situation and return it to mobile debrief who will take it back to Amazon depot - and with my note on address label I know Amazon will have to take note/action to stop this/investigate wtf is going on with it - and stop this old woman from having to deal with it all.
> 
> ...


I know there is some sort of scam where random packages get sent to random people who didn't order them - something to do with being able to leave fake reviews? - but it seems odd that they'd use the same person each time....


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## Marty1 (Oct 25, 2020)

FridgeMagnet said:


> I know there is some sort of scam where random packages get sent to random people who didn't order them - something to do with being able to leave fake reviews? - but it seems odd that they'd use the same person each time....



May well be something to do with that.  I’ve heard that it’s difficult to sell a product on Amazon Marketplace even with pay-per-click ads without good reviews.

Nonetheless - Amazon shouldn’t have let this continue to such a rate.


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## Marty1 (Oct 27, 2020)

No work today - we have 10 drivers in total who have no work today due to Amazon wankers enforcing delivery service provider firms have a set amount of drivers in anticipation for Xmas peak which is far too high to provide work for everyone now.

Amazon have reduced routes from 9hrs to 8 to spread out the work/create more routes but they’ve recruited new drivers far too early.  

Their ‘8hr’ routes are more like 9hr routes in reality and when Xmas peak does land the 9hr routes will be more like 10+ and they’ll expect everyone to work 6 days per week.  Come Jan it will be dead where there will be a cull of newer drivers followed by a 3-4 day working week for those left.


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## Chilli.s (Oct 27, 2020)

Marty1 said:


> No work today -


Appreciate your reports from the driving seat.  Thanks


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## Marty1 (Oct 27, 2020)

So work called me around midday asking if I wanted to do a 6hr route, only 74 drops - 79 parcels, start at 2pm and pay wasn’t too far away from a full route payment so I jumped at it.  Finished at 8pm and got home around half an hour ago


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## Marty1 (Oct 28, 2020)

And no fucking work today ffs 

I have managed to get a 3.5 hr Flex route (separate from Amazon Logistics DSP) later today, which is at least some income.


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## Marty1 (Oct 30, 2020)

So one of our drivers has been covering for the Amazon depot in Carlisle.

He reckons the routes are small and easy and only take about 4hrs to complete and a higher rate of pay 

Only downside is the travelling there and back.


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## Marty1 (Nov 3, 2020)

Last week group text: we’ve got loads of routes all 7hrs but paid as 8hrs, need drivers to be flexible to work up to 6 days a week etc, etc.

Today: you are spare - would you like the day off?


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## moomoo (Nov 3, 2020)

This is really interesting. I used to deliver parcels but 14 was the average over a large area. How on earth do you manage 200 odd? Are the drops really close together?


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## Marty1 (Nov 3, 2020)

moomoo said:


> This is really interesting. I used to deliver parcels but 14 was the average over a large area. How on earth do you manage 200 odd? Are the drops really close together?



Yes, usually only 1 min drive or less between drops.  Often you will get clusters of drops then an 8-10min drive to next cluster of drops.


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## Marty1 (Nov 3, 2020)

So we were told that starting from last Sunday the routes would be dropped to 7hrs but paid as if they were 8hrs to provide work for the small army of drivers Amazon have enforced all the delivery firms to recruit ready for Xmas peak.

Only they haven’t and routes today have all been 9hrs, including routes sent out in the afternoon, leading to loads of drivers, including me, with no work.

Why tell drivers there will be plenty of 7hr routes then go back on it?  (Because Amazon are greedy fucking scum taking advantage of ‘key worker’ drivers during a pandemic that they are making an absolute fortune out of ).


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## Marty1 (Nov 5, 2020)

No work today then called and told to fly down as they had found a route for me.

Turned out to be a very easy route so that was good.


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## Marty1 (Nov 19, 2020)

Just had this come through on works WhatsApp:



Fks sake, we’ve (Amazon) already had two drivers threatened with knives recently - both occasions drivers got away unharmed thankfully, but there are certain parts of Teeside that are wild.


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## Marty1 (Dec 7, 2020)

So I only worked half a route last week and have been off since with a bad back - I start work later today.

But got a work text earlier saying I got a concession (black mark awarded against me) for the half route - these are awarded if customer complains or claims they didn’t receive parcel etc - these can happen occasionally to anyone as Amazon throw concessions around like confetti - one driver got 5 concessions once after the customer didn’t like the quality of wallpaper they ordered for example.

Anyway - Amazon used to give you a full break down of the hows and why’s a concession was awarded for drivers reference - but now they’ve stopped that and you just get told you’ve got a concession and that’s it.

So essentially Amazon could just make these concessions up without being challenged - what a bunch of cunts.


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## Hollis (Jun 15, 2022)

Could it all be coming to an end.  Share prices of these companies have collapsed..

After using Just Eat/Deliveroo  a bit during lockdown, I can't be arsed with them any more.





Subscribe to read | Financial Times


----------



## hash tag (Jun 16, 2022)

They were always going to have a down turn after lockdown as people start going out again.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jun 16, 2022)

Hollis said:


> Could it all be coming to an end.  Share prices of these companies have collapsed..
> 
> After using Just Eat/Deliveroo  a bit during lockdown, I can't be arsed with them any more.
> 
> ...



Most food just doesn't travel that well even if it was good to start. It normally takes ages. Unless I'm totally wiped I'd rather spend similar money going out or just cook. I don't get why these services are as popular as they are. Many really aren't cheap!


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## hash tag (Jun 16, 2022)

Maybe people will start going back to shops instead of getting deliveries -thats if there are many left


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## muscovyduck (Jun 16, 2022)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Most food just doesn't travel that well even if it was good to start. It normally takes ages. Unless I'm totally wiped I'd rather spend similar money going out or just cook. I don't get why these services are as popular as they are. Many really aren't cheap!


They're just shit services too. It's turned into a gamble if the food is even going to turn up, whether you're going to have to help the driver navigate, and I think we've all watched one of them sneeze or cough and immediately go back to handling food at some point.  They don't care because why should they?


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## mango5 (Jun 16, 2022)

I thought this article summarises some of the issues well  The End of the Millennial Lifestyle Subsidy


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## mango5 (Jun 17, 2022)

So-called 'platform capitalism' is a key problem behind the gig economy. Here's a thoughtful review of a book of the same name Notes on Platform Capitalism
Some of you may recognise the writer.


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## DaveCinzano (Sep 27, 2022)

Labour partnering with Deliveroo, smooth 🤦


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## MickiQ (Sep 27, 2022)

Delivering The Votes


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## Chilli.s (Sep 27, 2022)

build back buggered


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## DaveCinzano (Sep 27, 2022)

God save the Burger King


----------

