Parcels couriers - what are your horror stories?

[Mark Saunders]

Another problem I have is not with Couriers but with the Consignee, who quite often fail to pack goods properly with adequate packing to prevent crushing of the contents!

 

It is often a miracle that the contents arrive intact!

 

Mark Saunders

[Taigatrommel]

Hermes and TNT have both delivered parcels meant for me to the wrong street entirely.  One, the gent who received it came and dropped it round, the other recipient claimed to have binned it thinking it was junk mail!

 

I'm very lucky with my regular Parcel Force driver, he's usually here shortly after 7; I'm pretty well guaranteed to be up and in the house at that time.  I like DPD for the way they send me a text with a one hour time slot for delivery.

[Spitfire2865]

Some of these experiences raise the issue of legality of their actions. Id expect crushing a box or leaving it in a bin the actions of a child, not paid workers responsible for mail delivery. In the UK, is it really so impossible to leave a box on your doorstep? Over in the US, thats fine action in most places unless you live in a particularly bad spot.

And how the hell do you bin someone elses BOX? Junk mail is almost always an envelope or packet. Even junk mail I would bring to a neighbor. Who am I to judge someone elses needs.

[skipepsi]

He is from Cheltenham it is full of strange people.

[NGT6 1315]

Parcel posties of all relevant companies usually pop by here around noon, which is to say, roughly between 11 am and 1 pm. There also are several retired people living in this house, so it's rare for second deliveries to occur. I guess I could also permit the services to put parcels on our apartment's doorstep, but then again, I guess having them delivered to neighbours is safer.

[5944]

Now DPD on the other hand decided to put a parcel in my recycling bin on bin collection day!!

I've had that too, but luckily not on bin day. However, searching through a big wheelie bin full of cardboard boxes for a cardboard box wasn't much fun! Parcel delivered today was left in the gas meter box round the side of the house - that's a new one. The note the RM postie put through the door looked like it had been in his pocket for months. Hermes do have a habit of knocking and running. My sofa is barely 8 feet from the front door, but they've knocked before and been back in the car/van by the time I've got the door open!

 

However, the worst was a couple of months ago, I'd ordered a book online, and it got delivered while I was at work. No note through the door though, so I didn't know it had been delivered. I only discovered it the following morning when I left for work again - they'd buried it under a pile of leaves near the front door! As it had been dark when I got home from work, I hadn't seen it. Yeah, thanks for that!

[Kenton]

 

In the UK, is it really so impossible to leave a box on your doorstep?

It depends on the doorstep. In the countryside or where few people pass then it might be safe to do so.

Sadly even where I live (up a private close of 7 houses) we get white van man driving up and down on the lookout for things to nick.

A neighbour was having a new boiler installed and the old copper immersion tank was put outside next to the plumber's van - it was nicked.

Another neighbour had his garage door opened and the children's bicycles taken.

We have had plants uprooted and taken (probably children) we do lose quite a few as cut/picked flowers.

Sadly although in a relatively affluent area (all 4-6 bedroom large detached properties) we are but a playing field away from a known "problem" estate and associated schools.

 

A lot of CCTV and surveillance systems have been put up recently and there is talk within the residents association of gating the close!

Edited February 12, 2015 by Kenton

[Bernard Lamb]

 It depends on the doorstep. In the countryside or where few people pass then it might be safe to do so.

Sadly even where I live (up a private close of 7 houses) we get white van man driving up and down on the lookout for things to nick.

A neighbour was having a new boiler installed and the old copper immersion tank was put outside next to the plumber's van - it was nicked.

Another neighbour had his garage door opened and the children's bicycles taken.

We have had plants uprooted and taken (probably children) we do lose quite a few as cut/picked flowers.

Sadly although in a relatively affluent area (all 4-6 bedroom large detached properties) we are but a playing field away from a known "problem" estate and associated schools.

 

A lot of CCTV and surveillance systems have been put up recently and there is talk within the residents association of gating the close!

That's just knocked around £50k of the value of your house if you ever want to move.

Round my way they do not pick flowers.

They make off with planters containing very expensive examples of topiary.

I have had several PF deliveries recently and they have either been early in the morning or around tea time so I have ben in.

Bernard

[railsquid]

Parcel delivery is one of those things Japan does ridiculously well, I can't think of ever having any kind of problem at all. They will never leave a package with a neighbour, or "hide" it somewhere (except if you have a dedicated safety box for receiving parcels). On the other hand all the companies have an automated system to request redelivery within a certain two-hour time frame. Japan Post is the only one which will let you pick up stuff from the sorting office, and most have 24-hour service counters.

 

The other week I did actually experience, for the first time ever, a delivery not arriving during the requested period, anyway got a call from their customer service saying they tried to deliver but couldn't identify my place of residence (which has happened before, as our house has exactly the same number as 6 or 7 others on the street - which is new - as well as an older house round the corner, and some navigation systems seem to only know about the existing house). Anyway turned out I'd ordered the item from an account I hadn't used for a long time and it had gone to my old address and they delivered it about 90 minutes after the phone call (I did apologise profusely for being such an idiot and causing them inconvenience).

 

Oh, and talking of the old address, which was an apartment, we were mystified not to have received any "New Year cards" one year (the equivalent of Christmas cards), turned out they were being put in the neighbour's post box (the post boxes being in the communal entrance area) which was always overflowing, usually with FINAL DEMANDs, notices of court judgement etc. We did complain, it was probably the fault of the temporary seasonal deliverer as normal post was fine, but I ended up integrating a surreptitious check of the neighbour's box as well when picking up post, it being Japan where many people don't bother to lock their post boxes.

[John_Hughes]

I never thought I'd speak well of Interlink, but events yesterday have changed my mind.

 

The local(ish) chappie came round with an unexpected delivery while we were out yesterday morning, and left the usual card for requesting redelivery; shortly afterwards we had an email - complete with a photo of our front door! - explaining that they hadn't been able to deliver either to us or our neighbours and asking us to email them with a date for redelivery, which we duly did.

 

Then at about 3.00 pm the delivery chap phoned to say that he still had our parcel on board and could deliver it in half an hour on his way back to the depot, if that was convenient. Needless to say, it was!

 

Full marks all round! And we emailed the company to thank them for their excellent service, too.

Edited February 13, 2015 by John_Hughes

[Bill Radford]

Too many firms chasing the gold at end of the rainbow, cutting costs etc etc.

[jamessolomon]

Iv had stuff delivered fine by anyone my dad had a wierd one ordered some stuff from the states to an apartment in Canada he  was staying in during the work contract period had the apartment address and everything clearly instead it ended up with me at home in the UK. I did have one incident from a mate he rang me fuming that Yodel had delivered his parcel but was nowhere to be seen the idiot had chucked it in one of his wheelie bins to be found by me on my arrival around his house as the bin had blown over. Yodel also seem to crush things alot or leave em out in the elements or wheelie bins. I had some kits delivered via them to find crushed box and water damaged like it had fallen out of the back of the van when the door was open wasnt pleased also purchased a new rear end for one of my mk2s as it was broke when i purchased it the Yodel man had tried forcing it through the letterbox and called it delivered in a crushed condition 

[Gareth Collier]

 In the UK, is it really so impossible to leave a box on your doorstep?

 

It depends on who's delivering it. Any courier company can leave it on your doorstep, the only exception is Royal Mail due to the regulator/laws in this country. RM delivers the 'Queens Mail' hence her face on the stamps. Unlike every other courier it has different restrictions governing security of the mail and if your postie does leave a parcel in an unsecure location which is basically anywhere other than the post box or a locked, fastened down container he is committing a criminal offence! Until recently RM weren't even allowed to leave a parcel with a neighbour even if the recipient asked for it. It took a lot of lobbying and a law change to permit RM to start doing it. Level playing fields comes to mind.

Gareth (a postie)

[hayfield]

I bought a couple of things Wednesday night, both posted economy on Thursday. One Royal Mail the other Hermes, both arrived intact yesterday with the Hermes allowing me to track the parcel (still not showing it having been delivered !!).  My vote still goes to the Royal mail though, they leave my parcels normally next door where as others do tend to just leave the items in re-cycling bins/round the side etc. They do have a decent compensation system but never experienced the others systems, and I like the service I receive from my local Post Office.

[Oldddudders]

I get deliveries from several couriers, as well as La Poste. I live in a very rural area 25 miles from Le Mans. The posties are largely excellent, and one regular guy just knocks on the front door before walking in if I need to sign for something. Perfect. One of his lady colleagues on one occasion left a parcel safely by closing the shutters around it on the windowsill - great idea!

 

At the other end of the scale is DHL. A parcel from Hong Kong - an item for which I'd paid a 4-figure sterling sum - was in DHL's own packaging, tracked etc. But rather than deliver it to me, he left it at a shop/pick-up point in a town 25 minutes drive away. The shop-owner tells me this tosser regularly does this as he's too idle to trawl around the villages.

[blackpete]

I had recently ordered a load of paint & weathering powders. They first time TNT attempted delivery I was at work, so they attempted delivery again the following day. I was off work, but had gone out for the day. The driver knew where I worked, so dropped the parcel off there, but didn't leave a note to tell me this. I didn't find out until I returned to work two days later.

 

I have also had Royal Mail leave parcels propped in the conservatory window, and two weeks ago they left one against the back door in the snow. I didn't find this one until 7 o'clock the following morning.

[AndrewC]

Apart from one former Yodel driver who blocked private roads, threatened people, and had a bad case of potty mouth I've never had a problem with Yodel. I actually feel sorry for our guy as we get 2 monthly deliveries of cat food and bulk litter. Works out about half the cost of the supermarket but it does mean getting 2 boxes every 2 weeks that weigh in around 30-40kg each.

 

Once upon a time I dealt with an online business that used City Link. Trouble is it was a longer drive to the CL depot to pick up the parcel than it was to the business's warehouse.

[roundhouse]

Apart from one former Yodel driver who blocked private roads, threatened people, and had a bad case of potty mouth I've never had a problem with Yodel. I actually feel sorry for our guy as we get 2 monthly deliveries of cat food and bulk litter. Works out about half the cost of the supermarket but it does mean getting 2 boxes every 2 weeks that weigh in around 30-40kg each.

 

Once upon a time I dealt with an online business that used City Link. Trouble is it was a longer drive to the CL depot to pick up the parcel than it was to the business's warehouse.

We had a courier turn up at our office one day looking for another ocmpany. A couple of work collegues were outside on their mobile phones. This courier tried to interupt one of them then got abusive so much so Swearing telling him to get off the phone and answer him)  that he thumped the courier!!

 

The coourier ran off and didnt return, not even with the Police!!

Edited February 16, 2015 by roundhouse

[Talltim]

The other week I did actually experience, for the first time ever, a delivery not arriving during the requested period, anyway got a call from their customer service saying they tried to deliver but couldn't identify my place of residence (which has happened before, as our house has exactly the same number as 6 or 7 others on the street - which is new - as well as an older house round the corner, and some navigation systems seem to only know about the existing house).

What is the point of house numbers if they aren't unique? (In combination with your road name)

[Talltim]

Always had good service from Hermes, They collect from us too and have a designated pickup point (a bin in the front garden specifically for the purpose) which they also use to drop off stuff if we aren't in.

When I was a student I used to temp for Securicor in a sorting depot. The recommended way of loading a lorry was to build a wall of parcels 6 feet from the front of the lorry and chuck everything small over it...

Edited February 16, 2015 by Talltim

[railsquid]

What is the point of house numbers if they aren't unique? (In combination with your road name)

 

Welcome to Japan... they do things... differently here. Like... no road names. Well, many more major roads do have names, but they never form part of an official address, and your average residential street will merely be a strip of tarmac between numbered blocks (which are numbered subblocks of a numbered block of a subdistrict), upon which sit houses numbered in seemingly random, and often duplicate fashion. Such as Chez Railsquid. The way to differentiate between identically numbered houses is by the nameplate, which is usually displayed somewhere visible. On the plus side, identically numbered houses will be contiguous. Oh, and names are a whole other ballgame of fun, to which point I shall return later. First, an example address would look like this:

 

150-1234

Tokyo-to

Nantoka-ku

Meiromachi 4-15-22

Tananaka-sama

 

which is:

Postal code

City name (in this case Tokyo)

Borough name

Subdistrict name, block 4, sub-block 15, plot 22 (which may or may not be unique)

Honorifically Mr or Mrs. Tanaka

 

If the address is a block of flats, the flat number and usually the building name (which will often be some semi-random combination of foreign words, I use to live close to a block of flats called - literally - "Ripe One"), will be appended.

 

Clear?

 

Now, about the names... they're usually written in Kanji (Chinese characters), and especially when it comes to names, Japanese is a total fustercluck. I refer you to the famous Monty Python "Raymond Luxury-Yacht" sketch ("it's pronounced Throatwobbler-Mangrove"). This is Japan. Every. Clucking. Day. Let's zip back to the "subdistrict name", in my example "Meiromachi". The "machi" literally means "town" or "settlement". Logical, you might think. Yes... but for historical reasons it has two pronunciations, "machi" which is etymologically Japanese, and "cho", which originates from Chinese. Aaaaand... there is no earthly way you can tell from the Chinese character for a given location whether it's"machi" or "cho". You just have to know. True story - one place I was living, it took me about 6 weeks before I realised I was pronouncing part of my address incorrectly.

 

Any questions?

[hayfield]

I bought a couple of things Wednesday night, both posted economy on Thursday. One Royal Mail the other Hermes, both arrived intact yesterday with the Hermes allowing me to track the parcel (still not showing it having been delivered !!).  My vote still goes to the Royal mail though, they leave my parcels normally next door where as others do tend to just leave the items in re-cycling bins/round the side etc. They do have a decent compensation system but never experienced the others systems, and I like the service I receive from my local Post Office.

 

 

The third item I bought on the 11th was delivered today by Hermes, but I had no tracking email this time. On checking the bar code number sender left it on the 12 th, picked up on the 13th, sorted on the 15 th delivered on the 16 th.

 

Not as good as the Royal Mail. But an interesting alternative to Parcel Force

[Kenton]

 

What is the point of house numbers if they aren't unique? (In combination with your road name)

Not as uncommon as you might think.

Although, in theory, the road I live in has unique numbers 8, 8a, 8b, 9b, 9a, 9, 10 xxxx you can see the problems it causes. Fairly big houses with small number plates on doors that it is difficult to read and people who fail to use the correct number (without the a b ) or who believe it makes their address "common". The regular postman does his best but the courier's are always getting it wrong. Two of our neighbours run businesses from home and we are always getting vans turn up with stationery, etc. It came about because the original builders did not build a number 9 and it was open land at the end of the close/private drive. Then the land was bought by a developer who proceeded to build 5 new houses! It is now like a close within a close but instead of giving a new name they just added a or b

Edited February 17, 2015 by Kenton

[AndrewC]

Another fun (not) scenario is when a street changes name along its length. When that happens usually the numbering restarts. In our case the street changes name about 300m down the road. The change is fairly subtle with the word "Upper" being removed. Lucky for us there is no matching house number but the people across the street are constantly getting deliveries for the other end of the street, and their parcels end up in the wrong place as well.

 

In the case of our high street it changes names and house numbering 6 times between Shooter's Hill and Bexleyheath. "Crook Log" being less than 100m long, and Park View Road only existing for about 250m.

Edited February 18, 2015 by AndrewC

[trisonic]

My understanding of Tokyo house numbers is that they are allocated when the houses were built making the lowest number in any street the oldest, etc. Has a weird kind of logic to it.....

The other odd thing is that they have best guitar shops anywhere - but that’s a different story.

 

 

 

Best, Pete.

Edited February 18, 2015 by trisonic