Looking over your points I notice that almost none of them have applied to me as a home user that ships probably slightly above average amounts of packages. For example,
• I've never had to call someone.
• I've used flat-rate boxes where I don't need to measure out my stuff.
• When pricing things out, the only thing I have to choose is generally whether I want insurance and roughly how soon I'd like it to arrive.
• I've never had to print something out. Generally I write in sharpie or print the address info and the clerk adds their own good looking sticker right before I pay.
• I have picked up stuff from my local depot. A few times...? Confused on this point too.
I'll agree with you on
• The time slots for packages to arrive are annoying if you don't accept packages being left at your door. This is also true about plumbers, cable techs, phone people, etc.
Is it a difference between business and residential customers?
I'm in the UK, using couriers (people who come to my place to pick stuff up) rather than post office (I take my heavy item to them and they weigh it and ship it).
> I've never had to call someone.
This is a broadly applicable CS issue which everyone in the startup world would do well to remember: time dilates when you're waiting. Customers waiting in a store to speak to an assistant disproportionately overestimate the amount of time they've been waiting (i.e. a 2 minute wait feels like 10 minutes).
I call to chase them CONSTANTLY. Today for example, I called to say that the guy had come early. They took my details and said they'd get him to come back. At 4pm, a couple hours after I'd spoken to them, I called again. "Oh yeah the driver didn't answer my message. I was going to call you." Every courier I have ever used has made me fight them to give them my money and get my item shipped.
> I've used flat-rate boxes where I don't need to measure out my stuff.
You can get those from a post office in the UK, but I'd rather they just let me pay extra for the guy to box it himself. That way you can kiss goodbye damaged during/before shipping disputes, too.
> I've never had to print something out.
It's the default option for a whole bunch of couriers in the UK.
> I have picked up stuff from my local depot. A few times...?
Royal Mail will allow you to. So will any couriers who use them instead of having their own depot. Big couriers will not allow you to collect your item from their despatch centre, you have to arrange for redelivery.
I've had royal mail pull the future thing on me a few times. Picking up from the depot is no joy. The depot near me is open for about 3 seconds a day and there's always a queue of at least 40 people on saturday (closed sunday), which is the only time most people can actually fit in a trip to the depot, what with all those pesky jobs they have to go to.
If you have 40 people queueing outside you deport every saturday to pick up stuff you didn't deliver, then you're not doing it right.
I feel you pain. Perhaps it's better in the states, but here in the UK it's a fourth rate service.
> If you have 40 people queueing outside you deport every saturday to pick up stuff you didn't deliver, then you're not doing it right.
Does anyone in line go home empty handed because the depot closed before they got serviced? If not, then it sounds as though the depot has optimized for the minimum number of employees to get the job done during the window, without worrying about the variable queue length.
At the end of the day, most people triage on price, and these companies are not irrational about that.
People leave empty handed all the time. I've tried to pick up a package from the depot near me twice, queued for ages and not once been able to actually collect my package. I've had to arrange for my flat mate who get's friday off work to pick it up for me on a quiet day.
I'd say the right way to do it would be to have full day opening hours on a saturday. The variable length of the queue on different days provides some great insight that's currently being ignored.
FYI FedEx says they don't allow pickups at their depot where I live, but I just drove up there, parked and waited until someone asked what I was doing there, and they gave me my package (after I showed photo ID).
• I've never had to call someone.
• I've used flat-rate boxes where I don't need to measure out my stuff.
• When pricing things out, the only thing I have to choose is generally whether I want insurance and roughly how soon I'd like it to arrive.
• I've never had to print something out. Generally I write in sharpie or print the address info and the clerk adds their own good looking sticker right before I pay.
• I have picked up stuff from my local depot. A few times...? Confused on this point too.
I'll agree with you on
• The time slots for packages to arrive are annoying if you don't accept packages being left at your door. This is also true about plumbers, cable techs, phone people, etc.
Is it a difference between business and residential customers?