Hermes State Amazon W/Hse Purchase Is Delivered-Was "Out For Delivery" Nearly A Week!

LouLou

I'm an Amazon Prime member. I ordered a bargain Android phone from Amazon Warehouse, to be delivered to a friend in a remote area - delivery by the dreaded Hermes. I'm used to seeing long delivery times with Hermes to the Highlands - Hermes themselves told me their couriers visit these areas when they have enough to make the drop offs worth their while! :mad:

The phone was marked "Out For Delivery" last Friday - a nice surprise as the "Arriving" date was the coming Wednesday! My friend waited in - nothing appeared - Amazon told me to wait till 9pm - nope. Same again Saturday. No Hermes deliveries on Sunday. So, marked as "Out For Delivery" Monday, Tuesday, the Wednesday delivery date passes...still nothing.

Out the blue, on Thursday "Delivered"! But it turned out there was still no package - no card, no signature - the tracker simply states "Perth, GB" (it's a PH postcode, and Perth is a big area).

In frustration I contacted Hermes, who told me I must talk to the retailer. Amazon say, Keep waiting, it might be mis-scanned.

Because of all the hassle with ongoing "Out For Delivery" updates each day, Amazon refunded £5, then later offered a month of Prime for the phone not arriving on time.

I realise as it's a Warehouse purchase a replacement is likely out of the question, but it was a gift and the recipient had already bought accessories (not at a huge cost, but the phone was desperately needed as he dropped his S4 Mini in water!).

Amazon refunded me today - and told me to let them know if anything arrives in the next 48 hours.

I'd rather have the bargain phone! I'm guessing there's nothing else I can do? I wonder if the phone has been stolen!

wealdroam

LouLou wrote: »

I'm an Amazon Prime member. I ordered a bargain Android phone from Amazon Warehouse, to be delivered to a friend in a remote area - delivery by the dreaded Hermes. I'm used to seeing long delivery times with Hermes to the Highlands - Hermes themselves told me their couriers visit these areas when have enough to make the drop offs worth their while! :mad:

The phone was marked "Out For Delivery" last Friday - a nice surprise as the "Arriving" date was the coming Wednesday! My friend waited in - nothing appeared - Amazon told me to wait till 9pm - nope. Same again Saturday. No Hermes deliveries on Sunday. So, marked as "Out For Delivery" Monday, Tuesday, the Wednesday delivery date passes...still nothing.

Out the blue, on Thursday "Delivered"! But it turned out there was still no package - no card, no signature - the tracker simply states "Perth, GB" (it's a PH postcode, and Perth is a big area).

In frustration I contacted Hermes, who told me I must talk to the retailer. Amazon say, Keep waiting, it might be mis-scanned.

Because of all the hassle with ongoing "Out For Delivery" updates each day, Amazon refunded £5, then later offered a month of Prime for the phone not arriving on time.

I realise as it's a Warehouse purchase a replacement is likely out of the question, but it was a gift and the recipient had already bought accessories (not at a huge cost, but the phone was desperately needed as he dropped his S4 Mini in water!).

Amazon refunded me today - and told me to let them know if anything arrives in the next 48 hours.

I'd rather have the bargain phone! I'm guessing there's nothing else I can do? I wonder if the phone has been stolen!

Excellent customer service. Well done Amazon.

LouLou

A free month of Prime for being late is par for the course - but I agree, offering £5 for all those days waiting in, and a quick refund, is great.

But what's going on with Hermes? Why do they mark parcels as Out For Delivery day after day, then it's a lottery which day it appears (this has happened numerous times). Huge inconvenience for the recipient - as well as no phone, losing out on the bargain price paid, and no (Warehouse) replacement offered.

Amazon could easily say I'm a liar as it's marked as "Delivered". I want to know where the parcel ended up, if it's been stolen and if I can get a replacement. Amazon tell me to keep waiting. Hermes refuse to discuss it.

I wish Amazon would bin these hopeless couriers to rural areas. I used the example of a small package I sent the same recipient 2nd Class Royal Mail a few days ago - which appeared at his remote location the next day! I wouldn't even expect next day delivery 2nd Class to my city!

[Deleted User]

LouLou wrote: »

I want to know where the parcel ended up, if it's been stolen and if I can get a replacement. Amazon tell me to keep waiting. Hermes refuse to discuss it.

Since Amazon are Hermes customer, not you, the courier won't enter into any dialogue with you.
Since Amazon have already refunded you, the chances of a "replacement" are nil (you say it was a Warehouse deal, these are returned items and are not in stock in quantity).

The original item might well turn up at some time in the future, at which time Amazon may well not charge you again-but I wouldn't count on it.

LouLou

There are plenty of these mobile phones that appear on Amazon Warehouse - I can see some today.

I understand why Hermes won't talk to me, but it's very frustrating to be left hanging for days on end and get cagey replies from both Amazon and Hermes. Customers like to be kept informed and feel something is being done.

Again, Royal Mail have come up trumps for the Highland location - a bottle of supplements marked as "Arriving Tuesday" appeared today - 3 days early.

Hermes deliveries either come late or there's the "Out For Delivery" daily lottery that goes on and on....

Alice_Walker

Whilst I agree Amazon have (as usual) handled this well, if you'd specified you wanted a replacement phone you may well have got one. I've done this with a few faulty warehouse items, never had a problem getting a replacement new item.

molerat

This is more Amazon's problem than Hermes'. You should contact Amazon CS and ask that they review their delivery methods to PHxx postcodes and explain the logistical problems. In fairness the Hermes delivery man is not going to drive all those miles with one parcel for his 30p or whatever whereas RM will have several parcels and letters to deliver across the area and the universal service charter means it is cross subsidised. I remember getting an ebay neutral once by someone living in the middle of nowhere when he chose the (cheapest) method of delivery.

LouLou

Alice_Walker wrote: »

Whilst I agree Amazon have (as usual) handled this well, if you'd specified you wanted a replacement phone you may well have got one. I've done this with a few faulty warehouse items, never had a problem getting a replacement new item.

Thanks, Alice, that was the sort of answer I was hoping for! Thought this thread was done and dusted.

LouLou

molerat wrote: »

This is more Amazon's problem than Hermes'. You should contact Amazon CS and ask that they review their delivery methods to PHxx postcodes and explain the logistical problems. In fairness the Hermes delivery man is not going to drive all those miles with one parcel for his 30p or whatever whereas RM will have several parcels and letters to deliver across he area and the service is cross subsidised. I remember getting an ebay neutral once by someone living in the middle of nowhere when he chose the (cheapest) method of delivery.

I can understand the Hermes' self employed drivers' dilemma - I quoted a comment from Pistonheads Forum on HUKD where someone in a similar situation said:

We have a similar problem with Hermes, their business model gives the owner/driver a few pence per parcel, no matter how difficult the delivery. We are 12 miles from the nearest town so it simply isn't worth the drivers' time or fuel to deliver and they aren't far sighted enough to see they have to do the difficult jobs to keep getting the easy ones. One driver was putting aside all the outlying parcels , marking them as delivered, then sending his gran out in her little Suzuki 4x4 every couple of weeks to deliver them all together, another was dropping them off at a neighbour's office in town and completing the delivery note as 'road not passable, can be picked up at.....'
Our local community has got together and agreed to cancel every order as soon as the sender says it'll be delivered by Hermes (and tell them why). It seems to be working as some of the 'Hermes only' suppliers are starting to offer an alternative.

Obviously Hermes' drivers are thinking about overheads (fuel, time, inconvenience, money to be made) and that's why these Highland deliveries are consistently slow/late. Hopefully they aren't doing such "bulk runs" to remote areas and gathering a bundle for weeks on end (!) as it's much more likely parcels will get lost left lying around! I'd guess that tale is quite unusual.

I have complained a few times about deliveries to the PH postcode, to Amazon. They can't change the carrier on my behalf (I recommended good ole Royal Mail) but maybe if enough people complain they will take it more seriously.

[Deleted User]

LouLou wrote: »

I have complained a few times about deliveries to the PH postcode, to Amazon. They can't change the carrier on my behalf (I recommended good ole Royal Mail)

Your "recommendation" will simply fall on deaf ears. The only answer I can see (other than not purchasing from Amazon) is to have the item delivered to your home and then use Royal Mail to post it to your friend yourself.
You may not like the additional cost, but Amazon won't offer any recompense (or use another carrier) simply for you alone.

On the matter of a replacement 'phone,as you've already had a refund, you'll have to order another similarly priced item. They won't refund you and replace.

LouLou

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

Your "recommendation" will simply fall on deaf ears. The only answer I can see (other than not purchasing from Amazon) is to have the item delivered to your home and then use Royal Mail to post it to your friend yourself.
You may not like the additional cost, but Amazon won't offer any recompense (or use another carrier) simply for you alone.

On the matter of a replacement 'phone,as you've already had a refund, you'll have to order another similarly priced item. They won't refund you and replace.

I was replying to molerats' suggestion that I complain about Hermes and use my experiences of other delivery methods to the Highlands as a comparison, which I already mentioned to Amazon.

Prime member or not, it's just a hassle to get Amazon items delivered to me, and then to the Highlands! No customer would be willing to do that for long. Amazon have a duty to their customers to ensure the carrier is timely and reliable - I don't think that's an unreasonable expectation.

Also, I don't know who the carrier is until the item is despatched. It can be Hermes, Royal Mail or another independent courier.

On the phone yesterday, the representative did ask if the mobile was a gift (not sure if he was hinting he could arrange a replacement) but I will be getting a follow-up call tomorrow (I didn't ask for a call back, he offered).