to think that delivery drivers should be more contactable

[victrixludorem]

In these days of mobile phones, AIBU to think that a 2 man delivery team should be contactable by phone to give an idea of the delivery time? I am waiting in for a 5 hour slot and have been told "there is no way to contact the drivers" to get a more precise time estimate. Surely this is silly? They are bound to be mobiled up and all I would like is for them to say when I would be safe to pop out for half an hour to walk the dog. I understand that they cannot predict traffic, and want flexibility but I bet my bottom dollar they know if I am first or last on their route. I can understand it more when it is simply a single driver as he may not have hands free and could well be driving at any particular moment, but when it is a team then it seems daft.

Of course they are contactable (I work in haulage). They just don't want the bother of being contacted by customers so they claim not to be.

It is daft. I had to wait in recently for someone to come and change my water meter. I booked an afternoon slot (between 1 and 5), and he phoned when he left the previous address, giving me 20 minutes or so warning. If a water meter man can do it, why can't a team of delivery drivers?

I appreciate that he may have fewer calls over a larger geographical area than a delivery driver (whose previous drop might be 5 minutes or less away from yours). But there would be nothing stopping them from phoning when they had 2 or 3 drops before yours, giving you a little more notice. And I'd hazard a guess that it would be worth it, as it would reduce the number of missed deliveries and drivers having to return.

Or another delivery that I had I got an email in the morning saying I was drop number 17 or whatever, and a website link that I could go on that gave the current delivery number, which was great for that 'do I walk the dog now, or wait?' conundrum- if he was on delivery 14 or 15 then I'd be better off waiting.

They are contactable like PP said they just dont want to be, why else would they need a contact number for you 'just in case', no need if they are not contactable. What they really mean is we dont have a work phone and dont want to use our own (which is fair enough) however they could be given a cheap phone with a company contract.

I was waiting for a delivery and the driver had my number to call as the delivery address is round the back of shops so not always obvious which building it is, i made it quite clear that i would come out and meet them or direct them in. I didnt get my delivery as they couldnt find the address and didnt bother to phone me as they didnt have a work phone and didnt want to use their own mobile.

Agree with others - I can see why they don't give it out to customers, but whoever organises the route must have a clearer idea than a 5 hour window. As others have said, you think it would help them with not having so many people who 'just pop out', too.
I wouldn't expect them to call everyone, but I'd have thought that on the day there should be a way of finding out - if you rang the office or on the website if that tech-y, if you need to.

I love getting parcels by dpd as, like a pp said, you get a online tracker thingy where you can see what delivery number you are and whereabouts the driver is at that minute. If dpd can do it, I don't see whyothers cant follow suit.

I like the one where you can track the actual named driver. 'Charlie is in Tewkesbury' gives me a much better idea of whether I can safely pop out for milk than a terse 'Out for delivery'. There's another one that tells you a precise time-slot on the morning of delivery, eg 'Between 10:31 and 11:42', which always impresses me.

Glad I am not the only one. Sometimes I wonder what happens if you do pop out and they arrive. I suppose they call and wait?

No, they don't call and wait! They leave it with a neighbour or give a missed parcel card. Why would they wait around if you're out when they have other deliveries?

I think YABU because there's a limit to how much they can pander to everyone - I love DPD but think they go above and beyond.

I love getting parcels by DPD as, like a pp said, you get a online tracker thingy where you can see what delivery number you are and whereabouts the driver is at that minute. If DPD can do it, I don't see why others cant follow suit.

This ^^

Before this system was available, the DPD driver used to ring me (and I guess all the other customers on that day's round) around 8.00 to 8.15 am and let me know which hourly slot he was aiming for. As that time drew near, he would ring again to say if there had been any delay and re-schedule. Of all the delivery drivers, I find DPD are the best for
punctuality and their drivers are pretty good at being polite too.

Drivers often only have their own personal mobile phones. A lot of companies do not supply the drivers with company mobiles. The drivers use their own personal contract minutes or pay as you go to contact customers and will not be reimbursed by the company. Especially if they are self employed.
Also the company will have the drivers mobile or a hand held scanner to keep contact with the driver which often they don't as they know the driver if fully loaded and will get to the customer when they can.

They can deliver 150 parcels a day. Can you imagine how much tine they'd spend fielding calls from customers?

Of course they are contactable (I work in haulage). They just don't want the bother of being contacted by customers so they claim not to be.

^This.

I would never in a million years give my number out to customers if I were a delivery driver.

It would be fine it it were a simple:
"When will you arrive?"
"At X O'clock"
"Cool. Thanks"

But more likely than not it would be abused by customers calling to whine, voice their grievances, pester you why you aren't there yet, etc... More often than not, I'd be turning my cell off.

DPD are brilliant. I hope all delivery companies will soon be using their system. An hour window is a wonderful thing. The day before the delivery I get a text which gives me the option of selecting a different day, and this works perfectly too. They are definitely showing how it can and should be done.

I can understand the drivers not wanting customers to be able to call them. But you'd think there'd be some way of setting up an automated alert. The drivers have that handheld scanner thingy. The depot must know exactly where the driver is and what parcel they are delivering at that moment. You would think they could set up something like a text that is sent when there are say 5 deliveries before yours, to let you know the driver is expected sometime in the next hour. So as soon as you get the text, you go straight to the toilet, then you know you'll be able to hold out till the driver's been. (Luckily for me, my bathroom window is above the front door, so I have been known to yell down that I'm on my way, what really annoys me though is when I've been to the kitchen and made a drink and come back to a card and they didn't even ring the doorbell!)

Between 150 and 200 parcels a day to be delivered. It is a highly physical demanding job lifting upto over a thousand kilo a day on and off the van. It's also draining on the brain driving all day. Putting up with unpredictable traffic.most jobs start at half 6 in the morning and you can still be working until 6 at night. The job also involves collections within the day as well.
To have 150 customers on the phone saying where are you, what time are you going to be here wouldn't help the driver but just slow down the arrival time. I use to do this job full time and believe me my body was broken and then go home and be a single mum!!
Be patient and give them a break, yabu.

Dpd are great for customers. Unfortunately the stress and pressure this puts on the drivers is appalling.

Every minute of your day is accounted for. If the speed limit on a road is 60mph the time is set to account for that, even if it is not safe to do more than 30mph.
Every drop has a time allocated to it so if it takes you a couple of minutes to open the door they fall behind. Often using their half hour break to catch up time as they are disciplined for missing the window.

There is no time allowance if they need the toilet.
The staff turnover is high.

I avoid this company as I would rather have some inconvenience that feel that I am contributing to someones misery.

saddened I am indeed saddened to hear that. As customers we don't get a choice of delivery company when ordering from a particular company, it's just the one they use.

My DPD drivers have never seemed agitated but I can see how sticking to an hour slot can be stressful. I hope there can be some middle ground where everyone is happy one day.

I also like the DPD system, surely the answer is to give positive reviews on company websites when they use a good delivery company.

Also as a consumer share information about which companies use the best couriers, then they'll have to adapt to customer preferences or lose business

The company can't always tell how long the driver will be because the driver quite often chooses which way he is going to go that day.
It is usually more effective for the driver to decide how he is going to deliver his parcels than have someone in the office tell him.

Most routes are not straight forward A to B runs. As a simple example, I live on a main road. There are various roads running off of my road. A driver may decide to cover part of my road, then do all of his deliveries on the right hand side, then do a few more on the main road, then a few on the left side, then a few more on the main road. Or he may do it all the opposite way round.

I think some care and some don't.

Back in the days before mobile phones I had a delivery due, they said they would call me on the day to give 2 hour time slot.

I eventually got a call to say they were outside and where was I? They claimed they had been calling my number 'all day', I said they hadn't, they started to argue, I pointed out that to contact me they had to go through the hospital switch board and did they really think no one in a hospital would answer them?