Winter/Xmas Delivery Fails

meanredspider

What have people's experiences been like with stuff being delivered in this weather?

I ordered some Shimano RS80s to hear that they won't even be collected by Parcel Farce until the New Year and not before they've cleared their backlog of stuff for Scotland.

Ordered some DVDs from Amazon on Sunday. Got a mail yesterday (Tues) telling me of likely delays. No sooner finished reading it than the DVDs arrived.

Ice Spiker Pros coming from Germany had taken 4 days of travelling to get to Brum (DPD) - that's not even halfway.

Finally (and most critically) - heating oil! Ordered last week - normally a "next day" service - they're telling me it's likely to be the New Year again before I get some. t was only -15C last night.....

A bit of bloody snow and we're baggered!

Will.C

Feel your pain brother. Was just reading this while on the phone to UPS for the 10th time. Paid $45 for some clothes to be delivered in 5 working days from the states, it got to England on the 3rd and I still don't have it, the depot is 500 meters from where I work. the snows pretty mild down here (surrey) so they have no excuses, absolutely livid, was supposed to be a christmas present.

sheffsimon

meanredspider wrote:

What have people's experiences been like with stuff being delivered in this weather?

I ordered some Shimano RS80s to hear that they won't even be collected by Parcel Farce until the New Year and not before they've cleared their backlog of stuff for Scotland.

Ordered some DVDs from Amazon on Sunday. Got a mail yesterday (Tues) telling me of likely delays. No sooner finished reading it than the DVDs arrived.

Ice Spiker Pros coming from Germany had taken 4 days of travelling to get to Brum (DPD) - that's not even halfway.

Finally (and most critically) - heating oil! Ordered last week - normally a "next day" service - they're telling me it's likely to be the New Year again before I get some. t was only -15C last night.....

A bit of bloody snow and we're baggered!

Pretty common knowledge on internet etc about mail order delivery problems, you go ahead anyway, have some problems, then add to the list of complainers. :?

NW Postie

You may want to take into consideration that there has been problems at the UK airports this week, so if it has arrived into the UK within the 3 days, it may have got stuck at customs. I know Royal Mail are stating this as the problem for out going mail so i guess it'll be affecting incoming aswell.

I've also heard the PF have been holding parcels on trailers at their sorting hub in Coventry due to the weather.... tbh I can see the reasoning behind it as I wouldn't want to be at my local parcel depot spilling out the doors not even going anywhere

daviesee

Will.C wrote:

Feel your pain brother. Was just reading this while on the phone to UPS for the 10th time. Paid $45 for some clothes to be delivered in 5 working days from the states, it got to England on the 3rd and I still don't have it, the depot is 500 meters from where I work. the snows pretty mild down here (surrey) so they have no excuses, absolutely livid, was supposed to be a christmas present.

Self collect? Girl in my office had to do it.

Will.C

daviesee wrote:

Will.C wrote:

Feel your pain brother. Was just reading this while on the phone to UPS for the 10th time. Paid $45 for some clothes to be delivered in 5 working days from the states, it got to England on the 3rd and I still don't have it, the depot is 500 meters from where I work. the snows pretty mild down here (surrey) so they have no excuses, absolutely livid, was supposed to be a christmas present.

Self collect? Girl in my office had to do it.

They can't tell me if it's on th truck or at the depot...

Stone Glider

As a 'proper' cyclist I have taken steps to ensure that all the drugs and medications I need for the holiday period are organized well in advance Today I have taken delivery, thanks Shane, of the last consignment. Isn't it great when a plan comes together?

northernneil

I went shopping in a 'town' ... was great .. no bugger around, no delivery charges, no missed pressies, all done in 2 hours

SteveR_100Milers

Am waiting for stuff now for several days from Amazon and Wiggle, both using Citylink (is that spelt correctly I wonder?) who failed yesterday to deliver, when asked "because there is too much snow in your region". That's why the royal mail van, tescos lorries, petrol tankers and about every form of commercial vehicle have been operating almost as normal for the past 48 hours in my *region*

All credit to Royal Mail - I had stuff delivered right in the middle of the second blizzard on Friday last week which had been ordered days after Amazon/Wiggle

jgsi

Allow me a mild mannered rant... yup it is because we all stand around doin feck all for a shift in the hours when yu are still stuffed up under the duvet clutching yer knackers.
Next year .... order earlier or go to a real shop.. I really dont give a stuff where and how you spend yours money but it pees me off to read slaggin posts about people who are actually trying to do their best.

hatbeard

JGSI wrote:

Allow me a mild mannered rant... yup it is because we all stand around doin feck all for a shift in the hours when yu are still stuffed up under the duvet clutching yer knackers.
Next year .... order earlier or go to a real shop.. I really dont give a stuff where and how you spend yours money but it pees me off to read slaggin posts about people who are actually trying to do their best.

oi, stop wasting time on the internet and deliver those parcels!

just kidding

daviesee

JGSI wrote:

Allow me a mild mannered rant... yup it is because we all stand around doin feck all for a shift in the hours when yu are still stuffed up under the duvet clutching yer knackers.
Next year .... order earlier or go to a real shop.. I really dont give a stuff where and how you spend yours money but it pees me off to read slaggin posts about people who are actually trying to do their best.

How early do you want?

The girl next to me ordered a DVD player mid November. It had made it's way to the depot by 29th November. Still not delivered on Monday. She had to go collect it. It was only 8 miles away. 3 weeks FFS! She got there in 1/2 hour. Some people's best is not good enough.

gavintc

The problem is that the logistic chain in UK is very 'efficient and lean', the result is that it is not very resilient as years and years of management analysis has removed the bit extra to ensure that it works - but only in optimal conditions. In summary, we would have pay more for insurance level service.

SteveR_100Milers

JGSI wrote:

Allow me a mild mannered rant... yup it is because we all stand around doin feck all for a shift in the hours when yu are still stuffed up under the duvet clutching yer knackers.
Next year .... order earlier or go to a real shop.. I really dont give a stuff where and how you spend yours money but it pees me off to read slaggin posts about people who are actually trying to do their best.

Wasn't a personal rant against you - I just noticed that one carrier (and I am not alone in this by any means) has more problems than the normally unfairly critiscised Royal Mail, and other delivery vehicles of similar size. I wouldnt mind if the reason was believable, it's that the reason I was given was BS.

Headhuunter

I ordered something through Evans and a couple of other things through Sports Direct yesterday afternoon and both things got to me this morning!

orbeaorca

Order from Rapha on Tuesday, delivered today ( Thursday ) order again from them this morning and have had confirmation that it will be delivered tomorrow.
Superb stuff

Jonny Fortnight

I made two orders yesterday morning, one from Wiggle and one from Urban Hunter.

The Urban Hunter parcel arrived this morning by Royal Mail.

The Wiggle parcel arrived this afternoon by City Link, although I missed them!

I'm amazed both arrived so quickly!

ShutUpLegs

Placed an order with AlwaysRiding on Monday, delivered to my billing address not my delivery address yesterday because I paid by paypal and it only goes to the registered address. No card left by the Post Office and AlwaysRiding said tough as I didn't check the confirmation email.

Guess its all going to be returned after christmas when I eventually get back home and collect it from the post office.

meanredspider

SheffSimon wrote:

Pretty common knowledge on internet etc about mail order delivery problems, you go ahead anyway, have some problems, then add to the list of complainers. :?

???? My point was actually the variability of experiences (Amazon (Citylink) delivering in 2 days, Parcel Farce not even collecting until Jan).

Personally I'm sure a number of couriers are using the weather as an excuse to keep costs down. One claimed that the weather in Scotland was too bad for them to deliver on the promised day (they'd already charged me 80 quid to delivery 4 alloys (no tyres) in a week). I did explain that I'd just driven pretty much the length of Scotland without issue. They then admitted that they'd made the decision 3 days earlier (4 days before they were due to make the journey).

JGSI wrote:

Next year .... order earlier or go to a real shop..

Right - so give you the trade the rest of the year just please don't bother us just now please because it's a bit difficult? Welcome to the real world! If you can't deliver a service, don't offer it. Some companies are clearly managing it fine. (and I'm not picking on you personally, JGSI, but, living up here, I spend a fortune with delivery companies (most of whom don't think of the Highlands as part of "Mainland UK" WTF) to get the things I need and can't get locally. So when I need the service, I get a bit pissy being told go elsewhere because it's a little inconvenient right now)

Tom Butcher

Ordered main xmas present on 20th Nov, 13th Dec ParceForce finally admit they've lost it. Sender no longer had same thing in stock but offered an alternative and partial refund for the extra - thought 14th Dec should still be safe enough especially as it was going to be sent Express24.

Been showing as located at "General Parcel" since 15th December - can't get through to ParcelForce to ask if delivery is likely, no reply to emails. Eventually sender agrees to refund and says if it ever arrives just refuse it and say take it back.

Absolutely diabolical service from ParcelForce - fantastic customer service from the company sending it. I know we've had snow but not dating back to 20th Nov and it's not as if I live in the outer Hebrides.

Luckily avoided buying anything else mail order this year but I feel sorry for families where the kids' presents aren't going to be there for the 25th. OK it's not a big deal in the scheme of things but when you've paid for a service you expect better than this.

verylonglegs

I sent a birthday card from Norfolk to Derbyshire on the 2nd December...that took 11 days! I try and avoid Royal Fail or Parcelfarce as much as possible for goods deliveries of anything of value as had major problems with theft by them in the past. It wasn't just the stuff going missing, it was the attitude I got when I complained about it. Ar$eholes imo.

hopper1

orbeaorca wrote:

Order from Rapha on Tuesday, delivered today ( Thursday ) order again from them this morning and have had confirmation that it will be delivered tomorrow.
Superb stuff

Errmm.. Today is Wednesday...

Monty Dog

Royal Mail are criminally incompetent and the sooner someone takes their monopoly away the better. I've been waiting since the beginning of November for a delivery from Canada - they've sent another since but my single-speed cross build looks like it'll be next year for it to be finished. My wife ordered a Kindle from Amazon early last week - a week later it's still not here despite being on expedited delivery. The numbties at Amazon didn't send it tracked, so expect someone postie's got it tucked under a tree already. A few weeks ago, I had a number of deliveries 'go missing' - it was only when I raised a complaint with Royal Mail did the packages mysteriously appear more than 2 weeks later.

SteveR_100Milers

Monty Dog wrote:

Royal Mail are criminally incompetent and the sooner someone takes their monopoly away the better. I've been waiting since the beginning of November for a delivery from Canada - they've sent another since but my single-speed cross build looks like it'll be next year for it to be finished. My wife ordered a Kindle from Amazon early last week - a week later it's still not here despite being on expedited delivery. The numbties at Amazon didn't send it tracked, so expect someone postie's got it tucked under a tree already. A few weeks ago, I had a number of deliveries 'go missing' - it was only when I raised a complaint with Royal Mail did the packages mysteriously appear more than 2 weeks later.

Amazon use city link, not the RM, at least they don't in S Wales.

Today I went to shop to buy a track bike, whilst Wiggle are excellent, at the end of the day it relies on couriers and internet. My TT bike has developed a crack and has to be returned (by guess who....). I have concluded that the few quid you might save online with such a big purchase is totally outweighed with the hassle that follows when things inevitably sometimes go wrong. Ironically, I got a much much better deal than any on line retailer!

Diogenes

meanredspider wrote:

What have people's experiences been like with stuff being delivered in this weather?

I ordered some Shimano RS80s to hear that they won't even be collected by Parcel Farce until the New Year and not before they've cleared their backlog of stuff for Scotland.

Ordered some DVDs from Amazon on Sunday. Got a mail yesterday (Tues) telling me of likely delays. No sooner finished reading it than the DVDs arrived.

Ice Spiker Pros coming from Germany had taken 4 days of travelling to get to Brum (DPD) - that's not even halfway.

Finally (and most critically) - heating oil! Ordered last week - normally a "next day" service - they're telling me it's likely to be the New Year again before I get some. t was only -15C last night.....

A bit of bloody snow and we're baggered!

Maybe I am just an old git, but with more than 50 winters behind me I have recognised a pattern, get past October and it gets colder. Hit December and most transport / delivery systems are vulnerable. So I order earlier, got my stuff.

D

meanredspider

Diogenes wrote:

So I order earlier, got my stuff.

D

I ordered my Ice Spikers from Wiggle in October - didn't know they weren't going to get them in.

Ordered the wiper motor (which finally arrived 3 days late today) only after the old one failed last week (didn't know it was going to fail in October).

Didn't know I wanted the wheels in October

The point being - it's great if you can order 3 months before you need it - not all of us can for everything we need.

Diogenes

meanredspider wrote:

Diogenes wrote:

So I order earlier, got my stuff.

D

I ordered my Ice Spikers from Wiggle in October - didn't know they weren't going to get them in.

Ordered the wiper motor (which finally arrived 3 days late today) only after the old one failed last week (didn't know it was going to fail in October).

Didn't know I wanted the wheels in October

The point being - it's great if you can order 3 months before you need it - not all of us can for everything we need.

Point taken, but if I want something I order early. if I need something I go get it but I accept that living a tad further north than me you have a more of a challenge in this regard. What the hell is an ice spiker?


D

Cleat Eastwood

I ordered somethign of ebay monday and it arrived today from london, had expected it next week. hats off to royal mail....mind you I did pay 25 quid for the privilege.

hopper1

I ordered a garmin 500 on Tuesday, DPD delivered it today
I wasn't desperate for it, and was out when it arrived, as I didn't expect to see it until next year! Top marks to DPD.
Also ordered some number plates from Birmingham... RM 1st class today also

meanredspider

Diogenes wrote:

Point taken, but if I want something I order early. if I need something I go get it but I accept that living a tad further north than me you have a more of a challenge in this regard. What the hell is an ice spiker?


D

Yup - most delivery companies seem to think that the world ends north of Glasgow.

Schwalbe Ice Spiker Pro Evolutions studded tyres - something else that is often needed at this time of year up here...They are superb.

Been tracking some Bose in-ear phones I ordered. They are being delivered, seemingly, from Brussels but the first journey they took was to Cologne (entirely the opposite direction) before heading to East Midlands then on to Edinburgh. I think they've finally arrived in Inverness now (each step taking a day). Only 15 more miles to go!

Nuggs

I ordered a new winter coat on Tuesday afternoon and it arrived yesterday. I was absolutely amazed, I was expecting it to turn up around summer...