A delivery driver for Amazon Prime says good food from supermarket deliveries is being binned because customers are not at home when he tries to deliver parcels.
The driver, who did not want to be named, regularly picks up from the Morrisons store in Aberdeen and later has to bring shopping back if people are not in.
Food brought from the freezer, or in some cases items with a short sell-by date, has had to be binned.
The Press & Journal, Evening Express, Original 106 and Energy Voice are highlighting issues surrounding access to food, food wastage and food costs as part of our Big Christmas Food Appeal.
‘It sickens me’
Carrying out deliveries in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, the self-employed driver said he was sometimes returning up to 10 bags worth at a time.
The courier drops off orders from Morrisons that are made through Amazon Prime
Because he’s not employed by the supermarket, he does not have access to drive the refrigerated vehicles used for orders made with the store directly.
The driver says issues arise when there is no safe place to leave deliveries or products have to be age-verified and no one is in.
Customers are contacted and a second attempt is made before the chilled and frozen products are returned to the supermarket to be destroyed while a refund is arranged.
The 48-year-old driver explained seeing returned bags piled up is “not an uncommon thing”.
He said: “I had 10 bags of shopping that I returned and they were pretty heavy bags and a lot of them were frozen food.
“It just sickens me because there’s so many people in a lot of trouble this year, being unable to feed themselves.”
The dad-of-three condemned the wasted food and suggested if the food was returned quickly it could instead be donated to food banks to help those in need.
However, Amazon says legally, chilled and frozen foods cannot be re-sent.
While most supermarket delivery vehicles would have fridges and freezers installed in vehicles, self-employed drivers are usually using their personal vehicles.
These drivers are not technically employed by Amazon but are able to pick delivery slots for the company’s deliveries, similar to couriers from Just Eat or Deliveroo.
Chilled or frozen foods are packed with ice packs but any chilled and frozen products returned are binned as they cannot be resold or re-delivered.
Should Prime customers be fined for missing slots?
The driver suggested Prime members should be fined for the wasted food if they could not be in for their chosen two-hour slot.
He added: “If they got fined or charged, then if they weren’t in at least that way the money they paid could be donated to a charity.
“But because they know that they’re not going to be held responsible, they don’t care if they’re at home or not.
“Morrisons staff are disgusted by it as well.”
An Amazon spokesman said wasting food only happened in a small number of cases.
He said: “We always strive to deliver our customers the very best products along with convenient delivery options and excellent customer service.
“Customers can pick their own two-hour delivery slot, and – if they can’t answer the door – we will leave the groceries in a pre-agreed safe place.
“We communicate regularly with the customer throughout the entire process and this includes ensuring they are made aware of any product substitutions, unavailable items or delays to delivery slots.
“In a very small number of cases, the order will have to be returned to our delivery station, for example if it includes alcohol and we can’t check the customer’s ID.
“The items are put back on the shelf, but products cannot be re-delivered or resold due to strict food safety regulations.
“If any of our customers are unhappy, they should contact Amazon customer services who will be able to help them.”
Morrisons declined to comment.
The Big Christmas Food Appeal
As part of the Big Christmas Food Appeal, the Press and Journal and Evening Express have been working to highlight the work of foodbanks like Silver City Church.
We’ve also launched some drop-off points for donations across Aberdeen, Inverness and Elgin or there’s a JustGiving page donations can be made to.
We have been reporting on the cost-of-living crisis and breaking down the stigma around foodbanks, while making sure those in our communities know where to get help when they need.
If you know of any initiatives going on in your community that we have not covered please let us know at livenews@ajl.co.uk
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