Is your parcel delivery damaged?

My additional gripe about poor delivery companies (additional to the lousy service) is the growing trend in these companies not providing a contact number to call when things go wrong. ‘Hermes’ is a perfect example, where an order from Clarkes shoes was thrown over a neighbours’s back gate (instead of ours !), and a card put through their door with no contact number. You are supposed instead to contact the original supplier and chase them.

Yes – this is clearly another way of saving money – by not having somebody answering the phone.

Even when I did find a number on the internet, they refused to speak to me as I wasn’t the supplier.

Have found this lack of contact number again this week on a delivery from ‘APC overnight’ – although I must stress that in the end the delivery was made correctly and courteously the following day. No complaint there about the actual delivery.

Bottom line is to ‘vote with your feet’. I now will not order anything from a company who uses ‘Hermes’.

Real World is that I believe we need to be prepared to pay a bit more for a proper service. As with other businesses, do we always go with the cheapest quote? No.

Part of the damage problem is due to inadequate packaging by the consignor. It is common knowledge that parcels despatched from a company’s warehouse will be loaded and unloaded with rough handling and sent along complex conveyor systems at the carrier’s hub(s) where they get tumbled and bounced before they end up on the delivery van, so suppliers should recognise that and package goods appropriately. If undelivered goods are returned to the carrier’s warehouse or hub they go through further handling that can exacerbate existing damage.

Ultimately, it the supplier’s responsibility to ensure that orders are fulfilled satisfactorily and that any damage or breakages are dealt with. C Chapman – did you report the mess-up with the flowers to Waitrose, and if so how did they deal with it?

I tend prefer Royal Mail or Parcelforce because they generally handle goods carefully and because it is easy to arrange a redelivery if they call when you are not at home. Having said that a recent stationery order delivered by Parcelforce was in a shocking state on arrival. The contents were OK in two out of three boxes although the boxes were badly deformed. The third box was a carton of five reams of printer paper; although the carton had been protectively wrapped in polythene with parcel tape, when that outer wrapping was removed it was clear that the box had been subjected to some very rough handling as all four corners had split and broken out, and the paper wrapping protecting the reams was torn on each pack. In this case I consider that the supplier had taken reasonable care to pack the goods satisfactorily and that the problem was due to mishandling by the carrier. I accept that printer paper is a particularly dense and bulky product to transfer and that its mass applies very powerful forces to the box leading to deformation; amazingly all the paper was in satisfactory condition.

I know the time Parcel Force will deliver nearly every time not to the minute but to half an hour it seems to always the same whoever the driver

This all part of the delivery malaize of this country, my replacement printer ink did not even arrive Post Office lost it, fortunately the sender covered my payment and returned it.

I’ve rarely had breakage problems over the 10 years I’ve been using online buying. The packaging has not always been great. One pet food company in particular sent oversized boxes crudely taped smaller with the goods rolling around inside. As it was tins they were merely crushed. Amazon packs really well, with just the right amount of packaging. The best, most convenient delivery firm is DPD who deliver practically to the minute with a text and email on the morning of delivery giving the one hour slot for delivery and then you can access the tracking map which gives a minute by minute progress on the drivers delivery route. I have even managed to get to the door as he arrives. They are pleasant and helpful, carrying heavy loads in. If I was a company I would use DPD as my delivery firm as customer satisfaction would be so high!