Delivery? Piss- poor "Delivery" = DPD

[JohnD]

Online, I ordered a bottle of special whisky from a local (!) Distillery for Son for Xmas.    This morning, at five to nine, I had an email that it would be delivered by DPD between 0930 and 1030.   When I was commited to a volunteering task.   

So, I responded by entering on the DPD site a 'safe place' to leave the parcel.  Got home, no parcel but a card through the door 'Sorry, you weren't in".  Oh, dear, the message hadn't got through, it was short notice ( inflicted by DPD) or else the driver didn't read his brief.

Worse, the parcel will be left in a shop in town, not easy to access, unless I break out the bike.  In this weather?

So I contact DPD, via their chat line - the phone line has a fifty minute wait! I'm 27th in the queue, but I can do other things while I wait, and it only takes half an hour to get to the front.  And I'm cut off 

Try again.  Not much longer.  So sorry to mis you,why didn't you down load our mobile app?  That I didn't know existed?  Can we arrange another delivery?  Oh, so sorry, can't be done!  Yes, the parcel is in the van still, but that will leave it at the shop.   No, it can't stay in the can overnight. No, it can't go back to the depot for redelivery.   It must go to the shop - we will send you a parcel recovery QR code!  So you can pick it up!  Isn't that easier?

So, I must walk or bike into town to pick ups parcel that you were contracted to deliver to me?  No, that isn't bloody easy!

So that's what I did, the mug.  My only satisfaction was to ring the distillery, and tell them what useless company their deliverers were, as they refle cc ted badly on what is a good brew   And to be thanked, because I was not the first to tell them what bunch of autocratic amateurs are DPD!

Hah!  Feel better now!

[Sidescreen Ben]

Glad you feel better post-rant John! Our experience of DPD has been far more positive, in fact I’d rate them as the best of the bunch. Our postcode covers 9 widely dispersed houses and as a result the unwary delivery drivers that can’t read a map and rely solely on a sat nav tend to give up too easily and concoct some excuse as to why they can’t deliver. The plus side of our remoteness is that all deliveries are left in a “safe place”!

[Sprint95m]

One of my friends used to work for a delivery firm who were subcontracted to do the actual deliveries 

One of his problems was getting their hand held reader to accept they had reached the correct address!
After physically handing over the parcel he would often then have to walk some distance to confirm delivery.

They only got updates from the day before, so as in your case John, they would not have been informed.
It is not an easy job, drivers are on very tight schedules...no real allowance was made for the extra volume Christmas brings
other overtime on a Saturday which was simply to clear the warehouse before the next batch coming in on Monday.
An error, even slight, in an address label was often a nightmare because of wasted time trying to figure it out.

 

As an aside, yesterday my sister received a Christmas card, but the thing was it was not for her,
in fact it had been sent without a post code to Leinster in Eire but had arrived in Scotland.
Strangely the only commonality between the two addresses was the house number 
Anyhow  my sister redirected it after adding the correct post code, so we hope for a happy ending 

 

Ian

[JohnD]

I don't blame the driver, but the company.  To be notified half an hour before delivery, to be 'greeted' by blank refusal to consider an alternative to dumping it at a local shop, in  a town where parking is a nightmare, which is usual these days, just isn't the 'service' you and the customer who sends the parcel, expects.     From my conversation on the phone with the distillery, they clearly felt that DPD were letting them down on more than  this occasion!

John

[Hamish]

Dpd really does depend on the final delivery individual. 
ours is ace

mums is a lazy c **t !

[Nick Jones]

31 minutes ago, Hamish said:

Dpd really does depend on the final delivery individual. 
ours is ace

mums is a lazy c **t !

This….  Applies to all of the couriers really, though some have “systems” in place to defeat even the most dedicated delivery driver (yes Parcelfarce, I’m looking at you!)

Locally our DPD guys are great. The Evri (formerly Hermes) guy is great. Royal Mail posties are great. Parcelfarce are utter shite…..

[JohnD]

DPD are not the only Sh1ts.      I started getting email from Yodel.    "We have your package!"    "Your package is out for delivery!" [SIC!]  "We have delivered your package!" and then ""How did we do?"     Absolutely barrel bottom, mate, as no ^%$ 'package' was delivered.

So I get onto their online chat room, and got the most godawful, arrogant idiot to speak to.   "I can assure you that the driver delivered the package correctly, at your address [correct address]"  I had, for some reason included "Silverback Racing" in my address, and the TRansit race van is sitting in the drive with signs on back and sides, plus the hose name, twice, one each side of gate.  Hard to miss, but, no package! "Please check?" [At least he said 'please']     I have  checked, in my 'safe place' in the porch, under the car in the drive, I even looked on top of the wheelie bins.   NOTHING THERE!      "The driver correctly delivered the package at your front door, as shown by the GPS on  his van, and by the photograph"   What photograph?

Nothing until next day, I presume that had to wait until the driver got back to depot, although he could have emailed the pic from his phone - and it's not my front door.    I don't know whose it was, but later this morning  the 'package' did appear on my front doorstep, I presume thanks to the neighbour, not Yodel.     

The worst, IMHO, bit of all was to be advised  by this idiot that in the even that the 'package' could not be found, I should "contact the seller".   Clearly, Yodel accept no responsibility for items they lose, or indeed any responsibility at all.     Useless wastes of space.

Yes, Nick, our GPO postie is great!    Always smiley, will go out of his way to deliver your mail or 'packages' - he found me in the garage one day, rather than just leave it on the mat.

Happy Christmas!   Bah to Humbug!

John