There has been a significant amount of criticism of the way Amazon gets packages delivered to customers, but a recent tweet from Ice-T brings a new problem to light.
The multi-talented performer tweeted last night about a recent package delivery that used Amazon's Flex delivery service.
The service utilizes the work of independent contractors to deliver packages.
Unfortunately, Amazon does not provide any sort of uniform or other identifying items for these contractors.
This leads to what seems like a random stranger approaching someone's house. If the package is a small one, it may not even be visible to the home's resident.
If the package is larger, that still doesn't necessarily prevent misunderstandings. Given how common package theft is, it isn't unlikely that someone may mistake a delivery driver for a package thief.
Ice-T cites the recent delivery as an example of the problem with not identifying delivery drivers.
@AmazonHelp responded to Ice-T's tweet with what seems very much like an automated response.
People were... less than satisfied with the communication, and with the efforts made toward driver safety.
There were those who said people should just track their packages with the app (including the Senior Vice President of Operations at Amazon).
Aside from some people being too busy to do this, one user made a good point.
Several people offered solutions as well.
While not everyone is armed, possibly being shot is not the only potential problem facing delivery drivers. Much of the problem does stem from customers not feeling safe, though.
Most folks would be a little creeped out by a random person approaching their house with no sort of identification.
The drivers are independent contractors, but that doesn't mean that there is no way to identify them as delivering for Amazon. Even a decal or magnet for a vehicle, and a hat for the driver themselves, would go a long way toward preventing misunderstandings.
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