# Newbie question about Amazon, Redoute, etc. deliveries



## Marnée

Hello all. Probably a silly question with an obvious answer, but here goes:
Back in the states, UPS, Amazon, etc just leave packages by the door when they deliver (luckily, I’ve never had an issue with “porch pirates”!). But here every house is gated behind portails- if you aren’t home when they make the delivery, where do they leave the package? Certainly not on the street. Are there Amazon lockers? What about La Redoute? I hesitate to order anything before I understand the logistics. Thanks!


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## Bevdeforges

Nearly every vendor (at least those I've dealt with online lately) offers an option to deliver to a relay point rather than to your home. Usually this is some local shop (usually one with long hours) where you can pick up your parcel at your own convenience. In some cases, the threshold for free shipment is lower if you agree to go pick up the item at one of their relay points.

Amazon has lockers at some shopping centers or large stores. La Redoute uses a network of relay points. Just about any of them include this option in their sections on shipment ("livraison") and should be able to link you to a listing of the drop points closest to where you live. Some of the delivery services send you a notification the day before they are set to deliver to ask if you want them to shift the delivery to a relay point - or, in some cases, if you want to give them specific instructions about where to leave the parcel if you are not at home when they deliver.


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## mohsel

many possibilities ... sometimes they just call and leave behind the portail.. other times they just leave it without calling.. also leaving with a neighbor is usually a habit, I get deliveries for my neighbors all the time !
Also it depends what kind of delivery, for example if they are using chronopost, if you are not there, your package will be in teh nearest post office and they will leave you a note with the address ... so it is not really a single solution, it depends on which company is delivering and I find as well it might vary from one person to the other ....


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## bhamham

One delivery person 'hid' my package on my property. He left a voice message which I couldn't understand but finally figured out. It was like an easter egg hunt.

IKEA makes you designate one floor or level where you want your delivery placed. I was told it's that they take a photo of everything after delivery and don't want more than one photo. A friendly monetary offer had them leave the beds and mattresses upstairs and the dining table downstairs.


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## Peasant

I'm lucky in that I have a Post Office right across the road from our flat so we usually pick things up there. I've found that, for some reason, picking something up from a collection point often means it'll take an extra day to get to you.


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## mohsel

Peasant said:


> I'm lucky in that I have a Post Office right across the road from our flat so we usually pick things up there. I've found that, for some reason, picking something up from a collection point often means it'll take an extra day to get to you.


I think this is related to how delivery is done, in all cases it seems that it will go with a courier on the delivery day .. if he is to deliver to your address it is done on that day ... if not, it goes at the end of the day with other undelivered items (which the courier was not able to deliver and would leave a note to the owner that his package will be at xyz the next day) to the collection point, hence it wont be available for you until the next day.


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## Bevdeforges

However, if you indicate from the get go that you want your item delivered to a specific collection point, it should be no problem. Some delivery services will notify you the day before they deliver, giving you the option to contact them via email or their website to request that the delivery be made to a neighbor or to a specified collection point instead of taking it to your house. 

Just be sure to click on the website link for "Livraison" to see the various options available.


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## FireRaider

Amazon is definitely not the same convenient experience in France. I get the impression that just dropping off a package at your doorstep with nobody home is not a thing, especially if your driveway is quite long. I have most of my items delivered to the Conforama store collection point in town so I actually get them. I've not had any issues with it. I just show them the email from Amazon. I would suggest something like that for anyone new to the process.
However, if the item is not shipped or sold by Amazon itself you can't use the Amazon Collection Points. This makes it much more adventurous for a newbie like me with terrible French language skills. I'm still working on getting some water filters I need.


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## Clic Clac

You can always choose Saturday delivery with Amazon if it's going to be difficult to collect it elsewhere. It's not usually much extra cost. 
If the item is small enough they will leave it in your letter box, but they sometimes get carried away with the box size. 

Beware suggesting a safe place as it may well be left at your risk.


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## ccm47

We use the internet for shopping quite a lot and have just had a spate of items for everything from a clock radio to a set of aluminium framing poles. I'm generally happy to collect from a reasonably close cafe, garage or supermarket but since having our village road named and each house numbered deliveries have been superb. 

As well as all the SMS/emails the delivery people normally ring ahead to check we're in, the one time we weren't there, we were 6 or 7 minutes away. The chap waited for us to get back, he seemed happy to have a short break.
Amazon deliveries have to come from Bassens near Bordeaux which is well over an hour away: yet we get mid-afternoon Sunday deliveries. We count ourselves lucky if La Poste gets here by 14.30 with a letter and they only come 5km! 

Not relevant to the question but about 18 months ago we ordered a steam producing shower cabin, which became a nightmare: incorrect controls, no doors, and taken to a house 700m away, all delivered items were returned for a complete refund. The French company refused to refund the totality so we took the matter to the tribunal de proximité. I chose to present the case myself and won. It is not a process to shy away from, once the paperwork is done. Much less formal than in the UK with the lawyers in jeans and trainers!


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## BackinFrance

I have never had a problem with French companies, truly French companies, though I limit my internet purchases to companies I trust and have never pirchased from Amazon or La Redoute. Still, there are certain things I can only buy on the internet. But even for things produced in Germany, which sometimes are the only alternative for me personally, I buy from French sites that deliver by La Poste or if necessary Chronopost.

Above all it is in my experience not a good idea to buy something that is delivered by UPS.


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## jweihl

Admittedly we live in an apartment, but it seems like 1) just leaving a delivery unsecured doesn't really happen here as in the US and 2) relay points, and lockers are totally a thing. We've had a ton of deliveries from Amazon, for small stuff, the Amazon locker three blocks away at the train station is very convenient and the post office (amazon does deliver to a post office if you want) two blocks away is good for bigger things (but I have to wait in line). There are various tabacs and other stores that are also relays, I mostly use them for dropping off packages for return. We've had deliveries from La Redoubte, Ikea, and Darty. We've found that french delivery people (even Chronopost) almost always call or text to either arrange or confirm delivery. This can be a bit terrifying if your new and have trouble speaking and hearing french over the phone, but it's just a fact of life.


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## Bevdeforges

When we had our business (run out of our home), we got multiple deliveries each week - and the various delivery services kind of got to know us. In fact, one of the services (may be Chronopost, I think) still has our home address listed under the old company name. But back before the pandemic, just about all the delivery services required a signature to confirm delivery. The pandemic put paid to that, and now most will just leave the packages either on your doorstep or in a "secure area" somewhere near the entry. (We have a small barn where many packages have been left - and where I tell the service to leave things if they ask for "delivery instructions.") Otherwise, they do seem to leave the package somewhere in front of the house, but out of view from the street.

A few delivery services have a system where they send you a code by e-mail either the evening before or the morning of the scheduled delivery. If you ask them to deliver to a neighbor, then you need to give the neighbor the code to give to the driver when he delivers your package. One time when I hadn't received the code, the driver asked me for my date of birth (though how that confirms my identity is beyond me). But he still gave me the package. And generally, the delivery company sends you an email as soon as the package has been delivered (based, I guess, on their scan of the delivery label). The system seems to work pretty well, all things considered.


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## elizap

Some delivery services allow you to set up an account as an individual (some only allow business accounts) and from there you can often adjust your delivery dates/times. We're in an apt. and if we're not home and the pkg will fit into the mail slot, it's generally left there. Very rarely, a package will be left with a neighbour or outside our door. I have found the relay points to be a good alternative when I know I'm not going to be home. It may be that deliveries are made around the same time every day and it would be a good idea to get an understanding of the timing for your area.


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## Marnée

Thank you everyone for your replies.
I decided to order something from Amazon to be delivered to the house before I tried using a collection point. I followed the advice of posters to request a Saturday delivery (free). The package actually arrived yesterday (Thursday) and was left just inside our "portail." I guess time will tell if this is ordinary practice in my area. For the most part, I'm going to try to shop locally, but there are times that I will need to resort to online purchasing.


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