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@deleted
Bloody hell, two threads on couriering in one day.
Firstly, Chris Crash, I thank you for letting me take your picture and think well of you but on this topic you are talking out of your arse. Creative has riders who are fast, reliable and friendly. So does the company I work for. So does City Sprint, so does almost every courier company. Creative isn't unique. Also it doesn't matter how good a rider is if the controller is a muppet who can't give out jobs efficiently. And if the telephonists are incompetent (or just badly trained) and screw up the bookings then it doesn't matter how good the controller is. The rider is the 'face' of the company and as such tends to get the stick (and sometimes the praise) when there's a whole bunch of people in the office who have as much to do with how good the company is.
Holger, neither Creative or the company I work for would normally send pushbikes to where you are; I was discussing this with Caspar on Wednesday as Metro riders do much more distance. It comes down to money really; it wouldn't pay me enough, for the time it would take, to pick up from you and if I did I'd be taking a job off a motorbiker. Most courier companies work in the same way with the same definition of what is a motor bike job and what is a pushbike job. Not always the greenest way of doing it but it's an industry that is VERY reluctant to change.
Couriering is a cut throat business which is why the rates for riders are so low; noone has pointed out the bleedin obvious that clients take into account prices and if they never ask Who is the fastest rider they equally never ask How much are the riders payed? You may not like cars and congestion and pollution any more than I do Holger but if the price for your peace of mind is, literally, being payed by the rider then what is the ethical choice?
The courier industry is basically disgusting, exploitative and hypocritical. Like all such industries there are some companies that are slightly less appalling than others but that's as good as it gets. I essentially enjoy my job but that doesn't mean I don't understand how much better it could, and should, be.