Mr.Briggs

I ordered the Harry Potter Ultimate 1&2 blu rays yesterday & I just got an email saying it was delivered by LaserShip. Everything I've ever ordered has come by USPS or UPS from Amazon. It says it is scheduled for delivery in 2 days (with SSS). What in the world is LaserShip? And are they any good?

pilot

http://www.lasership.com/

Seems to be a contracted courier company that will deliver to you instead of UPS/USPS. Hopefully you have better luck than the other companies Amazon contracts its courier deliveries to.

story

I appreciate the link, pilot, though the reality is nowhere near as cool my imagination.

Numanoid

PhantomStranger

Number of delivery problems in my experience as an Amazon Prime user:

UPS: 0 out of hundreds of deliveries

LaserShip: 2 out of 6 deliveries

LaserShip appears to be a cheaper service for Amazon than national chains like FedEx or UPS. If Amazon switched to them for all my packages, I would drop Prime in a heartbeat.

Gatherer

Here's a thread of people complaining about LaserShip's unprofessional erratic service:
www.amazon.com/gp/forum/cd/discussion.html?ie=UTF8&cdForum=Fx20DX5GEB7TUX8&cdThread=Tx27GEWWFTOKU9T

And here's something else interesting:
community.qvc.com/DiscussionDetail/tabid/73/CatID/38/TypeID/1/Recent/1/ThreadID/39130/Default.aspx
"3/19/2010: Amazon.com has just started using Lasership to ship some of its packages. My last 2 orders were shipped that way. It is so weird. They don't use regular shipping trucks or uniformed drivers. A car pulled up to my house and a man got out and brought the package up to my door. I was shocked."


In addition to LaserShip, Amazon has been using other erratic little-known shipping services with sketchy unmarked vehicles for Prime shipping:

OnTrac:
www.amazon.com/gp/forum/cd/discussion.html?ie=UTF8&cdForum=Fx20DX5GEB7TUX8&cdThread=Tx149AXGD7VM07U
www.amazon.com/gp/forum/cd/discussion.html?ie=UTF8&cdForum=Fx20DX5GEB7TUX8&cdThread=Tx21YS57QD8N19V
www.amazon.com/gp/forum/cd/discussion.html?ie=UTF8&cdForum=Fx20DX5GEB7TUX8&cdThread=Tx1TJVMQDIKE3FZ

Velocity Express:
www.amazon.com/gp/forum/cd/discussion.html?ie=UTF8&cdForum=Fx20DX5GEB7TUX8&cdThread=Tx1U5LLUOL7BCJ7
www.amazon.com/gp/forum/cd/discussion.html?ie=UTF8&cdForum=Fx20DX5GEB7TUX8&cdThread=Tx2BAZUR09R82Z1

One of the many 'funny' stories in the Amazon threads about this trio of halfass companies:
"Amazon sent two shipments through them [Velocity Express]. One showed up a day late in a ditch 100 yards from my house a day after tracking says it was delivered. The other says delivered, but has not shown up even in the ditch. I live on the edge of town. Maybe they report it as delivered but wait until they get a few more packages in the area to actually make the delivery."

phrekyos

I'm one of the posters in that Amazon forum thread, so there's not much more I can add, except to say Amazon gave me a $10 promo code after I bitched to them about LaserShip taking a week to deliver a Blu-ray disc set via 2-day shipping.

JackBurton

I just checked to see what's up with a blu-ray order I placed last week and apparently Lasership is handling the delivery. I have prime and have been very pleased with it until now. If my order arrives today, I'll cut them some slack since Monday was a holiday. If not, I'll be super pissed. I didn't pay $80 for prime so some guy in a Corolla could show up with my order a week later.

Deftones

I've had Onetrac deliver me tons of packages from Amazon and I've not had a problem. In fact, it's nice sometimes because the 2 day delivery becomes overnight delivery (without paying for it) because Amazon has the distribution center here in town and Ontrac can get them to me the same day they pick it up.

drq2

"3/19/2010: Amazon.com has just started using Lasership to ship some of its packages. My last 2 orders were shipped that way. It is so weird. They don't use regular shipping trucks or uniformed drivers. A car pulled up to my house and a man got out and brought the package up to my door. I was shocked."


Ha Ha, I have water crows all over my yard (10a) in the front I have 8 of them. There are signs that say "Trespassers will get hosed" there is a turn off that everyone that needs to be on my land knows about. I do not mind them fining a cheaper way to bring it to me. But Fedex & UPS works just fine.

drq2

They bring stuff for my daughter all the time. Only once in the 8 years (I think 8 years?) did I have a problem. They left the stuff with the people next door. It was only once and when I called about the note, the main person did not say a word about where the items where only that he will be out very shortly to bring them to me. I seen him park with the driver get the boxes bring them over (again never saying a word to me) and never seen that driver again. It was all on tape that is how I had known what happen.

Jtheo

That sucks. Just tracked my order for Shutter Island Blu-ray and it shipped through a company called Prestige. This is the first time someone other than UPS or Fedex has delivered a package. Not very excited to be paying for prime and getting these "carriers" making deliveries. We'll see how this turns out.

Edit: I'm in Cincinnati, OH for what its worth. Would like to know if other locals are seeing this company pop up.

Deftones

I just ordered something on Sunday from Amazon that is being shipped by Ontrac. I expect it to be here tomorrow, despite the fact it was 2 day shipping.

Gatherer

That's the fourth one so far of these lesser-known companies to pop up on shipping for normal Amazon Prime packages!

Its formal name is Prestige Delivery Systems, of prestigedelivery.com, but it is hard to find discussions of it because most people would just refer to it as Prestige, so all the products with Prestige in their name clutter up the search results.

As best I can tell, it is the only one of these four companies to not have any complaints threads about it yet. So maybe that's a good sign that it may actually be a good service. Hey, their website actually shows photos of a delivery person in a uniform, an official van with a logo on it, and a handheld device like UPS/Fedex use! All things that the other three companies don't have. If you (or a family member) can manage to see your delivery when it happens, it would be interesting to know if they actually live up to their website's images.

(...or else it's just the newest addition to the motley assortment of companies and you can start the first complaint thread about it. )

They are based in Garfield Heights (Cleveland area), Ohio. Their service areas include (parts of?) OH, MI, PA, IN, KY, VA, WV, MD, and NY.

bunkaroo

I quit Prime last August over their use of A1 around here. Without exaggerating, I probably spent close to $10,000 with Amazon over the 2 years I was with prime. All that business is now gone. I give it to Fry's or Best Buy. No one at Amazon seems to care based on my numerous attempts wither higher level support. All these courier's "lost" packages are surely on Craiglist or Ebay.

Amazon was nice while it lasted. They're just an afterthought now.

Gatherer

Another one, that makes 5 non-large-package iffy delivery companies spotted so far! (4 bad ones if Prestige isn't bad, which still remains to be seen.)

A-1 Courier Services, aka A-1 International, of http://www.aoneonline.com/ , with service areas in NY, NJ, MI, and PA; and in Canada with another website at http://www.a1-courier.com/ .

complaint thread with 953 posts (!) on Amazon from Feb 2008 (!) through June 2010: www.amazon.com/gp/forum/cd/discussion.html?ie=UTF8&cdForum=Fx20DX5GEB7TUX8&cdThread=Tx1S36AZK6I1PPQ
sample: "I just received an Amazon order with A-1 Courier on the shipping label. I found this package in my driveway, when I came home tonight. I almost didn't see it and nearly ran over it. The deliverer must've thrown the package like a newspaper onto my lawn. I did not appreciate seeing this package in my driveway."

complaint thread with 89 posts here at DVDTalk from Aug-Sep-Oct 2009: forum.dvdtalk.com/store-forum/559656-amazon-using-a1-international-prime-huh.html
(posts in that thread demonstrate that A-1 serves IL too, but their website doesn't indicate that, and it didn't even back in August 2009 )
sample: "I got another package from A1 today (this time they actually made the 2 day speed). Too bad the guy just threw my package at the door and left. Luckily there were only books in there. I'll think twice before buying electronics from Amazon for a while. And wtf, can't they get some marked vehicles and uniforms? It looks so weird when some guy in street clothes and a Honda Accord delivers my package. Shady as hell."

(Sounds awfully similar to the LaserShip, OnTrac, and Velocity Express, hm? )

complaint thread with 46 posts at SlickDeals from Jan 2010: slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1790044

5 one-star reviews at www.yelp.com/biz/a-1-courier-services-new-york
and an additional 2 more hidden one-star reviews at www.yelp.com/filtered_reviews/TAAyYzPX2_6ivlVAwZw5SQ?fsid=idcl_lkwSRorpHdlCXdsag

1 one-star review at local.yahoo.com/info-11071108-a1-international-courier-service-new-york , about them trying to deliver at 11pm on a Sunday

Jtheo

Package was delivered at noon. My neighbor happened to be out in the yard and said it was a cargo van with a logo, so it does at least sound somewhat professional. I can't complain. In fact, I'm usually a later delivery for UPS, so not too shabby. We'll see how the next delivery turns out.

Gatherer, thanks for the info about Prestige Delivery Systems. I couldn't locate anything after a very brief search but reading more info that you pointed out sounds pretty promising.

sarahdelynn

I'm in Cincy, too, and have been getting packages via Prestige. Our deliveries weren't made from a van with a logo, though. We get some guy who shows up in a wood-panel station wagon and chucks the stuff on my porch. My neighbors probably think he's my dealer or something. :P So far, though, nothing has been late. I still don't much like it.

Pointyskull

I had the same issues last fall with A1 and Amazon, but since the beginning of the year everything has been coming UPS, fwiw.

bunkaroo

Are you still on Prime? I've placed a few sporadic orders here and there and have had them come USPS but that's for standard not 2-day.

Pointyskull

Yep. I scored another free 3-month trial a bit ago and I was experimenting with the shippers. When all came via UPS, I gambled my $79 on a Prime account. I'm not the power buyer you are, but so far, so good.

bunkaroo

Hmmm - if I can find a trial maybe I'll try again. It could also be that they won't use a courier for the far SW burbs, but they will in the west burbs.

Pointyskull

Remember that Amazon was using A1 on shipments to me last year - same location. Also, people at my office (Oak Brook) received a couple Amazon orders around that time via A1, as well.

bunkaroo

Cool good to know. How hard is it to get a 3 month trial?

Pointyskull

Currently I have no clue. When I did it the process involved adding a certain book to your shopping cart, which triggered the 3-month free offer somehow.

There was a thread somewhere on DVDTalk, and if I recall the 3-month offer went away.

So basically I don't know.