Just need to vent.
Last Saturday, I waited in all day for DD's bed frame to be delivered. She was really looking forward to it. Delivery window was 7am - 9pm. No delivery. Phoned Argos the next day and, after lots of to-ing and fro-ing with the courier, they said the driver had been unable to find my address so the bed was on its way back to Argos. I said I still very much wanted the bed and provided lots more information about where my house is (admittedly we are very hard to find and postcode doesn't bring you to our house!) and sent them a Google image via email of the road the driver needs to turn into. They assured me this would be passed to the courier.
Delivery rearranged for today. 7am - 9.30pm. Harassed driver called me at 1.30pm and I provided directions and offered to drive down the road ten minutes to the church (only sort of landmark around here!( and guide him to my house. He agreed to this.
Driver then pulls up behind me and is in a foul mood. He said he was outside of his delivery window and would get into trouble. Not rude or anything but visibly worried. He brought out five parcels (bed was expected to come in three parcels but I figured I'd gotten this wrong) and left them by my gate. He asked if I wanted help to take them into the house, while he was standing by his van door about to get back in, and I stupidly said no as I felt so guilty already. So off he went.
Parcels were heavy - as expected for a flat pack wooden bed frame - and plain. Very small sticker on the outside of some of them with Argos catalogue number. I brought them all inside and then me and DD went to open them. No bed! Three parcels were a flat pack wardrobe and another two were a chest of drawers. All had my name and address stuck on by Argos so no idea what had happened.
Phoned Argos and explained. I was on the phone for 50 minutes and got passed to 6 different people. They all told me their system told them the bed had been delivered and seemed not to believe me that instead I had received 2 wrong items.
Then the final person told me that the bed was out of stock and they would text me when it came back into stock. No idea why he could tell me that but the first 5 people couldn't! I asked how long that would take and he said that it might never come back into stock as it was a clearance item. I asked him was Argos just planning to hold on to my money indefinitely even if the bed didn't come back into stock and he advised if i hadn't received a text in "about a month" I should call back to enquire about it. I said no way and requested a refund so I can go elsewhere and get a bed. This will take 3-5 working days. Fine.
Then we get to the items in my house that I didn't order. He asked if I was available any day between now and next Saturday for the driver to return and collect the items. I said I work Monday to Friday and had plans next Sat. I wouldn't be able to wait in all day next Sat but was available between 12-4 (appointment in the AM and a show in the evening). He said that the courier window was again 7am-9pm. I tried to be nice and helpful and said I would be able to stay at home the following Sat (so 2 weeks from today) but he said his compute would only allow him to go up until next Sat. He then asked if i could drive them to a depot or to my nearest Argos shop. I say no way. I said I could leave the items in my porch (which is unlocked for the post man every day) so the courier could collect when I was out but the Argos man insisted I must be there to sign. We reached an impasse it seemed with me advising him my nearest neighbour was a mile away and elderly and it would be entirely unreasonable for me to ask her to wait in my house all day for a courier. He then said he would write on the note to the courier that I would only be at home after 5pm during the week but couldn't guarantee that the courier would be able to honour this time. He then advised that if the courier attempts to collect from me three times in a week and I'm not there, Argos might charge me for the items! Then he backtracked and said he was sure that wouldn't happen and the return process would be simple.
I'm totally bewildered. And totally stressed! What a bloody annoyance and waste of 2 weekends. I now have 5 huge parcels taking up all my porch and have no idea if they'll even be collected!
Right. Actually feel much calmer having vented here. Anyone else hate rural living due to delivery stress? I rarely order online now as it's awful drivers not being able to find you and you feel guilty about taking up so much of their time. I used to live in a top floor flat no lift) and had similar guilt with delivery drivers having to hoik stuff up 40 stairs. If I move again, it's going to be a bungalow in a piss-easy to find street. No more stress about deliveries!