Amazon flex driver rip off

lincroft1710

Grumpy_chap said:

This seems like nothing more than taking a job and finding it was not as you expected - but largely because of your own failure to think it through.
You got paid £45 to delivery 35 - 43 parcels, 3 1/2 hours work.
You cannot add your commute time either way and expect that to be paid.  That is something anybody has to absorb in any job.
As self-employed, you can offset the mileage expenses against tax when you do your tax return.  Do Amazon pay for the business insurance for your car?
Also, the £20 in fuel that you state, at today's pump prices equates to about 160 miles in even a fairly inefficient car.  Again, it is not fair to include the commuting fuel as that is a hit anyone has in any job.  As it is 50 miles form your home to the depot, maybe that is just too far for this type of casual contract.
Speeding tickets are also your risk and can be avoided - not fair to blame Amazon for this.
I applaud you taking a job that is maybe not what you would normally do, given the strange times we are all in, but when that worked out just not as great as you hoped, move on and chalk it up to experience - no need to run down the company as this is a form of work that does suit some people in some locations very well.

jamo2012 said:

I only took this job to try and test it for its workings and wrote what I experienced.

I'm ONLY scratching the surface with Flex Drivers. Wait till I start on the Van drivers and I take a job in the warehouse to see how that works out payment wise and post here.:T

So, did you take this job because you needed the extra cash, or because you are starting out as an investigative journalist?  If you need work, but found Amazon to be such a bad 'employer', I would be steering well clear rather than then saying you will try to work for them as van driver and warehouse operative.  If you are going for the investigative journalist, then the quality of your output needs to be much enhanced.  
Still, good luck with it, and we'll see you soon on a series against Stacey Dooley or Donal MacIntyre.

You do realise that Jamo last posted about this in July 2019

Grumpy_chap

sharpe106 said:

Do you think every employee that is on minimum wage gets petrol paid for and travelling time paid for, and if they do not can then turn round and say they are being paid less the minimum wage?

No.
Not sure if that question was aimed at me.

Grumpy_chap

lincroft1710 said:

You do realise that Jamo last posted about this in July 2019

No.  Why did it come up in the first page of threads?

74jax

Grumpy_chap said:

lincroft1710 said:

You do realise that Jamo last posted about this in July 2019

No.  Why did it come up in the first page of threads?

Because someone posted on 3 May is my guess. 

Antt80

Had 2 blocks myself. 1 took 2.5 hrs to do and the other took me 1hr 45mins. Both were 3.5 hr blocks and I was paid 45.50 per block. Yet to experience a hard block that wasn't profitable. 

Antt80

LVL_CHG_2 said:

Has anybody got any recent experience during the COVID crisis?

Yes, delivery driving is easier as you don't need to get signatures anymore! 

cornmod32

Hi 
I did my first amazon flex delivery block today and after a few hiccups it went very well .
I didnt mind the 30 mile round trip to the depot as I have a hybrid so fuel consumption is neither here nor there .The drops were within 4 miles of pick up and all in the same area so it was easy .For a part time bit of pocket money it makes a change to do something different .
I am not a slave and £40 is better than nothing to go for a nice car ride .

rory93

To bump an old thread lol.
 I also do the DEH1 Bathgate logistics for Flex and honestly it’s not that bad. The price has increased now for a 3.5 hour block to £52.50. 30 mins from my house to the depot. I will do between 100-150 miles a night (including my journey to and from the depot) I Do the evening blocks and 9/10 times I will finish early. One night I was in the house with half an hour left still left of my block. For casual work self employed it’s profitable for me. I use around £8 per block of diesel. Also my tax is free. Also my car won’t depriciate as it’s not new and won’t get any lower. Also I do my own maintenance on the car. I can get the maximum amount of 24 hours per week no problem so can make £360 a week minus fuel so circa £300 per week. I used to make the same amount after tax and NI doing 38 hours and getting up early mornings sleep deprived. The job itself is fairly easy. It’s not physically or mentally exhaustive.

Yes there are downsides. A lot of driving and mileage put on the car. Returning parcels to the depot. ( Now I always deliver no matter what lol) Isolated farm roads. You can still be delivering after your block is due to end. However OP didn’t realise you can contact support and get a pay adjustment to compensate the extra time. It can be dark at times but carry a flashlight. If your 30 mins from depot and your route could be 30 mins in the other direction from your home. You could be driving 1 hour + from your last delivery to your home. 

If your local, drive a fuel efficient car and have free time. It’s almost definitely worth it. However different depots offer different pay rates so keep an eye out.

Anamox

Is this why you see battered old vans doing 60mph around corners in villages to try and get as much of their delivery done within an hour and then presumably go and do another gig economy job for another company?

I always find it funny that these people would earn more money driving in the British Army, have guaranteed hours... and less chance of dying.

Les999

Don’t forget to add approx £800 per year courier insurance to your expenses too as Amazon in the UK don’t cover that.