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DHL - Incompetence of the highest order

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prophet01

prophet01

Free Member
Dec 19, 2012
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Needed to send a parcel to someone in Lincoln a few days ago. Looked at standard prices and chose DHL. Paid online for the drop off and delivery service and received a label.

Looked on DHL website to find nearest drop-off locations and decided to decided to drop off the following morning on way to an out of town site visit. When I took it in they said they didn't take DHL.

On way back to home that afternoon I attempted to drop off at another location quoted on the DHL website. Again they said they don't deal with DHL. Now pretty frustrated.

Once home I searched for another drop-off location but this time I called them to confirm that they did accept DHL. The response was positive.

Yesterday morning I took the parcel to drop off and was informed that the label was wrong. "This happens all the time" they said. FFS.

I couldn't get to speak with anyone on the 'customer service' number so sent a message via facebook messenger. Response time is meant to be within 3 hours. That was yesterday at 15:45. Still no response.

How can DHL get so wrong such a fundamental element of their business as providing the necessary label. Unbelievable.

labelr.jpg
 
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Yes very frustrating. DHL tends to be one of the best though. DPD-Suer are the worst.
I sent a chess set to a customer in Greece and it came back via Bulgaria. No explanation and a demand for more money for failing to deliver.
 
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This whole indusrty needs a breath of fresh air through it.

On a recent trip to london we left an item in a restaurant, so I organised DHL to collect it and deliver it to me in Scotland.

The collection date came and went twice so when I called to query why, they didn't know why as there were no notes to explain why the collection failed, but the likely explanation offered was that the restaurant doesn't open till 11.30am and their route is automatically calculated for them so the courier probably arrived before the premises were open.

In the end I had to cancel and get DPD to do the job.
 
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LeasingEval said:
The collection date came and went twice so when I called to query why, they didn't know why as there were no notes to explain why the collection failed, but the likely explanation offered was that the restaurant doesn't open till 11.30am and their route is automatically calculated for them so the courier probably arrived before the premises were open.
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As much as I agree on the industry needing a breath of fresh air, your example is a bad one for me.
It makes no sense for a courier to go back on its route to collect something just because they don't open till a later time, the margins aren't huge and certainly not enough to be double backing on themselves, when booking the collection it will state 9-5 in the T&Cs.
 
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Most of the major parcel companies have a very high success rate, 98 to 99%.

I think most businesses are happy to keep using very low cost high quality services, inevitably the odd package fails, we are talking of millions of parcels, collections and deliveries each week.
 
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AlanJ1 said:
As much as I agree on the industry needing a breath of fresh air, your example is a bad one for me.
It makes no sense for a courier to go back on its route to collect something just because they don't open till a later time, the margins aren't huge and certainly not enough to be double backing on themselves, when booking the collection it will state 9-5 in the T&Cs.
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If the premises don't open till 11.30am then unfortunately it can't be collected before 11.30am and as inconvenient as it may be to the couriers schedule that is just a fact. By a breath of fresh air what I mean is an organisation that can cope with anomalies like this. For example some more sophisticated software that can calculate a route based on the fact that certain way-points may not be accessible until a certain time.
 
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LeasingEval said:
If the premises don't open till 11.30am then unfortunately it can't be collected before 11.30am and as inconvenient as it may be to the couriers schedule that is just a fact.
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But that isn't the couriers fault? You are agreeing when you purchase the label that the location will be available between 9-5 (Hermes I believe even state between 7am - 9pm) unless you book a timed collection. If a courier was to go to X location and have to double back 10 times on a route because of issues like this per route, they would lose money and would rather not have the collection.

How does the courier also know a place isn't open till X time? I think you are expecting way too much and something that unless you pay a massive premium is never going to happen.
 
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AlanJ1 said:
But that isn't the couriers fault? You are agreeing when you purchase the label that the location will be available between 9-5 (Hermes I believe even state between 7am - 9pm) unless you book a timed collection. If a courier was to go to X location and have to double back 10 times on a route because of issues like this per route, they would lose money and would rather not have the collection.

How does the courier also know a place isn't open till X time? I think you are expecting way too much and something that unless you pay a massive premium is never going to happen.
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I was expecting a delivery a while back. The courier stated it would be delivered between x and y, 2 hour window, no opportunity to change time or delivery location. The property was unoccupied every day for 20 minutes in that time, something over which I had no control. The driver tried on 3 consecutive days to deliver at the unoccupied time, then declared the delivery failed. IF I had the option to request any alteration in time or location I copuld understand, but that is just appalling customer service and resulted in me notifying several suppliers that I would not buy from them as they used the delivery service that did not understand the term delivery.
 
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They know because I told them. If they can't do it and said so then I would understand, One size does not fit all.
 
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LeasingEval said:
They know because I told them. If they can't do it and said so then I would understand, One size does not fit all.
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Then I can understand that if you asked. You never mentioned that in your post it just looked like you put a standard booking through and expected the courier to know that they weren't open at X time.
 
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Newchodge said:
I was expecting a delivery a while back. The courier stated it would be delivered between x and y, 2 hour window, no opportunity to change time or delivery location. The property was unoccupied every day for 20 minutes in that time, something over which I had no control. The driver tried on 3 consecutive days to deliver at the unoccupied time, then declared the delivery failed. IF I had the option to request any alteration in time or location I copuld understand, but that is just appalling customer service and resulted in me notifying several suppliers that I would not buy from them as they used the delivery service that did not understand the term delivery.
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That sounds awful, mind me asking what courier? A lot have the option these days! I would of been onto my supplier to tell them to get it timed at a different time.
 
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AlanJ1 said:
That sounds awful, mind me asking what courier? A lot have the option these days! I would of been onto my supplier to tell them to get it timed at a different time.
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Hermes.
 
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A lot depends on the local courier. Never had a problem with deliveries or dropping off.

Even the my herpes bloke is good.
 
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A result, of sorts.
Emailing the CEO has elicited a communication from Ms. Digital Comms Manager

"I am sorry you are experiencing issues using our service. Peter has asked me to reach out to you in response to your email.

Could you please give me the shipment number? I can see a couple of screen shots you have sent through but I cannot pick out the detail I need"
​
Requested information having been duly provided let's see what happens next.
 
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UPDATE:

Having provided the requested information to Ms. Digital Comms Manager with an invitation to call me, she did so at 2:00 this afternoon.

She explained that the CEO had tasked her with investigating and resolving the issue and reporting back her findings and outcome.

We firstly discussed the two drop-off locations which stated that they had no connection with DHL. She confirmed that both locations were indicated on the website as being legitimate drop-off locations and that she'd seperately investigate what was the problem. I suggested that they may have ceased their previous connection without the website being updated.

Regarding the third attempted drop-off location which refused to accept the parcel stating that the label was 'wrong', well, she quickly established that it was because the location was registered with DHL Express not DHL Parcel UK - two different companies. She explained that they were already aware of the branding confusion for customers of both companies and that matters were in the process of being addressed.

Finally she confirmed that she'd instruct the local depot to send someone to pick up the parcel from my home. They picked up the parcel at 18:30.
 
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I booked a parcel with Hermes and chose locker drop off. Gave correct dimensions etc then headed to the garage with lockers …..

And the parcel was too long to go in the locker.
 
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prophet01 said:
What?o_O
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I think what Jeremy was alluding to was the same point I did, parcel carriers offer very good value, and the service albeit falling short occassionaly is probably the best you can expect at that price point.

If you want better, and are prepared to pay the much higher amounts, then there are dedicated direct couriers, but the cost reflects a parcel collected and delivered direct, so London to Manchester would cost 6hrs salary minimum, the cost of diesel there and back, vehicle costs, depreciation etc etc, so let’s say £200, compared to £8 on a next day carrier.

You tend to get what you are prepared to pay for.
 
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We use Parcelforce and have done for over 12 years. I'll be generous and say I've had half a dozen occasions where I've had to call our account manager for delayed deliveries but have never lost a parcel or failed to meet a customers final deadline.

I am told that they are soon to be using 'what3words' style software which for those who don't know about it, will allow them to drop a parcel within 2 metres of the designated drop zone, collect from a specific place etc.,
 
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JEREMY HAWKE said:
It is what it is your paying peanuts to move things across the country or even the world

In my view your getting what you paid for and expecting too much
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Totally agree. Occasionally, we ought to take a step back and assess how ludicrously cheap somethings are before we make demands on service without fault. Drivers running around like madmen in their own Mondeos is a clue to what we are paying. The % of deliveries these companies get right is probably as decent as it can get for what the consumer is willing to collectively pay, sometimes we have to accept being the unlucky one. When I have calmed down after our own mishap transport issues I do try and recognise this. Must be a thankless task being in this game, I can imagine 90% of time is spent dealing with the sort of "types" of customers a lot of other businesses try and avoid. Pay nothing and expect everything to run like clockwork.
 
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SillyBill said:
Totally agree. Occasionally, we ought to take a step back and assess how ludicrously cheap somethings are before we make demands on service without fault. Drivers running around like madmen in their own Mondeos is a clue to what we are paying. The % of deliveries these companies get right is probably as decent as it can get for what the consumer is willing to collectively pay, sometimes we have to accept being the unlucky one. When I have calmed down after our own mishap transport issues I do try and recognise this. Must be a thankless task being in this game, I can imagine 90% of time is spent dealing with the sort of "types" of customers a lot of other businesses try and avoid. Pay nothing and expect everything to run like clockwork.
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I would agree if the customer had a choice. The seller decides what delivery options to offer, frequently the only paid for option is next day delivery, I have never seen an option of paid for professional delivery.
 
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I find rather bizarre allegations of excessive expectations.

The need arose to get a 5kg item from my home to someone else's home in another UK city. Rather than drive there myself I considedred using the services of a professional, reputable delivery company.

DHL offered the following nine options of which I chose the one which best suited my circumstances, the second highest in value.

My only expectation was to be able to drop the item at the location DHL stated and for them to deliver the item to the delivery address.

I didn't set the contract value. Neither did I look for the cheapest available.

I fail to see how my expectations can be considered excessive.

DHL%20Parcel%20UK%20pricelist.png
 
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Op
I am beside myself with frustration

I just remembered the drama you kicked up on here with Enterprise Car Hire and now your having a crack at DHL !

You say you have a business to run but you spend all you day trying to wind up CEOs that don't care about you

I'm am worried about your going to do some damage to your health
 
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Newchodge said:
I would agree if the customer had a choice. The seller decides what delivery options to offer, frequently the only paid for option is next day delivery, I have never seen an option of paid for professional delivery.
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That's a short term answer to a long term situation.

I believe the terms of these courier deals were first highlighted when CitiLink went bust. Everybody shouted that 'they' should do something about it.

Whilst continuing to use Amazon because they are cheap.
 
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prophet01 said:
I find rather bizarre allegations of excessive expectations.

The need arose to get a 5kg item from my home to someone else's home in another UK city. Rather than drive there myself I considedred using the services of a professional, reputable delivery company.

DHL offered the following nine options of which I chose the one which best suited my circumstances, the second highest in value.

My only expectation was to be able to drop the item at the location DHL stated and for them to deliver the item to the delivery address.

I didn't set the contract value. Neither did I look for the cheapest available.

I fail to see how my expectations can be considered excessive.

DHL%20Parcel%20UK%20pricelist.png
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Was this for the drop off or for the after 1130 issue?
 
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I suspect that the percentage of parcels DHL get right is in the high 90's. Probably 99%. Maybe better.

When it goes wrong, it takes a while for them to unravel it. Frankly, as the sender, that is so infrequent that I often don't spend the time on it - it's a cost of doing ecommerce, and one parcel a month (less, actually) lost, is a cost I factor in.

Actually, in this instance, DHL made no errors - the mix up was the sender mixing up two different services, but DHL have, in the end, sent a van out to rectify the issue. I would say they have done fairly well here.

But you pick any courier service, and you will find an anecdote of a parcel going astray and someone getting cross about it. Understandable. But don't stop using DHL, I reckon they are actually one of the sharper operators in this budget priced arena. And remember, it is budget priced.

You can pay a tiny bit more (if your parcel is over a Kilo). And have the Royal Mail deliver essentially the same outcome. Or you can pay a lot more and get a premium service.

You can offer your customer a choice. But actually, the system is working fairly well at the moment. We currently have just one parcel out for delivery that is lost. The reason? The customer forgot their own address and the 'Return to sender' option on Royal Mail translates to 'drop kick into the nearest canal'. I will refund the customer, and claim from the Royal Mail. Beyond that I will press on with my life.
 
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japancool said:
How much extra would you be prepared to pay for a timed collection service?
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I would probably go for the cheapest realiable service on the market. If that market doesn't exist at the moment then the first person to offer it can set their own rate until market competition comes into play.
 
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LeasingEval said:
I would probably go for the cheapest realiable service on the market. If that market doesn't exist at the moment then the first person to offer it can set their own rate until market competition comes into play.
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And there lies the problem, everyone wants to go for the cheapest which creates a race to the bottom.
 
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AlanJ1 said:
And there lies the problem, everyone wants to go for the cheapest which creates a race to the bottom.
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No, everyone doesn't want to "go for the cheapset"
You've misquoted @LeasingEval
He actually said the cheapest "reliable" service not the cheapest service.

Of the nine services offered by DHL (as set out above) I went for the second highest value because it suited my circumstance.

So no, everyone doesn't want to "go for the cheapset".
 
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