The Admiral Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 In the words of the late, great and much missed voice of rugby, Bill McLaren, " .... A wee bit of handbags there, but they've sorted it out now......" If anything, it's good to see some adult discourse, and some opposing opinions, which don't easily dissolve into abuse and flouncing out. One of the things I value about BC is its diversity, and, whilst I don't agree with some of the opinions put forward, I like to think we all know how lucky we are to be able to voice them, and in a forum which is sensibly modded. Unless of course you are going to tell me that a Jazz is good for metal, in which case I may have to throw my music stand........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartelby Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 [quote name='The Admiral' timestamp='1431632315' post='2773516'] Unless of course you are going to tell me that a Jazz is good for metal, in which case I may have to throw my music stand........ [/quote] I give you Opeth's Martin Mendez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Apple Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Ian Hill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Admiral Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Had a chat with the Parcelforce guy who delivered to me today : reasonably quiet day, just 53 deliveries across rural Staffs - 140 miles, starting at 0730, and many of the addresses will be akin to 'The Cottage, Crinkly Bottom', so, not easy, even with a Sat Nav. All the GPS systems take drivers down the wrong fork at the top of our dead end, and they end up ringing for directions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike257 Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 [quote name='bartelby' timestamp='1431632858' post='2773523'] I give you Opeth's Martin Mendez [/quote] Music stand just out of shot..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Badderer Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 As a name and shame addition, I just had a birthday present unceremoniously dumped in our general waste rubbish bin from YODEL. no attempt made to knock on the door loudly, as we were both in the kitchen about 4 meters away from the front door, with the door open. I understand that 1 min of waiting per address could add 1 hour if you have 60 deliveries, but surely the point of a delivery service is that you at least have enough time programmed into your deliveries to account for 1 min of searching at the property before dumping it in a BIN filled with RUBBISH... because it is a RUBBISH BIN!! If you don't want to spend the time searching then at least be honest enough to say, we offer you delivery at this price (probably £1 lower than the competition) but we will leave the parcel somewhere and won't bother looking for you. If you want your parcel to be delivered to you and someone to spend the time searching for you then please use our competitor who offers a guarantee to spend time at your property looking for you. This will cost £X more. Simple. But no, lets all just dump parcels somewhere and not give a $£&%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mentalextra Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 (edited) [quote name='The Badderer' timestamp='1431873336' post='2775734'] As a name and shame addition, I just had a birthday present unceremoniously dumped in our general waste rubbish bin from YODEL. no attempt made to knock on the door loudly, as we were both in the kitchen about 4 meters away from the front door, with the door open. I understand that 1 min of waiting per address could add 1 hour if you have 60 deliveries, but surely the point of a delivery service is that you at least have enough time programmed into your deliveries to account for 1 min of searching at the property before dumping it in a BIN filled with RUBBISH... because it is a RUBBISH BIN!! If you don't want to spend the time searching then at least be honest enough to say, we offer you delivery at this price (probably £1 lower than the competition) but we will leave the parcel somewhere and won't bother looking for you. If you want your parcel to be delivered to you and someone to spend the time searching for you then please use our competitor who offers a guarantee to spend time at your property looking for you. This will cost £X more. Simple. But no, lets all just dump parcels somewhere and not give a $£&%. [/quote] 60 parcels a day! Round my way the drivers have over 120 parcels a day, and with 'pressure' from management to 'not' return any they dont have the luxury to build in waiting time. In my experience some people have totally unrealistic expectations where cheap couriers are concerned Edited May 17, 2015 by mentalextra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 [quote name='mentalextra' timestamp='1431874031' post='2775743'] 60 parcels a day! Round my way the drivers have over 120 parcels a day, and with 'pressure' from management to 'not' return any they dont have the luxury to build in waiting time. In my experience some people have totally unrealistic expectations where cheap couriers are concerned [/quote] I think it's the couriers who have unrealistic expectations. If they expect to make a profit and their company to survive then they need to sort out their business model. If you say you are going to deliver for a certain price then you have an obligation to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Badderer Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 (edited) I agree with both of ^^^ it's the business model that needs sorting out. if they have XXX of deliveries to make in a day, but without the time programmed in to the delivery schedule to actually deliver the parcel properly then eventually their business will fail, because people will just stop using certain companies after how they deliver. Managers can't just say, here are 120 parcels, but if you take the time to deliver them properly you will be 2-3 hours late. With internet shopping becoming more and more common there's gonna be more than enough business around. As with everything there will be some people who want the item to be delivered professionally for cheap as chips, this is obviously not going to work, but it would just be nice to know when selecting a company, are they actually honestly going to try to deliver the item? Can they actually take the time to explore the simple option of knocking on the door to see if someone is in, or for the sake of making their rounds within an unrealistic time frame are they just going to dump it in the bin as fill in a load of bollocks on a card that says "While you were out"..... The item can be located in your bin. After a few years of this going on I think we'll find certain couriers go out of business because people just won't use them. It'll become, I'll give xxxxx a try, but i'll be buggered if I ever use Yodel. Edited May 17, 2015 by The Badderer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nibody Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 Here's a thought. I stopped at a zebra crossing for a pedestrian a few years back. I was rear ended by a bloke in a company van, injuring me, the wife, nearly killing my dog who was secured in the back of the car. The pedestrian almost got it to as he shunted me clear across the crossing. He lost his job as he wasn't supposed to be using the van outside of work hours. So by some of the posts here I should feel bad the guy lost his job? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Badderer Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 wow this thread took a weird turn. last i'd read it was half way down the 2nd page.... guess i should have caught up!! didn't mean to resurrect anything that people were hoping would go away!! FWIW I took delivery from a Myhermes driver too and wouldn't ever use one of them either. the back of that van had the Bass being delivered to me (nicely packaged by a courteous BC seller) and then 3 or 4 50" HD TVs. Nothing in the van was secured, everything had obviously been sliding around all over the place and I was glad i wasn't the one about to receive the TVs (the intro scene from Ace Venture sprang to mind, link attached). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q6_9A90cUk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnythenotes Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 What these budget companies do is say ' yes we will' to every enquiry they recieve, take the booking and the money for doing the job...always in advance.... And then hopelessly try and resolve the massive problem they have created afterwards. The only way this will ever be resolved is by one of two ways....Reduce the number of jobs they take on, so they are all achievable in reasonable time, and allowing for ' not able to deliver' situations. Secondly, take on sufficient drivers to manage the workload they have taken on. The chances of either of these two options ever happening are absolutely naff all, so to use a very appropriate saying from the olden days, 'give em' enough rope and they'll hang em'selves. It's just a shame this could take a bit of time, and more misery for us, the people who pay them to f*^k everything up so incredibly well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Apple Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 (edited) [quote name='Nibody' timestamp='1431899262' post='2776101'] Here's a thought. I stopped at a zebra crossing for a pedestrian a few years back. I was rear ended by a bloke in a company van, injuring me, the wife, nearly killing my dog who was secured in the back of the car. The pedestrian almost got it to as he shunted me clear across the crossing. He lost his job as he wasn't supposed to be using the van outside of work hours. So by some of the posts here I should feel bad the guy lost his job? [/quote] So you've used two completely different examples to make a direct comparison. How do you equate a bass being left in a back yard as on a par with careless driving, injuries to persons and damage to vehicles? Edited May 18, 2015 by Billy Apple Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartelby Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 [quote name='Nibody' timestamp='1431899262' post='2776101'] Here's a thought. I stopped at a zebra crossing for a pedestrian a few years back. I was rear ended by a bloke in a company van, injuring me, the wife, nearly killing my dog who was secured in the back of the car. The pedestrian almost got it to as he shunted me clear across the crossing. He lost his job as he wasn't supposed to be using the van outside of work hours. So by some of the posts here I should feel bad the guy lost his job? [/quote] Wow! That's a hell of a jump in situations!! I'm guessing you're not being serious... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 [quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1431618818' post='2773297'] Surely they have to calculate stuff like that against minimum wage? So if you don't make enough deliveries you will still get minimum wage? [/quote] No, most of the couriers won't be employees but sub-contractors which probably means they're not subject to minimum wage. When I worked as a motorcycle courier around the turn of a century, we got paid a rate per mile - the actual profit from that was 10p or less a mile, so unless I was going at 70mph I wasn't making minimum wage. Sitting in the office waiting for jobs to come in doesn't earn you anything (although if you get to the pickup and have to wait for them, you do get waiting time which is IIRC well below minimum wage). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nibody Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Is it? I just don't get the s**t that's been thrown at the OP for daring to complain that an item he had ordered and paid postage to be delivered signed for was dumped into his garden overs gate, left to the elements and his signature fraudulently applied to say he had received it. The comparison is in both cases someone did something wrong, and the company they work for decided to let them go. The OP didn't ask for him to be sacked, that was the decision of his employer. Must have come under gross misconduct. So any time someone providing a service does something monumentally wrong we should put up and shut up? Total b***s. Just about sums up these forums these days. Used to be a lovely place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 [quote name='Nibody' timestamp='1431960662' post='2776614'] Is it? I just don't get.. The comparison is in both cases someone did something wrong... So any time someone providing a service does something monumentally wrong we should put up and shut up? Total b***s. Just about sums up these forums these days. Used to be a lovely place. [/quote] It still is a lovely place. I think somehow you have confused 'monumentally wrong' and 'trying your best to help' as two separate things. Relax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LayDownThaFunk Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Make a leaving thread, invent a sob story, lurk for three months and start posting again like normal then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Count Bassy Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 [quote name='Nibody' timestamp='1431960662' post='2776614'] I just don't get the s**t that's been thrown at the OP for daring to complain that an item he had ordered and paid postage to be delivered signed for was dumped into his garden overs gate, left to the elements and his signature fraudulently applied to say he had received it. The comparison is in both cases someone did something wrong, and the company they work for decided to let them go. The OP didn't ask for him to be sacked, that was the decision of his employer. Must have come under gross misconduct. So any time someone providing a service does something monumentally wrong we should put up and shut up? Total b***s. [/quote] +1 from me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 [quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1432028590' post='2777322'] +1 from me. [/quote] Maybe I'm reading a different thread. The first page is full of people wanting the driver hung drawn and quartered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Apple Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 [quote name='Nibody' timestamp='1431960662' post='2776614'] Is it? [/quote] Yes, it is. Your comparison is a straw man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 [quote name='Nibody' timestamp='1431960662' post='2776614'] I just don't get the s**t that's been thrown at the OP for daring to complain that an item he had ordered and paid postage to be delivered signed for was dumped into his garden overs gate, left to the elements and his signature fraudulently applied to say he had received it. [/quote] OK, differing opinions for sure, but another perspective is that, unlike the situation in which you were involved, nothing actually happened. Well, that's not entirely true, what did happen is that a courier company delivered a bass in one piece on the day it was due to be delivered and then a bloke got fired (although like a few folks above I doubt this is the case to be honest). And even had the bass been damaged or lost the OP would certainly have been fully reimbursed by either Thomann or PF because the driver had signed for receipt and the buyer could likely prove this. So, from every level of scrutiny this is a non-event. Even had things been worse, it would still have been preferable to a number of other courier related fiascos, for example a neighbour signing for a box with a dirty great hole in it but PF and the seller both stating 'it was signed for as undamaged therefore we are not liable', the courier losing the entire package and claiming it had been delivered but that the driver's hand held device had broken and had not stored the signature, or the box and the item coming in two separate pieces and the courier claiming it was poorly packaged and again not accepting liability, all of which have happened to me in recent years, and none of which I deemed sufficiently serious to warrant an email to the MD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Count Bassy Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 (edited) [quote name='TimR' timestamp='1432033989' post='2777378'] Maybe I'm reading a different thread. The first page is full of people wanting the driver hung drawn and quartered. [/quote] Not me necessarily, and I'm very sympathetic about the terms and contracts that many of these people have to work by, BUT, I'd be very surprised if his contract said that he should sign it himself and throw it over a fence. Would the driver have known that was a relatively robust bass guitar, rather than say, a mirror? If it was a first offence than perhaps give him warning or suspension, but for all we know this could have been one of many complaints. We have assumed that the driver is a hard working oppressed worker doing the best he can, but for all we know he might just be an ignorant twat!. The OP did not demand the man's head (or job) on a plate: That decision was made by parcel Force. All the OP did was to complain about bad service, which was absolutely the right thing to do. By contrast you seem to suggest that if you pay for a service and don't get what you paid for then you should just not say anything about it, which sounds like a recipe for perpetual bad service to me. Edited May 19, 2015 by Count Bassy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 (edited) [quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1432046150' post='2777531'] ... By contrast you seem to suggest that if you pay for a service and don't get what you paid for then you should just not say anything about it, which sounds like a recipe for perpetual bad service to me. [/quote] No. I already explained what I would do. I would complain using the proper channels and wait for a reply within an acceptable timeframe corresponding to the inconvenience and damage I had been subjected to. Which isn't an email to the MD within 8hours of receiving an undamaged package. Read some of the replies on the first page. Publicly shaming parcel force? Complaining the f..., plus others. Get a grip. Edited May 19, 2015 by TimR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Count Bassy Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Taking things to the top can very often avoid a lot of being pissed about. And if the driver really was sacked (he probably was) then hopefully the word will spread amongst Parcel Force drivers, and the OP will have done us all a favour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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