I have a suspicion that, 'dispatched' can mean the item is in the 'dispatch department' or in other words, 'in that pile by the back door waiting for transport'

I've come across retailers that have an actual status, "waiting for collection by courier".

I try to use the pickup point in the mall next door as much as possible, but not all websites allow for a pickup point to be used, or for that pickup point to be used. I had one where I had the choice between delivery at home, or pickup at our warehouse some 300 kilometers that way. Uhm. Well....

Once upon a time, a long long time ago...
...there lived a tribe of tradesmen.
These men & women, given a task whether it took 1 hour, 1 day,1 week, 1 month or 1 year or longer, completed said task with consummate professionalism.
Many of their tasks either still stand or in use today.
Sadly, they are practically extinct today.

Move forward eons.

Today, there are 2 new tribes, both as infamous as each other.
Bodgit & Scarper
Dropit & Run

Congrats, Dr. Anderson with your - if my math is correct - 68th birthday.

Grumble, grumble. These blasted computer algorithms, can't even arrange a delivery.

Ordered some computer gubbins on Thursday - special offer, next day delivery. Next step, carrier pickup and tracking. Nothing happened until Friday evening - despatched, but not going to be delivered until Monday.

Saturday morning, I get an email - 1 hour delivery timeslot this afternoon, high value, can't be left unattended, time can't be altered. I re-arrange my day, and wait in. One minute after the slot ended, they change it - will now take to pick-up venue, will be available tomorrow.

12 minutes after that - now available to collect in shop. Drive down, let him scan the email - but we agree that because I've known him for 15 years, and I visit the shop six days a week, we can do without the photo ID. If they can lie to us, we can lie to them.

Trouble is - carrier's computer is treating the van driver as a fellow robot. I was #73 on his day's drop-off list - and the weather is foul, and the roads are full of halloween shoppers. Or maybe they're all driving to their pickup points. The driver didn't have a hope in hell of meeting his schedule.

Driver will be called on to the carpet for not making the delivery because weather and obstructions don't exist. They weren't programmed in.

Driver will be called on to the carpet for not making the delivery because weather and obstructions don't exist. They weren't programmed in.

Applies to bus drivers here also.
Timetables for the routes are based on journeys done on an early Sunday morning in the summer, according to the lady that is responsible for the publication of same in Preston.

Watch "Sorry We missed You." The film has a lot of truth in it.

At least with buses, they have the excuse that pesky passengers keep asking them to stop, so they can get on and off.

Grumble: NYT have messed about with the colours for Wordle. With red green colour deficiency in my vision, I can now no longer distinguish between a letter in the wrong place and one not in the word when using high contrast mode which is supposed to be better for colour blind people. I and I am guessing a few others have emailed them a bug report. Numerous fora have people complaining about this.

Grumble.
I hate unsolicited mail.
99% of the time, they get recycled unopened as they're addressed to the occupier.
The other 1% are named.
The worst being some pension investment company wanting invest a portion of pension.
The scary thing about those is the personal info on the correspondence.like NI number.
WTF?
I just write in large red letters across their datasheet, KMA in Gaelic & post back to them in their reply paid envelope.
So far in the 16 months since retiring, sent back 5. :-)

Now to today.
Copy of e-mail just sent.
I received correspondence from yourselves today.
I have no idea where you got my details from as I have never applied to your organisation to participate in your gambling hub.
It is not the 1st, but it will be the last.

I do not take kindly to unsolicited mail, therefore you have 30 days to confirm in writing that you have removed my personal details from your database under the GDPR.
There will be no debate or negotiation on this matter.
Thank you.

According to their complaints procedure they have 72 hours to respond.
We'll see.
Postcode lottery. Sheesh at £12 per month, payable in advance, much prefer the National Lottery. :-)

Glory & a couple of grumbles.
Grumble.
Heard back from the Peoples Lottery. They will remove my details from their database ONLY after I provide my name & address.
Already provided. How many items does it take to query a database?
Grumble.
Where Income & Expenditure is concerned, the % game is a big con.
The Dual Fuel Cap will increase by 5% on 1/1/24.

Glory.
Current funds on electric meter will run out around 29/12/23.
Have maximum 0f £250 waiting on key & soon as that gets entered then, will shoot over to shop & top up another £250.
That will run out around 18/5/24, bypassing even the April Cap.
Don't think if it is reduced it will be lower than Oct 23 Cap. :-)
As for gas, that's been bugging me for some time.
Checking the last 6 monthly spreadsheet, I topped Gas up on 7 April which lasted 5.25 months, giving a daily usage of £0.66.
With the standing charged changed to 2Kwh instead of 1 & the higher charge applied to those 1st 2 units (0.29p), it leaves our gas usage to 0.08p a day?
Either that new boiler is very efficient or we don't use 2Kwh of Gas per day.
Either way, it's a bonus. :-)

Another pension increase next year. £800.
Wonder how much of that will get eaten by higher bills.
I bet the Council Tax will increase by at least 5%. :-(

Another pension increase next year. £800

Less tax.

My grumble. As I receive the old state pension topped up to near max with 'Additional State Pension' and I worked and delayed the state pension for just over 2 years.

Then I might be paying tax on the state pension because they have frozen the 'personal allowance'. I await the figure, because they never seem to be exactly the same as what I calculate.

Less tax.

I could be wrong, but I don't think I'll pay any as I will still be over £2k shy of the personal allowance.

Less tax.

I could be wrong, but I don't think I'll pay any as I will still be over £2k shy of the personal allowance.

As I already pay tax on the majority of my NHS pension. I will lose 20% of the increase to tax with the increase in the proportion of my NHS pension that attracts tax.

Grumble.
In 45 years spent in the transport industry, seen some things that made one wonder how some companies manage to remain in business.
Last Thursday, ordered 3 items from Amazon.
Was very surprised when received 2 items early the next evening.
The remaining item, 5 reams of printer paper to be received by 30/11 as expected.
Just received not more than 5 minutes ago.
Sheesh.

Personally, I would have refused to deliver it.
The outer box, flimsy & not secured very well.
The Amazon Basics inner box falling to pieces & only held together with a nylon strap.
4 of the 5 reams had the outer covering either torn or open.
Should have stuck with my previous suppliers - Viking Direct or EuroOffice.

Ah, sounds just like what UPS did several years ago to my workplace. The even "helpfully" repackaged it, even with a few sheets with tire marks. Seller sent a new shipment.

Amazon's reply.

Hello,
We could not post your review because it focuses on one or more of these topics:
Sellers
Delivery
Packaging
Pricing
Availability
Why is that not allowed? These aspects vary by order and will not be relevant to all customers. That said, we want your feedback about sellers and packaging, just not in product reviews.

Didn't post a product review, sent a "problem with order" post.
Also, it seems that "Amazon Basics" is sold & packaged by a third party according to the above.

Welcome to rose colored glasses computer filters