wrong delivery method

molerat

Pollycat wrote: »

I've had 1 problem with Hermes out of one delivery.
So that's 100% failure in my experience.

Full tracking?

Is it your experience that a parcel sits in the same place for almost 48 hours according to myhermes?
To me, that's not 'full tracking'.

I have just had that with ParcelForce WW. Gone from depot on 16/12 to delivered (by RM not PF !) today with nothing in between.

Pollycat

molerat wrote: »

I have just had that with ParcelForce WW. Gone from depot on 16/12 to delivered (by RM not PF !) today with nothing in between.

So what is the point of having a 'tracking system'?

Some posters are putting Hermes forward as a benefit because they have a tracking system but if it's not up-to-date what possible use is it?

theonlywayisup

Pollycat wrote: »

So what is the point of having a 'tracking system'?

Some posters are putting Hermes forward as a benefit because they have a tracking system but if it's not up-to-date what possible use is it?

Pollycat, I understand your frustration but you are missing the point with tracking, it isn't real time, certainly not at this time of year, it is historic and will show all the scans at some point.

Even RM (and I use their proper tracked services) are delayed updating by 72 hours at the moment.

Tracking won't make your order arrive any sooner and won't change how the seller sent it. Those are separate issues, but don't get yourself wound up over something that can't be changed.

Shrimply

theonlywayisup wrote: »

, it isn't real time, certainly not at this time of year, it is historic and will show all the scans at some point.

I really struggle to understand why it isn't real time though, some couriers can manage it (e.g. dpd)

It's a tiny amount of data to upload and makes the life of the customer so much easier.

I mean I can almost get why tracking by handheld scanners could be delayed until the end of the day if they don't have a mobile data facility.

But there really is no excuse at all for depot scans to not be immediately available to the customer in my opinion.

But, back to the original problem. Yes it shouldn't have happened, but stating this over and over again isn't going to help any more, we all understand you are annoyed because it's not being sent by the royal mail.

However, Hermes do get a bad rep, but it's really down to your local courier. I've experienced the one at my parents, who is lovely, they are about a mile out of town, and she delivers them in the evening, carries them all the way and combines it with walking her dogs which I think is really nice.

My local one is also a great guy, I missed the last delivery, phoned him up and he told me he'd pretty much deliver any time on the Saturday which suited me. You can't really complain at that.

I know it isn't ideal, I know it's not what you wanted, but it could be worse and the chances are you will get your parcel in time. The majority of their couriers are real people, who are not overly constrained by delivery windows and timeslots and who wouldn't want to see someone left without a parcel for Christmas.

In the meantime if you are that worried about its progress a phone call to the local hub would probably put your mind at rest.

Pollycat

OK, so I have an update on the whereabouts of my parcel::

Where is my parcel?

• 1 Collected
  • Collected by the courier 13:48 - Wed 16 Dec
  • Received at the sender's local depot Soon Available
• 2 On its way
  • Sorted at national hub 14:48 - Fri 18 Dec
  • Received at recipient's local depot 21:53 - Fri 18 Dec
  • In transit to the recipient's local courier Soon Available
• 3 With courier
  • Out with the recipient's local courier for delivery 04:44 - Sat 19 Dec

So has it really taken 49 hours after being collected by the courier to get scanned at Hermes' national hub?

It sounds like it should be delivered today.....?

theonlywayisup wrote: »

Pollycat, I understand your frustration but you are missing the point with tracking, it isn't real time, certainly not at this time of year, it is historic and will show all the scans at some point.

Even RM (and I use their proper tracked services) are delayed updating by 72 hours at the moment.

Tracking won't make your order arrive any sooner and won't change how the seller sent it. Those are separate issues, but don't get yourself wound up over something that can't be changed.

I'm getting wound up because the bloody eBay seller changed the method of delivery without even asking me if that was acceptable.
I shouldn't even be looking at Hermes' tracking system.

Shrimply wrote: »

I really struggle to understand why it isn't real time though, some couriers can manage it (e.g. dpd)

It's a tiny amount of data to upload and makes the life of the customer so much easier.

I mean I can almost get why tracking by handheld scanners could be delayed until the end of the day if they don't have a mobile data facility.

But there really is no excuse at all for depot scans to not be immediately available to the customer in my opinion.

But, back to the original problem. Yes it shouldn't have happened, but stating this over and over again isn't going to help any more, we all understand you are annoyed because it's not being sent by the royal mail.

However, Hermes do get a bad rep, but it's really down to your local courier. I've experienced the one at my parents, who is lovely, they are about a mile out of town, and she delivers them in the evening, carries them all the way and combines it with walking her dogs which I think is really nice.

My local one is also a great guy, I missed the last delivery, phoned him up and he told me he'd pretty much deliver any time on the Saturday which suited me. You can't really complain at that.

I know it isn't ideal, I know it's not what you wanted, but it could be worse and the chances are you will get your parcel in time. The majority of their couriers are real people, who are not overly constrained by delivery windows and timeslots and who wouldn't want to see someone left without a parcel for Christmas.

In the meantime if you are that worried about its progress a phone call to the local hub would probably put your mind at rest.

I assure you I won't get my parcel in time.

I first got the email that it was coming via Hermes on Tuesday 15th 17:04.
If the sender had walked into a Post Office at that time to send it by RM, it would have been delivered by Thursday.
'Estimated delivery' on the listing was Wed 16th - Thurs 17th.

I'm further annoyed that the seller has not had the decency to reply to my message (sent Wed 08:10)

I've received an email that you are sending my parcel via Hermes.

Why have you done this when the listing stated: £4.99 for Standard Delivery (Royal Mail 1st Class)?

Hermes is not mentioned anywhere within your listing and I would not have bid on the boots had I known that this was the delivery method.

I am not likely to be in when the boots are delivered and expected to be able to collect them from my local RM Sorting Office.

If there is any way you can retrieve this parcel and send by the agreed delivery method, it would be appreciated.

I don't think the message was in any way nasty, just asking why Hermes has been used, re-stating the terms of the listing and explaining my situation.

theonlywayisup

Pollycat wrote: »

OK, so I have an update on the whereabouts of my parcel::

So has it really taken 49 hours after being collected by the courier to get scanned at Hermes' national hub?

No, it has taken that long to be SORTED at the hub after having had the journey to it. It has gone from your seller's collection point on Wednesday afternoon, to a depot, to a regional depot probably on the Thursday and then to the hub. It was then sorted at the hub and scanned out to the regional depot of delivery. That's quite a lot in that amount of time for a Christmas period.

Pollycat wrote: »

It sounds like it should be delivered today.....?

It may be delivered today.

Pollycat wrote: »

I'm getting wound up because the bloody eBay seller changed the method of delivery without even asking me if that was acceptable.
I shouldn't even be looking at Hermes' tracking system.

No, but this is out of your control, the method and your complaint with the seller is another issue. We get your point but you are labouring it somewhat.

Pollycat

theonlywayisup wrote: »

We get your point but you are labouring it somewhat.

OK.

Thanks for the other information.

MsBlonde

Will be delivered today by looks of it

absolutereturn

Pollycat wrote: »

I assure you I won't get my parcel in time.

I first got the email that it was coming via Hermes on Tuesday 15th 17:04.
If the sender had walked into a Post Office at that time to send it by RM, it would have been delivered by Thursday.
'Estimated delivery' on the listing was Wed 16th - Thurs 17th.

I'm further annoyed that the seller has not had the decency to reply to my message (sent Wed 08:10)
I don't think the message was in any way nasty, just asking why Hermes has been used, re-stating the terms of the listing and explaining my situation.

The email was OK, the only thing is, once the parcel had been dropped off or colected by Hermes, they couldn't have retrieved it, however, there was no reason for them not to reply saying just that.

You could try asking the seller for a refund on the postage, I know this isn't what you're trying to achieve, you want your item and not a few extra quid instead but its the only way I can see you could hit the seller where it hurts and teach them a lesson.

Unless you are selling high value items, when you sell on eBay margins are often very tight and it sounds like this seller decided to cut corners. A small parcel from 1 to 2 kg would have cost £5.45 by RM 1st Class but just £3.78 by Hermes. For it to be a small parcel, it should be no more than 16cm thick, otherwise it would be a medium parcel and would cost £8.90 by RM 1st Class. Hermes only charges by weight rather than size and the maximum dimensions are much more generous than RM's small parcel criteria.

According to your email, the seller quoted £4.99 for RM 1st Class. If the parcel was 'small' by RM's standards, then they'd have been 46p out of pocket excluding eBay fees. If it exceeded the 16cm thickness then they'd be down £3.91. Using Hermes they bagged an extra £1.21 instead so you can see why they did it, however, it's not right to offer a service and use another, in reality it's a variation of "goods not as described" as the service was not as described.

I would suggest asking for a refund to start with. Everyone who sells on eBay is afraid of negative feedback, let alone being reported to eBay for misstating their offerings. This seller is either naive and inexperienced and neglected to weigh, measure and calculate cost at the time of listing, or else is trying to be too clever and make a few quid here and there by cutting corners. Either way they need to learn their lesson so they don't do it again.

Looking at Hermes delivery times, many parcels were delivered in 3-4 days but some took 7-10 days so it can't be said to be comparable to RM 1st Class.

Pollycat

Hello, it's me again. :hello:

I have my parcel. :T

OH says the lady courier is one that he's seen before when taking in parcels for next door and that she's really nice.

Now - I'm in a quandry.
The item is fab, fab, fab.

I'm not sure what to do about feedback.
I've only ever given postitive feedback and feel very uncomfortable leaving negative feedback as I'm so happy with the item (I know, I know - I whinged terribly ).

I'm certainly not going to ask for a refund of postage as it's quite a large item and I wouldn't want the seller to be out of pocket.
Thinking of giving 'positive' and 5 stars for description but 1 for communication and saying the item was better than described but posted by the wrong courier and not asked if that was OK.

See - I'm not such a bad person, really.

I think I went into meltdown as I've been having a to-do with another seller about a transaction - see my other post:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5379793