Buyers not being in for couriers

oscarward

This is why I've largely stopped buying off the internet unless it's a small item delivered using Royal Mail, not available locally or so cheap it doesn't matter.

I've found quite often things are cheaper locally than on the internet and if it doesn't fit/work then I can go and get my money back there and then. perhaps I'm lucky I have pretty good shops close by.

Strapped

oscarward wrote: »

This is why I've largely stopped buying off the internet unless it's a small item delivered using Royal Mail, not available locally or so cheap it doesn't matter.

I've found quite often things are cheaper locally than on the internet and if it doesn't fit/work then I can go and get my money back there and then. perhaps I'm lucky I have pretty good shops close by.

And what does any of that have to do with my original post?

sillygoose

As a buyer some couriers suit some buyers whilst they won't suit others. Personally I dread DPD and wouldn't order from someone if I knew they used it, the depot is a long way away and they say you have to book a pickup time which can be impossible to judge, the other options are not flexible.

Give me good old royal mail anytime, can pick up at local depot later that day (even if card says wait 24 hours).

cool-dog

Strapped wrote: »

This is using CityLink via ParcelMonkey. CityLink's website say they hold for 5 working days - but it seems that that is in total, ie not after the second attempt.

Also, the second attempt seems to be automatically on the day following the first, unless the recipient gets in sharpish and reschedules to their choice of day. Which obviously is different to RM, who hold the mail after they've carded and wait for a response from the recipient.

Hmmmm.

Unfortunately I've just had one where the recipient rescheduled to day 5, and then weren't in. Where's that bang-head smilie?

City link are useless in my area, I have had 2 parcels from ebay delivered by shittylink in the last week, both supposedly 24 hour. I looked at the tracking info on their website, it stated 2 failed deliveries and card left. I was in the whole of last week waiting for these deliveries and no card was left, no knock at the door (i know this as i have dogs that bark when someone is at the door). The parcels even had my mobile number that they could of called if they could not find me.

So even though it states failed delivery, it may be because they did not attempt delivery!

Hammyman

mikey72 wrote: »

Citylink are not a good carrier to use. Far too unfriendly to the customer, and unreliable.

ALL couriers are exactly the same in this respect. It basically is down to the individual driver covering your area.

Hammyman

sillygoose wrote: »

Give me good old royal mail anytime, can pick up at local depot later that day (even if card says wait 24 hours).

I'd love to use RM but customers won't pay the cost. They want it next day but don't want to pay the £25 it would cost to send Royal Mail. I've had people mark me down on DSR stars because I charge £9.99 to deliver a laptop next day even though its £2 less than it actually costs me with the packaging.

mikey72

Hammyman wrote: »

ALL couriers are exactly the same in this respect. It basically is down to the individual driver covering your area.

No citylink are the cheapest for a reason.
I don't use any supplier that uses citylink. It's no good to me if it doesn't arrive when it should, and I don't care if my supplier can save a couple of quid on it.

custardy

Strapped wrote: »

What do you guys do about buyers who order stuff but then are not in for courier delivery? (The courier I'm currently using makes 2 delivery attempts then returns to sender). I have it in my T&Cs that P&P is non-refundable if they are out twice and the item is returned to me, but I do realise that it's not actually enforecable. Other than telling them the day / times and making sure that the courier has a mobile tel no for them, I am stumped what else to do!

is that 2 deliveries of their choosing or one delivery and then one the buyer picks?

martindow

Strapped wrote: »

What do you guys do about buyers who order stuff but then are not in for courier delivery? (The courier I'm currently using makes 2 delivery attempts then returns to sender). I have it in my T&Cs that P&P is non-refundable if they are out twice and the item is returned to me, but I do realise that it's not actually enforecable. Other than telling them the day / times and making sure that the courier has a mobile tel no for them, I am stumped what else to do!

I don't send too many by carrier so I am able check the tracking to see they have been delivered. Fedex, who I use, send a daily email with exceptions showing delays or failed deliveries. If there is a failed delivery I contact the buyer and often end up redelivering to a neighbour or a work address which the carrier will do if it is in the same delivery area.

I realise this is probably not possible if you are sending large volumes.

Hammyman

mikey72 wrote: »

No citylink are the cheapest for a reason.
I don't use any supplier that uses citylink. It's no good to me if it doesn't arrive when it should, and I don't care if my supplier can save a couple of quid on it.

I believe I have probably got more first hand experience with couriers than you, both as a customer and an employee....

Tell me, how long do you think it would take to do a total of 100 drops and collections a typical courier driver has to do?



Take into account that the night trunk wagons from the hub arrive around 6am and the stuff needs unloading, scanning and sorting into runs before being loaded on the vans. Now also take into account a 30-90 minute drive from the depot to the first drop and a 30-90 minute drive from the last collection to the depot. Also take into account that the collections need to be at the depot in enough time to allow them to be scanned, put into cages and loaded on the night trunk wagon to the hub which needs to depart around 7-8pm....

And when you take into account millions of car drivers seem incapable of driving down roads without running into each other and vehicles do break down and drivers phone in sick then its a surprise that there aren't more missed deliveries.

ALL COURIERS REGARDLESS OF WHO THEY ARE ARE EXACTLY THE SAME IN THIS RESPECT. All of them, with the exception of the RM which is why they're effectively bankrupt even though they cost over twice as much as everyone else.

You are the kind of person who really wants a courier from door to door that will do just their delivery and have a fleet of backup vehicles along the route but expects to pay next to nothing for it. You want something delivering for a low cost then complain about the service. If we increase the postal charges to give the service level you want, you then complain its too expensive. If we increase the price of the goods to keep the postage down, you say the goods are too expensive. You can't have it all ways. If you want a guaranteed delivery service then pay guaranteed delivery service prices. I don't use Citylink to save money - I USE CITYLINK BECAUSE PEOPLE LIKE YOU WON'T PAY FOR ROYAL MAIL SPECIAL DELIVERY which is, lets face it, the level of service you do actually want for the £10 you're only willing to pay to have that laptop delivered the next day. I'd love to send them by SD some days because it saves me having to wait in all day for the courier to collect - I can just go to the post office. However I'd lose at least £12 on every laptop I post and with some of the ones I sold recently that would be 1/3 of the profit and 1/6th the sale price.

People like you always say "I won't use any seller who uses X Courier" but conversely you then won't use one who charges 50% more for the delivery with a different one. You are, in effect, getting the service you are paying for....