To ask why parcel delivery services are so terrible?

[InveterateWineDrinker]

So, I've ordered a couple things for home delivery. It's quite a rarity for us: unlike some neighbours who have multiple deliveries every week even once every three months is unusual for us.

Yesterday, Royal Mail emailed at 5.25am to say that a parcel would be delivered between 12.50pm and 4.50pm. Signature required. Fine, I rearranged my day to make sure I'd be at home.

Then they emailed again at 2pm to say it would be delivered between 5.45pm and 7.30pm. Inconvenient and irritating, but there you go. It didn't actually arrive until 7.55pm, which meant I had to get a slippery, dripping DC out of the bath to stop them drowning while I went downstairs and signed for it.

Also yesterday, DHL WhatsApped me to say that the other parcel would be delivered tomorrow, signature required. Again, I re-arranged various commitments to ensure I'd be at home. Just now, they've WhatsApped again to say it's out for delivery now and due between 11.45am and 1.45pm - a whole day early. I'm not at home because I'm out doing something I'd planned to do tomorrow and rescheduled on the basis of the information they gave me less than 24 hours ago.

What is wrong with these people?

You just need to report this to your local depot. The delivery person needs to be disciplined. But can’t happen without it being reported - their managers don’t know if you don’t report it

Variety of reasons. Online shopping is increasing year on year, the depots get 10s of thousands of parcels a day. Not enough staff, staff getting treated like shit, more and more work dumped on you. Drivers call out sick and a whole run needs to be divveyd out, which means going back to the depot. Having to take out 100+ parcels every day. Royal mail puts a lot of pressure on their staff, nobody is superhuman.

Places like DPD who got bumper profits in 2020 wanted to keep that going instead of treating it like the anomaly that it was. Hoofed all their drivers in the balls. Hence their reputations gone down the pan.

Evri send me a text saying for example "your parcel will be delivered between 1pm and 2pm". Great, I make sure I'm back home by 12 to find out they tried to deliver at 11.30. I'd rather it was late than early.

Oh yeah I know they take a photo. I guess it's been a long time since I've had to actually physically sign for something.

it would be the sender who decided they wanted it to be signed for. To be fair, Royal Mail offer this pretty freely, other couriers less so

Yeah I thought that. I guess she says it some exotic expensive stuff from far away so it makes sense.

Our Evri guy is great, I am sure the post office hope to miss you so they can return the parcel to the depot to collect.

When you do go to the depot, everything is in turmoil and they look at you as if it's the first time anyone has ever asked for a parcel, despite this being all they do all day.

haha! yes - every time you go in to collect it, they type the card number in and then look really puzzled /baffled and start exhaling as if its some impossible task to find it.

One asked me once what the box looked like and I said "er... I dont know, it hasn't been delivered, thats why I'm here" 🤣

Very dependant on your area really. For us, RM is probably the least reliable, followed by DPD. Our Evri and Yodel people are really good as are Amazon.

When we ordered a shelving unit from Ikea, it took them until the fifth unit sent before it arrived undamaged, DPD managed to damage three of them and lost one. Luckily Ikea were really good and kept sending out replacements with no hassle, but it just showed how DPD were poor at looking after parcels in their "care".

RM are utterly abysmal, have been for years and not getting any better. Letters posted first class locally take several days to arrive. No deliveries of letters at all sometimes for maybe 2/3/4 days and then a flurry of them arrive together. Yes, we've also had the "while you were out card" left through the door when I've been in and know for a fact they didn't ring the bell. Once I caught him on his way back to his van and he had to admit he didn't have the parcel with him as he "assumed" I'd be out so left it at the sorting office!

Maybe because you are going to the post office and they don’t deliver parcels 🤣

Whats with dumping it on the doorstep when you're not even expecting it, free for it to be stolen.

I've picked up several parcels from my local post office because thats where it said on the Royal Mail card. Some Ive picked up from the depot, some ive picked up from the post office.

Sometimes I've had to go into both because the card doesnt specify which one- thats always a fun day 🙄

You have to select pick up from a post office the postie doesn’t decide.

the post office and Royal Mail have been completely separate companies for years, they can’t just take your parcel to the post office for pick up anymore than they can take it to Tesco!

Nope! Ive gone to the depot several times only to be told its at the post office and I didnt choose that. I have no idea why this happens but it does (they are in the same road at opposite ends)

We're all on first name terms with our local delivery drivers. They're on our local facebook groups and pop up to sort out problems if there's been a mis-delivery.
I'm guessing this isn't normal 😄

You should find out, since that’s illegal. God knows why the post office would accept a parcel that’s nothing to do with them.

Never had a problem with ours. Our delivery drivers open the front door and pop them inside if it’s raining, or on the front step if it’s not.

I get several deliveries a week and it's rare I have any issues. Moving the times around really doesn't bother me because I just authorise it online for them to leave it in a safe space of my choosing.

I've heard a lot of negative stuff about evri and always hope our local drivers never quit because they're both fantastic!

This why I use parcel lockers 🙂 you can go pick it up anytime

Evri have delivered at after midnight three times recently, and twice left the item out in the rain. I’ve complained, but it’s like pouring water onto a ducks back. I will no longer use Evri where I can avoid it, but sometimes it’s difficult to predict whether an Amazon supplier will use them.

Royal mail depot then.

Still the same shite service. This has reminded me,used to get carded all the time when I worked and have to go to the very busy city centre depot to collect. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the storage, every parcel seemed to need seeking out which took an eternity while the queue snaked down the street.

I once found my parcel myself, you could see it sitting behind the counter with my address on, while the employee was out the back rummaging round.

I have caught the post man once putting a card through the door when he hasn't knocked and didn't have the parcel with them. It will be harder to do that now with cameras everywhere.

I would never use any untracked service for online auction sales unless maybe it was something v large and v low value.

I have had too many either non deliveries for things I have ordered (where the item hasn't appeared) or deliveries where there is no completion on the delivery.

Services vary wildly both from provider and area. In some areas services from a particular provider are really good, in others highly questionable.

Royal Mail Special Delivery is a top notch service IMO, but has a price to match.

DHL are a very good commerical quality courier. I have shipped and received a lot of high value stuff through DHL in the past and they have never lost anything for me. Ditto Royal Mail Special Delivery.

thats not the case here, the card tells you where to go to pick up the parcel, I can't see how it would work any other way

What do you mean?

Royal mail policy is that if a customer isn’t in they try neighbours then redeliver the following day -unless it’s 24 hour delivery. Royal Mail are unique in that they come to your house everyday anyway 🤣

after they have attempted redelivery they return the parcel to their delivery office for you to collect. They can’t take it elsewhere.

However, you can go on the Royal Mail website and select an alternative- either post office pick up (in which case someone at the delivery office takes it to the post office) or safe space.

they can’t just take it to the post office because they fancy it. There are laws around what happens to your post in transit.