Vent: Delivery Firms

fraserm_2

The internet shopping age is here, an amazing choice of products on-line without even having to leave your house. For someone who hates going to busy shops as much as I do, it is a dream come true!

So when are DELIVERY FIRMS actually going to step up to the mark and start offering a proper service?

Ok, I understand, they don't have an easy time of it. Especially during December when their load must increase significantly, but why are they not trying to help themselves a little?

I know that every day I am out of the house from 7am-7pm at work. I`m sure the same is true for many other people that they deliver to.

So what is the point of them trying to deliver a package to my door? Would it cost them more time/money to attempt a delivery, or to give me a quick courtesy ring to find out first if I am going to be in?

With the advanced computer & mapping solutions available these days, is it REALLY that hard to plan a route with an estimated time and give people a better idea as to what time their parcel might arrive? Maybe I could at least arrange for someone to be there if they could narrow it down to a particular hour for example. "AM or PM" is not good enough!

The card I received through the post yesterday said they will only attempt delivery twice. Their office (an hour away from me) is only open between 8am & 5pm, Mon-Fri. And I tried to get them to leave it with a neighbour, but "for security reasons" that is not allowed. How am I going to get my package from them? Take a day off work for it?

Maybe this could start with the on-line retailers, they could take this information when we buy the items? Ultimately, it is in their best interests if they want to continue growing.

Maybe it should start with the delivery firms, beginning to offer some more flesibility.

PLEASE. Step up and start improving the delivery process!

Thanks,
Fraser

nexuss

fraserm wrote: »

With the advanced computer & mapping solutions available these days, is it REALLY that hard to plan a route with an estimated time and give people a better idea as to what time their parcel might arrive?
Fraser

The driver will arrrive in the morning and load around 130-150 parcels for around 100 drops onto his van manually.During transit they will obviously roll around.He cannot make specific arrangements for 1 person out of 100 if they are working.Most drivers do their rounds on knowledge rather than sat navs or this fantasy advanced computer mapping you mention as this would slow them down greatly.Also they have to do collections after 2pm as well as the 100 drops.You are best ringing the company and arranging to pick it up yourself.

biscit

Thanks for the facts and attempt to inject some rationality and balence to this discussion.

However you spoil it with:

nexuss wrote: »

You are best ringing the company and arranging to pick it up yourself.

You were doing so well up till then.

It was mentioned that the depot is an hour a way and only open weekdays 8-5.

voiceofreason

nexuss wrote: »

The driver will arrrive in the morning and load around 130-150 parcels for around 100 drops onto his van manually.During transit they will obviously roll around.He cannot make specific arrangements for 1 person out of 100 if they are working.Most drivers do their rounds on knowledge rather than sat navs or this fantasy advanced computer mapping you mention as this would slow them down greatly.Also they have to do collections after 2pm as well as the 100 drops.You are best ringing the company and arranging to pick it up yourself.

Bloody hell - and people slag off the Royal Mail product. What a damning indictment of the "entrepreneurial, responsive-to-the-market, more efficient" private home delivery sector.

No more than an expensive Poste Restante service, when all's said and done.......

Ste_C

It can't be that difficult for them to narrow down when they'll arrive. Giving you a 10 hour window isn't helpful at all.

You might like this blog post

http://igrump.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/parcel-farce/

olly300

biscit wrote: »

Thanks for the facts and attempt to inject some rationality and balence to this discussion.

However you spoil it with:



You were doing so well up till then.

It was mentioned that the depot is an hour a way and only open weekdays 8-5.

Then decide to buy from companies that:
1. Deliver on a Saturday, OR

2. Allow you to use your work address to receive deliveries.

Alternatively be nice to your neighbours particularly your retired ones.

custardy

biscit wrote: »

Thanks for the facts and attempt to inject some rationality and balence to this discussion.

However you spoil it with:



You were doing so well up till then.

It was mentioned that the depot is an hour a way and only open weekdays 8-5.

bear in mind many drivers do collections as well
look on the eBay forum and you will see with many couriers these days can be booked up to lunchtime the same day
so how do you give a time when you dont know where you will be going that day?

Forris

I'm mostly with Nexuss on this. The shear number of drops and the amount of variables that can crop up during a day would make it very difficult to give advanced notice or a specific time slot for delivery. While most routes can be done in roughly the same way each day, there are a number of factors that could change that;

> Timed parcels (ie. Before 9, Before 10) - getting just one of these in an area that would normally be done in the afternoon can turn the route upside-down.

> Traffic - an accident can cause delays. Would the driver (or the office) be expected to contact every customer to advise them of this?

> Regular driver not in - an experienced driver can do double the amount of work of a reserve or agency driver.

> Collections - an adhoc collection may come through at anytime during the day. If this is for an address on the outskirts of the route, it could take upto 30-40 minutes out of the day.

These are just a few examples of the top of my head. I'm not saying that it would be impossible to achieve this delivery-Nirvana but it would require extra resource, which means extra cost. This will end up being passed on to the end consumer, as always.

As for the super-technology that could plan the route for you, I'm afraid it just cannot compete with a knowledgeable driver. I used to manage a home-shopping operation that used routing software to plan the routes for the drivers and it was next-to-useless. The routes often made no sense and resulted in the drivers doing twice as many miles as needed, and this was just with 20-30 drops.

You mention the unrealistic depot opening hours and the fact that the parcel could not be delivered elsewhere. This is something that can (and should) be easily solved. We have a few senders that do not allow us to leave a parcel with a neighbour but the majority do allow it. We can also (due to our associations) leave the parcel at a local Post Office, or you can contact the depot to arrange for a delivery to a different address, or to have it delivered on a Saturday for an extra cost.

emmell

Not a complaint about couriers as such, just sods law. Parcel came yesterday, I was in the shower, rearranged delivery for today before 3pm. Waited all day, just before 3 I nipped to the loo and guess what! But this time I was not going to be beat, I caught him at the end of the drive, result.
ML.

isplumm

fraserm wrote: »

The internet shopping age is here, an amazing choice of products on-line without even having to leave your house. For someone who hates going to busy shops as much as I do, it is a dream come true!

So when are DELIVERY FIRMS actually going to step up to the mark and start offering a proper service?

Ok, I understand, they don't have an easy time of it. Especially during December when their load must increase significantly, but why are they not trying to help themselves a little?

I know that every day I am out of the house from 7am-7pm at work. I`m sure the same is true for many other people that they deliver to.

So what is the point of them trying to deliver a package to my door? Would it cost them more time/money to attempt a delivery, or to give me a quick courtesy ring to find out first if I am going to be in?

With the advanced computer & mapping solutions available these days, is it REALLY that hard to plan a route with an estimated time and give people a better idea as to what time their parcel might arrive? Maybe I could at least arrange for someone to be there if they could narrow it down to a particular hour for example. "AM or PM" is not good enough!

The card I received through the post yesterday said they will only attempt delivery twice. Their office (an hour away from me) is only open between 8am & 5pm, Mon-Fri. And I tried to get them to leave it with a neighbour, but "for security reasons" that is not allowed. How am I going to get my package from them? Take a day off work for it?

Maybe this could start with the on-line retailers, they could take this information when we buy the items? Ultimately, it is in their best interests if they want to continue growing.

Maybe it should start with the delivery firms, beginning to offer some more flesibility.

PLEASE. Step up and start improving the delivery process!

Thanks,
Fraser

Hi Fraser ...

As someone who has worked in the logistics business for a number of years & set up a courier network, I would like to respond to a few of your points:

1.We can delivery at any time - pre 9, pre 12, AM, PM, evening, Saturday, Sunday, etc etc - but the point is cost - I suspect that if you were using a on-line service to buy your product - then they will have selected the cheapest option for delivery - which will be something like between 8-5, leave with neighbour, re-deliver 2 times, before connect supplier.

2. If you want something leaving with the neighbour - then you need to tell the supplier, not the delivery firm, as your contract is with the supplier - imagine that the delivery company does as you ask (with no prove of who you are), the item goes missing, you then claim from the supplier, who then claims from the delivery company - who have ignore the supplier's original instructions!!

3. I agree that it is a pain that the delivery place is not near you & is only open M-F - suggest you complain to your supplier ....

Mark

isplumm

biscit wrote: »

Thanks for the facts and attempt to inject some rationality and balence to this discussion.

However you spoil it with:



You were doing so well up till then.

It was mentioned that the depot is an hour a way and only open weekdays 8-5.

Don't blame the delivery company - blame the supplier who decided to use a delivery company 1 hour from the OP address .... although this must be a small courier company or the OP lives in the wild somewhere, cause most delivery companies have bases in most towns ....

Mark