Giving the organic box company a key?!

Badgergal

I mentioned on another thread I wanted an organic box but had difficulty cos I am at work all day (I think the post room might kill me if I add an organic box to their already heavy workload).

I live in an open block of flats so there is nowhere to leave a box, no garage or porch. I asked some companies close by if I could collect and they said no they were not insured for that (highly dangerous business, collecting one's own box?!) but suggested I give them a key to my flat.

Hmm...what do you think? Not sure I am comfortable about that, it is a reputable company (Abel & Cole) but it is effectively giving a stranger the key to my flat. There is very little of any monetary value in there, I don't own much jewellery or keep money there etc, but it is the idea...and also they'd have to lock up properly because this is Stockwell we are talking about!

chickadee

They may not be insured for collections but how would your insurance company react of your flat was ransacked and they asked who had keys and you had to admit that you had given one to a person you had never met and wasn't a friend or a member of your family? I bet you would soon find out that you weren't insured either! :eek: Think carefully. Is it worth sacrificing your security for a few carrots?

Also, who is to say they wouldn't copy it? Will it be kept in a drawer with a tag with your address on it? What if their office is burgled?

Don't do it!

whiteguineapig

no no no don't even consider it

Badgergal

That's a very good point chickadee.

It makes me annoyed though, that they can't either deliver later one day a week or on a Saturday, I bet their custom would go up. I can't imagine many people being that happy to give away a key, though they claimed some of their customers do this.

squeaky

Look out in car boot sales for a stout box? Secure it to your outside wall and hand them a key to the padlock?

Noozan

I second what Squeaky has suggested.

I cancelled my deliveries from Abel and Cole after about 6 weeks. They used a courier company to deliver to our area and I've seen the driver drop the box (from a fair height!) on the floor whilst he opened the gate. I had also witnessed a different driver carrying the box upside down even though there are stickers on it saying that there are perishable goods inside and to keep "THIS WAY UP". I spoke to the drivers on 3 occasions and also spoke to Abel and Cole but my fruit and veg was still arriving excessively bruised and damaged.

It wasn't really Abel and Cole's fault but my point is - they do not use regular drivers. Don't give them a key!

lazylins

Hi,

i was thinking of getting something delivered, do they have a website? please.

squeaky

Abel & Co have their own website listed here somewhere - I'll go look - but to find yourself a good range of suppliers of foodstuffs be it organic veg or free range meats etc go to:-

www.bigbarn.co.uk

and type in your post code.

Nasnowt

Badgergal, if you are in London have you checked these people out? Although they don't do weekend deliveries they do some evenings, try the postcode checker on the website.

The products are good, you usually get the same driver each week and they are very helpful and reliable. Although they cannot commit to specific delivery times I have found they will go out of their way to try to help if you phone and explain your difficulty

The Organic Delivery Co

I am usually reluctent to give recommendations but have no hesitation with this bunch, they are really good.

squeaky

Found Abel & Cole:-


http://www.abel-cole.co.uk/

Badgergal

Thanks squeaky but the council would have a right go if I started "blocking" the walkway outside my flat with stuff (it's an estate and there are rules etc) and there is no way of attaching it to the wall anyway. Humph. Foiled again!

Well, Abel and Cole won't be getting my custom anyway I'm afraid, esp after what Noozan has said, I think it is their fault, they should be able to control their driver's behaviour to an extent surely?!

I might have looked at that other company before Nasnowt but I will check them out again and see.

Thanks all!

EDIT: "We deliver to your area on Friday evenings between 4pm and 10pm" according to that company Nasnowt, which is a good start. I am never home before 6.45pm however so I have emailed them asking if there's any way I could make sure it didn't arrive before then, fingers crossed!