Amazon Hub Lockers installed at West Midlands Trains railway stations

[Davester50]

I actually really do think Royal Mail should consider installing some of their own. They could offer additional services using them, such as the ability to have all your letter post diverted to one while on holiday to collect when you get back, as well as simply having parcels delivered to them.

I agree. 24/7 accessible is a must.
I've used Royal Mail to redirect to my local sorting office, as I knew I wouldn't be in, and didn't want Mrs D to come home to a parcel for her on the doorstep.

 

[mirodo]

Getting away from the ethics of Amazon, Lockers are a boon if you're working away from home. So what TOCs have Lockers of Amazon (or others) at stations?
We know from the start of the thread West Midlands do, and also Northern, and Merseyrail. Are there any others?

There's a set at NR-managed Clapham Junction, and my local station (South Croydon, Southern) has one as well as an In Post locker set.

Edit: according to this link there are around 150 GTR stations with lockers, or at least were plans for them at the time the article was written in 2020.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Probably unpopular opinion: publicly funded organisations should not be providing different services for their users who happen to use a particular private business.

I'm surprised this post got as much pushback as it has. It's not as if Amazon create rainbow-farting unicorns wherever they go. They're also responsible for those suspicious-looking half-filled Lucozade bottles you see randomly strewn on the side of the road. It's pretty obvious that @mmh wasn't talking about on-station retailers.

To counter, publicly funded organisations should not be refusing private money when it is freely offered and does not disadvantage any party. Anybody who does not use Amazon is no worse off by these lockers being at stations. By hosting them, LNR can get a little bit of money to maintain/improve each station environment.

To counter that, "there's no such thing as a free lunch". Amazon aren't installing these lockers as a community service, they're doing it to increase their own revenues. Nothing inherently wrong with that, but let's not treat them like a VIP because they threw a (probably insignificant in the grand scheme of things) bit of money the railway's way.
There have been Amazon lockers at my local station for a couple of years now. Guess what nearly all the security cameras in the car park are pointed at? (I'll give you a clue, it isn't the bike racks or the station entrance).

 

[Bletchleyite]

To counter that, "there's no such thing as a free lunch". Amazon aren't installing these lockers as a community service, they're doing it to increase their own revenues.

Well, they're actually doing it for both. A company succeeds when it offers a product or service that people want in a manner that is profitable to them. This is exactly what this is doing. I don't see why people find this so unsavoury.

First it was Tesco, now it's Amazon, who will it be next?

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Well, they're actually doing it for both. A company succeeds when it offers a product or service that people want in a manner that is profitable to them. This is exactly what this is doing. I don't see why people find this so unsavoury.

First it was Tesco, now it's Amazon, who will it be next?

"What's the world coming to? Massively powerful corporations can't even try to further monopolise the retail sector using publicly-owned land without some minor pushback on a niche railway forum. Oh, the humanity!"

 

[Class 466]

The one near me at Ham Street Station is called Izis!

 

[Bletchleyite]

"What's the world coming to? Massively powerful corporations can't even try to further monopolise the retail sector using publicly-owned land without some minor pushback on a niche railway forum. Oh, the humanity!"

I've already pointed out, and will reiterate, that there is nothing stopping smaller online businesses from getting some of that back simply by being as good, e.g. not using Hermes/Yodel for deliveries and making it clear that they don't.

Amazon will be paying for the use of the land. I trust you also object to any chain stores at railway stations, despite the obvious convenience they offer?

The one near me at Ham Street Station is called Izis!

To be fair there's a path in West Bletchley called Isis Walk, and my dentist is in a building called Isis House. It's another name for the River Thames so is very often seen around the South East.

But I'm fairly sure these names are just pronounceable autogenerated names so they're memorable. Any similarity to an actual word is purely coincidental.

 

[DelayRepay]

I've already pointed out, and will reiterate, that there is nothing stopping smaller online businesses from getting some of that back simply by being as good, e.g. not using Hermes/Yodel for deliveries and making it clear that they don't.

I'd add that even the mighty Amazon was a small business once. I believe it originally operate from Jeff Bazos' garage. The fact they now dominate global retailing suggests that they have got their model right. Unlike many online retailers, they seem to 'get' that both speed and convenience of delivery are important.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'd add that even the mighty Amazon was a small business once. I believe it originally operate from Jeff Bazos' garage. The fact they now dominate global retailing suggests that they have got their model right. Unlike many online retailers, they seem to 'get' that both speed and convenience of delivery are important.

Indeed - it's the most important thing. Any company who uses the terrible twosome mentioned (and it does seem to be most non-Amazon online retailers in most areas) simply hasn't a clue. There's not a single person in the country who doesn't know how bad these companies are.

Even those who I know do use Royal Mail or DPD (e.g. Alpkit, who are pretty reputable) don't say so. Which means given the high value of some of their stuff I wouldn't risk it if I didn't already know. If you did use a quality courier, why would you not promote that fact? And if you offer a chargeable upgraded service, why not say what it is?

 

[zwk500]

"What's the world coming to? Massively powerful corporations can't even try to further monopolise the retail sector using publicly-owned land without some minor pushback on a niche railway forum. Oh, the humanity!"

There's absolutely nothing to stop any other company paying to have their own lockers at railway stations. It's not an unfair advantage to Amazon, they just happen to think it's worthwhile for them where others don't.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I've already pointed out, and will reiterate, that there is nothing stopping smaller online businesses from getting some of that back simply by being as good, e.g. not using Hermes/Yodel for deliveries and making it clear that they don't.

Amazon will be paying for the use of the land. I trust you also object to any chain stores at railway stations, despite the obvious convenience they offer?

Not really. I don't even object to the Amazon lockers, but I'm surprised the one post that was questioning it got so much pushback. Now you've fallen into the same trap someone did yesterday of thinking "oh, if you object to Amazon lockers then you must also object to the WHSmiths or the independent cafe". That's comparing apples with oranges, and you know it. Your own personal grudge against certain delivery companies is barely relevant.

It would be interesting to see exactly how much Amazon is paying for the placement of the lockers- if it was a significant amount (even to mega-rich Amazon) they wouldn't be doing it. They aren't a charity and won't behave like one.

Full disclosure: I'm an Amazon Prime member, so it's not as if I'm trying to organise a boycott. I'm just asking questions here. Didn't think Bezos had so many acolytes!

 

[zwk500]

Not really. I don't even object to the Amazon lockers, but I'm surprised the one post that was questioning it got so much pushback. Now you've fallen into the same trap someone did yesterday of thinking "oh, if you object to Amazon lockers then you must also object to the WHSmiths or the independent cafe". That's comparing apples with oranges, and you know it. Your own personal grudge against certain delivery companies is barely relevant.

It would be interesting to see exactly how much Amazon is paying for the placement of the lockers- if it was a significant amount (even to mega-rich Amazon) they wouldn't be doing it. They aren't a charity and won't behave like one.

Full disclosure: I'm an Amazon Prime member, so it's not as if I'm trying to organise a boycott. I'm just asking questions here. Didn't think Bezos had so many acolytes!

I'm not an acolyte of Bezos (although like you, I am an Amazon Prime member), but I am in favour of the railway maximising non-fare revenue at this cash-strapped time. If the lockers took out a parking space or two, I might have more objection, but at my local station (Wolverton, LNR) they are just on the pavement in what was otherwise completely unused space. Literally zero impact on anybody who isn't using them, but much more convenient for people who do, as there's no worries about Porch Pirates, wrongly delivered on undelivered items.

 

[Davester50]

There's absolutely nothing to stop any other company paying to have their own lockers at railway stations.

Indeed. As this post has shown InPost do have GTR stations covered.
Royal Mail getting in the locker game would be a good development (IMO) but they seem to be concentrating on parcel collection from your home. I've never tried Poste Restante, would be interesting to try.

 

[zwk500]

Indeed. As this post has shown InPost do have GTR stations covered.
Royal Mail getting in the locker game would be a good development (IMO) but they seem to be concentrating on parcel collection from your home. I've never tried Poste Restante, would be interesting to try.

Agree on this.

 

[PeterC]

Whenever I have tried specifying a Amazon box it comes back that it isn't available for that order. Probably because I mainly use Amazon for hard to find items that specialist suppliers sell through the site but ship direct.

 

[Davester50]

Whenever I have tried specifying a Amazon box it comes back that it isn't available for that order. Probably because I mainly use Amazon for hard to find items that specialist suppliers sell through the site but ship direct.

While going off topic, this is because so many independent sellers use the Amazon Infrastructure to sell their products.
Today, I bought a second hand book, which was in my Amazon Wish List.
I didn't buy it from amazon dot co dot uk, not because it wouldn't come through the amazon network, but because it was slightly cheaper on the Amazon owned abebooks from the same retailer!

Back to the locker location, we've got:
WMT
Northern
Merseyrail
Greater Anglia
GTR (InPost)
LU
NR (at least at Clapham Jn)

 

[Bletchleyite]

Royal Mail getting in the locker game would be a good development (IMO) but they seem to be concentrating on parcel collection from your home. I've never tried Poste Restante, would be interesting to try.

Quite possibly because their contract with Post Office has a similar feature, namely the ability to collect from a local post office, so it's not a priority. But as RM is now a private company separate from PO I can see them trying to distance from it a bit to save money - hence the parcel collection idea.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I'm not an acolyte of Bezos (although like you, I am an Amazon Prime member), but I am in favour of the railway maximising non-fare revenue at this cash-strapped time. If the lockers took out a parking space or two, I might have more objection, but at my local station (Wolverton, LNR) they are just on the pavement in what was otherwise completely unused space. Literally zero impact on anybody who isn't using them, but much more convenient for people who do, as there's no worries about Porch Pirates, wrongly delivered on undelivered items.

I only joined in on this thread because of the way a single post that questioned the wisdom of allowing the lockers was so roundly pounced upon.

The lockers themselves, I'm not sure what else that space could be used for if it wasn't this. The ones at my local are in dead space that doesn't really have any other viable use other than more bike racks... and there are plenty of those already. There might be some stations where a different use would be viable (such as a coffee kiosk) in which case Amazon lockers are a bit of a waste. My only real objections are that they look a bit garish, and that we're apparently not allowed to ask questions about them!

 

[Davester50]

and that we're apparently not allowed to ask questions about them!

We're up to three pages now. I think there's plenty questions been asked so far, with likely more to come.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

We're up to three pages now. I think there's plenty questions been asked so far, with likely more to come.

A fair chunk of that is either weird strawmanning ("oh, so you object to ALL on-station retail then?") or irrelevant grumbles about other delivery companies.

 

[Bletchleyite]

A fair chunk of that is either weird strawmanning ("oh, so you object to ALL on-station retail then?") or irrelevant grumbles about other delivery companies.

To be fair I said CHAIN station retail. I'm not sure we could say Starbucks, for instance, was any more ethical or otherwise than Amazon. Big corporations are all the same - but they get big primarily by doing what the customer wants.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

To be fair I said CHAIN station retail. I'm not sure we could say Starbucks, for instance, was any more ethical or otherwise than Amazon. Big corporations are all the same - but they get big primarily by doing what the customer wants.

You did, but an earlier very similar strawman wasn't so specific.

For the umpteenth and final time, I'm just not sure why so many members seemed so offended by criticism of the Holy Church of Jeff (and yes, I'm being facetious). Anyone would think that there had been a post criticising Brunel or Gresley, based on the reaction.

 

[Davester50]

A fair chunk of that is either weird strawmanning ("oh, so you object to ALL on-station retail then?") or irrelevant grumbles about other delivery companies.

I wouldn't say it was a strawman argument, considering the original post made reference to private profit making enterprises, not just parcel operations.

Big corporations are all the same - but they get big primarily by doing what the customer wants.

And why WHS gets away with charging a fortune at transport hubs!

 

[Bletchleyite]

And why WHS gets away with charging a fortune at transport hubs!

That's more a convenience fee. It isn't hard, while driving down the motorway, to say "Hey Siri*, direct me to the nearest supermarket" (where you will likely find cheaper fuel, toilets no worse than those in the services and far cheaper and a wider range of food and stuff) but people don't, they take the easy option. Me included, to be fair.

* Also works with OK Google, Alexa and anything else that might exist.

 

[Davester50]

For the umpteenth and final time, I'm just not sure why so many members seemed so offended by criticism of the Holy Church of Jeff (and yes, I'm being facetious). Anyone would think that there had been a post criticising Brunel or Gresley, based on the reaction.

Hah.
Again, I have Prime. I'm not offended at criticism of Amazon, so fill your boots there, but they've brought something that many, many people found useful, at no additional cost to the user at a very convenient location.
I can't see what's to complain about a parcel service located somewhere useful, unless Amazon were being paid to host them.

That's more a convenience fee. It isn't hard, while driving down the motorway, to say "Hey Siri*, direct me to the nearest supermarket" (where you will likely find cheaper fuel, toilets no worse than those in the services and far cheaper and a wider range of food and stuff) but people don't, they take the easy option. Me included, to be fair.

* Also works with OK Google, Alexa and anything else that might exist.

Can't really do that airside though, and Boots tend to be the same high street prices in the same settings.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Can't really do that airside though, and Boots tend to be the same high street prices in the same settings.

In my observation Boots tend to do it by stocking up with more premium brands in the way Tesco Expresses tend not to stock value lines. For instance if you want paracetamols there'll most likely just be Anadins on sale rather than the 50p generics. And travel sized toiletries are always priced up. But some stuff is definitely priced up, e.g. bottled water.

Smiths can't really do that, because the Daily Mail* and a can of Coke bought airside is the same as the Daily Mail and a can of Coke bought on the high street.

* Other, generally better, newspapers are available

 

[Deafdoggie]

I’m theory it’s better, you just might buy something from the local store whilst there


Really, that does sound good, too good to be true in fact. Why do we hear the horror stories and not this. Do they publish this information anywhere, and if so do you have a link? Thanks

Edit: I’ve answered my own question, found a statement on Amazon’s site that says

… we offer our innovative Career Choice program, which pre-pays 95% of tuition for courses in high-demand fields.

Not quite any course then, but still a good benefit to have.

Apologies, they changed the policy to the above in 2019, I was a little behind the times!
Stories about Amazon looking after employees doesn't sell papers, but credit to them they don't let it put them off.