How to Get to Heaven via an Amazon Locker

Here, friends, is my vision of total shopping heaven:



Actually, the entire experience of discovering Amazon lockers, learning how to set up the service, and then how to retrieve an order left me with a fine smile on my mug.

Back story: I'd had one Amazon order boosted from my apartment building after being signed for by the super...and another order barely rescued by a neighbor. I'd found yet another order on the lobby floor by mailboxes. Despair and frustration. I'm on the go a lot and the super leaves at 5:30. A Postal Mail Box would cost me and involve my trundling across town. But...

Here's where Amazon excels and boogies on to glory.



The solution to my challenge began with an online Chat. No question about their replacing the stolen item, they'd send it out that day, no charge. But what if this too were stolen? Give it a try, the representative said. And if this didn't arrive safely, they'd replace it again, sending it to a different address. Why didn't I look into trying an Amazon locker?

Grumble, mumble, frustration and doubt. Still, the rep urged me to check out this link and see if it might work for me.

www.amazon.com/locker

Well, here is where Amazon also excels:



That's right: clear instructions. If you've ever tried their Help button for almost any issue, you've probably been pleased by how easy Amazon makes it for us to help ourselves. Also, at any strep of the way we're offered the option of an online Chat or a return call. Within 15 minutes, I understood how lockers worked and how to use the service: select a locker location from the zip code matches...add the locker to my Amazon delivery address list...specify the locker on my order...agree, if I like, to text status updates...and await an email telling me when the order had arrived. The email would provide me with a code for opening the locker.

I decided to give this a try while awaiting, at my home address, replacement of the stolen order. So I placed a small order for locker delivery. And here's where things get really cool:

I received notice shortly after that the item had been shipped--and would be delivered that evening. Lockers at my chosen site were accessible till 9 p.m. Better still, I'd chosen my location well: a safe main street in a very large and classy building. Where were the lockers inside, though? Not listed on the directory. Hmmm...Well, I was dealing with Amazon, so it made sense to assume that the lockers wouldn't be too hard to find. I proceeded through the lobby, took a gander to my left--and saw a bank of bright yellow lockers, exactly as you see above.

What you do next is touch the screen, entering the one-time code provided in Amazon's email. The code will change with every order. When the code is pressed, one of the forty locker doors will whoosh open pneumatically, your order waiting behind it.

I love every aspect of the Amazon locker experience, not just the terrific convenience. I salute the vision, the boldness, the commitment to providing really exceptional service.

And I'm committed in return to giving Amazon all the business that I can.