Amazon customers in Helston say they are facing week‑long waits for Prime deliveries – with some accusing the company of giving “wish‑wash reasoning” for the delays and offering contradictory explanations.
Residents say items that should arrive the next day under Prime are now showing estimated delivery times of “seven days or more”, even before checkout.
One customer told the Packet they had noticed the delay was happening at the dispatch stage, not during the final delivery leg.
One Helston customer said: “Everything I look at on Amazon is listed as seven days. It’s not just the items I ordered – it’s everything. They’re not even dispatching things.”
They said Amazon’s customer service initially told them the delay was because items “were not available in the local fulfilment catchment area”. But when they changed their delivery postcode to Newquay, the same items were suddenly available for next‑day delivery.
“That’s when I contacted them again,” they said. “I asked why the previous agent had lied, and why Newquay could get next‑day delivery but Helston couldn’t.
“The reply was that TR13 ‘is not on a main route’ and that delays were due to the Redruth depot being offline.”
The customer added that they also asked why Amazon could not use Royal Mail’s next‑day or 48‑hour services as a backup for Helston. “I got the same reply – logistics, staffing, Redruth depot issues. None of it made sense.”
Amazon's Redruth depot has been damaged (Image: Getty Images)
Amazon has responded, confirming that it knows some customers have been experiencing delays.
A spokesperson said: “Our Redruth delivery station experienced significant flooding during severe weather earlier this year and required extensive repair work before it can safely reopen.
“The majority of customers across Cornwall continue to receive deliveries as normal from other Amazon sites in the South West.
"However, we know some customers, particularly in more remote parts of Cornwall, are experiencing longer delivery times than expected, and we’re sorry for the impact this is having.
“We’re working hard to resolve this and reopen the site as quickly as possible.”
Amazon also confirmed that deliveries are continuing via its delivery service partners from other sites in Plymouth and Exeter.