Did you know that Amazon sometimes requires a one-time password (OTP) for high-value deliveries?
If you’re an Amazon customer, you must give your driver the password to receive your package.
How to find an OTP code: Go to the order tracking page at Your Orders > Track Package. The code is listed at the top of the order tracking page.
If you’re a Flex driver, you can’t complete an OTP delivery without inputting an acceptable code. If the customer can’t find the code, choose the “password is missing or incorrect” option and ask for the last two digits of their phone number.
But what are you supposed to do if your customer isn’t there to receive the package? Will your ratings take a hit?
Read on to learn how one-time passwords work for Amazon customers and Flex delivery drivers.
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How one-time passwords (OTP) work for Amazon customers
A one-time password (OTP) is a security feature that Amazon uses on some high-value deliveries.
When an OTP is required, you will need to give the six-digit OTP code to your delivery driver before you can receive the package. No code, no delivery!
How to find the OTP code
Amazon emails you the six-digit OTP after your item ships. The email will have more information about how the password works and how to share it with your delivery driver.
To find the code in the Amazon app or Amazon.com: Go to Your Orders > Track Package. The code will be displayed at the top of the order tracking page.
In the Amazon app, tap your profile icon then tap Your Orders to find an OTP code
How to share the OTP code with your driver
When they arrive, your driver will knock on your door and ask for the password. Tell them the code, or show it on your phone screen.
If you can’t find the code, go to the tracking section for the order or search your email for the initial shipping notification.
If you still can’t find the code, ask your driver if there’s anything else to do. They may be able to use the last two digits of your phone number to verify the delivery.
What if you can’t be there for the delivery?
If you can’t meet your delivery driver, you can share your OTP with someone else who can receive the package. Give your code to a trusted person and have them share the code and pick up the package.
Amazon will re-deliver the package on the next working day if nobody can receive it.
Can you leave the code on a piece of paper at your door?
Customers must be present for an OTP delivery. Drivers are instructed to only get an OTP code from a live person, not a piece of paper.
Most drivers will not complete the delivery if you put your code on a piece of paper at your door.
Why do some orders have OTP codes?
Amazon uses the OTP on high-value orders like computers, tablets, and smartphones.
Some delivery drivers also claim that OTPs may be required if a customer frequently reports missing deliveries, but the OTP page at Amazon only says that codes are required for high-value items.
How one-time passwords work for Amazon delivery drivers
On some deliveries, you will need to collect a one-time password (OTP) from the customer before you can complete the delivery.
An order that requires OTP will be labeled “one-time password delivery” in your itinerary.
When you arrive at an OTP delivery, ask the customer for the six-digit OTP code and input it into the app. Three incorrect attempts will prevent you from completing the delivery, so type carefully.
Watch for the OTP label on your itinerary
The customer can’t find their OTP code? Here’s a workaround
If the customer can’t find their code, there’s a trick to get around it: Select “password is missing or incorrect,” then ask the customer for the last 2 digits of their phone number. You can input that as a valid code in many cases.
How to help a customer find their OTP code
Customers can find the OTP in two places: In the Amazon app & Amazon.com at Your Orders > Track Package, or in the email that Amazon sends when the package first ships.
The Amazon app is usually the fastest way to find the code. Have the customer go to the tracking page for the order and look for the code toward the top of the page.
If the customer can’t be there to receive the delivery, they can share the OTP with someone else who can take the package. That means it’s okay if the person receiving the delivery doesn’t match the name on the package as long as they have the correct code.
No code, no delivery
How to protect your ratings: What to do if you can’t deliver an OTP delivery
As a Flex driver, your ratings affect the offers that you receive. Poor ratings = fewer orders (here’s why)! Undelivered packages can harm your Reliability rating if you don’t take the right steps.
If you are doing an OTP delivery and there is no customer to receive the package or they can’t give you the correct code, mark the package as undeliverable and select the correct reason. Then, return the package to the warehouse by 10 AM the following day.
To protect your ratings, contact Amazon support to let them know about the delivery. You won’t typically take a hit to your standing if you proactively reach out to support.
What you can do about early and late deliveries
Amazon deliveries can happen as early as 3 am or as late as 11 pm. What should you do when it’s too early or late to get a code?
Before you start your route, check your itinerary for OTP deliveries and ask to have them removed if you think it will be impossible to get a code. A warehouse employee should be able to remove the packages without a hit to your standings.
If you choose to take the delivery, try doing it at the end of an early block or at the beginning of a later block to increase the chances of contacting the customer.
But if you end up at someone’s doorstep and you think it’s too early or too late to knock on the door or call, contact support and let them know the situation. They can take steps to make sure that the undeliverable package doesn’t harm your ratings.
Amazon Flex driver reactions to OTP deliveries
Many Flex drivers didn’t react very positively to the OTP announcement, but some saw it as a way to prevent fraud and protect drivers.
“They 100% will not know the pin and a bunch of people are going to get mad”
“Now your 4 hour route is a 6 hour route when you have to knock and wait for a customer.”
“Customers never respond or are never home”
“It protects drivers if anything”
“It’s a fraud deterrent”
More reading for Flex drivers
Brian Mason says
I cancelled my order that came with the code. I talked to Customer Service and they said the driver could leave the package, they were wrong. I told them I am not home Monday thru Friday and I won’t be held hostage to an Amazon driver on my days off. I cancelled the order and placed another order for the exact same item, $175 item, if it comes with another code I will cancel it again. BTW, I have never had a missing package and my front porch is secure.
unknow says
It happened to me too.
I purchased PS5 from Amazon and shipped. The tracking page says the package was delivered but I didn’t receive anything or signed anything.
As you know, when you purchase ps5 from Amazon, on the review order page, you get this notice “signature or one-time password required at time of delivery” so, I contacted UPS twice asking them to provide me a proof of delivery like a photo for the signature of the person who signed the package. In the first time, we don’t have this info and you should contact Amazon. In the second time, they said
this package does not required a signature upon delivery and the driver just left the package on your Front door . I asked the agent:
on your systems, is the package marked as delivered with a sign ?
The agent said, in our system the package was marked delivered on your Front door without a signature.
so I decided to contact Amazon. When I contacted Amazon, they said the package was signed by you!!. although UPS said the package was delivered without a signature.!! which is totally weird. I asked for a refund or replacement but the amazon agent asked me to get a police report.
I have a proof of all my conversations with Amazon and UPS.
Can you suggest what should I do ?
Thanks
No one says
Perfect way to get rid of your customers. I don’t have the time to go hang out at the UPS store waiting for them to deliver my package so I can give them a code. So I told him just to take the product and send it back to the seller and I’ll go start purchasing from Walmart because they don’t make me try to jump through all these nonsense hoops. I got rid of Amazon Prime and I was stupid to get back on there to buy one product I will never do it again. Amazon is so stupid
Garfield says
There isn’t a trusted person near my house.
Rosalyn Watson says
Jan 25, 2023
RE:n Amazon’s new One Time Password Policy. I have complaint that I will share with you as well as writing corporate Amazon in Seattle.
First off I am a single person who ordered a cellphone (used) recently. I was sent a password about the delivery–BUT I ALREADY had a doctor’s appt scheduled months ago for today. So guess what happens the driver shows up while I am away from home and I get a polite email notice that he could not leave my package. WHAT? Like you said Amazon has devised something to cover themselves, but not deliver the package where they are supposed to.
I called and the agents ask me what day will I be home? What does that matter when they cannot give me any kind of window as to when the driver is going to come by? I am single so am I supposed to take an entire day off work to sit and wait on the driver????? One package came the other day at 10PM, so are they telling me that I have to be a prisoner in my own home ALLLLL DAY LONG and continue to be a prisoner until 10PM at night? I cannot go to work, can’t go to the store, cannot go to the doctor, cannot go anywhere waiting on a $250 used cellphone? The CS agent said she had heard they had done this for packages as little as $125 dollar!!!
She proceeds to tell me the delivery guys have a 12 hour window to deliver items in; what?
-I do not work from home, so somewhere in those 12 hours I will be at work.
-I said I was single, so there is no one else here……….
-I am not rich so I dont have a maid/personal assistant waiting around here for packages to arrive….
-so what if I tell my neighbors, are they supposed to wait for 12 hours for my stuff to come.
They also told me they could not change the delivery mode (send to a locker at the store). I am basically going to have to cancel my order and reorder it making sure it is shipped to a locker. Well, I thought Amazon was a good thing, but this policy is ridiculous.
No one says
I would advise you to cancel your order and don’t order again from amazon. Why even go through this again. If they don’t want to make a sale that’s their problem.