CityLink

Zagu · 10 December 2006 at 1:38PM

Hi,

Although I have been reading the forum for a while, this is my first post, and the reason is because when I did a search there were very few results for the courier company, CityLink.

Ive had two deliveries from them this week, the first on Tuesday, which arrived on Wednesday, and one on Friday, which still hasnt arrived. Past experiences with delivery companies has made me aware that most of them are unreliable, but Ive never experienced anything like I saw on Saturday.

After waiting all day on Friday for a delivery, I phoned at 5:00pm to ask if I was still going to get the delivery today. I was assured that I will, and as its the Christmas period they deliver up to 8:00pm. I asked what time the offices shut, and was told 7:30. I phoned at 7:05, and left the phone ringing for 25 minutes, until their closing time. Clearly they werent prepared to answer the phone.

I phoned on Saturday morning, and after 10 minutes of no answer, someone picked up the phone. I asked if it was going to be delivered today, but apparently as I hadnt paid for Saturday delivery it wouldnt be delivered till Monday. Sort of ironic as I had paid for a Friday delivery. Anyway, I asked if I could collect from the depot, and was told that thats fine but they shut at 2:00pm. I arrived at 11:55am, only to be told that they close at 12:00. I pointed out that I had phoned and was told that they close at 2:00, and was then asked to wait in the collections room. This is where it get bizarre. I walked into a room with about 20-25 people crammed into a small room with 2 or 3 seats, all looking very sullen. I asked if everyone was waiting for undelivered parcels, and was told that they were, and that some had been waiting for over two hours!! The warehouse was all of 5 meters away, and none of the staff appeared in any way interested in getting the customers parcels. I know that many companies can be fairly indifferent over the phone, but generally when you come face to face with them, they suddenly become more accommodating. Not CityLink. After 5 minutes of waiting and not seeing any sign of activity from the staff, I decided it just wasnt worth the wait, and drove the 20 miles back home.

From now on, I will try to avoid companies who use CityLink. I know that no delivery companies are perfect, but my experiences with CityLink have been far worse than any other company. The manner in which they have so little regard for peoples time, even when you turn up in person, is beyond belief. I see no reason what so ever to keep people waiting, for a parcel that they have failed to deliver, for over 2 hours on a Saturday morning, never mind the days that all those people probably waited at home for their non-delivery.

I really cant understand how CityLink can exist, and in a petty and juvenile form of revenge, I have vowed never to give way to another CityLink van on the road.

After Saturdays experience, I thought Id have a quick Google, and came up with this.
http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews-all-93418.html

Average Ratings from 45 reviews
Value for money 0.8/10
Overall value 0.8/10

It appears that Im not alone.

bs0u0128 · 10 December 2006 at 1:50PM

why did noone confront the staff at the depot about the lack of service ?

Zagu · 10 December 2006 at 2:39PM

To be honest bs0u0128, Ive no idea. I had to be somewhere else, and with at least 20 people in the queue before me I couldnt see me waiting less than an hour before I got my package, but in all honesty, if the right person had walked in and was determined to cause as much trouble as possible, he certainly would have had an easy audience to whip up to an angry frenzy. They were fuming, and rightly so.

PurpleDuck · 10 December 2006 at 2:42PM

sounds just like the Swansea depot. I hate city link and I'd never use them if I had a choice.

Darksun · 10 December 2006 at 10:46PM

I've always found CityLink to be excellent, all deliveries on time. DHL on the other hand are completely useless

James&Shell · 11 December 2006 at 10:15AM

We use |City link for all our parcels atr work that dont go by royal mail and they are excellent.

99% Arrive the next day and the only ones where there is a problem are when the customer isnt there and there is no where safeto leave the parcel at all or if the driver is being watched or the area is usy they arnt allowed to leave the parcel.

I agree with the previous poster DHL are useless

Zagu · 11 December 2006 at 5:34PM

Im glad to see that some people have more joy than Ive experienced. Perhaps some depots operate better than others, but their Maidstone branch is a complete shambles.

After waiting in today, I phoned head office at about 1:00pm, who took details of my complaint, and admitted that I wasnt their first phone call about Saturday, and then assured me that they would ring back. They didnt.

Checked the parcel tracking page, and it said "Current Status: The goods have been returned to the branch after an unsuccessful delivery attempt.", yet I know that there was no attempt to deliver. Phoned the local branch, and was told that they will phone the driver and phone back. They phoned back to let me know that the driver had his mobile off, and couldnt give me any more information. I asked why the driver had his company mobile off, and was told that they use their own personal mobiles, not corporate ones!!

At 4:00pm, after waiting in for two days, and driving 40 odd miles for nothing, the package eventually arrives three days later than planned.

Thanks CityLink, and goodbye. :wave:

littleange · 13 December 2006 at 8:09PM

I'm not overly impressed with citylink either, they have often not bothered delivering my parcel and when you check the tracking after waiting in all day it says they have tried and left a card :mad: but I've been in all day - no sign of a card

I guess everyone has different experiences with different companies, I have however had no problems with parcelforce but maybe its because my local driver is very reliable.

user051105 · 13 December 2006 at 8:19PM

Plymouth Branch is complete shambles.

magyar · 13 December 2006 at 8:20PM

At work I had some shocking experiences with Reading CityLink. I arranged for an overnight delivery of a large number of boxes from Reading to Newcastle. I clearly told them "it's about ten large crates; you'll need a big truck".

First guy came at 3.30pm in a tiny van. He left.

Second guy came at 5.00pm and said "I'm not taking all of that lot, it'll make me late for my other deliveries".... (I was too shocked for words at that - and probably wasn't as assertive as I would normally have been at that point!)

Finally, some guys turned up in an unmarked van at 8pm saying "we've been sent by Citylink to pick up some stuff". They had no documentation, no knowledge of where it was going to go etc. but were nonetheless surprised I didn't give them nearly £30,000-worth of goods without signing anything.

Eventually, I got someone at CityLink to fax me some despatch notes and they left.

None of turned up until three days later....

magyar · 13 December 2006 at 8:24PM

Zagu wrote:

I really cant understand how CityLink can exist, and in a petty and juvenile form of revenge, I have vowed never to give way to another CityLink van on the road.

My form of revenge exactly!

CityLink

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