Amazon Prime delivery delays in Spain: from 24 hours to a week

Delivery breakdown: Amazon Prime no longer meets the 24-hour promise

Why is my order taking twice as long? This question has been repeated for weeks, and the answer from industry insiders is not optimistic: "none of them are safe," summarizes a user who works with all major carriers. Users describe delays affecting historical operators, large platforms, and last-mile subcontractors. High-volume sellers warn early. A vendor shipping more than 1,000 packages per year boils down the mess to three variables: geographic zone, time of year, and above all, the specific courier assigned that day. What ran like clockwork four or five months ago is now failing. And no one agrees on the cause.

From 24-hour delivery to waiting seven days

The most cited case is Amazon. Its priority paying customers describe sustained degradation since summer: moving from next-day delivery with Prime to delays of five and even seven days. Others point to a less dramatic but equally annoying change: Prime products have gone from 24 to 48 hours. One hypothesis points to the closure of logistics centers, which would have strained an already loaded network. The Swiss watch promising express delivery has run out of power.

And it's not just the big platform. Some argue the collapse is general: "I've had problems with shipments and deliveries for over 15 days, I work with several agencies and they are all giving me trouble," summarizes an operator who dispatches daily. The complaint repeats across different parts of the country without a clear common denominator beyond the calendar.

Is it Black Friday's fault or is there something else?

The explanation reaching the customer is the commercial campaign: a Black Friday starting in early November and leading directly into Christmas, meaning the peak demand lasts almost two months instead of a weekend. The argument has a problem, pointed out by daily online shoppers: last year had the same calendar and deliveries didn't plummet. "Last year also had it and I can only speak for Amazon, but it ran like clockwork. This year it's different, despite the same dates," notes a regular buyer.

At least one buyer places the turning point four to five months ago: since then, service has gradually worsened, with recent weeks being the darkest stretch. For this user, delays started before there were gifts to buy.

The courier lottery: Correos works, Correos Express doesn't

Comparing companies paints an uneven map. A seller with over a thousand annual shipments describes Correos as fast and reliable, with occasional incidents per year, good service at physical offices, and an improvable website; its express version, however, is rated a disaster. The operator with the worst fruta in conversations is GLS, flagged as the most problematic, and not just in one area: some wait eight days for a package while the app changes the delivery date every day and the sender company gets no response, to the point of refunding the customer.

On the opposite end appears El Corte Inglés' immediate delivery, which runs like clockwork. Those who have worked there highlight solid labor conditions — including vehicle and fuel and a more manageable workload than conventional couriers—, offset by working Saturdays. The difference in treatment of couriers, they argue, shows in the results.

Shortage of couriers and surplus of orders

The bottleneck has a human face. Several companies admit difficulties finding drivers: the day starts at six in the morning and stretches late, and the pay doesn't compensate. "People don't want to work from 6 AM until late every day for a bowl of rice, and I think that's fine. Being a courier is as dignified a job as being a doctor," summarizes a message. Some within the sector admit they wouldn't recommend the position to their worst enemy.

To the shortage of hands adds the increase in packages. More orders arrive home for items previously solved at the neighborhood store: some order a one-euro pen online instead of going to the corner bazaar. The proliferation of pickup points —one street can have three from different companies— alleviates part of the problem, but doesn't work for bulky, expensive, or signature-required shipments.

Who pays the bill for home delivery?

No one absorbs the cost of the last mile. Those who pay extra for one-day delivery complain that when the commitment isn't met, the fee isn't refunded; those monitoring expenses propose raising the bar: setting a minimum order of 50 euros for home delivery. Another part of the analysis points to pressure on urban mobility, with vehicle restrictions in city centers also affecting deliveries.

With available data, the picture is of a sector that saw demand grow without expanding staff at the same rate, and now pays for it in missed deliveries. Complaints pile up just like parcels in warehouses.

There are those who assure everything arrives quickly and in good condition, and those who blame the specific courier. Between the official story and the portal experience, the package arrives when it wants. The urgent shipping fee, however, does not come back.