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08 Nov 12 - 11:18 AM (#3433049) Subject: BS: I am seriously peeved From: Penny S. With the TNT delivery service. I have ordered two folding bookcases to deal with the overflowing mass of tomes in my book room, and was expecting them today, sort of, and looking forward to moving all my fiction on to them, thus leaving space for re-organising the history and geology and serious stuff into the spaces left. After my afternoon nap between 2 o'clock and 3, I went downstairs to find the post and a card announcing that no-one was here to receive the delivery. The card was timed at 1:21. At that time, I was sitting next to the door bell which is loud enough to wake the dead. I can hear it in my bedroom with the door closed. Not only was it open during my nap, but I also had the receiver of a wireless bell on by me, and there is a note in the window by the front door inviting people to ring both if there is no answer to the top one. I heard nothing. I suppose the man may have decided to ring the wireless one, which was not on at the time he called, but he obviously did not read the note. I now have to travel over the river into Essex to collect the stuff myself. I can't risk being in and not hearing the very loud bell again. This will either cost me £4 for the Dartford crossing, or I can use the free Blackwall Tunnel or the free Woolwich Ferry and a load of petrol. I am going to make a new sign for the bell. Why can't delivery companies deliver? Penny |
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08 Nov 12 - 12:15 PM (#3433095) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: GUEST,Eliza Infuriating for you Penny. Have you tried contacting them and complaining? They may agree to come again the next day. I've heard of postal deliveries, eg Parcel Force, leaving a card without ringing the doorbell. It's sheer laziness. (By the way, glad to hear you have an afternoon nap, and at the same time as me!) |
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08 Nov 12 - 02:23 PM (#3433185) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: DMcG A common problem in the UK, and not restricted to TNT. I had a similar thing about a month ago. I forget which firm but since I can't whether the firm I order from uses it, it's not too important. Anyway, they left a card saying I could collect it from their office between 9 and 5, Monday to Friday only. Or in other words, take a day off if you want the parcel. They could deliver again, but only during the day so again I'd have to take off - and then risk the doorbell game. And they would not deliver elsewhere. |
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08 Nov 12 - 02:34 PM (#3433194) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: Henry Krinkle It would make my blood boil. (:-( )) |
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08 Nov 12 - 04:09 PM (#3433249) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: DMcG It is not entirely laziness, though. A lot of companies use 'self-employed' people to deliver which means they don't have to be paid a minimum wage. Then they are paid per attempted delivery, so it actually costs the self-employed person to stand around waiting for people to answer the door. |
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08 Nov 12 - 04:16 PM (#3433252) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: Henry Krinkle That sounds rather selfish. =(:-( O) |
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08 Nov 12 - 04:24 PM (#3433255) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: DMcG Yes, I agree. The question is who and to what extent. After all, the employer is deliberately twisting the law to make a bigger profit. And the firm which is selling the widget using such firms is unlikely to be ignorant of why one delivery firm is cheaper than another. |
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08 Nov 12 - 04:41 PM (#3433264) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: Henry Krinkle People are devoid of integrity these days. Money grubbing pigs at the trough. All they care about is getting more than their share. I hope they choke on it. =(:-( X) |
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08 Nov 12 - 04:50 PM (#3433268) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: VirginiaTam We get that a lot in Essex too. Yesterday evening minutes after we got home from work, UPS failed to deliver a rather large box (new Computer) to our first floor flat. But managed to put the attempted delivery card through letter box. It is a small flat. There is no way we would not have heard, if he had bothered to knock. I have had bad experiences with the private delivers and really great ones. One guy rather than take back item back to Ipswich depot next morning (he lived in same town as us in Essex) left a note with his number and if we reached him before 9pm he would bring it out to us that evening. |
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08 Nov 12 - 04:56 PM (#3433274) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: GUEST,pete from seven stars link it does seem odd that the bell was,nt rung penny.i used to be a multidrop driver years ago and i know that the job usually involves more work than can comfortably be done in a day.i never left a card without trying a neighbour as well if i got no answer ,and maybe thats why i was usually behind and often over my shift unpaid!. that dont seem to account for your experience though.pete. |
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08 Nov 12 - 04:56 PM (#3433275) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: Mo the caller We have had expensive items left at the top of our long drive for anyone to walk off with, we didn't know they were ther. It was just by luck we found it. |
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08 Nov 12 - 04:58 PM (#3433276) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: Henry Krinkle Some folks are decent. But they are becoming rare. =(:-( )) |
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08 Nov 12 - 05:04 PM (#3433278) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: John MacKenzie Just a point of interest. Parcels that you pay 6 or 7 pounds to have delivered, earns the courier about £1.50. You have to deliver an awful lot of parcels at that price to make a decent wage. After you've paid your expenses. Not that I'm excusing this particular driver, but that's the reality of the job. |
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08 Nov 12 - 06:17 PM (#3433325) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: Bert If you paid for it to be delivered and it wasn't, then that is fraud. Call the company and get TOUGH with them. Give them a second chance by telling them the exact time that it will be delivered. You might have to spend some time on the phone, but if you don't give in, they will eventually realize that it is costing them more time on the phone that the order is worth. It is a method that will work if you keep at it. After a few hour long, or more, phone conversations they will get the message that they will have to give in. |
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09 Nov 12 - 12:31 PM (#3433718) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: DMcG I admire your determination, Bert, but I wouldn't count on it. I suspect the contract in legal terms does not commit them to deliver it. Moreover you are likely to be handed back and forth because there are two contracts: your contract with Bigcompany and BigCompany with BigDelivery so your first hour or two will be getting the right company to take any sort of responsibility. In terms of the contract itself you may also be on weaker grounds than you expect. I once spent about an hour reading through all the rail ticket terms and conditions back in around 1980. At time Britsh Rail selling you a ticket between two places not only didn't commit them to getting you between those places; it also didn't commit them to ever having run a train between those places, however indirectly. |
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09 Nov 12 - 02:42 PM (#3433777) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: Penny S. The degree of peeving has risen. after breakfast, I set off for the ferry, where I found a notice announcing only one boat running and an hour wait. This was, mercifully, untrue. Though I did have to wait while a stream of traffic from a road invisible from my approach route took the ferry before mine. On the other side of the river, I followed my satnav instructions along a route I had scouted in Google maps street view to the depot. On my virtual recce, I had spotted that the entrance was gated, so had made a second phone call to find out the procedure, of driving up to the security cabin and asking, which I followed. It turned out that the driver had not filled in the consignment number, and when told my address, I was informed that the Barking depot did not deliver to my postcode, despite my card being from that depot, with a Barking code number on it. The office started phoning around. So, my parcel was in Basildon, 17 miles away, down the Southend road and well past the tolled Dartford crossing. Off I went. The A13 is not a romantic road for songs to be sung about. I'm glad I got a satnav - I wouldn't have had time to do the finding the odd corner of a trading estate by map, since I didn't have one that would show that, and the map on my phone doesn't talk. The Basildon depot had a different procedure, in which I should not drive up to the security guy. I should go to reception. He flet it would be a good idea to check up first, as he was a glass half empty sort of chap, and had his doubts about my parcel being on the premises. Reception did not answer the phone. I went round to them, got let in, and eventually the parcel arrived. The guy helped me load it, and apologised for my being left the Barking card, explaining that they are now asking the drivers to check that they have the correct ones before setting off. I made it back across the river (the Thames estuary for those not over here) in time for the swimming lesson I go to with the school. But what a way to run a business. It is clear that people collecting is a regular occurrence. I wonder how many have done so because of missed rings. (There is a lot of stuff on the net about the company Yodel and their use of such techniques - one in which a guy was seen writing out the card before approaching the door, for instance.) I can believe Pete would have done his level best to deliver, and I know some do their best to find neighbours, but if it can't be done in the time allotted, there is something wrong with the business plan - isn't Murdoch involved with TNT? Penny |
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09 Nov 12 - 02:46 PM (#3433778) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: Bert You have to keep at it DMcG. When I left Bahrain years ago a large crate of personal effects went missing. The Airport blamed the shippers, the shippers said call the insurance company and the insurance company said call the firm I worked for. Well, as I had received two out of three crates from Heathrow, I decided to get serious with them. I called and was given a brush off, I called the same number again and again and, after about twenty calls, the same operator was nearly in tears. She finally said, 'I suppose you could try imports tracing' and gave me their number. I called them and a very polite guy said He'd look into it, give him a few minutes. I went an got myself a cup of tea, three minutes later, he called back and said "I've found your crate" Ya just have to stick at it and don't take no for an answer. More recently, my Sister in Law bought a kitchen stove with an induction stove top. It was absolutely useless. It took me three days of phone calls to the manufacturer before they agreed to give a full refund. |
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09 Nov 12 - 02:52 PM (#3433783) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: GUEST,999 Penny, let TNT know you are writing a Letter to the Editor of your best newspaper, then write the letter and mail it. |
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09 Nov 12 - 03:24 PM (#3433800) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: gnu John, good point. I know the business is "tough" in that way and it's also actually VERY cut-throat with how the delivery companies bring on new drivers... they will give a new guy a route and get him going, making money. Then he buys a vehicle and starts hustling and works unreal hours and then they say "we just don't have the volume" and cut his deliveries back and when he is bleeding they offer to buy his vehicle which they staff with a minimum wage guy. It's sick. Yes, I know it's done in many industries and services but there seam to be a LOT of people that don't even know this goes on. |
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10 Nov 12 - 04:25 AM (#3434032) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: Bert The reason that they get away with it is because customers go along with it. If you had dug your heels in and said "you agreed to deliver it, DELIVER IT", and not taken no for an answer then they would eventually have capitulated. Being peeved doesn't cut it; continually acting peeved until you get your way, does. |
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10 Nov 12 - 04:36 AM (#3434033) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: DMcG I'm not sure things are that simple. It is interesting, for example, that you see the problem as being with Yodel rather than the original company who took the decision to use Yodel. An arrangement that keeps the price as low as possible for most customers even if it seriously disadvantages a significant number of customers is something that BigCompany is probably happy with. Even more so if all the flak ends up with the delivery company, and if repeat business is not the main concern. A higher price for all with better delivery for some is less appealing to BigCompany. And its probably also acceptable to them if your are prepared to spend hours sorting it out, whether by phone or by travelling to get it. The first costs them more, of course, but it is tiny in the grand scheme of things. |
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10 Nov 12 - 06:37 AM (#3434066) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: Leadfingers A letter to the Managing Director of the supplying company suggesting that you will no longer use their services if they cant get a decent deivery system as well as o the Delivery Idiots wouldnt do any harm ! |
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10 Nov 12 - 10:11 AM (#3434148) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: Penny S. Trouble with the supplying company is that they clearly do most of their business with other companies, not individuals like me, and how often am I likely to buy furniture? I will write to them, though. If I had not had an appointment for yesterday pm, I would have demanded redelivery, as I would if they delivered on Saturdays, but I wanted the bookshelves soon. Had I known they were at Basildon, I would have waited, because it would have cost me £4 to get them. The journey to Barking was more interesting, and would have been cheaper. I'll see what answer I get from TNT. Penny |
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10 Nov 12 - 03:59 PM (#3434358) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: Bert Of course publicizing it, the way you have done, is another good way of getting back at them. Another is just not using their services again. That is what I did with UPS. Years ago I shipped a sewing machine from Alabama to Colorado, and it arrived damaged. I called them from Colorado and they told me to take it up with the shipping company in Alabama. Evidently that particular UPS location was owned by somebody else. As the damage was minor, and it was back in the days when long distance phone calls were expensive, it wasn't worth the trouble. I have never used UPS since. I'm glad that you are going to write to them, they say a letter has more effect than a dozen phone calls, so best of luck. |
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10 Nov 12 - 04:25 PM (#3434373) Subject: RE: BS: I am seriously peeved From: Amos Henry's blood has a remarkably low boiling point, an unhappy side effect of a childhood spent at very rarified altitudes... |