Parcel delivery companies

mrsjaw

Does anyone else have problems with the parcel delivery companies?  I'm pulling my hair out!

UPS delivered a parcel for me and it was badly damaged, this parcel is a hard case designed to protect a valuable musical instrument.  They say I didn't wrap it correctly - it was wrapped in cardboard - but my point is its not a china plate its a hard sided case.  I paid £6 to insure it (this is compulsory) against loss and damage - so what is this for exactly?  I pay the company to deliver my package safely from a - b so surely they need to take some responsibility?

Then don't even get me started about the Vinted/Ebay type delivery companies.........

I have had two parcels in the last month go missing (I don't send many!) They get collected from the local shop and show on the tracking details as at the depot and that's it - nothing, nada, zilch!!  I eventually get refunded but that's not the point, where do all these packages go??  Do Evri and Yodel have huge warehouses with piles and piles of parcels?  Do they sell them?  Do they donate to charity?

Anyway, rant over because it just winds me up!

DullGreyGuy

It's the 99% rule... in reality most things are delivered ok but it's the 1% where things go wrong which everyone remembers and gets annoyed with. 

I tried returning an item bought from a French company and followed the courier intermediary's instructions (which they later admitted was wrong). The parcel for 3 weeks was getting alternating updates every day saying it was at Heathrow and it was in the couriers van in Paris. Eventually it said the recipient refused delivery and then it just stopped tracking. 2 months later they delivered the parcel back to me. 

Add insult to injury their call centre agents would defend their updates saying it really was going across the English Channel 4 times a day


Many parcels do eventually turn up, or have been stolen at some point along the line. There will be some where damage has made the addresses/QR/barcode unreadable. I know with Royal Mail they hold it locally for a short period and then it goes off to a central warehouse to be kept for X months. After that letters are shredded and parcels may be auctioned off unopened or opened and depending on the nature sold or donated. 

rollingmoon

It's a tough one really... on balance I've taken the view that I might as well use the cheapest option. Evri/Yodel etc. have their issues, but as the alternative involves paying more for the same lousy - and often worse -  service from Parcel Force I can't see the point. 

I think, given that the entire parcel delivery sector is in a race to the bottom, we just have to accept that some stuff is going to get smashed to bits/thrown over a hedge/nicked and claim accordingly where possible.

Miser1964

mrsjaw said:

They say I didn't wrap it correctly - it was wrapped in cardboard

Sending valuable items such as cameras, I double box with plenty of packing between the boxes

soolin

Unfortunately most couriers demand items are boxed if they are in any way delicate.

Spoonie_Turtle

soolin said:

Unfortunately most couriers demand items are boxed if they are in any way delicate.

Hard musical instrument cases are hardly delicate though.  I can't imagine even dropping from a height would ding it, that's the whole point of them.

soolin

Spoonie_Turtle said:

soolin said:

Unfortunately most couriers demand items are boxed if they are in any way delicate.

Hard musical instrument cases are hardly delicate though.  I can't imagine even dropping from a height would ding it, that's the whole point of them.

It might not make sense but couriers do like to hide behind their packing guidelines. In fairness the OP doesn’t say how the item was damaged, but if the case was damaged then it needed to be boxed to protect it, and if the instrument was damaged then the outer case was obviously not strong enough to withstand what a courier does with parcels. 

mrsjaw

Spoonie_Turtle said:

soolin said:

Unfortunately most couriers demand items are boxed if they are in any way delicate.

Hard musical instrument cases are hardly delicate though.  I can't imagine even dropping from a height would ding it, that's the whole point of them.

Thank you, this is the point I'm trying to get across.

mrsjaw

soolin said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

soolin said:

Unfortunately most couriers demand items are boxed if they are in any way delicate.

Hard musical instrument cases are hardly delicate though.  I can't imagine even dropping from a height would ding it, that's the whole point of them.

It might not make sense but couriers do like to hide behind their packing guidelines. In fairness the OP doesn’t say how the item was damaged, but if the case was damaged then it needed to be boxed to protect it, and if the instrument was damaged then the outer case was obviously not strong enough to withstand what a courier does with parcels. 

I don't how the case got damaged but judging by the state of it it must have been thrown or dropped from a really great height or something very heavy thrown on top of it!  Luckily the instrument inside was undamaged so the case did its job.  I'm so frustrated that UPS are hiding behind the packing and saying it needs double boxing with 2" - 4" of foam between the boxes - who packages stuff that well?

I paid the delivery cost, I paid the insurance - surely they need to take some responsibility for delivering it safely?

Jerry_Cornelius

I've always wondered about how couriers require you to pay extra for insurance -  they are basically saying they offer a service to transport something from A to B, but they want you to pay extra in case they !!!!!! it up ... 

In my experience, I find Royal Mail the best for parcels both receiving and delivery. I like RM deliveries because most services allow me to change the date of the delivery, meaning I can change a date to when i'm in, as opposed to a day when I know I won't be there. I've done the odd ebay sale using couriers, originally CollectPlus, but they are now owned by someone else, and i never had an issues. I don't like receiving parcels through Evri, because they don't give you an option to change the date, and they have often just left parcels outside, designated on the delivery email as a "safe place" - even tho thats their term as I have never nominated a safe place (as far as i'm concerned there are none at my address). Luckily, I've had none stolen so far, or any weather damage.

I think the real problem at the end of the day with any courier is the kind of person making the delivery - some are conscientious, use common sense, others are just people who don't care, just doing their job at a very basic level.

Spoonie_Turtle

Jerry_Cornelius said:

I think the real problem at the end of the day with any courier is the kind of person making the delivery - some are conscientious, use common sense, others are just people who don't care, just doing their job at a very basic level.

And to be fair to them, in the race to the bottom the delivery drivers seem to be the ones that lose out the most.  Our local driver doesn't deliver to our village until he has multiple parcels, as he says the payment for one delivery don't cover the extra fuel it takes to get here!