Hermes delivery driver refuses to deliver to us for 4 months (and counting)

JJC1956

If all else fails, as you have a garden, would it be possible to erect a post box at the entrance to your garden, this will enable all delivery companies (including the PO) to deliver their items safely

MattMattMattUK

Different delivery companies have had to implement different different strategies to manage parcel loss/theft etc. DPD that deliver to both my work and home are required to take a picture of the parcel, with the door to the office/home open and either on the floor or the recipient holding it. UPS deliver regularly to my office, driver knows us as we use them a lot, no issues, Royal Mail at work, no issues, but at home Special Delivery packages are just thrown against the door, the bell is not rung etc. (which is a slight improvement on the old system, where Special Delivery was never even taken out on the round and a "We tried to deliver your parcel" slip was pushed through the letterbox, followed by the postman running away as fast as he could).

I do feel you are being slightly ridiculous, you could open the door, step back and let the driver put the package down. If the Hermes driver is required to take a picture of the package inside your premises and he does not, he could lose his job. From what I know about Hermes he is also likely not fluent in English and paid on a per-delivery basis, which means even if he charges around like a lunatic he probably earns below minimum wage.

I also think you need to look at how you are going to manage things on an ongoing basis. In normal times there would be other viruses in circulation of risk (I have a friend with MS, who is on immunosuppressants, so of similar risk, even colds leave him in bed for a week and likely involve his condition progressing significantly as he will have to come off the medication so his body can clear the infection). The risk will have to be managed on an ongoing basis, Covid-19 is going to be in general circulation now until the human race dies out, the same with the other coronaviruses that have been in circulation for hundreds of years, or influenza, rhinoviruses, etc.. Maybe now is the time to look to a risk aware, but less isolationist strategy.

Manxman_in_exile

Morglin said:

I was on the shielded list, but if the door rung, with a parcel, my non shielded husband just masked up, answered the door, and then the courier would either leave it outside the door, and take a pic or my husband would open our door, stand back a bit, and let the courier put it on the doormat and take his pic.  We had no problems at all with any courier.

...

Obviously, now I’m double jabbed, the shielded guidance has changed completely, and we are taking in parcels as normal.

Perhaps you could answer the door while your wife stays in another room?

While I can understand that all this must be very distressing to both the OP and his wife, unless the OP is suffering problems himself that he has not told us about, I cannot see what is wrong with the above suggestion?  There's no reason at all why the OP's wife (or the OP) needs to get anywyhere near the courier is there?  Courier rings doorbell, husband opens door and immediately retreats 2m, courier puts package in open doorway, courier takes photo and leaves.  Or is that still causing an issue?

sattewell said:

p3ncilsharpener said:

I'm not sure what rights you have here as you are not their customer, whoever sent you the parcels is.  Whilst they can complain I wouldn't expect them to do much, they won't have the desire or the resources to get into a protracted argument with Hermes over one delivery address.

Are there not other pharmacies you can use that don't use Hermes?
Does your local pharmacy (or one near enough) not do deliveries?
Could you not use the NHS Volunteers service to have the prescription picked up from a local pharmacy?

Whilst none of that solves the problem of you not getting Hermes deliveries (which is going to be a pain in the backside given how often they're now used) it seems wise to find a solution to the immediate problem of the lack of medication before you try to tackle Hermes (who don't appear to have much interest anyway.)

... My wife and I have split the workload - she's on medical supplies, I'm on Hermes  

I assume I must be missing something, but is there a reason why you can't deal with all deliveries?  (Apologies if I am missing something that should be obvious.)

And apologies again, but is your standing back from the open door not possible or not something that can be done because of the layout to your house?

sattewell said:

pollypenny said:

Very odd.  Most delivery drivers put the parcel on the step, ring the bell and step down the
path. 

Anything provoked this attitude?

... They responded with very pointed "I can't" or "You step back" or "I have to take my photo" without going into detail or actually responding to what we were asking. 

Don't get me wrong, I think the attitude of the driver is appalling and you ought to be making a formal written complaint to Hermes about his behaviour - even if you are not technically Hermes' client.  Complain to the suppliers too.  Are you certain nothing has happened to explain his behaviour?

Incidentally, if this has been going on for four months, how have you been getting the stuff Hermes refuse to deliver?  You should be complaining to the retailer/seller/trader/pharmacy because until the goods are delivered into your physical possession, they remain the responsibility of the seller.

[EDIT: Had to edit the above because of premature posting before I'd finished!] 

sheramber

Most, if not all, Hermes drivers are self employed and get paid pennies for each parcel they deliver.

iIt would be much quicker for him to do as happens with my deliveries- put parcel on doorstep, knock on door and walk away. Take photograph from a distance  while walking back to van, when I open the door.

It seems odd that he wants to wait around until somebody opens a door and he puts parcel down  then takes a photograph.

Perhaps there is more background to the story.

sattewell

Hi, there are lots of interesting comments here. Too many to respond to individually. Thanks to those that offered suggestions. I would consider any compromise with the courier in order to get packages after 4 months of not receiving packages. 

I have no issue accepting deliveries from someone who I can trust to socially distance, but when one family member is medically recommended to shield, that means I must also do that so as not to put her at risk. Also, it would be very unfortunate to be forced into a position where my wife cannot accept parcels on her own because of her medical condition. No person with a disability should be forced into that position where they have to rely on someone else if they don't have to. 

One poster suggested the problems might be related to the courier being a foreign man where some info might be lost in translation, but this is an English woman.

Regarding the other suggestions about how we might come to compromise about the exchange and might resolve the issue with both us and the courier being comfortable would be really great. I tried to engage the courier multiple times on how we can resolve but they shut me down, shouted at us, or tried to push at our door. It was actually quite scary.

I hope that, given Hermes have said we have not asked for anything unreasonable, that we might be able to get parcels delivered from Hermes without having to buy post boxes or other, but yes this is something I have considered.

I also appreciate the responses suggesting we contact the shops as it is them that we have the contract with. I will do that (there are several) but will do that when we've run out of options with Hermes.

Thanks for the suggestions.

p3ncilsharpener

sattewell said:

Hi, there are lots of interesting comments here. Too many to respond to individually. Thanks to those that offered suggestions. I would consider any compromise with the courier in order to get packages after 4 months of not receiving packages. 

I have no issue accepting deliveries from someone who I can trust to socially distance, but when one family member is medically recommended to shield, that means I must also do that so as not to put her at risk. Also, it would be very unfortunate to be forced into a position where my wife cannot accept parcels on her own because of her medical condition. No person with a disability should be forced into that position where they have to rely on someone else if they don't have to. 

One poster suggested the problems might be related to the courier being a foreign man where some info might be lost in translation, but this is an English woman.

Regarding the other suggestions about how we might come to compromise about the exchange and might resolve the issue with both us and the courier being comfortable would be really great. I tried to engage the courier multiple times on how we can resolve but they shut me down, shouted at us, or tried to push at our door. It was actually quite scary.

I hope that, given Hermes have said we have not asked for anything unreasonable, that we might be able to get parcels delivered from Hermes without having to buy post boxes or other, but yes this is something I have considered.

I also appreciate the responses suggesting we contact the shops as it is them that we have the contract with. I will do that (there are several) but will do that when we've run out of options with Hermes.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I suspect it's far too late to compromise with the Hermes driver, they appear to have long since given up on you.

I do agree with other posters, I think you've taken this shielding thing a bit too far, even considering the immunosuppressants.  Opening the door and taking a few steps back is really all it takes.  You can't eliminate risk, and you can really only expect to deal with the high-risk activities, and this isn't one of them.

rach_k

Do you perhaps have a neighbour who would be willing to accept parcels for you, or could you have them sent to your work place or anybody else who would be willing to drop them round on your doorstep/have you collect them?  It sounds to me like the courier is just being stubborn now, so if you can take yourself out of the equation that might help.  Give it 6 months or a year and then try again (with a camera installed).  You shouldn't have to but I suspect the courier will always be able to find some problem or other to prevent a delivery to you as it is.

Manxman_in_exile

sattewell said:

...I have no issue accepting deliveries from someone who I can trust to socially distance, but when one family member is medically recommended to shield, that means I must also do that so as not to put her at risk...

Sorry if this seems unreasonable or unsympathetic, but I don't understand why there is any need for you (or your wife) to come closer than 5 - 10m from any courier without a closed door between you?  As I posted above: courier knocks on door; one of you goes to door to unlatch it and then that person retreats away from the door as far and as quickly as possible; courier places parcel just inside threshhold or on doorstep and takes photo - or whatever they need to do to satisfy their employer.  Is there something about the layout of your house or front door or mobility problems that either of you has that makes this impractical?

Do you mean that when you attempt to retreat away from the courier into your entrance hall (or whatever) that she is actually coming through the door, entering your house and following you?  I don't see how she can get within 2m of you otherwise.

sattewell said:

...I hope that, given Hermes have said we have not asked for anything unreasonable,...

If Hermes have accepted that then I'd be making a formal written complaint to them regardless of whether I'm their customer or not.  Make the same case that you have here.

If this driver of theirs is still delivering to you (it's not clear to me if they are or not) I'd be inclined to film or otherwise record it next time and send it to Hermes.

The one thing that concerns me is whether you or your wife - knowingly or unknowingly - have done or said something that has really put the driver's nose out of joint and things will only get worse.

sattewell said:

... Also, it would be very unfortunate to be forced into a position where my wife cannot accept parcels on her own because of her medical condition. No person with a disability should be forced into that position where they have to rely on someone else if they don't have to...

I agree - but what you've done so far appears to have got you nowhere except not getting any deliveries at all.

There must be some explanation for the driver's behaviour.  Perhaps they're just a really unpleasant person... ?

sheramber

I've opened 5 or 6 support tickets with Hermes and spoken to someone at head office there over the phone. 

There are many users of this forum who would love to know how you managed to speak to someone as they cannot get past the 'holly' bot.

sattewell

Manxman_in_exile said:

sattewell said:

...I have no issue accepting deliveries from someone who I can trust to socially distance, but when one family member is medically recommended to shield, that means I must also do that so as not to put her at risk...

Sorry if this seems unreasonable or unsympathetic, but I don't understand why there is any need for you (or your wife) to come closer than 5 - 10m from any courier without a closed door between you?  As I posted above: courier knocks on door; one of you goes to door to unlatch it and then that person retreats away from the door as far and as quickly as possible; courier places parcel just inside threshhold or on doorstep and takes photo - or whatever they need to do to satisfy their employer.  Is there something about the layout of your house or front door or mobility problems that either of you has that makes this impractical?

Do you mean that when you attempt to retreat away from the courier into your entrance hall (or whatever) that she is actually coming through the door, entering your house and following you?  I don't see how she can get within 2m of you otherwise.

sattewell said:

...I hope that, given Hermes have said we have not asked for anything unreasonable,...

If Hermes have accepted that then I'd be making a formal written complaint to them regardless of whether I'm their customer or not.  Make the same case that you have here.

If this driver of theirs is still delivering to you (it's not clear to me if they are or not) I'd be inclined to film or otherwise record it next time and send it to Hermes.

The one thing that concerns me is whether you or your wife - knowingly or unknowingly - have done or said something that has really put the driver's nose out of joint and things will only get worse.

sattewell said:

... Also, it would be very unfortunate to be forced into a position where my wife cannot accept parcels on her own because of her medical condition. No person with a disability should be forced into that position where they have to rely on someone else if they don't have to...

I agree - but what you've done so far appears to have got you nowhere except not getting any deliveries at all.

There must be some explanation for the driver's behaviour.  Perhaps they're just a really unpleasant person... ?

No you don't come across as unreasonable or unsympathetic. The scenario you've described (courier puts it down on the inside mat) is something we discussed when contacting Hermes, but Hermes said there is no requirement for their couriers to put the package inside the door (but, as you can imagine, it was all a little late by that point to make any meaningful difference!).

Given that the risk is different now I don't have a problem with what you're describing. At the time though, we were not both vaccinated and COVID numbers were a lot higher, so we asked all couriers to socially distance and to put the parcel on the outside mat. Seemed pretty reasonable.

They haven't tried to come into the house, no, but when they first delivered to us and we asked if they would mind putting the parcel down outside and stepping back, they stepped forward and pushed the door open and pushed the parcel into my wife's face! So our interaction didn't start from a great place! Lots of people have suggested "why don't just do x or y" but from that point, we just could not get a calm discussion out of them in order to find something we're all comfortable with. Other posters are assuming this person would talk to us about what they needed.

No they're not delivering parcels at the mo. They are taking photos of our house from a distance and claiming they made a delivery attempt but sending it back.

Re. their behaviour. To be empathetic, I expect it's an incredibly tough job being a courier in a pandemic and in our initial interaction, we caught them on a bad day. It's really sad that we couldn't just have just had a conversation about it.