Cargo Bikes

How is it primitive? Do they have problems with alignment, or finish? What about the Mailstar, as used by the post office? Is it just the big basket being too far in front of the front wheel? I'm not wanting to start an argument or anything, just wondering.

So, in Brixton the parking people ride something called a Pashley Pronto.
They are extremely heavy, clunky, and ride like the front half of the bike would rather not know the second half. The mudguards that come with them snap off, and it is very difficult to replace them with anything else because they don't have threaded braze-ons. The front wheel is an odd size and makes it difficult to replace the front fork when it gets bent.
I've ridden and worked on Pashley's before, so I know it's not just down to this particular model, they all have similar problems, mostly of weight, weight distrobution (too much in the front end) and odd sized components.

They are, however, fairly inexpensive and nice to look at.