AN angry Amazon customer has released footage of a “muppet” delivery driver ring his doorbell and leave after less than a second.
Kris Watson was particularly incensed because the farcical “delivery attempt” followed a complaint to Amazon about the same driver previously waiting barely five seconds before giving up.
The 47-year-old from Sunderland ordered a gift using Amazon Prime’s next day delivery option.
Kris was out at the time of the delivery but, as a big online customer, usually speaks to couriers via a mobile phone app linked to his video doorbell.
But on Friday, the Amazon delivery man arrived and left so quickly there was no chance of having a conversation.
Video recorded via the doorbell – and watched in real time by an aghast Kris on his mobile – showed the man walk to the front door with the package.
He rings the doorbell, waits about five seconds, and then walks back to his vehicle, briefly looking back.
Kris contacted Amazon immediately and complained about the non-delivery.
Incredibly, the second attemt, made an hour later, was even worse. The same delivery man rings the bell and immediately leaves. On neither occasion was a card left to let him know about the delivery.
Kris, who branded the driver an “absolute muppet”, said today: “I have a video doorbell which is linked straight to my phone.
“There is a large sign explaining this for anyone making deliveries. I regularly have deliveries from Amazon and eBay and there is never a problem.”
He added: “When somebody rings the doorbell or it senses movement it contacts me on my phone so I can then speak to the person.
“When he tried to deliver it the first time the alert went off in my pocket I got my phone out to open the app and by the time I had done that maybe five or six seconds had passed and he was already in his van.
“I tried shouting but he obviously could not hear me.”
Kris, a canine hydrotherapist, said the issue was not primarily about the urgency of getting what was in the package.
“It was more important to me the inconvenience that he caused as well as unprofessional attitude,” he said.
“When I contacted Amazon the answers are so staged and stock – they just offered me three months on my Amazon account.
“But I did not complain wanting free stuff. I just want the delivery driver to do the job correctly and wait and appropriate amount of time.”
Amazon today confirmed the courier’s actions were being investigated.
A spokesman for the firm said: “We take any complaint of this nature seriously and are working with the delivery company, which is investigating the matter.”
Parcel delivery companies are unregulated but Resolver, the free service that customers can use to lodge complaints against a business, had a sharp rise in complaints in 2017.
Complaints against delivery services dramtatically increased to over nine thousand, a rise of 177%.
James Walker, founder of Resolver said: “We’ve been literally flooded with complaints about deliveries in 2017 – particularly about delivery dates not being met.”
He added: “Don’t panic. If you’ve not got your gifts in time, you can cancel and get a refund.
“Don’t waste time arguing with the delivery firm – go to the retailer – it’s their job to get your goods to you on time.”
