Lasership, Last-Mile Delivery Carrier from Hell (price, reviews, online, shipping)

[TN Lily]

We ordered an item from REI online. In the past, they have shipped to us using UPS. This time they used Lasership, an outfit I had never heard of. Lasership calls itself a "Last-Mile Delivery Carrier." Can anyone explain this? I realize it's like the Uber of delivery services - uses independent contracters who must provide their own vehicles and it pays these folks a pittance per package. Who delivers the packages to the Lasership warehouse so they can NOT do the last-mile delivery in a timely fashion?

Our package was out for deliver on 11/22. It was not delivered. The message said, it will be delivered on 11/23. It was not delivered. Same message. We are in a rural area so I'm sure it won't be delivered/misdelivered until there are multiple packages to be delivered in my zip code area. From what I've read online, when their "drivers" keep postponing delivery of a package because they don't want to drive 20 minutes to earn $2-$4, the package is often lost.

I had never heard of this company. It's reviews are awful. Hubby reached out to customer service via online chat. The response was in broken English. It appears the chat originated in China based on the grammer. The person ("Anna") who responded, terminated the chat when he asked to elevate the chat to a supervisor. After reading reviews, I'm not going to bother calling the local number.

REI is sending out a replacement via UPS. We were advised not to order online, but to telephone in orders to avoid Lasership. UPS delivers on my street every single day that UPS is open. Ditto FedEx Ground. Why REI used this terrible delivery service in the first place is beyond me. We are REI members.

[Taiko]

Last mile is the carrier which actually makes the delivery. Any single piece can be picked up by one carrier handed over to a second to drive to the airport have a third load its cargo plane or find space available on an airliner and then reverse that concept upon landing closer to get to the last mile carrier/driver company. It depends on cost and time

[Pink Jazz]

Originally Posted by Taiko

Last mile is the carrier which actually makes the delivery. Any single piece can be picked up by one carrier handed over to a second to drive to the airport have a third load its cargo plane or find space available on an airliner and then reverse that concept upon landing closer to get to the last mile carrier/driver company. It depends on cost and time

Yes. Many are unaware that many USPS Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express packages fly on FedEx aircraft (FedEx holds a contract with USPS for this, which runs until 2024).

[Rabrrita]

Originally Posted by TN Lily

Why REI used this terrible delivery service in the first place is beyond me. We are REI members.

Cost and availability. As the holidays approach, more and more online retailers are looking for ways to get ordered goods into customer's hands. Unfortunately, when FedEx, UPS, USPS and the other handful of regional professional carriers can't guarantee holiday deadlines or meet the shipping price point necessary for that item's cheap sales price, retailers look for anyone who can accept and make the delivery.

Companies like Lasership bills themselves as last mile services but in many of their regions, they serve as full carrier. In your case, if the goods are being shipped from a location serviced by a Lasership hub to another hub service by Lasership, they will handle the entire shipping/delivery. This isn't necessarily bad as many services operate like this. Why Lasership is considered lousy service is because they are simply cheapo's with their delivery driver's compensation. Because of that low compensation rate, they often are forced to hire the bottom of the barrel. When you add on the fact that many other services offer higher compensation (ride sharing, local gig delivery services, etc) you can imagine how backed up things can get for a company that accepts items but really can't deliver on the delivery!