Amazon Locker Review – Trying out the self service delivery option

Recently I was making a purchase at Amazon and while I usually have it delivered to home as usual, I noticed they had an option called Amazon Locker where you can have it delivered to a secure location near by. This option is particularly useful for areas where it is difficult to have packages delivered safely. I never had a problem with the traditional delivery, but I was curious to try out this service so I decided to give it a go.

At checkout, it asks for your location to help find the nearest Amazon Lockers. I found one near by located in the Whole Foods a couple miles away so I set it as the delivery point. What's nice is there is no extra charge for this service so anyone can use it to have packages delivered without having to pay anything extra.

Before placing the order, I played around with the shipping options to try to compare the prices. Amazon seems to make this more difficult than it needs to be because it will not tell you the cost of shipping until you get to the end. I usually go with the free shipping but I was in a bit of a hurry so I tried out the 1 day shipping. Somehow it gave free shipping even with this option. I'm not sure how that happened, but usually it would charge for the 1 day shipping.

So the next day, I keep an eye on the tracking but it does not show up on time as expected. The tracking showed they tried to deliver it late at night after the store was closed so they were not able to get in to access the locker. A little inconvenient but it should be delivered first thing the next day right?

Another day goes by and still it does not get delivered. So I contact customer service to see if they can check on the status. They said it was supposed to be delivered on the first day or the 2^nd day but for some reason it was not. They said they would send out a new order and the original order would return to them.

Again this was more of a delay than I expected, but the new package did show up in about 1 day. They emailed me an access code and barcode to take to the locker. I went to the Whole Foods and found the Amazon Locker up at the front.

With the barcode from the email pulled up on my phone I approached the screen and scanned the barcode to the scanner. Immediately a locker opened up and I was able to retrieve my package. It was surprisingly simple and fast once it actually got there. I figured there would be a bunch of screens to go through and it would be confusing, but it was about as simple as can be.

Later that day I get another email saying the original package has now been delivered. Somehow it must have gotten re-routed back to the locker. It said if it is not picked up within 3 days it will return automatically for a refund, so I let the 3 days pass and it was picked up to be returned back to Amazon.

Overall, even though there was a little bit of a delay and confusion on the shipping, I would use the Amazon Locker service again. I think it is a great way to have packages delivered securely especially if the item is valuable and you do not want it left outside unattended. I recommend giving it a try in case there is one near you.