Parcel Force gripe

[sammyc]

Got a card today to say Parcel Force missed me and they have taken my item to the nearest PO. On the card is a possible tickbox for 'we will deliver again tomorrow' or indeed 'we have taken it back to the depot, please call to arrange redelivery' - both of which would have been better. How do they decide which action to take in each case, seeing as there seems no reason to pick one over the other? And that's leaving aside the leave with neighbour option, which they say on their website they will try if you are out & didn't. I can't remember the last time I had a delivery through them, so have they always been doing this?
Bah to them, anyway

[GoodZE]

All the parcel delivery companies come to my house so much they now leave all the parcels in our greenhouse if no one is in

Get to know your delivery people and they'll start being nice to you

[sammyc]

All my other usual delivery people are fine & do know to leave stuff & where, but as this needs a sig, I guess they can't. All well & good, but so what if going to the PO is inconvenient (& which would be a lot less so anyway, in most cases I imagine, if they had left some sub-post offices open..)

[GoodZE]

All my other usual delivery people are fine & do know to leave stuff & where, but as this needs a sig, I guess they can't. All well & good, but so what if going to the PO is inconvenient (& which would be a lot less so anyway, in most cases I imagine, if they had left some sub-post offices open..)

Hmm yes, I think some drivers can just be assholes because they want to sometimes, I think if your expecting a parcel and definitely not going to be in, id stick a note on the door saying to leave it with your neighbour or leave it on your doorstep or in your garden (but that can depend on what kinda area you live in lol)

a lot of the time they don't really care who signs for it as long as they get rid of the parcels as quick as they can so they can go home

[sammyc]

Yeah that's pretty much the size of it - I would have left a note if I'd though it would be sig-able but I wasn't expecting it to be, it's only a cheapo item & I didn't know it'd be Parcel Force.

Ah well, I guess I'll simmer given time thanks for your posts.

[herulach]

I think it depends on the area as well - My nearest parcelforce depot is central manchester (about 35 minutes drive) so I'd much rather they leave it with the PO. Since they're on the route I suspect that the driver thinks he's being helpful. However, a card on the door saying please return to depot shouldn't be any hardship for them.

[sammyc]

Yeah I can see they may have thought I'd prefer it. The depot is c20 miles away, but at least I could have rejigged delivery to suit if they'd taken it back. I will codge up a 'please leave with neighbour or take away card' for future use, though I don't like to do too much of 'hey look, my porch is open & I'm definitely out all day everybody!' That's another reason why it's good when people do get to know you, the postman & Hermes etc are all trained to put in porch & shut door after them.

[Saracen]

Well, there's two sides to this issue.

One side is that courier companies have been known to put grossly unreasonable demands on drivers in terms of expectations, how many parcels to deliver in a shift, etc, with no extra pay if they can't do it in time.

The "Undercover Boss" TV program covered one company boss that went undercover both on vans and in sorting depots, and holy hell, did he get an eye-opener.

So, one side of the story is ludicrous demands on not especially well-paid drivers. If you treat people like crap, you can hardly expect them to be motivated.

But the other side of the story is that all that is not my, as the customer, fault. I've had some disgraceful activities by courier drivers over the years, including one that stacked about £5,500 of stationery and equipment (including a £3500 printer) and cleared off without even ringing or knocking. I know, because I heard him arrive, and expected the ring/knock, which never came. When I queried it with the company, they produced the "signed for" document, with an utterly fake signature. The driver claimed it was "someone else at the premises". The premises were my home, and that meant the wife or myself, and the wife was at work.

So I know the drivers can be under huge load, but that was £5500 of MY goods he's messing with, and his scheduling problems aren't my fault.

GoodZE nailed it - try to build a relationship, though that only really works with regular drivers if you frequently get parcels. I've got a couple of drivers that go out of their way to help me, not least, because it helps them. One, for example, knows what times of day he's likely to get me, and when he won't. So by mutual agreement, he only comes here at those times. And he often gets an offer of a cuppa, or a cold drink, etc.

[sammyc]

I've probably had my fair share of dodgy deliveries and helpful drivers. What interested me partly here was how they come to their decision; maybe if the depot was nearer & therefore less likely they'd leave at PO, they'd make a judgment based on whether it looks like you would be in during the next day either (ie conclude you work 9 to 5) and think best to take it back to depot & await instruction. Or maybe as you say, partly down to workload and glad to cut down redeliveries.

[GoNz0]

My Yodel driver lets me pop round his house to pickup missed deliveries!

[j.o.s.h.1408]

Waste of time these guys. They diddnt deliver to post office. Back at the depot and will attempt again today bit that's not what the delivery card says. Idiots and waste my time

[sammyc]

My Yodel driver lets me pop round his house to pickup missed deliveries!

That's a very cosy arrangement! Alright for some

Waste of time these guys. They diddnt deliver to post office. Back at the depot and will attempt again today bit that's not what the delivery card says. Idiots and waste my time

Interesting, it's possible that the card lies then! it did cross my mind actually & I'll definitely be ringing the post office to check before I go.

[Saracen]

My Yodel driver lets me pop round his house to pickup missed deliveries!

Good relationship, there.

One guy I deal with lives very close to me and, one day, he saw I had a pile of old stuff stacked in the hall. He commented on it, and I said it was destined for the local tip, and he offered to pop back after his last run of the day, on the way back to the depot, and I could use his van to run it to the tip (which is only about a mile away). This was only a day or two after I'd noticed he was gasping, on a REALLY hot day, and made him an ice-cold Orange drink .... and a refill.

[Gerrard]

My Yodel driver lets me pop round his house to pickup missed deliveries!

This happened to me as well when I missed a Yodel delivery. I phoned up to get it redelivered and he mentioned he only lived around the corner from me and that I could and pick it up from him.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

The plot thickens. After waiting nearly an hour on the phone to Google. Its appears those guys at parcel force magically decided to send it back to Google without making another attempt.

Worse courier ever. Please sack the manager and the lying fool drivers. Some people deserve the sack. Sorry to say that. Lying is complete no no

[sammyc]

^ I sense you may be a while in simmering (I also sense peterb will be back, like a spider to the sound of a tuning fork..)

..that is bad, though, on a serious note - so much inefficiency and miscommunication and general time/money-wasting goes on its sobering to think of the scale.

On a tangent, I've tried twice to get a mail order firm to grasp that an item they say I've returned, and have credited me for, is still sitting in front of me. Tempted not to have a third shot at it to be honest.. (or dishonest, in this case)