View Full Version : Internet and Home deliveries
Even though more and more people are shopping online now, the delivery companies are still operating a home delievery service with a buisiness plan from yesterday.
Why can't they especially with SAT-NAV provide 2 hour slots for an ETA of delivery? Why is it still "morning or afternoon luv?"
The major supermarkets can do it so why am I expected to wait in all day sometimes (or my wife actually...).
I bet 90% of you could relate a story about how you waited in all day and the guy came at 16:59 or you just missed him when you went on the school run for 15 mins after waiting since 8:30?
Grrrrr ;)
MovedGoalPosts
15-02-2006, 16:33
Unlike the Supermarkets who have control their own delivery services, the internet mail order companies use various couriers and have no control over these companies.
Unless they are a massive supplier it just wouldn't be economic for internet companies to have their own distribution network so they are stuck with the courier's business model.
Those couriers with their electronic tracking are getting better but unless you want to pay a shedload they deliver when the driver is passing, and that is probably not able to be worked out until the driver knows all the drops for the day.
As I raised in another recent thread the biggest difficulty is where you have to go to pick the item up if you can't be in for the delivery. Often that is miles away and negates the savings you made buying it online in the first place.
As I raised in another recent thread the biggest difficulty is where you have to go to pick the item up if you can't be in for the delivery. Often that is miles away and negates the savings you made buying it online in the first place.
Parcelforce is a right pain for this. When stuff is unable to be delivered, they leave us a card asking us to say what day they can come back, or else say we would like it left at the local post office where we can pick it up - for a 50p surcharge! What kind of cock-eyed, A.O.T. business plan is that? Hmmm, force them to bring it to my door for free, or make me go to the post office and pay for the privilege of saving them another trip? I wonder which one I'll choose .... especially as the post office is seven miles away .... :rolleyes:
ian@huth
16-02-2006, 13:41
A lot of courier companies probably do more business calls than private homes and can be held up in queues of delivery/collection vehicles at some companies. Companies often call the courier company to book a collection before the package has been fully finished and its paperwork done meaning the courier has to wait for completion. The courier can be held up when delivering to a small business if the staff are otherwise engaged with customers and they have to wait their turn. With town centre deliveries they may have to park up a fair way from the delivery point due to parking restrictions adding significantly to the time required to complete the delivery. With Tesco and other supermarkets they are doing virtually 100% deliveries with the householder being readily available to take in the delivery during the pre-booked slot. Couriers are in the main doing a combination of deliveries and collections with new collections being added to their list throughout the day.
SMHarman
16-02-2006, 14:22
Even though more and more people are shopping online now, the delivery companies are still operating a home delievery service with a buisiness plan from yesterday.
Why can't they especially with SAT-NAV provide 2 hour slots for an ETA of delivery? Why is it still "morning or afternoon luv?"Wait until they start the residential address delivery surcharge that they are doing in the US, mainly because they have to deliver twice (card, then deliver).
I can see all those points but this just highlights to me that the system is still designed around a business plan that was originally done to service businesses. Initially there was a surge of internet orders that meant the couriers had to adapt to home consumers ie "we have called" cards. But now things have changed.
Now that internet shopping has exploded the service needs to be revamped around the convenience of the consumer and not the courier I think.
Even though more and more people are shopping online now, the delivery companies are still operating a home delievery service with a buisiness plan from yesterday.
Why can't they especially with SAT-NAV provide 2 hour slots for an ETA of delivery? Why is it still "morning or afternoon luv?"
The major supermarkets can do it so why am I expected to wait in all day sometimes (or my wife actually...).
I bet 90% of you could relate a story about how you waited in all day and the guy came at 16:59 or you just missed him when you went on the school run for 15 mins after waiting since 8:30?
Grrrrr ;)
Morning or afternoon? You're lucky, where I am I can only get next day delivery on items sent Parcelforce 24 (which no-one seems to offer) or RM Special Delivery (can't even get that while the lazy b*stardhead posties in Belfast are on strike and even then it's weight limited), so generally you're stuck with Citylink of Businesspost who'll drive the parcels up to Derry then offload them onto a third party courier who might (or might not) deliver them locally the following day.
grandmaster
16-02-2006, 15:18
A bloke at my works bought an item from pixmainia.
They used parcel force to deliver the goods.
He ordered it in November 05 and still has not recieved it!!
They (PF) claimed they could not find the address of our works even though I have had a few parcel force deliverys here with the exact same details....
USELESS
We don't complain enough as a nation either. Of course business plans need to be designed to attract money but they should never take the focus off the customer as they have the future of the business in their hands.
If the customer doesn't return the business will have no future.
It's high time that delivery companies recognised that home users are not just a minor income stream but a whole new market that WILL expand and expand....
They are going to have to start delivering after 6pm and at weekends more....
Chrysalis
17-02-2006, 15:50
I agree I think the worst I ahve dealt with are citylink who are used by ebuyer.
It is very frustrating that they dont have no tracker and claim their drivers dont carry phones. they also refuse to leave with neighbour's.
Some good courier companies give the drivers phones so if you miss delivery they can be asked to come back.
I have had citylink claim they have been and reason no card is they ran out.
MovedGoalPosts
17-02-2006, 16:20
Wait until they start the residential address delivery surcharge that they are doing in the US, mainly because they have to deliver twice (card, then deliver).
I'm quite happy for my personnaly ordered goods to be delivered to my office address. No carding or other hassle for the courier - there's always someone available during the work week.
Only trouble is the internet companies won't do it due to fraud protection.
Oh well back to the high street.
homealone
17-02-2006, 16:28
I'm quite happy for my personnaly ordered goods to be delivered to my office address. No carding or other hassle for the courier - there's always someone available during the work week.
Only trouble is the internet companies won't do it due to fraud protection.
Oh well back to the high street.
some on-line firms will do this, but usually only after they have made at least one delivery to your home address to confim your bona fides.
patrickp
17-02-2006, 19:11
I'm quite happy for my personnaly ordered goods to be delivered to my office address. No carding or other hassle for the courier - there's always someone available during the work week.
Only trouble is the internet companies won't do it due to fraud protection.
Oh well back to the high street.
some on-line firms will do this, but usually only after they have made at least one delivery to your home address to confim your bona fides.
I usually do this, and in my experience, most internet companies will rather than won't. So, obviously, I don't use the "won't" ones unless I have to.
The reason I get deliveries at work, apart from the fact that I'm there all day, is that postal and courier deliveries in this area (SE London) are really appalling - too much use of unreliable casual workers, I think - but since I work in a large Council building with a permanently manned (personned?) postroom, they can't find excuses for missing deliveries!
I had a home delivery today from Argos. At 7:30am. Honest to God. 7 bloody 30. If the drivers are mug enough to be up that early, that's their business. I don't know why I should be. So no, I wasn't impressed, but happy its there anyway.
iain_herts
17-02-2006, 19:26
Chrysalis i know citylink in my area all there drivers have phones in there vans as we have a driver who comes on a daily basis and i asked him once. also they do have online tracking as i am tracking a parcel at the mo(but not the most infortive of online tracking tho).
16:39 Friday, February 17, 2006 On route to delivery branch
paul11974
17-02-2006, 22:26
Parcelforce is a right pain for this. When stuff is unable to be delivered, they leave us a card asking us to say what day they can come back, or else say we would like it left at the local post office where we can pick it up - for a 50p surcharge! What kind of cock-eyed, A.O.T. business plan is that? Hmmm, force them to bring it to my door for free, or make me go to the post office and pay for the privilege of saving them another trip? I wonder which one I'll choose .... especially as the post office is seven miles away .... :rolleyes:
I worked for parcelforce for 4 years and the pressure they have there drivers under is unreal they expect there drivers to deliver 1 parcel every 5 minutes and only a 40 minute break in a 11hr day which does not even give drivers time to knock at neighbours doors ..... also the 50p charge no longer applies if the item is small it should be left at the local post office for you to collect free ........... but this is royal mail we are talking about and the local post office then complains that they have to take 10 - 15 parcels a day yes the same people that moaned when the y lost the benefits book they now moan when they can get 100 plus people in there shops per week. then you get the manager with the clipboard when you get back to the depot asking why you did not leave them at the post office or neighbours .....talk about bang your head against the wall PARCELFARCE
---------- Post added at 20:33 ---------- Previous post was at 20:26 ----------
A bloke at my works bought an item from pixmainia.
They used parcel force to deliver the goods.
He ordered it in November 05 and still has not recieved it!!
They (PF) claimed they could not find the address of our works even though I have had a few parcel force deliverys here with the exact same details....
USELESS
PARCELFARCE is driven by profits and jobs for the boys i have seen it from the inside and it is a complete shambles where you have.....a delivery manager ...a del/col manager .... a customer services manager ....a depot manager ......a evening supervisor .. and indoor staff booking 15 hr days but only working 5 hrs of them this is one company that realy deserves to go under
---------- Post added at 22:26 ---------- Previous post was at 20:33 ----------
http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/transport-automobile-services/parcelforce/reviews/
A hard drive I got from ebuyer was DOA and got RMA'd... I used Royal Mail's recorded delivery sent last Wednesday. Waited till the weekend when I checked ebuyer's site - not received. Checked Royal Mail site and it said to come back later as they had no info on my package :(
Today I phoned Royal Mail who said they didn't know if it had been delivered or even attempted to have been delivered... I said "You mean it's lost?" and they replied it's too soon to be classed as lost, but call back on March 31st and they'll know if they've lost it for real.
Just checked my email and ebuyer received it today and have tested it, confirmed it's dead and a new one will be here tomorrow. Royal Mail, however, still don't know where the parcel is! Muppets :mad:
A hard drive I got from ebuyer was DOA and got RMA'd... I used Royal Mail's recorded delivery sent last Wednesday. Waited till the weekend when I checked ebuyer's site - not received. Checked Royal Mail site and it said to come back later as they had no info on my package :(
Today I phoned Royal Mail who said they didn't know if it had been delivered or even attempted to have been delivered... I said "You mean it's lost?" and they replied it's too soon to be classed as lost, but call back on March 31st and they'll know if they've lost it for real.
Just checked my email and ebuyer received it today and have tested it, confirmed it's dead and a new one will be here tomorrow. Royal Mail, however, still don't know where the parcel is! Muppets :mad:
Stopped using Recorded delivery a long time ago, the postie never gets a signature when it's delivered to a company or signs it themselves if it's a home address. Waste of 60 odd pence.:rolleyes:
Yeah, good point. I needed insurance though, cause I was sure Royal Mail would screw up or lose it. Normal mail wouldn't allow you to claim compensation, would it?
Yeah that's why when I RMAd something to ebuyer i sent it special delivery - and phoned them to chase it on the day that the item was scheduled to arrive! As a consumer I will not be walked on but having to deal with customers all day means I'll normally be polite, etc, when dealing with CS/TS staff. You have to really.
homealone
03-04-2006, 13:08
First time I have had a problem with this ...
I ordered a DVD boxset from Choices, and because I thought it wouldn't fit the letterbox at home, decided to have it delivered at work.
It was taking a while, but I'd had an email to say it had been despatched, so wasn't too worried.
Next thing I got a letter from Parcel Force - they had been 'unable to find the premises', could I contact them on the above phone number...
- no problem, except no-one would answer the phone, it would ring & ring & then just go to an engaged tone. I found an alternate number, this had a menu system & after pressing the option buttons I was informed that the next menu was voice activated & to speak clearly to continue - yes you do look silly in a crowded office saying 'hullo' to an unresponsive mouthpiece :(
No problem, I faxed them a letter with a request to re-deliver, confirming the address, enclosing their original letter & a map with directions - that was last Thursday, still no sign of my parcel - and the depot is 40 miles away. Grrr.
I feel sorry for Choices, but it looks like they have lost a customer for no good reason than making a poor choice of courier. As for Parcel Force, I've heard bad things of them, but hadn't realised just how poor they are.
So yes, in order for companies to do business over the internet they need to use reliable delivery systems that suit the customer - Simply trialled an evening delivery service once, which worked well for me, but it didn't last.
This is something I know a bit about since I know work for an Internet company. Not big enough to have our own national delivery servcice (ala Argos) we are reliant on 3rd party companies. The majority of the time we use UPS but also reliant on Royal Mail and very very occasionally DHL.
DHL are rubbish. The are impossible to talk to and if something goes mising they have their 30 days till lost policy. We try not to deal with them that much now - occassionally need to for european deliveries.
Parcel force signed for are annoying as hell to track things. They dont update tracking information until the parcel is delivered. Point of tracking is? nope dunno. 90% of the time a parcel will get to where it is going but again is lost you have your 30 days till we can do anything and even then the company must submit a bunch of forms for it to be investigated. And try and get hold of someone on the phone - can take hours upon hours of holding to get through!!!
UPS has its issues but all in all the are a very good company to deal with. Tracking information is constantly updated and we can see at any point where exactly the parcel is. Is a mistake is made then it is usualy spotted by UPS and resolved within 2/3 days without us having to even get involved. If we need to contact them at any time we can speak to an advisor usually within a couple of minutes which is a huge plus. They are very helpful on the phone and we can change delivery details at any time.
The problem for companies like mine is that as soon as a package is sent the delivery is in the hands of the company that is used. We quote 3-5 working days for deliveries even though all packages are send next day (shows how much we trust the process). If a customer doesnt get their parcel in the time that was quoted then we have to deal with the angry phone calls. When you are a small internet firm and a high value item goes missing its heavy on the pocket sometimes to send a replacement item out. We have a policy that if something does go missing then we will send replacement goods immediately and 99% of the time the issue is resolved. Although we still need to try and track down parcel 1 and stop it, get it returned, pick it up when it gets delivered as well, etc, etc...
Costs mount up so please be patient with the Internet companies as its not always their fault. If a company doesnt seem helpfull dont give them your business again. The internet is a fab place. You have all the choice in the world and you are not restricted to go back to the same place time after time and get shoddy service.
Come shop with us ;)
(and yeah i know i didnt tell you who i work for but this isnt an advertsiing forum now is it!)
<snip1>
Next thing I got a letter from Parcel Force - they had been 'unable to find the premises', could I contact them on the above phone number...
<snip2>
I don't understand. Since ParcelForce and Royal Mail are essentially the same how could one find the address and not the other - unless they mailed home?
Reasonably lucky here. Both the ParcelForce and Royal Mail sorting offices are reasonably close - about 1 mile each. PF have good opening hours but the RM depot being a lame local one's only open in the mornings etc etc.
Other couriers are more of a problem
- Amtrak, Mansfield Woodhouse, about 16 miles away :o
- CityLink, Ilkeston, about 10 miles (and the other side of town, so necessitating travel through the city centre which is a trial in itself)
- DHL, don't know and the website is too lame to tell me.
Chrysalis
03-04-2006, 14:37
I have decided to use misco now instead of ebuyer although they both use citylink I noticed the following differences.
1 - can add delivery instructions on internet order.
2 - 0800 number if you wish to order by phone.
3 - Seperate number for support issues, which I did test and was answered immediatly.
4 - they accept paypal.
5 - pdf invoice so better printable format.
homealone
03-04-2006, 14:38
I don't understand. Since ParcelForce and Royal Mail are essentially the same how could one find the address and not the other - unless they mailed home?
Reasonably lucky here. Both the ParcelForce and Royal Mail sorting offices are reasonably close - about 1 mile each. PF have good opening hours but the RM depot being a lame local one's only open in the mornings etc etc.
Other couriers are more of a problem
- Amtrak, Mansfield Woodhouse, about 16 miles away :o
- CityLink, Ilkeston, about 10 miles (and the other side of town, so necessitating travel through the city centre which is a trial in itself)
- DHL, don't know and the website is too lame to tell me.
I did wonder, apparently it is because the courier drivers come from Lincoln, wheras the postal sorting is done at Doncaster & then brought here for the local guys to deliver. Apparently it is this lack of 'local knowledge' that is the problem.
- to be fair, we do have a problem in that the post code where I work doesn't appear to exist (probably because it is on a private estate - i.e. Grimsby Docks), but I do wonder why they can't 'tap into' the local knowledge, when required??
I am more annoyed at how difficult it is to contact them...
Chrysalis i know citylink in my area all there drivers have phones in there vans as we have a driver who comes on a daily basis and i asked him once. also they do have online tracking as i am tracking a parcel at the mo(but not the most infortive of online tracking tho).
16:39 Friday, February 17, 2006 On route to delivery branch
My experience of Citylink is not good.
A couple of years back, I ordered a new router. It took a month to arrive. It actually took a couple of days for simply computers to dispatch the order, then Citylink went through a whole variety of excuses ranging from they hadn't recieved it (something I didn't believe, as until that point I had had good service from Simply) to "No one was in" when they delivered. I know that the last one was bull, as at an given time, our house usually has at least one person in it, and the card the driver claimed he left never actually arrived.
I never found out what happened to that router. It got to the point where Simply had to send out another router, and try and reclaim the cost of the lost one from Citilink.
DHL are almost as bad. I got home one day to find a card saying DHL had tried to deliver a parcel. This confused me, as I hadn't ordered anything. So, I phoned DHL and re-arranged delivery. Opted for an evening delivery, in the hope I would be at home.
So, the day of the delivery, I left work early, so I could be at home to recieve the parcel (figuring I'd be there just in case the house was empty). Got home at half four, to find a card waiting saying they had tried to deliver. Apparently, DHL think the evening starts before half past four.
So, I phoned the depot and arranged to go and pick it up. The next day, I left work early (again-thank God my boss is understanding), and went to the depot. I hit a slight snag. The map they print on the back of the card is wrong. With the result that I spent an hour and a half walking around the area around the Purley Way industrial estate in Croydon. By the time I found the depot, it was closed. I wouldn't have minded, but if the map actually said it was just down the road from Ikea (it was about 400 metres away), it would have taken me about ten minutes to wander down from the nearest tram station.
And, do you know what this item was that DHL had so much trouble delivering? A Windows XP 64 CD.
Mind you, the funniest one was when we had our hoover delivered. We ordered it from Tesco online. When it was delivered, I got a vary nervous phone call from home saying some dodgy looking bloke had been making a lot of noise on our doorstep. So, I went home half expecting to see the door kicked in, and burglars making off with our possessions.
What I saw when I got there was something totally different. The delivery man had carried the hoover up the road (it's a busy road, and may have been difficult to get a lorry up). He had then put the hoover down, and cunningly concealed it under the welcome mat.
The trouble is, it is an upright hoover, so the box was rather large. When I saw the mat, it was about 4 foot up in the air.
Chrysalis
03-04-2006, 21:09
If citylink have phones in their vans then someone has been telling me porkies.
My doorbell is damaged and I am in the back of the building so having deliveries is a pain in the ass especially with ebuyer since they dont allow adding delivery instructions.
Like stuart said I have had them say they turned up but their is no card left meaning their is no proof they turned up, when I have rang their depot they have told me they are unable to contact the driver as he has no phone and that is the reason why the driver also cant ring my phone to tell me he is here.
At least with misco they can follow delivery instructions and ring my neighbour instead. The online tracker is no good all it says is left depot and delivered etc. doesnt show you location on a map.
pedantic
03-04-2006, 21:36
I recently purchased a dvd player from these (http://www.sselectricals.com/index.php) people. I ordered at 12.15pm, they sent a confirmation email straight away. They called me later in the day (I was out but they left a message on my answerphone) telling me the driver would call me in the morning. The driver did indeed call, to tell me he would be there in the afternoon. He arrived at 2pm with my dvd player, they even gave me a scart lead which is not part of the box contents. Overall, I will definately buy from them again, they have offered an excellent buying experience. :tu:
The guy who delivered it turned up in an unmarked white van, so I'm guessing they probably hire locals with their own vehicles.
homealone
04-04-2006, 12:40
well wonder of wonders, my parcel has finally arrived, so it looks like the fax I sent worked, after all. Item originally despatched 25th of March ....
I had given up, I spent over a hour trying to telephone the courier, yesterday, & couldn't get through & was all set to contact the supplier to tell them to expect it would be returned.
- 40 episodes of 'Bugs' to watch, now :tu:
I've heard people spell Citylink with a capitol "SH"....
brundles
04-04-2006, 13:00
I've heard people spell Citylink with a capitol "SH"....
With all of the complaints about Parcel Force on here I'm surprised nobody has referred to Parcel Farce.:p:
well wonder of wonders, my parcel has finally arrived, so it looks like the fax I sent worked, after all. Item originally despatched 25th of March ....
I had given up, I spent over a hour trying to telephone the courier, yesterday, & couldn't get through & was all set to contact the supplier to tell them to expect it would be returned.
- 40 episodes of 'Bugs' to watch, now :tu:
An excellent series, got mine ages ago and watched most of them back to back!
Dated but still excellent! :D
I've heard people spell Citylink with a capitol "SH"....
With all of the complaints about Parcel Force on here I'm surprised nobody has referred to Parcel Farce.:p:That's exactly how they're referred to by me and my mates. No end of trouble with 'em.
Speaking of which. My copy of Wild at Heart on dvd arrived today. It's released tomorrow :)
scrotnig
04-04-2006, 18:21
Part of the problem is that everything these days seems to be targetted at the ever increasing vast army of workshy loafers who are in all day everyday and obtain a small fortune in state benefits...ÂÂƚ£20k PA and above not being uncommon for families these days.
These people also pay no local taxes and have subsidised rent, so they have a vast fortune in disposable income to spend at these websites, and can be delivered to in convenient office hours.
Hard working, budget-concious people with jobs are not catered for. They don't spend very much and they can't be delivered to in office hours.
If you don't believe me, look at the sums of money advertisers have to pay now to advertise on daytime TV...it's the new peaktime because of the explosion in 'career loafers' who have no intention of ever getting a job.
Come to think of it...I'm sure I just felt my back twinge....
Part of the problem is that everything these days seems to be targetted at the ever increasing vast army of workshy loafers who are in all day everyday and obtain a small fortune in state benefits...ÂÂƚ£20k PA and above not being uncommon for families these days.
These people also pay no local taxes and have subsidised rent, so they have a vast fortune in disposable income to spend at these websites, and can be delivered to in convenient office hours.
Hard working, budget-concious people with jobs are not catered for. They don't spend very much and they can't be delivered to in office hours.
If you don't believe me, look at the sums of money advertisers have to pay now to advertise on daytime TV...it's the new peaktime because of the explosion in 'career loafers' who have no intention of ever getting a job.
Come to think of it...I'm sure I just felt my back twinge....
:erm:
I'll have some of what you're on mate :disturbd:
From a recent "Which" Report....
Time for a change
Our survey found that those waiting in for deliveries and workmen spend, on average, almost three working days each year waiting in for them to arrive. The obvious way to reduce this figure is for firms to offer narrower delivery/appointment time slots. In our survey almost half the deliveries had a time slot of five hours or more - and just 6 per cent were promised for an exact time.
In an era when the internet has sparked a huge increase in the number of home deliveries, the gap between what consumers want and what companies deliver appears wider than ever. Many companies continue to offer vague morning or afternoon time slots, and very few deliveries are made outside the hours of 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. This is despite the fact that more than 50 per cent of homes are empty between 9am and 4pm as their occupants are out at work.
Supermarkets have shown that they can consistently achieve far higher delivery standards than those revealed by our survey. It is high time that other retailers (and the UK's army of workmen) raised their game to meet the needs of consumers in the 21st century.
If supermarkets can do it...
The performance of the delivery firms covered by our survey is abysmal compared with the service offered by the UK's online supermarkets.
When we last investigated the service they offered (see 'Ditch the trolley', September 2004), we found that all of the major food retailers aimed to deliver your shopping within a two-hour delivery window, with the exception of Ocado - which offered an even more impressive one-hour time slot service.
We found that 80 per cent of deliveries arrived on time, while WaitroseDeliver achieved a punctuality rate that was well in excess of 90 per cent.
Here here
Chrysalis
05-05-2006, 16:18
good report.
... but that isn't the company's fault. Most of the problems with deliveries are down to the couriers which the companies use and to be fair, they're all ****.
Unless the company has their own in-house delivery like C*met do.
cookie_365
05-05-2006, 18:17
Great find Salu
Internet firms lose a lot of my business because - and you'll never believe this - I have a job. Which earns me the money I need to buy their stuff. Which means - and if anyone from ebuyer or next or any one of a hundred other companies is reading, please take note:
I can't guarantee to be home all day for three days; my boss might notice!
The supermarkets really have cracked it. I use Sainsburys and Waitrose (Ocado) and they haven't missed a slot once. Their drivers also have your mobile number, so a couple of when they've able to come earlier they didn't just turn up, they called me and asked if it was ok.
So, if you were ordering say £100 of goods over the net, how much would you pay for a 1 hour delivery slot after 7 pm? I'd say about £5.
MovedGoalPosts
05-05-2006, 20:11
Trouble is the courier firms are all built on a model that says they are delivering to businesses, hence the 9-5 slots. The small internet companies can't afford their own delivery network, so get stuck with these standard couriers or good old royal mail, then they go for the cheapest deal to keep their prices down.
Supermarkets have direct control of their couriers and can link how many couriers they have directly to their internet orders and the slots available. Thus they can allocate and say when you should get it.
Internet companies have no control over the couriers since the couriers serve many different suppliers. Thus there is no way to predict at time of order how many deliveries are needed in an area and how long that might take.
I suspect the costs of getting better couriers would increase dramatically. I just wish the internet companies would allow orders to be delivered to nominated addresses, such as my office, rather than home, or at least had depots for missed deliveries that weren't at least half hour drive away.
brundles
05-05-2006, 20:33
Delivering to businesses would be fine by me - my employer is happy for me to take packages in at work. Unfortunately a number of internet companies are starting to use somewhere called Home Delivery Network because it's very cheap. And they stubbornly refuse to deliver to business addresses - at all.
It's really frustrating when you phone up to ask where a package is only to be told "oh, sorry, we won't deliver to that address - if you can wait at home we can deliver it there at some stage over the next 3 days."
:mad:
Supermarkets have their own delivery vans dedicated to them and nothing else, and they only have a relatively small area to cover, it's really quite easy for them. We use Sainsbury, who have one hour slots, and they often ring up asking if they can come early, they have only been late once in 18 months. You get a £10 voucher if they are late.
Thats cos most of the time the couriers only like instructions from the account holder. Even then, they are totally inflexible - having spoken to them at work (mainly P--------) ie on behalf of the account holder, they've still been pretty inflexible, unhelpful etc etc.
The idea is quite good but couriers are the crux of the issue not the internet sites/retailers concerned - places like supermarkets are not a valid comparison because they normally have a large network of stores distributed around the country with their own transport ie vans. Plus food does have a tendency to spoil if transported over large distances. You order online (say Tesco.com) and they pick at your local store then take the food in their van to yourself, within a certain radius - in effect, saving you the journey and picking it, then taking it on your behalf. Total control over their arrangements. E-tailers do not have this advantage, and depend on couriers who are very inflexible. They do leave a card but as I said earlier in the thread you can normally arrange redelivery (working hours) or collect from a depot- which can be miles away.
In all honesty all the main courier companies are equally bad. CityLink, DHell, Amtrak, UPS, etc etc. RM/Parcelforce are marginally better - at least RM have a depot in your town or suburb. (Our local Royal Mail office is about half a mile away).
Chrysalis
07-05-2006, 15:08
... but that isn't the company's fault. Most of the problems with deliveries are down to the couriers which the companies use and to be fair, they're all ****.
Unless the company has their own in-house delivery like C*met do.
Yeah easy to blame the cheap courier service you outsourced to :)
The company is to blame untlimately they are the courier's employer so if the courier doesnt offer the expected service they choose a different one even if it costs them more.
---------- Post added at 15:08 ---------- Previous post was at 15:03 ----------
Thats cos most of the time the couriers only like instructions from the account holder. Even then, they are totally inflexible - having spoken to them at work (mainly P--------) ie on behalf of the account holder, they've still been pretty inflexible, unhelpful etc etc.
The idea is quite good but couriers are the crux of the issue not the internet sites/retailers concerned - places like supermarkets are not a valid comparison because they normally have a large network of stores distributed around the country with their own transport ie vans. Plus food does have a tendency to spoil if transported over large distances. You order online (say Tesco.com) and they pick at your local store then take the food in their van to yourself, within a certain radius - in effect, saving you the journey and picking it, then taking it on your behalf. Total control over their arrangements. E-tailers do not have this advantage, and depend on couriers who are very inflexible. They do leave a card but as I said earlier in the thread you can normally arrange redelivery (working hours) or collect from a depot- which can be miles away.
In all honesty all the main courier companies are equally bad. CityLink, DHell, Amtrak, UPS, etc etc. RM/Parcelforce are marginally better - at least RM have a depot in your town or suburb. (Our local Royal Mail office is about half a mile away).
Amtrak are a lot better then citylink.
If you just missed a delivery (if in toilet when arrived etc.) then they get the driver to turn around and come back, they also see the driver again during early afternoon so if miss morning delivery can pick up from depot in afternoon. Citylink however told me their drivers dont carry phones and cant be contacted from the depot and because of this also cant ring me if no answer at door, they also say they get back to the depot minutes before it closes meaning only a small window to pick up the same day. So even with just those 2 companies their is major differences.
UPS and dhl I have used both and they have proper tracking online, where you see what street they on I find that pretty cool and far superior to other companies.
Even royalmail beats citylink as you can get them to deliver to a postoffice which can make life a lot easier in regards to getting your parcel.
Unfortenatly I have found almost all cheap internet companies like to use citylink.
vBulletin® v3.8.11, Copyright ©2000-2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.