“To give your customer that much power over the delivery process itself, you’re assuming that customer is coming from a good-natured position,” said an Amazon contractor in Northern California, who, like other delivery company owners, requested anonymity to avoid harming his relationship with Amazon. Nor has the company taken steps to address the issue, they said.īusiness Amazon is taking half of each sale from small-business merchantsįees the company collects from third-party sellers have risen for six years in a row, squeezing their margins. Amazon personnel monitor the forum and sometimes participate but have never engaged in the conversations about possible racial bias, according to the contractors. The topic has also been discussed on Ignite, an online forum Amazon set up for delivery contractors to swap advice and discuss challenges. The delivery contractors say they’ve raised their concerns to multiple Amazon managers. Because the phenomenon affects some of their most productive employees, the delivery company owners suspect racial bias is to blame. Time and again, they say, their employees of color get worse customer feedback than their white counterparts. That possibility is a matter of growing concern for Amazon delivery contractors who employ Black, Latino and Asian drivers. But what if the person is biased against the driver? In doing so, Amazon is trusting the customer to provide an honest rating. When an delivery driver drops a package at someone’s home, the customer can give them a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down - feedback the company uses to help determine how much to pay the driver’s employer and whether they keep their job.

Amazon reviews