YODEL

[var123]

AIBU to ask for your Yodel rants here.

Here is mine:-

Gift for DS1 ordered last Tuesday 9th from a UK company through amazon.
It was dispatched on Thursday and given to yodel.
It arrived, and left the local distribution centre on Friday. (I live 10 mins drive from the M25 so we are not talking the Outer Hebrides here).
It is still out for delivery and yodel say on their website that it won't be delivered until the 27th, which will be too late for Father Christmas!

Yodel's live chat is constantly down and there is no other way of communicating.

What annoys me is that Dick Stead, Executive Chairman of Yodel has said in the press that he's cleared the backlog. I suspect that means that he's added a fortnight to lots of people's Christmas presents.

BTW If I had known that the delivery company was yodel, I would not have placed the order at all. Why do companies continue to use Yodel? Are they really so much cheaper than everyone else?

[Inthedarkaboutfashion]

They use yodel because it is cheap. Yodel are rubbish because they are cheap and don't pay their delivery drivers properly (they have To use own vehicles and pay for own petrol).
Yodel have been in the media all weekend because they have a huge backlog on parcels and many are very behind delivery schedule.
You can reject delivery on the parcel when it arrives and yodel will have to return it to the supplier. So you may as well just go and buy a replacement in an actual shop so you have it in time for Christmas.

[AnythingNotEverything]

You have no relationship with Yodel. If you have an issue with the delivery delay of your item you need to go back to the retailer.

[var123]

I would do that if I could be sure of actually getting the chance to reject it. In the past, they have typically dumped the parcel on the doorstep and left without even ringing the bell.

This is one of the two reasons I made my own, personal policy of never buying anything that included a yodel delivery. The other is I had the same experience last Christmas and the Christmas before.

[var123]

I did go back to the retailer (the Book People). Asked them to do what they can, or accept a cancelled order. Still waiting for their response...

[WalkingThePlank]

You have my sympathies. I won't buy from a retailer that delivers via Yodel after many poor experiences, lost items and last minute Christmas Eve shopping trips.

There's a site called Yodelhell that lists the retailers that use Yodel.

[MissRee]

The telephone number for upwards escalation is 0844 372 3159. They don't advertise this number (for obvious reasons) but ring them and give them hell!!

I've had no end of problems with their distribution for my small business (shipping from the US), they've had one of my deliveries since last monday and can't tell me when I should expect it to arrive with me! Thankfully they've been sacked by our head office in the states so this should be the last delivery they have to make to me...

[var123]

"Dick Stead, executive chairman of Yodel, apologised to all customers affected by the delay.

He said: “We can confirm that the parcel backlog in our central sorting facilities has been cleared and these parcels are now in our network of local service centres for delivery between Monday and Wednesday this week."

That is a blatant lie! Is it just me who minds lies much more than unpalatable truths?

Thanks for the number. I will give the Book people another couple of hours , and then call them.

[MissRee]

It is a blatant lie because the gent I spoke to on the phone yesterday said "Well, obviously we haven't cleared ALL of the backlog..."

[SaucyJack]

I had my "back logged" parcel delivered by Yodel yesterday so some at least are getting through.

[Marshpillow]

Not had any problems with late deliveries, but I ordered three things online which were delivered by Yodel and two of them looked like they'd been kicked down the stairs.

[MissRee]

So far I've been told:

"Your parcel was due out for delivery on the 9th but bad weather caused the roads in the local area to be closed" - BLATANT LIES

"Your parcel was due out for delivery on the 9th but there was an accident in the area causing all the roads to be closed" - MORE BLATANT LIES

"Your parcel hasn't been collected from the port yet" - LIES

"We can't get hold of the Dartford depot to find out if your parcel is still there" - a more likely scenario but I doubt nobody has been answering the phone or emails since last Wednesday!

[EbwyIsUpTheDuff]

my Yodel driver is great, quite often passes me on the way home from collecting my boy from school to tell me there's a parcel and he's just coming from my house so do I want to take it rather than let him take it home again... did it yesterday with MIL's yule gift. Much easier all around. it's not the individuals, it's the company.

[var123]

I just looked at Yodel's twitter feed: there's a lot of unhappy people.

[JuanDirection]

My husband went to their office to pick up a parcel which they denied all knowledge of, and they told him to fuck off! I don't mean they politely fobbed him off either, they actually told him, in those exact words to fuck off!

[daisyswirl]

Well my parcel was apparently posted through my letter box. Bearing in mind its a watch in a gift box i'm not seeing it myself! According to the company i ordered from i can't list it as missing parcel till the 19th but god knows where its gone..i checked all the usual places..bins,gutters, random scary looking house on the street. Where is my mums (not cheap) christmas present??!!

[var123]

surely you can say its missing if yodel say it has been delivered?

[KeepAbreast]

Twice I've had parcels delivered by Yodel to addresses that weren't mine. The first time, my DP rang up and asked to speak to the driver, and they gave him the driver's number. Driver came back and took DP with him to a house up the road, where he had to climb over the fence that he had thrown our parcels over.

Last time, they told us on the phone our parcels had been delivered to! So they obviously knew it wasnt the right address!

[WyrdByrd]

They are fucking appalling.

I ordered a laptop a few months ago online. In between order & delivery the price went down so I queried it with the company who said I'd have to order another and refuse delivery of the first.

When the first one showed up a day late, the Yodel courier couldn't work out how to do a refused delivery so I said I'd accept it & return it. Long story short there was confusion about the collection & delivery of Laptop 2 which then turned out to faulty. It took me 3 weeks, 5 phonecalls & 2 emails to get the bloody thing collected.

My mum recently ordered a laptop herself from another company not realising they used Yodel. She caught the courier about to leave the package unsigned for under a shrub in her front garden in the pouring rain.

I will never order from a company that uses these idiots again .

[Ponyphysio]

Not filled with hope for my new TV recorder that should have been here last Wednesday :(

[IthoughtATMwasacashpoint]

I had an e mail one Friday night from the Despatch Bay to say that Yodel had delivered my parcel 5 minutes ago and it had been signed for by Mr ATM.

No one had been to the door all afternoon let alone 5 minutes earlier and there is no Mr ATM.

After a few days of conversations with them during the course of which I was asked if I'd been to all my neighbours to see if it had been delivered to them by mistake - (unlikely, I thought, that if that had happened, they'd have signed for it as the non existent Mr ATM), and several conversations with the supplier who were getting about the same amount of sense out of them, I went out on Wednesday morning and nearly fell over said parcel which had been left on the doorstep.

[Jodie1982]

Oh noooo now I'm worried about my Amazon order .

[EmpressOfJurisfiction]

Last year I ordered a microwave. A week later there was no sign of it, but the tracking site said it had been delivered by Yodel and signed for by Eliza.

When I phoned the vendor to ask what the hell was going on their first response was to ask if I was SURE there was no Eliza living in my flat...

And then yes, they had me going round the neighbours.

Anyway, after a week of to and fro phone calls, it turned out the microwave had gone to a house three streets away with a similar address. And no, they couldn't send me a replacement immediately. I'd be refunded and have to re-order.

Well, they were right about the refund bit....

[BikketBikketBikket]

My DD ordered a new phone last week - according to Yodel, it was delivered (and signed for by her DP) at a time when the house was empty as they were both at work
They finally found it lying in the front porch (they use the back door as the garage connects to that one) - all £476-worth of it....

[IthoughtATMwasacashpoint]

Why can't other couriers be like DPD? I get a text/email the night before the delivery giving me the option to change the date if I need to.

I get a text/email in the morning giving me an hour slot for the delivery, the name of the driver and the option to track visually round the delivery route.

So much easier than being left in limbo for days and far more cost effective for them knowing that people are going to be in.

[var123]

I think a local collection point must be the way to go for these couriers, at a local petrol station or a shop near the train station.

In my case, there is someone at home all day, and I'd be happy to take in stuff for neighbours too, but so often I open the front door to find parcels lying on the doorstep.

When I lived in London and was thinking of a career change after my first baby was born (12 years ago), I did have a business idea of offering a by the hour service to wait in people's houses for parcels/ electricians / plumbers / washing machine repairmen etc. I was going to charge a basic amount for that and extra for cleaning. I'd be the administrator. Looking back, i wish I'd actually started that business rather than just daydreaming it. I'd have made a fortune!