Missed your package delivery? Pick it up at the train station

[CHamilton]

Sorry We Missed You: YC-Backed BufferBox Solves The Problem Of Missing Packages

BufferBox... [is] a bit like Amazon Locker, where you have all your Amazon packages shipped to a relatively convenient location instead of missing them. However, BufferBox works with all of your packages (UPS, FedEx, USPS, and Amazon).

...

After signing up with BufferBox, you’re given a specific address — you will use this address every time you plan on receiving a package. Once the delivery arrives, BufferBox will send you an email with a unique PIN, with which you can open up your BufferBox and walk off, package in hand.

...

The roll-out has already begun, starting with Union Station in Toronto, Canada.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Who exactly is this targeting? People who have products shipped where they have little chance of receiving them? I love how they claim that the customer pays nothing. Unless I'm mistaken the retailer still has to pay and if they have to pay what's to stop them from passing along the extra costs? In the case of retailers that won't pay the customer will apparently need to foot a bill of $3 per each parcel directly. That makes no sense to me whatsoever. I think this should be offered more like a dynamic post office box but with a focus on parcels and access to all of the major shippers. That would create a cheap and useful service paid upfront rather than creating yet another backdoor kickback scheme to raise all our shipping costs indirectly.

 

[johnny.menhennet]

Who exactly is this targeting? People who have products shipped where they have little chance of receiving them? I love how they claim that the customer pays nothing. Unless I'm mistaken the retailer still has to pay and if they have to pay what's to stop them from passing along the extra costs? In the case of retailers that won't pay the customer will apparently need to foot a bill of $3 per each parcel directly. That makes no sense to me whatsoever. I think this should be offered more like a dynamic post office box but with a focus on parcels and access to all of the major shippers. That would create a cheap and useful service paid upfront rather than creating yet another backdoor kickback scheme to raise all our shipping costs indirectly.

Could be targeting people who are afraid that packages left on their doorstep will be stolen. People who value a little more security and consistency in the delivery.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Who exactly is this targeting? People who have products shipped where they have little chance of receiving them? I love how they claim that the customer pays nothing. Unless I'm mistaken the retailer still has to pay and if they have to pay what's to stop them from passing along the extra costs? In the case of retailers that won't pay the customer will apparently need to foot a bill of $3 per each parcel directly. That makes no sense to me whatsoever. I think this should be offered more like a dynamic post office box but with a focus on parcels and access to all of the major shippers. That would create a cheap and useful service paid upfront rather than creating yet another backdoor kickback scheme to raise all our shipping costs indirectly.

Could be targeting people who are afraid that packages left on their doorstep will be stolen. People who value a little more security and consistency in the delivery.

If valuable packages are being left on your doorstep then it's most likely because both the sender and receiver have indicated this would be acceptable to the shipper. If you don't want that to happen all you need to do is contact the shipper to update their records. I've had both good and bad experiences with UPS, USPS, FedEx, and DHL. However, I'm not aware of any shipper that wants to be liable for stolen parcels they left in direct violation of a shipper or receiver's instructions. That's not to say every delivery person will follow every rule, but in general this is not something that is impossible to correct.

 

[John Bredin]

Who exactly is this targeting? People who have products shipped where they have little chance of receiving them? I love how they claim that the customer pays nothing. Unless I'm mistaken the retailer still has to pay and if they have to pay what's to stop them from passing along the extra costs? In the case of retailers that won't pay the customer will apparently need to foot a bill of $3 per each parcel directly. That makes no sense to me whatsoever. I think this should be offered more like a dynamic post office box but with a focus on parcels and access to all of the major shippers. That would create a cheap and useful service paid upfront rather than creating yet another backdoor kickback scheme to raise all our shipping costs indirectly.

Could be targeting people who are afraid that packages left on their doorstep will be stolen. People who value a little more security and consistency in the delivery.

If valuable packages are being left on your doorstep then it's most likely because both the sender and receiver have indicated this would be acceptable to the shipper. If you don't want that to happen all you need to do is contact the shipper to update their records.

I'm not a big user of parcel service (UPS, Post, or otherwise) but aren't the choices for package delivery generally (1) allow the package to be left on the doorstep, or (2) be at home (or other specified receiving address) when the deliveryman/postman comes by so you can sign for it? If that's so, then this service gives a person a third alternative to that Hobson's choice. In particular, and to bring this back to trains, a location at Toronto Union Station allows downtown workers to pick up their package before catching their home-bound subway or commuter train.

 

[Ispolkom]

I'm not a big user of parcel service (UPS, Post, or otherwise) but aren't the choices for package delivery generally (1) allow the package to be left on the doorstep, or (2) be at home (or other specified receiving address) when the deliveryman/postman comes by so you can sign for it? If that's so, then this service gives a person a third alternative to that Hobson's choice. In particular, and to bring this back to trains, a location at Toronto Union Station allows downtown workers to pick up their package before catching their home-bound subway or commuter train.

I'll agree with you, except that it's not a Hobson's choice. What you describe is a dilemma. A Hobson's choice is no choice at all, take it or leave it.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I'm not a big user of parcel service (UPS, Post, or otherwise) but aren't the choices for package delivery generally (1) allow the package to be left on the doorstep, or (2) be at home (or other specified receiving address) when the deliveryman/postman comes by so you can sign for it? If that's so, then this service gives a person a third alternative to that Hobson's choice. In particular, and to bring this back to trains, a location at Toronto Union Station allows downtown workers to pick up their package before catching their home-bound subway or commuter train.

If you don't want a package left at your door you can specify a different area at the same location for the package to be left. Or you can pick another location where someone you trust will be available to receive your package. Or you can call to reschedule a delivery for a day you're likely to be available. Or you can simply retrieve the package yourself from a distribution center. And that's just off the top of my head. If you ship or receive a lot of packages you can create a commercial shipping account with other options as well.

 

[AutoTrDvr]

I'm not a big user of parcel service (UPS, Post, or otherwise) but aren't the choices for package delivery generally (1) allow the package to be left on the doorstep, or (2) be at home (or other specified receiving address) when the deliveryman/postman comes by so you can sign for it? If that's so, then this service gives a person a third alternative to that Hobson's choice. In particular, and to bring this back to trains, a location at Toronto Union Station allows downtown workers to pick up their package before catching their home-bound subway or commuter train.

If you don't want a package left at your door you can specify a different area at the same location for the package to be left. Or you can pick another location where someone you trust will be available to receive your package. Or you can call to reschedule a delivery for a day you're likely to be available. Or you can simply retrieve the package yourself from a distribution center. And that's just off the top of my head.

Sometimes, those options just simply aren't feasible. I've been "on the go" all my life and normally have no one who can receive pkgs at my door. And leaving the pkg with a neighbor is not an option. My neighbors are all "on the go" as well (and some of them I wouldn't trust as far as I could spit to hold my parcels). I absolutely need a "hold for pickup" type service. And there never was one that offered such for "mufti-carrieres." Each one does their own thing.

USPS seems to work best of all carriers as you can send something to your PO box and pick it up when you check mail You just have to pick it up within 2 weeks of it's arrival. All of the other carriers require a street address for delivery. Of those, FedEx has been the better of them, at least having a decent mechanism in place for "Customer pickup." You give the merchant the street address of the FedEx station in your area and have them indicate "c/o FedEx Customer Pickup" on the label, and voila! You track your pkg progress on the web, and you get a phone call from FedEx and to pick up your package. You can even do it on Saturday! And all, at no addl charges!

The worst is UPS. Their mantra is "Delivery...Delivery...Delivery" at all costs! :angry2: No structured mechanism (or training of employees) in re: customer pickup. It's quite haphazard. I'll make a special arrangement (to have something held for pickup - it always has to be special ) and when I get to their distribution center (which always looks/feels like a SuperMax Prison), I get to the counter with my web page printout only to have the clerk snap back. "WHAT'S THIS? PICKUP? DID YOU GET A YELLOW SLIP??? (Meaning, did I allow for at least one delivery attempt...) GO AWAY AND DON'T COME BACK WITHOUT A YELLOW SLIP!"

And, the biggest problem with UPS is that they're the cheapest and make sweetheart deals with merchants. Thus, they become carrier of choice for most of them! You'd think the most recent UPS strike a few years ago would have taught merchants to offer their customers options... but nooooo!

Ah well, these days I get to work from home a lot, so not really an issue except while I'm away. But, to the OP's point, I wish there had been a reasonably priced service like this "buffer box" back in the day. Would have solved a lot of problems.

 

[rrdude]

We are (well, I am) a bunch of old farts, and missing the point. Convenience, convenience, convenience!

Damn the small increase in price, I just want to know that IF my package is NOT delivered to me, ('cause I'm at work, or in the backyard gardening-nah, no one does that anymore either, or on a train) I know EXACTLY where to go. I don't have to sign a little pink-ish slip, and wait for either UPS or USPS to re-deliver my package.