eBay parcel lost by Citipost/Yodel

poppyfreckles

Hello,

I was hoping that I could get some help from you all with regards to a problem I have.

I ordered a warm coat from the US, and it was due to be delivered yesterday at the latest. The seller used the eBay global shipping programme, which uses multiple couriers.

I looked at eBay tracking last week, and it had made its way to the UK, arriving at a Citipost depot (also known as 13ten). According to the tracker, it remained there. I got worried by its lack of movement, so contacted 13ten yesterday. The 13ten tracking person told me she'd investigate it, and got back to me later and told me that the item was handed over to another courier and has gone missing. All she said she can do is classify it as 'missing in transit'.

In the meantime, I managed to do some detective work and found out that the other courier she was referring to is Yodel, and I managed to get their tracking number for the item. Yodel's status is that the item was registered with them, but that they haven't received it.

I emailed the 13ten person again to get more information out of her, but she is not giving out any other information, just that the item went missing between the 13ten depot and the Yodel depot, and says that she can't do anything else, and refuses to put me in touch with anybody else, such as a manager. I asked her about procedures for lost parcels, which she didn't respond to.

I'm not worried about getting the money back, I am pretty sure that eBay will reimburse me. The seller is also protected, according to the ebay Global Shipping Programme. I know the seller has a contract with the courier, but she's located in the US and can't do much from there. Both of us are disappointed that the coat is lost, as it is one of a kind and the company that sells them doesn't exist anymore.

I have done a lot of searching and it looks like this is certainly not an isolated experience with Citipost/13ten/Yodel people. In a lot of cases it seems like Citipost blame Yodel, and Yodel says that they never received the parcel in the first place. There is very little information available on the internet about Citipost, and definitely very little positive information. So I'm just wondering if it's possible for me to escalate this, either by attempting to track down somebody higher up at Citipost, or by contacting trading standards or their equivalent for couriers?

molerat

You have no contract with the courier company and they do not have to discuss it with you. The only contract is between the sender and whoever they paid to deliver the parcel who may or not be citipost. Just ask the sender to refund and let them deal with it.

RFW

molerat wrote: »

You have no contract with the courier company and they do not have to discuss it with you. The only contract is between the sender and whoever they paid to deliver the parcel who may or not be citipost. Just ask the sender to refund and let them deal with it.

That, in a nutshell. I'd assume, in this case it's Ebay who lose out as the seller has already fulfilled the order.

Given it's Yodel, the chances are you will see the parcel in a few weeks when a driver works out it was under his cat. At this time of the year they employ a fair amount of, what can best be described as, lazy idiots.

enfield_freddy

or needs 50p worth of diesel

poppyfreckles

RFW wrote: »

Given it's Yodel, the chances are you will see the parcel in a few weeks when a driver works out it was under his cat. At this time of the year they employ a fair amount of, what can best be described as, lazy idiots.

Thank you for this laugh. I'm really hoping it will turn up under his cat. It would be awesome if he also got his cat to deliver it.

RFW

poppyfreckles wrote: »

Thank you for this laugh. I'm really hoping it will turn up under his cat. It would be awesome if he also got his cat to deliver it.

I ordered from a big company that sent via Yodel, waited a week, it never arrived so they sent a replacement by FedEx. A month later Yodel turned up with the original. It's 3 years since I used them as a seller, I still have nightmares.

poppyfreckles

RFW wrote: »

I ordered from a big company that sent via Yodel, waited a week, it never arrived so they sent a replacement by FedEx. A month later Yodel turned up with the original. It's 3 years since I used them as a seller, I still have nightmares.

Up until now, I've had good experiences with Yodel. I always had the same delivery guy though, who was probably one of the better ones. We had a little shed next to our door, and he would always leave the parcels in there and write 'in the sheed' on the delivery slip. It made me smile every time.

Here's an update for anybody ever having the same problem - the seller has contacted eBay, who are now in the process of tracking down the parcel. I'm hoping Citipost/Yodel will be better with them but I'd be surprised if they are. If they don't manage to do that, I've got a claim on PayPal ready to be made. Apparently, in these situations with Global Shipping Programme where the item has made it to the UK and out of the US, you need to make sure the seller doesn't voluntarily give you the money back - as the seller will then lose out on money they are entitled to from eBay, and you will lose out on the extra money you paid to cover the customs charge and postage, which wasn't paid to the seller, but to Pitney Bowes. Instead, you need to make sure you raise a claim with either eBay or PayPal, and you should get all of your money back.

Yodel_representative

Morning.

If you need any help with this just email me at the address on our profile page and I'll take a look.

Chloe.

martindow

RFW wrote: »

At this time of the year they employ a fair amount of, what can best be described as, lazy idiots.

I'm not sure if that is true. I get the impression that they are very poorly paid on a piecework basis and given impossible numbers of deliveries. It would not be surprising if morale is low.

RFW

martindow wrote: »

I'm not sure if that is true. I get the impression that they are very poorly paid on a piecework basis and given impossible numbers of deliveries. It would not be surprising if morale is low.

I was being overly mean. I stayed with Yodel as a seller longer than I should have done and that was solely down to the outstanding collection driver we had.

As you say, they are poorly paid, getting very little per parcel delivery, it is understandable when a driver won't travel a 15 minute round trip to earn 50p. I will stand by the point that someone picking up a short term job now will not be the cream of the delivery driver crop, their standards inevitably fall the more drivers they use and the more items get sent. It's more worrying that companies are happy to continue using them even with knowledge of their poor service.

Brooker_Dave

I sent something with Yodel, it went to all of their UK depots before coming back to me, they then promised to get their act together and get it delivered, it just did the same 2 week tour of their depots and then reappeared.

Yodel are ****beyond**** useless, if a company uses Yodel for deliveries, shop elsewhere, and never, never use them yourself.