Buying non-essential items for delivery

[Livingoffcoffee]

Really curious to know views on this...ideally from anyone who works as a delivery person / in fulfilment centres / etc.

Is it unreasonable to be ordering "non essential" items for delivery right now? Is it putting more people unnecessarily at risk?

Or are fulfilment companies, etc managing to incorporate social distancing and by ordering items it's helping to keep their jobs going and the economy ticking over? Especially if you're ordering from small businesses?

I could argue the case either way, so would love to hear from people it actually impacts.

@Rtmhwales

Thats lovely.

Bless you. Hope @Redcherries takes you up on it

Iv ordered:
All from different companies

Paint
Rocks
Masks (From 4 different companies)
Gloves - 1000 pairs
Lip cream - I couldn't buy anywhere

We've also ordered from various sites
Kitchen roll
Toilet roll
Toilet brush
Dishwasher tablets

Thought it was best to keep businesses in business....

@undercoveraessedai I’m a stationery addict, my uni has a group for us weirdos!! If you want to share your business via pm I’ll happily have a look and share with my weirdos!!😊

Providing your not using supermarket slots unnecessarily you will be keeping people in jobs.

I’m buying as I usually would.

@permana I swear I'm not, just honestly curious how people working in the situation feel about it

@BrigidSt @teazle @Loooobyloo @AvocadosBeforeMortgages
Thanks for your reply. Someone actually in the situation is what I was wondering about! I'll definitely look for more independent retailers to support

I ordered a Frozen 2 DVD on Monday when it was released.

I may regret this after it arrives....

Well, you could take it really far and say that no one should buy chocolate, biscuits, crisps, cosmetics, or anything other than vegetables as it puts people working in the factories making those items at risk!

The whole point of lock down is not to stop people from catching covid 29, but to stop as many people catching it at the same time so the NHS can cope. The aim shouldn't be to tank the entire economy in the process (or where will the taxes come that pay for the NHS)?!! This is utterly crazy talk.

My dad is a postman. His london office have been given gloves and hand gels each.

He's happy because of all the overtime he's getting.

For all of the people asking how ordering non-essential items can be more dangerous than ordering essential ones, are you being deliberately obtuse?

Larger volume of orders = more staff required in each warehouse = more difficult to implement social distancing measures.

Having said that, I wouldn't demonise anybody for ordering non-essential items. I can very well see that if you have young children or vulnerable relatives, you'd want to be able to do these small kind things for them. My problem is with people who immediately dismiss other people's well-founded concerns because they want to don't want to have to consider, even for a minute, how their actions might impact another individual.

OP, I too have concerns about ordering non-essentials and how this might affect the safety of warehouse staff etc. I'm currently trying to balance these concerns against the benefits of keeping people in their jobs and keeping the economy afloat. It's a difficult call. I'm only ordering from small online businesses who have posted on their website (a lot of them do) information about how they are planning to keep staff safe.
I won't be ordering from Amazon.

We can only do our best to do the right thing.

@willowflower19 Thank You for this. Exactly what I was trying to convey - just more eloquently put :-)

"Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that all non-essential shops would have to close for at least three weeks"

Three weeks. That's ridiculously optimistic. I fully expect these shutdowns will last for at least six months.

ordered some teenage clothes at New Look online and have 25% off on items at the mo!

Have ordered colouring books off online stores (I've gone to independent online shops rather than amazon, because amazon delivery said 7th May which is just ridiculous). Colouring books are essential to me. They're relaxing and calming and also, I enjoy them. Probably healthier than watching netflix and drinking wine (cannot drink wine while colouring as hands are full)

I’ve ordered some skincare, and also some books from DS - unfortunately the latter had to be through Amazon as our local indie bookshops couldn’t maintain a delivery option.

That’s about it - I know quite a few people who have ordered exercise equipment though and am considering that. I can’t do another bloody YouTube video... and DS likes exercise equipment too.

@willowflower19 you’ve expressed my thoughts exactly!

Hi I’m a delivery driver part time while completing my uni degree ( never too late I’m 39!) anyway it’s a tricky one because there are pros and cons at the minute. It’s hard to class as what is non essential as I’ve witnessed from many doors varied reasons for ordering ... like a man has been in hospital for 7 months - nothing to do with corona , and lost that much weight he had no more clothes that fitted him. He was too vulnerable to go to a shop. No problem. A young mum needed baby grows for her newborns (twins) and didn’t want to risk it. Absolutely fine. However, the volume of parcels has increased per day to around 200-300 from my usual 80 and because we have the same households on our routes you get used to the young ones who order from boohoo everyday etc in normal times and are still doing it. Same households day in and day out. Part of me is thankful for the fresh air and keeping a wage but it is hard to not get worked up when you know that these order countless times anyway so the parcels are probably not essential and then you are expected two days later to go and collect the item back from them as it isn’t suitable. The company I worked for promised safeguarding yet it’s like a cattle yard and trying to keep a distance can get somewhat irritating and no matter what you do it’s hard to avoid being near someone and it does stress you out. Luckily my mum is a nurse and has given me hand sanitiser, as we were told we would get this with gloves and haven’t yet. Now let me just give you an idea of how dirty the parcels are ... and this is just from loading them into your car .. if you potted a plant with no gloves and washed your hands , the dirt that comes off into the sink is similar to what it’s like. I baby wipe after every delivery then hand sanitise and when I get home I still have to wash my hands 3-4 times st least for the ingrained dirt to come out. Once delivered the item the customer can discard the packaging and go wash hands ... unless we were in a camper van then we have no sink ... I’m not happy with having to collect parcels at the minute I must admit , as you can get one , touch it and be 4 hours before you get to a sink . I think that’s one thing that could wait, afterall , they have extended return deadlines anyway . Sorry, I know I’m waffling on here ... anyway , on a Sunday I’ve been covering about 120 miles as it’s 11 estates not the same as in the week were you just have your usual place . Out of my parcels, going off say 200, I would say I get one toilet roll pack , maybe a box of wipes and then the rest are ASOS, pretty little thing, boohoo and there was next until they closed. I get emails as I have ordered myself off these companies in the past with 80% off sales etc and are taking advantage of the situation . It’s fustrating because if I had 200 essential items then I really don’t mind , but like people have said , sometimes clothes can be? For work etc hard to tell .. but we have to open 200 gates, knock on 200 doors and/ or open letterboxes , I refuse to use a doorbell right now but a lot of people get offended when you don’t and check to see if it’s worked because we haven’t used it ! Lol anyway, I don’t mind at all risking delivering parcels to those who need them and it’s a privilege to help . But like I said the volumes are ridiculous and are just bags and bags of clothes , endless clothes to the same houses oh and I’ve delivered a hoodie for a puppy the other day ... she showed me it on the dog... yeah ... I have a few saying oh it just makes me feel good .., yeah I get that... I love ordering but after seeing the mental health of my colleagues I’ve put up without as I don’t want to put others at risk . In the morning most are crying because of the anxiety from it all ...And trust me I really want to treat myself but I won’t as it’s not essential to me. I have a massive rip in my brand new coat off someone’s fence I bought in January and don’t have the cotton for it so just put up with it and work like a scrag ha ha because it’s not the end of the world. My anxiety levels are crazy at the minute before work and I’m not sleeping very well , I don’t sleep well anyway the best of times as I have a spinal abnormality , but then I only catch bugs like colds etc when I’m tired and at the moment , so this has heightened the anxiety as I’m thinking I will catch something through being so tired . I have to tell myself think of all the nhs staff and to stop being so soft as it could be worse. I think it’s a persons choice at the moment to be responsible on what is essential to them. Many just want the excitement of a new top etc for no reason - I swear most must have massive walk in wardrobes! Lol oh another thing, teenagers get them sent to grandparents houses a lot and I think there unfair too as you see how stressed they are at the door bless them. The parcels journey to someone’s door is vast, and it is Handled countless times. The government / scientists, whoever, are changing their minds all the time about surfaces the bug lives on so we just don’t know if it’s safe or not. They are handled though by several different environments and many people from warehouse to delivery trucks to like ours - 5 people sorting them out into our metal cages then we handle them. Keep ordering stuff you need but do give a thought to that top or nail varnish , can it wait ? Just to give your driver peace of mind? My estate through the week is very very small .. I’m doing 200-300 parcels .. my town is about 3 miles long ... there are 7 couriers in this small town so that’s roughly 2100 doors gates ... at my small depot ( sub depot) we have roughly 60 couriers .... the next Depot is 6 miles from that one and Driver’s work the inbetween and so on ... not many areas per depot ... 60 drivers doing roughly 300 parcels per day ... each probably holding only 5 essential ones ... what’s that now then around 18,000 gates doors packets in a small area ... just food for thought. Like I said there’s pros and cons and it’s up to the individual to make their decision on whether to buy or not xx stay safe and hope you all get through this healthily, this is just my view and I won’t be back on I just found it on google and thought I’d respond ... very lengthy!! Sorry about that ! So don’t think I’m being ignorant if you reply to me , I’ll probably be out delivering and afraid to touch my phone lol xx

@Barmyloca yept volumes have gone right up and I'm delivering lots of things from boohoo etc I just think maybe they ordered before the lockdown.
I delivered to a house the other day with signs in the window saying 'mummy is a nurse, stay at home!' Well tell mummy to stop ordering and I will.
And they weren't in. Mummy could have been working of course and needed the delivery 🤔

What pissed me off yesterday, there was a collection down for next, I went and she said "it isn't ready" silly cow. Not only did i waste my time but it was putting me in extra danger, I won't be going back, she can keep them till next reopens.

@Barmyloca most of the couriers are crying? At our depot spirits are quite high. Noone seems overly worried, except me! I wouldn't be doing it if it cause me so much anxiety.

Let’s keep ordering and keep more people in jobs or let’s all stop ordering and have even more families struggling to pay their bills. That’s what it boils down too!

@Theresnobslikeshowb Not that simple though, is it? You're keeping them in jobs that could very well put them into the hospital - where they again won't be earning money and also be in serious health issues.

Just don't think it's so cut and dry

This week I've ordered from Amazon:

• rat traps (got a rodent issue when my neighbour started renovation work)
• bio bin bags for food waste
• coffee beans

Are any of these essential purchases? Probably not however they are very much needed.

I'm not ordering from Amazon and other big places but smaller retailers who really need the custom right now. Not that I can afford to order much at the moment but I just placed an order for a waste food place (sells food that has short best before dates or other reasons why the supermarkets won't sell them), mostly snack food so not essential but nice to get some treats in for the children and stop food going to the bin and keep the company in business.

My facebook feed is full of ads for businesses that have just opened web shops because of this, also local cafes and restaurants that have just started home delivery for the first time. I wish I had more money to support them!

I’m having to pick and pack paint, wallpaper, paint brushes etc. My company has stayed open because we’re classed as an essential retailer but no one is buying the essentials just the decorating and DIY items. This is a multi-million pound company, not some small independent.

Apparently it’s good for their mental health while they’re off work for god knows how long. Must be nice, my mental health is suffering working in dangerous conditions because people won’t stop ordering nonsense.

Sorry but it’s sodding ridiculous, there’s no hand sanitiser for us, no PPE, no soap in the toilets to wash our hands and there is absolutely zero social distancing going on. It’s so frustrating having to go to work every night putting myself and countless others at risk because people don’t want to be bored in lockdown.

I’d like to be at home on furlough protecting myself and my family but that’s not possible while the orders are coming in thick and fast.

After all this is done with I’ll be viewing a lot of people and employers ver very differently.

I need nappies, there are essential.

I am hating all of this.
I’m running out of nappies for my little one, I live rurally and our local little shops don’t have size 2’s, can’t get a slot online, boots constantly say ‘stock coming soon’. I have high blood pressure since my c section which apparently makes me higher risk so I don’t want to go anywhere. It’s so silly.

I’m going to be using a tea towel at this rate. I wish people would just buy normally! 😔