FEATURE Couriers

Couriers FEATURE

Parcels left in crazy places

Like my binned router, it seems couriers think little of leaving packages in all manner of unsuitable spots.
In the middle of winter, a parcel from relatives was left at my back door, in the snow. No note was left regarding this, and I found it two days later, when I actually used the back door and stepped on the package. Which, not surprisingly, was soaked through. Matt I know a crafter who sent an item via the Royal Mail. The postman left the item in the bin and it was emptied before the customer got home. The customer wants the item or a refund, but the Royal Mail wont pay up because it was delivered, leaving the crafter out of pocket. James Ive had a similar experience, except rather than leaving it in the bin,theyd left it under my car. N99123 City Link left an expensive router in my front garden the courier didnt post a card through the door, so I realised only when I caught aglimpse of it a few days later. Fortunately, it hadnt rained, and the light-ngered rufans on my street hadnt clocked it. Russell G

Damaged goods
We hope the number of couriers retraining as midwives is close to zero, judging by the way they handle fragile packages.
I once ordered about 1,000 worth of components from Ebuyer. Thesecurity camera outside caught Parcelforce delivering it over myneighbours 7ft fence and into their rock garden. Andrew I bought a printer some years back, from a certain Davey Winder. Itwas sent via Parcelforce, and arrived smashed to bits. He put in aclaim for damages and Parcelforce said it would have to send someone round to examine the parcel before it could pay out. I was surprised to get an email from Davey a few days later asking why I hadnt kept the printer, as Parcelforce had told him they had come to my address to inspect the damage and been told that I didnt have it anymore. No-one from Parcelforce ever knocked at my door. Joe Back when a 21in CRT monitor was expensive, I caught a courier intentionally dropping my shiny new Sony Trinitron. Rather than putting it down carefully, he dropped it from chest height onto my doorstep. Iwas working in the garden, but I think Id have heard the monitor stand breaking from inside the house. SteveJ

Barry Collins reveals the remarkable problems PC Pro readers suffer at the hands of couriers and how to mitigate against them
hen I posted a blog on the PC Pro website in February, bemoaning the fact that a courier had decided the safest place to leave my new router wasin the recycling bin, I pithily asked whether thiswas the worst courier ever. Judging by the ood of incredible courier nightmare stories that were subsequently posted on the comments section of the blog, theanswer is not even close. From tales of couriers hurling laptops over garden fences, to packages left to rot in the snow, to delivery drivers not even bothering to knock on the door before poking a sorry we missed you card through the letterbox, the PC Pro readership spewed forth with stories of disastrous deliveries. Here, we share some of the worst examples of rank courier incompetence, and offer advice on your rights whencouriers literally fail to deliver the goods.

The law is hazy on what constitute s a completed delivery, butconsumer watchdog Which? says that you have good grounds to argue that the retailer shou ld replace and re-deliver your goods if theyre left outside your home and go missing, or are damaged. However, youll nd yourself on a slightly sticky wicket if youve requested the package be left there. As with all internet-shopping deliveries , your contract is with the retailer, not the courier rm. If you get no joy from the retailer, the Consumer Credit Act affor ds protection for items that cost in excess of 100, so pursu e a refund via your credit card company if the item is suitably expensive. This obviously wont help you if the dustmen cart off the DVD the courier handily left in the wheelie bin, so take advantage of any delivery instruction boxes on retailer order forms to stipulate that the package shouldnt be left outsi de the home.

es with your packag g their rugby skills t 4% of tha Couriers practisin nd fou y ve sur on: a Which? The isntthat uncomm n over the fence. had a parcel throw ve ha ts en ponsible for res is respond er ail ret the t stipulates that mer. Sale of Goods Ac livered to the consu the point theyre de til un up cept ac to n the goods sig u yo if se rights, even You dont waive tho suggests that you although Which? e, ag ck pa delivery of a d on the delivery ed but not inspecte eiv rec ds oo g le scribb ssible. onic device, if po y form, card or electr ble and report an ssi po as on as so s bought od Inspect packages go ve lea nt Do ailer right away. r damages to the ret ecked for weekso tmas presents unch ris Ch ully or ssf ce suc to as birthday er ail ret kes it easier for the t time. months, as that ma goods in sufcien the t ec rej to led fai argue that you

Sorry, you were in!

Several readers reported incidents of couriers dropping the sorry we missed you card through their letterbox, even though theyd waited inespecially for a delivery to turn up.
Twice Ive caught the Royal Mail guy writing a sorry you were not in letter. Twice Ive called the complaints department. Guess what? I caught him twice more, after which he admitted that it takes too long to deliver toats so he just writes cards and leaves them at the entrance. Nik I was waiting for a courier to attempt re-delivery of a parcel. Id somehow missed him the previous day, despite waiting in. The courier walked down the drive, shoved a sorry we missed you note through the door, and ran back to his van. He must have pre-written the note, and didnt even bother to carry my package with him. Fortunately, I managed to run after the van and banged on his window before he could get away. His excuse was that he didnt see anyone through the window, assumed that nobody was home, and decided it wasnt worth ringing the bell to make sure. SteveJ Twice on the same delivery Yodels website said theyd left a sorry you were out card, but wed been in all day and not received either card. Iphoned to complain and the person at the depot gave us the GPS co-ordinates where the delivery attempt had been logged. It turned outtobe a lay-by on a main road ve miles away from our house. If we asked for the parcel to be put out for delivery again, it was likely that wed get the same result, so the only option was to collect the parcel from the depot, which is an hours drive away in Cardiff. So, next-day delivery tookthree days, a 120-mile round trip, three hours off work, and an awful lot of frustration and aggravation. Simon Jones I live in Pool, Cornwall, but my parcel was delivered to Poole in Dorset, where they couldnt nd my road. When I phoned up and chased where itwas, I was advised I could collect it from the local depot in Poole. Theydidnt believe that there could be a Pool in Cornwall. The item waseventually returned as un-deliverable and I managed (with some argument) to cancel the order and order from elsewhere. Michael

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FEATURE Couriers

Package is with a stranger

Courier rms assume we all live in Coronation Street, where everyoneknows your name and will safely look after your parceluntilyou get home.
I had a brand-new mobile phone sent by T-Mobile via Royal Mail. They left a you were out card in the communal area of my block of ats. My neighbour got the card, went to the Royal Mail sorting ofce and got the parcel, although the name on the parcel and their proof ofID werent the same. I had to threaten my neighbours with police and legal action until someone left it in front of my door. Yiannis I had an Amazon Prime package delivered by DPD last week. Hadaconrmation text the night before and selected deliver to neighbour since I knew Id be out and someone would likely be around. Returned home the following evening to nd a large Amazon box stood on the doorstep, with no attempt made to hide or obscure itatall. I checked the online tracking and found it had been signed forby A Driver. Neil Harper Some personalised mugs and calendars I ordered for Christmas were left opened under the communal stairs of a block of ats half a mile from my house. Ryan Thomas Ive had the Post Ofce leave both a Kindle (complete with big clue words such as Amazon Kindle emblazoned on the box) and an iPod on the doorstep. Weve also had some DVDs left in this way. Not that wefound them on our doorstep, but when a neighbour found the ripped-open package on a nearby eld. Fortunately, the little thugs whod stolen them didnt share our taste in lms. Dave Faulkner
l Mail permission m granted the Roya t Last October, Ofco the recipient wasn th a neighbour if wi es ag ck pa ve tolea t was already opt a practice tha in,allowing it to ad er industry. If you uri co the of t s the res widespread acros a neighbour, the th wi ckages to be left pa ur yo sh wi nt do r on or near your you place a sticke Royal Mail insists www.pcpro.co.uk/ n be ordered from letterbox, which ca cant stipulate u yo ly, . Unfortunate links/225courier2 be left with, and the packages should tes whichneighbour cide what constitu the discretion to de tely dia me im postman isgiven people isnt restricted to the aneighbour it e, next door. mages the packag your neighbour da ? es elv ms What happens if the for ep it ignorance and ke or decides to feign neighbour and are a to red live de Ifany items are mers will still be or damaged, consu subsequently lost in the normal way, mpensation claim d ableto make a co be investigated an ll wi s tes. All claim the th wi e lin theRoyal Mail sta in d an normal processes assessed under the used. ce rvi se the of ns terms and conditio hnically in breach t the retailer is tec Which? argues tha harm or go missing to any package come ld ou sh t red to ac ntr co of ce it wasnt delive th a neighbour, sin allow to d ree after being left wi ag y icall unless you spec dress. ad y the stated address arb ne a at e drop the packag the courier rm to Ts&Cs carefully. ry live de ur Check yo

A ROYAL MAIL INSIDER ON SORRY WE MISSED YOU CARDS

At Royal Mail, the sorry we missed you cards are known internally as P739 cards. Its fair to say that complaints surrounding these P739s make up the biggest proportion of complaints that the company receives every year. This isonly increasing as the postmans pouch changes towards a progressively parcel-heavy ratio. More parcels equals more times that customers will not be in,and a P739 has to be left. There has been incredible focus by the company on making sure that the process is followed properly. This involves knocking on the door of the customer, waiting and then knocking again before the P739 is posted. Its common to knock rst, then start writing out the card while waiting forthe door to be answered, and then only post it once the second knock hashappened and nobody has come tothedoor. As you can imagine, there are plenty of ways to cut corners if the postman were so inclined. Parcels could be left at the delivery office and cards pre-written with no attempt at delivery beingmade; items that need signingforcould be signed by the postman and then posted. These arebig no-nos and are sackable offences, coming under fraudulent behaviour and bringing the company into disrepute. The company has never issued adirective to do any of the practices mentioned in this feature. It would be a disaster if they did we all work in a unionised environment and there would be leaks to the press within hours of such a directive. Not to mention the postalregulator getting rather annoyed and deciding to ne upto10% of turnover. The absolute best way to putanend to this practice is to complain to customer services complaints are followed up, although the customer doesnt get to know this. Our Royal Mail insiders identity has been withheld.

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