I naively knew nothing of Hermes' appalling service (I do now, after googling today) so arranged for them to collect a parcel (laptop being sent for repair). This was on Monday 27th April. The online form said they would collect the next day which I thought was quite impressive, especially in the current circumstances.
No-one came and no card was left. I was in all day. That evening I tracked the collection and it said that at 12:28 the driver was "unable to collect" and would try again the next day. Fair enough - I assumed this meant that no driver was available due to staff shortage/Covid-19.
The next day, Wed 29th, no-one came & no card left. I checked again and got the same message (timed at 20:30).
It then dawned on me that the messages were implying that a courier had tried to collect (ie. it was my fault). I have been at home for the whole time and no-one has rung the bell or left a card.
I tried to contact them but had to use the useless automated online chat (on Thurs lunchtime) which said that they tried to collect 3 times (even though the tracking only showed 2 'attempts'). I couldn't get any further 'help' as to what happens next. I did try phoning and hung on for 20 minutes to speak to a human being, but obviously there is no-one actually there.
Anyway, it's now Friday and my parcel is still sitting here waiting to be collected. The tracking is still showing 2 'attempts' (on Tues & Wed). In theory they should have tried again yesterday (Thurs) but it doesn't say that they tried (even though the 'chat' robot said they'd tried 3 times).
What happens now? Surely if they reckon they've tried 3 times (as the website says they do) then they should automatically refund me? Or is this some scam where they pretend they've tried 3 times so it's my fault they couldn't collect and so they get to keep my money?
I tried to cancel the collection just now and it won't let me. To be honest, even if they do come today (unlikely I know) I don't want to hand the parcel to them as I don't trust them to deliver.