Do VanDwellers work at Amazon?

[surferbeads]

I'll be looking for employment this fall and noticed the Amazon adds have been popping up for RVer's.  I'm curious if any of you vandwellers have worked seasonally at Amazon?  I understand it's physical work and I'm fine with that.  My main concerns have to do with the RV parks.  The amazon site says they have full hook up sites, but I don't have water hook ups on my van.  Are there typically shower facilities available?  Do the RV parks welcome vandwellers?  If any of you fine folks have experience working at Amazon while living out of your van I would greatly appreciate a reply.

Thanks,
Surferbeads

 

[Milk Hauler]

Search the forum. There are a few RVers here who work at Amazon fulfillment centers. I dont recall hearing anything bad anout Amazon.

 

[Milk Hauler]

http://www.interstellarorchard.com/2012/06/26/about-amazons-camperforce/

 

[akrvbob]

I know several vandwellers who parked their vans at the RV Parks. They have a whole bunch of them and even even if some don't, most do.

I had a friend who stayed at the Walmart instead because he saved so much in gas. A Sheriifs deputy stopped in and asked who he was, what he was doing. He said he worked for Walmart but couldn't afford the gas to drive from the nearest RV park. The deputy gave him his card and said if anyone hassled him to have them call him. He never had any problem.
Bob

 

[Jen n Ash]

This will be our third season working at amazon. We have always had campgrounds with showers working in nevada. But this year in Texas I'm not sure if our park has them. Like bob said, we also stayed at walmart during our workweek and took showers for $2.50 at a community pool since our campground was 30 mi. away. A good thing about sticking with it is that lots of people quit and you can move to a better or closer campground later in the season.

 

[akrvbob]

Good to hear from you Jen and Ash! Are you going to the Dallas facility this year?

Hope to see you in January!
Bob

 

[Jen n Ash]

Hi Bob! Yes, we are headed down to Dallas in a month or so to see what it's like to work in the new robotic facility. Happy that RTR won't be much farther from Dallas than it was from Reno. Say hi to Cody for us!

 

[basin+range]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/t...g-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html?_r=0

Is this a company you'd like to work for? Is this a company you'd like to do business with? I know many of you use their links on your blogs to make $$.  I hope that you read this article and maybe even after that, it still won't matter, we all have to make a living.  I won't be doing business with them, though.  Thankfully I live in a place where there's some great local shops selling the same items for not much more (and sometimes less).

 

[offroad]

actually this might be a good year to work for Amazon. With the scandal of the NYT article, most bosses and middle executive leaders will be very sensitive to not being jerks with the employees.

 

[akrvbob]

Amazon is capitalism taken to it's logical, extreme end. They don't do anything illegal or immoral. Everyone knows exactly what they are getting into when they go to work, there are no secrets or surprises. They all make the choice to work there knowing exactly what's going to happen.

The comparison you are probably making is to the child labor and sweatshops of the turn of century. That's a totally unfair comparison.

Amazon only hires the best, so every one of the people you are worried about, they all probably turned down other offers to work there.

It's a place for Type A personalities and those people are different than you and I. They want, love and thrive on terrible pressure, drama and conflict that would kill me. The difference is they are all Uber-Type A.

Just because it's not my way to live, and I can't comprehend how they could like it, doesn't mean it can't be there way to live.

The vast majority of RVers/Vandwellers that I know (including my girlfriend) were happy with the way they were treated.

They were treated equally to their status in life, 60 and 70 year old people. That's just what Amazon does with the Type As who are their white collar workers.
Bob
Bob

 

[Almost There]

Thanks Bob, you put it much more diplomatically than I did - I wrote and erased several versions before I gave up!

Signed, a reformed Uber Type A who would have thrived at Amazon in a previous life...

 

[akrvbob]

Thanks Bob, you put it much more diplomatically than I did - I wrote and erased several versions before I gave up!

Signed, a reformed Uber Type A who would have thrived at Amazon in a previous life...

I am so far from a Type A I can't understand that way of life. But there is no doubt that for a few people that is exactly what they want and need out of life. 

Personally, I think it's a form of mental illness for which Nature is the cure, but no Type A would ever agree with me. They would think I am a lazy, shirking bum/hippy who needs to wake up, cut my hair, sell my van and get a job and work 80 hours a week!!

To each his own! I like my way better!

But it doesn't mean they are evil, hateful people--just weird!!
Bob

 

[offroad]

Bob you are a type b perfectionist. Rare hippy do it right person.

 

[Almost There]

There was a link in the newspaper article to Amazons' 'Leadership Principals' which I find very interesting!

http://www.amazon.jobs/principles

Maybe I'm peculiar too! Now shush y'all, I know I'm peculiar but not THAT way....

That's probably why I tried and failed several times to fit in with large corporations way of doing things... their way certainly wasn't my way of running a business. I found I was happiest when running my own show because then the company values were my values.

 

[akrvbob]

Bob you are a type b perfectionist. Rare hippy do it right person.

No, no, no. I'm a Class D personality and the King of Half-Assed!
Bob

 

[eapvan]

I worked at an Amazon call center last year during their Christmas rush. I've had several temp jobs in call centers, and I definitely like Amazon best. There's no stupid script, and they let you "own" the call.

You get to do whatever the customer needs, including finding an item from another store if Amazon doesn't have exactly what they're looking for. At the end of each call, the CSR sends an email to the customer to give feedback on how well they were helped.

Even the metrics are easy to reach. You pretty much can't go wrong, and I never met any one there who seemed unhappy with their job.

I'm hoping to get re-hired this year as a remote worker. I much prefer working from home, and I'm going to try to get hired as a permanent employee. The benefits are pretty awesome.

Just my 2 cents, for what it's worth. YMMV.