The real reason Amazon won’t post to South Africa?

June 18, 2008  |  Consumerism  |  Share  | 

Smell a rat?
Please read my latest post on this topic before posting inane comments to this one. Thanks. And hi.

Today I was surprised to hear the news that online retailer Amazon.com has announced that it will no longer ship to South Africa using ‘standard shipping’ through the postal system. It will only send items to the region using courier services, which cost considerably more than conventional postage, citing theft of parcels as its primary reason. Is the South African postal system really that bad? I don’t believe it is, and I am developing a theory about the real reason Amazon has halted its postal services to SA.

I personally do a lot of online shopping, and have been doing so for at least eight years now. I have never had anything go missing in the post. I also refuse to believe that I am just lucky in this regard. So today I made a point of asking almost everybody I came across if they had ever lost post in South Africa. No one had.

The South African Post Office does have a horrible legacy of unreliable service. But it has since changed. The management of the Post Office over the last few years has effectively turned things around in the spirit of the organisation’s slogan, “We deliver, whatever it takes.” The SAPO is a success story and an example of how a company can be transformed. I have witnessed this first hand with all the packages I send and receive internationally, from vinyl records sent by Ninja Tune in the USA and UK to books and works of art from Canada.

The South African Post Office now boasts a 99 percent success rate of recovering stolen mail, in the unlikely event of it actually being nicked. Of the hundreds of thousands of mail items sent through the SAPO over the last year less than 700 have gone missing. Almost all recovered. Either the post office and its auditors are lying about these stats, or Amazon’s management are smoking something serious – unless there is another reason for the decision.

The SAPO today responded with surprise to the Amazon announcement. It was dumbfounded at the decision, given the organisation’s improved efficiency and reliability. A spokesperson for the Post Office said that they would be approaching Amazon to discuss the matter.

I also refuse to believe that missing packages really cost Amazon that much to begin with. Firstly, post hardly ever goes missing any more according to the SAPO. Secondly, while Amazon’s policy is to reship “lost” orders, I am sure a company of Amazon’s size must be insured against this occurrence. And the reshipping policy effectively creates an impression of good service, not bad – so it’s hard to believe that the advent of stolen packages does the company’s brand any harm either. It’s merely an organisational inconvenience, which I doubt it deals with in shipping to South Africa much more than it does anywhere else in the world.

Recently a company launched in South Africa with a vested interest in Amazon’s local affairs. This company is WantItAll, a local front-end for Amazon that facilitates orders from Amazon and other American providers into South Africa. From WantItAll’s website:

…www.wantitall.co.za was therefore born from the needs of South Africans wanting to purchase items from abroad. We facilitate the process of purchasing items off the internet on behalf of customers and then shipping the requested items to the customer. www.wantitall.co.za therefore handles all the purchasing, shipping, and insurance of the items � therefore reducing the problems previously experienced with internet purchasing.

WantItAll gleefully disseminated a press release today notifying all and sundry of the Amazon announcement – which obviously greatly benefits its business, which has ties to Amazon. I have heard someone accusing WantItAll of playing an instrumental role in the decision by Amazon. However, I am not suggesting this, as I have not seen any evidence that leads me to believe it.

But something is up – and I suspect it has nothing to do with stolen mail. I will be pursuing this story with all relevant parties over the next week in an attempt to sniff out the real reason Amazon made its announcement, whether local pressure or misguided international policy. I don’t expect to come up with much. But I must ask.

On another note, I hope we’ll soon be seeing a full-fledged retail service offering from Amazon.co.za.

EDIT: I was wrong about WantItAll sending out a release. This was something I was told from fellow journalists, which turned out to be bollocks.

 
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  • http://www.thechiz.co.za The Chiz

    wow Simon, go super sleuth.
    Even without serious facts it does ring false! And how good was Wantitall’s timing? Amazingly co-incidental!

  • http://www.wantitall.co.za Justin

    Hi Simon,

    We definitely had nothing to do with this, and as I have mentioned to the media, our manager at amazon.com was not even aware that amazon.com has stopped shipping to SA.

    We also never released a press release, we were just contacted by the press to comment ;)

    http://www.wantitall.co.za

  • http://www.simon.co.za/ Simon

    It seems the bold text in my post wasn’t enough, so I’ll say it again:

    I am not pointing fingers at WantItAll. As I said in my post: there is no evidence to suggest that WantItAll was directly involved.

    But I do suspect that there is something going on here that has nothing to do with lost mail. It may, however, have an indirect bearing on local operations that utilise Amazon – at no fault of their own.

  • http://www.ofrelevance.com Eve Dmochowska

    I a big fan of conspiracy theories, really I am, but I cannot think of one that could apply in this scenario.

    But, the Post Office excuse sounds equally fishy. I too haven’t had a package stolen, ever (although one did arrive rather late, over Christmas).

    And, now that you mention it, I haven’t heard of *anyone* who did lose a package.

    I think we must check out those Kalahari guys …. :-)

  • Ricus

    Hi Simon

    Regardles of who or what caused amazons decision, it was great to read the article. When i read the original news announcement, it was all too easy to shake my head and join in with the negative “SA’s going down the tubes” chorus.

    The facts presented in this piece reminded me how stupid it is to believe everything one reads at face value. thanks for doing a bit of thinking here, cos i sure wasnt.

  • Rebekahn

    I’m with you on this one – as a regular user of Bookmooch, where books are sent and received internationally, I’ve never had a problem with the SA Post Office. In fact, I’m constantly impressed with how fast and reliable they have been.

    The whole think reeks if you ask me. There’s no such thing as coincidence when it comes to the industrial complex…

  • Andy

    Probably order about five books a year over several years. All have arrived within a reasonable period.
    Simon says something fishey….

  • http://www.fmtech.co.za Duncan McLeod

    Two Amazon intermediaries set up shop in SA (Wantitall and Have2have). Both have close relations with Amazon execs. Wantitall alerts the media to the change in Amazon policy (I first became aware of the situation when I received an email from Justin at Wantitall about it). Post Office pilferage drops 69% in the past year (according to the Post Office), yet Amazon dumps postal delivery, allegedly because of Post Office theft (not confirmed by Amazon). It really does make for a good conspiracy theory this. I suspect the truth is a lot more mundane, though.
    Duncan

  • Pingback: SA Post Office staffed by thieving gits | Paul Jacobson

  • Nigel

    I,ve spent around 10 000 dollars on amazon.com in the last five years and have never had anything go missing using normal post.

    I have also bought other goods from the US online to the value of around R8000(normal shipping again) and the stuff arrives in around 7 DAYS flat(quicker than DHL or UPS(useless parcel services).

    This is a big insult to our local PO who are very good.

    I spent a load with amazon,this is BS.

  • http://www.20six.co.uk/deaninthecity l3ftie

    Rubbish. I recently moved to the UK and since then have had several parcels nicked by the SA postal service, including small items of (expensive) clothing, books and toys that I posted to my family.
    I am a multiple awarding-winning journalist and while in SA I investigated the postal service several times. Staff that I inteviewed confirmed that theft was rampant and gave me many details, including how their light-fingered colleagues removed banknotes, at Christmas time, from envelopes without actually opening the envelopes. These were mainly from grandparents who posted money to grandkids. That’s just sick – is nothing sacred anymore?
    I am sorry, but your asseratation that things have changed and the flimsy conspiracy theory does not hold water. Amazon decided to change its policy because many (but not all) SA postal workers are thieves. End of story.

  • Pingback: Simon.co.za » Wrapping up the speculation on Amazon.com’s decision regarding the SAPO

  • Tex

    Get real – I have lost a couple of items and there have been many complaints – pull your blinkers off and stop supporting the rotten banana republic. What a typical “It must be sabotage” or “a third force” cop-out, caged in a self concious know-it-all tone, like your web-site actually has any value to add, posing as an alternative to decion makers. Spare us this Web junk and let someone else publish something uselful!

  • http://www.simon.co.za/ Simon

    Here is a copy of my email response to “Tex”:

    ——————
    Hi “Tex”

    I don’t usually respond to comments directly left on my website, but when someone has gone out of their way to be as unpleasant as you have then I make exceptions.

    If you read my post you’ll find that I did not blame any third force. I also did not infer that the post office was blameless. My theory is that Amazon had other reasons for its decision – which is yet to be implemented.

    But both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk both still post to South Africa, so clearly there is a bigger picture here.

    I have ordered many times from Amazon and other shops and have never lost anything, so our mileage varies. But I respect that you have had things go missing. How recently was this?

    I don’t pretend to know everything either, as your comment suggests. I have been wrong on many occasions, but try to always follow up with a reason why I was mistaken and to clarify what I meant.

    What confuses me about people like you is your insistence on being nasty. You clearly have some of your own issues to deal with that incline you this way. I was merely providing my perspective. Perhaps you took exception to me picking on negative ex-pats? I can deal with that, perhaps I was a tad hard on them. If you knew me personally you’d know that most of what I say is in jest. This doesn’t always come through in text.

    Fortunately abuse to me is like water off a duck’s back, since I deal with it on a daily basis in my various roles within the local media industry. You can’t please everyone. But rest assured that your abusive comment has had null effect on me, barring the three minutes I wasted writing a response.

    Have a nice day. I mean that.

    Simon

  • http://www.simon.co.za/ Simon

    Wow, Tex’ email address doesn’t work. Who would’ve guessed?

    He also failed to read my latest post on the subject: http://www.simon.co.za/2008/06/26/wrapping-amazon/

    *sigh*

  • Tex

    I fixed my mail address – its real. Fact is I am very dissapointed that we are at periah status here in South Africa – its quite simple. What a slap in the face for consumers, not to mention the post office.

    To answer your question I lost two items last year in Amazon post. One was covered by a seller in the US, and another I wrote off. In my overall order list with Amzazon, they were two out of about 10 seperate orders. The fact is however that these were losses, and others have complained about SAPO.

    It is true that some other company now benefits from the revenues and we have far less acess to Amazon, and they are wallowing in SAPO’s loss.

    Most oponion in the newspapers showed story with a thread -how thieves caught on video got off on a technicality; the New Zealand postal organistion withdrew from SAPO I am led to understand. It paints a poor picture.

    And here comes someone with a supposed real reason…so you can imagine my interest to see why we were really blacklisted. But, on examination you have nothing but a sabotage theory. What’s the point of putting that forward?

    Let me know at my e-mail if you get any more news as I am following this closely – as a global online shopper I feel a great connection with Amazon, and now thanks to some criminals, that is as good as over.

  • dandare

    You do know that theft is a major problem in the Royal Mail at Christmas time? In addition how many times do people have to be told not to put money in the post? Theft of cash in the post happens everywhere, and no-one with any sense actually puts cash into the post. I've also seen the abuse to which mail articles get subjected. Again it happens everywhere – the postal system is a harsh place.

  • dandare

    Amazon.com did stop offering shipping methods other than courier for a time. It was clearly stated on their help page and when checking out it was the only option. However Amazon could easily have switched to using one of the two faster methods offered by USPS. More expensive, but far less than using a courier, and in addition it is semi-trackable and fast. The fact that they chose not to is what makes this entire episode quite suspicious. And unquestionably a slap in the face to those of us who have been buying from them, and buying a lot, for more than a decade.

    I've had postal articles mishandled and stolen in the US, UK and Germany. It happens everywhere. I know of a company in Canada that now only uses a very expensive shipping method to Europe because of too many cases of loss and damage. In their case they're a small company and dealing with postal claims is a big headache, although their customers in Europe are understandably annoyed because even there the number cases of problems was not exceptionally high, but ultimately it is just negativity and selective thinking that singles out the South African Post Office as being terrible compared to elsewhere. Something goes wrong here and people take the attitude that it only happens here or is something uniquely African. Even when theft was allegedly rampant I struggled to find a significant percentage of people who had lost parcels. And given how much the people I asked actually import, using the normal mail, they should have been victims of regular theft.

  • dandare

    “the New Zealand postal organistion withdrew from SAPO”

    What nonsense. Where do you get this from?

  • dandare

    You do know that theft is a major problem in the Royal Mail at Christmas time? In addition how many times do people have to be told not to put money in the post? Theft of cash in the post happens everywhere, and no-one with any sense actually puts cash into the post. I've also seen the abuse to which mail articles get subjected. Again it happens everywhere – the postal system is a harsh place.

  • dandare

    Amazon.com did stop offering shipping methods other than courier for a time. It was clearly stated on their help page and when checking out it was the only option. However Amazon could easily have switched to using one of the two faster methods offered by USPS. More expensive, but far less than using a courier, and in addition it is semi-trackable and fast. The fact that they chose not to is what makes this entire episode quite suspicious. And unquestionably a slap in the face to those of us who have been buying from them, and buying a lot, for more than a decade.

    I've had postal articles mishandled and stolen in the US, UK and Germany. It happens everywhere. I know of a company in Canada that now only uses a very expensive shipping method to Europe because of too many cases of loss and damage. In their case they're a small company and dealing with postal claims is a big headache, although their customers in Europe are understandably annoyed because even there the number cases of problems was not exceptionally high, but ultimately it is just negativity and selective thinking that singles out the South African Post Office as being terrible compared to elsewhere. Something goes wrong here and people take the attitude that it only happens here or is something uniquely African. Even when theft was allegedly rampant I struggled to find a significant percentage of people who had lost parcels. And given how much the people I asked actually import, using the normal mail, they should have been victims of regular theft.

  • dandare

    “the New Zealand postal organistion withdrew from SAPO”

    What nonsense. Where do you get this from?

  • Amy Seymour

    Well my mom sent a parcel 2 months ago from Australia to my baby girl here in South Africa and it has not arrived yet. The SAPO is useless and I will also now only use a courier.

  • Nolene Wagg

    It is the most frustrating thing waiting for family birthday cards and letters for my 90 year old gran to arrive in South Africa. Only 10% of the mail arrives. My dad even posted the last birthday card with the envelope unsealed and it did not arrive! I know it is stolen on the SA side as I posted a bank card to my sister and it was used as a credit card 2 weeks later in Jet Stores!!

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  • Lola

    I have sent a parcels from Saudi Arabia more than a month a go. It should have reached its destination within 10-14days. It's still not there.I've been calling international postal services off the hook. All they have to say is that they do not have the parcel in theirsystem. The last few days that I've tried to contact the again they do not even bother to answer their phones.So,yes I think South Afirican postal system stinks!

  • Sunnyafrica

    I am South African living in the US and I cannot mail anything to my family in Johannesburg without it being stolen. I have first hand experience of this over and over. I can send to cape Town but the post office in Joahnnesburg are filled with thieves and crimminals.
    Michelle

  • Paula

    I have read the above and feel very happy for you that you have had no issues with the SAPO.  Unfortuanately we are not so lucky and have been in the same boat as Amazon for about the last 10 months.  We have, for over a decade, sent parcels to my sister and family in Natal but during the last 10 months it has become a lottery as to whether any parcels get through.  This isn’t bad luck – it is systematic thieving – you can send 4 small parcels  on one day and none will make it – that is more than co-incidence.  And I understand Amazon’s decision cause it is costly and demoralising and SAPO do not take it seriously.  It is their business to deliver and they are not doing that.
    Paula, UK

  • Bubba

    Thank you for having the decency to admit you were repeating unsubstantiated “bollocks”. Shame I had to read to the end to realise that.

  • Danie van der Merwe

    I ordered a package from AppleCore in the USA and it was sent in a small envelope.  First package went missing as well as the resent one! I queried all the way up to Pretoria with SAPO and they say there was no record of it entering the country…. real issue also is there is no effective way of reporting it and keeping stats on these losses (hence SAPO sitting back and saying so few parcels are lost – they don’t bother to record any stats).

  • Mientjie2

    The Post office is really that bad – i’ve ordered many things from suppliers in the US and UK and even my moms package from NZ did not get here, but dutyfully returned to sender. I challenge you to order anything by normal post from another country, on the web and see if you get it.