Chaos at the collection point – “If you’re lucky, you’ll find your package yourself”

“If you’re lucky, you’ll find your package yourself,” says Viennese Marianne B. about her unpleasant experience she recently had at a parcel collection point in Hernals. The store – actually a supermarket – is supplied by various well-known delivery companies and is currently full of packages. The boxes are piling up and any sorting system has clearly been lost in the chaos.

“This pick-up station is the biggest disaster”
“I waited there for 40 (!) minutes until it was my turn. There were five people in front of me, three of them left without a package, the others had to go look for it themselves,” the Viennese expressed her anger in a Facebook post. Other users agree with her, an experience report reads: “This collection station, because you cannot call it a business, is the biggest catastrophe there is.” Another customer waited for over an hour until the store employee finally picked up the package.

In addition to the annoyance of the long waiting times, some customers are also afraid that their own package could be stolen. The boxes are confusingly scattered throughout the store and sometimes customers search for their packages themselves. There can no longer be any question of controlled collection.

However, some customers defend the suppliers themselves. Marianne B. also praises her well-known driver: “He is very nice, he cannot do anything about the situation on site.” However, other users claim that the drivers from different companies do not do that. ‘I wouldn’t even attempt delivery. Complaints to the companies themselves often go unnoticed: “Call the hotline, email the distribution center, no response. They don’t care, they have already received the money,” said a frustrated Viennese.

Criticism of the parcel sector
The Vida union again criticized the conditions in the parcel industry on Friday. During the Christmas period, six working days a week with 14-hour days are the order of the day for independent parcel deliverers. In Vienna, delivery drivers sometimes have to deliver at least 250 packages per day. Many of them end up in parcel stores instead of reaching the recipients.

“Christmas to Easter”
In the heated discussion, at least one user can show some understanding for the chaos in the store in Hernals: “It is clear that they are overwhelmed, they are not equipped or trained for it. Order less and buy in the store, then you don’t have to be annoyed and as a bonus, not all stores have to close and jobs are therefore safeguarded.” Another Viennese tries to take the unpleasant situation with humor: “Christmas will become Easter.”