"Jarle H Knudsen" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 24 Feb 2012 03:23:50 -0000, Tim Roll-Pickering wrote:

Also online shopping can be a real pain because of the delivery firms,
especially if you live in any sort of flat or compound - which is a large
number and growing out here, including those without a direct intercom to
individual flats at street level. A lot of the courier firms have not put
together a proper strategy for how to deliver to such flats beyond turn
up
at the gate, shrug shoulders, drive off and bill the sender for
non-delivery. (By contrast the likes of Pizza Hut have worked out things
like taking telephone numbers and issuing their deliverers with phones to
contact buyers directly, whilst Royal Mail usually have keys.) Throw in
the
inability to deliver on the day predicted & taken off work, and you can
understand why online shopping ain't great for all.

Here in Norway the parcel is left at the post office and a notice is sent
through the mail when the recipient is not at home.

We used to have that system here, but because "parcel deliver companies"
charge less than the "mail" do for delivering parcels most retailers insist
on using the cheaper version even though it's not their money and all they
do is re-charge the costs to the punter.

So, I save 2 quid on the delivery at the expense of wasting 6 hours of my
time - and people think that online shopping is a great idea!


tim