Pros
You can make good hourly wages.
Cons
1. You are at 100% fault for every disputed package with no recourse or method for contesting. In the case of a 'disputed delivery' you will get an email stating that the 'customer did not receive package' etc. No details will be provided as far as which customer, the address, whether it was residential or business, an apartment or a house. Essentially no information is provided to you to 'contest' the package. The company invites you to send them an email. If you ask for information they wont' provide it. If you argue that you followed the rules (placed packages in areas that aren't seen to the public, knocked on doors, etc.) they'll write an email back to you stating that their decision is final. As a delivery driver for Fedex Ground for years I know that people steal packages. People lie. It's human nature. And when it happens YOU'RE AT FAULT with no phone number to call, no manager to talk to, no one to listen to your side of the story, no information provided to you. Someone somewhere will complain about something someday to someone about you. Good luck trying to contest it when Amazon won't provide the information. 2. It isn't "flexible" at least not in the way you think of it. It's not as if Amazon is going to bend over backwards to make sure you can get a block for you every Thursday from 6-9pm. YOU HAVE TO CLEAR YOUR SCHEDULE! I made myself avail for up to 140 hours a week and got about 10 blocks a week. 3. The app rarely works. I've been inside the terminal with packages ready to be scanned and had to walk around the building trying to get the GPS on the app to recognize "I've Arrived" so that I can begin working. I've spent upwards of an hour sitting in the terminal on a 3 hour block trying to get tech support or someone within the building to help me to no avail. You tell me how smart does a company's app have to be to recognize that you're inside the building? lol I've also scanned all of my packages, swiped to download the full itinerary and then the app farted out with a service code. That's 60-100 packages you have to rescann. Wait. Hold on. You're working a 3 hour block, right? Sucks you spent an hour of it in the terminal fighting against bugs within the app itself. Did you need help? You can send Amazon an email in the 'Feedback' section. They'll get back to you tomorrow. All better now? lol 4. You will be fired per a 'disputed delivery.' And disputed deliveries WILL happen. Again, per #1 there is no manager you can talk to at the terminal nor is there one assigned to you via Amazon at large. The customer is right ALL OF THE TIME. I've been at the leasing office of apartment buildings and talked to the leasing managers. After they've told me " we don't accept packages" I've said, "Well, I get fired if someone steals something." Their response: "Not my problem." Better hope you've been assigned a good area where humans have never thought of stealing before. Otherwise Amazon is counting how many times a disputed delivery occurs, not sharing the information in "our records indicate" and counting down the days to fire you. 5. Expectations are not clearly set. Again, this goes back to 'disputed deliveries.' In my experience at Fedex a contractor is clearly obligated to perform at 99%. Amazon Flex doesn't share the rate with you. You may or may not get 'Weekly Reports' from Amazon and they may or may not be accurate. Mine weren't when I was arbitrarily 'terminated' on a Monday morning. Let me give you an example: I was delivering between 300-400 packages a week in May for two weeks. I got 3 disputed deliveries for the month. That means 297/300 packages were delivered without dispute (photos taken as well.) That puts my performance percentage around 99.8%. Fired. Do you really want a job where you can be fired for performing at such a high standard? That was an award-worthy percentile at Fedex. I would've been on pace for a month bonus. Again, FEDEX clearly states 99% is the standard. Amazon Flex doesn't. They should. They should assign a manager to work with every new hire in the event of 'disputed packages.' At FEDEX a manager works with you to hear your side of the story and work with the customer for better customer service. They know that customers lie, humans steal, and that apartment complexes are notorious for stolen packages. Again, good luck contesting those packages with no information provided by Amazon Flex. Oh, and about that termination email you got? Yeah you can appeal it and Amazon Flex will get back to you in 2-3 weeks. Hey, they're busy! Nevermind about a phone number. None provided. Were you busy working for Amazon for the past 6 months? Did your family rely on you for food, paying bills etc.? Sorry. Someone somewhere said something about a package that you didn't deliver so AMAZON WILL GET BACK TO YOU IN 3 WEEKS. Good luck! Did it catch you off guard? Of course it did because they didn't send 'warnings.' They didn't reach out to talk to you about specifics. They didn't provide accurate information regarding your performance percentile or the percentile that they'd like to see you operate at. They didn't say "hey, we're getting dangerously close to X." No warnings etc. I woke up to an email saying I was fired for packages from two weeks before. Seem fair to your hard work ethic? 6. There is no management. Have an issue? You better be friendly with the terminal staff. Most of them can't answer your questions so they'll defer you to someone else. Be patient. You'll find someone somewhere to help with something. But it has to be trivial usually. In the case of 'disputed packages' no manager exists that can act as a liaison for disputes between customer and contractor. 7. Wear and tear (brakes, oil changes, road hazards, tires) 8. Gas prices. (Make sure to figure in the cost of gasoline.) 9. Company relies 100% upon technology and emails for communication and exchange. This is a huge downfall. Just because they have progressive technology (an app etc.) doesn't mean they can communicate well. And they don't. They're Amazon. And you're just a number. 10. Tech. support is rarely helpful. If you call them past 4pm CST the support is routed to India. Very difficult to communicate through a thick accent. 11. Amazon has 0% investment in their contractors. You're just a number. They're the name. Next! 12. Wonder why you saw an add for delivery drivers? See #'s 1-11. Welcome to the revolving door.