Dispatch Bay

awful, awful, awful. The hands down, worst company I have ever dealt with. They lost a parcel last week and even though they can see that a driver collected it, and lost it, I have to complete 3 bits of paper work to claim (not for the item!) but just for the postage I paid.

I have been on the phone with them since 9:00 this morning. They knew DHL were not going to pick up a parcel today for some unknown reason, but told me after 1:00 p,m - which means I couldn't book with anyone else. On top of that, even though they didn't pick-up, they wont refund me the £71.00 it's costing me to the send the parcel... on top of that I now have to drive to Crawley with 3 small kids to drop off the parcel myself at the depo.

You couldn't make it up. There's a 50% chance that my parcel won't get there in time now. arrrrgggghhhh.

I've sent about 10 parcels, and had 4 problems. Never again.

 

[sellickbhoy]

on the plus side, 60% hassle free. (ha ha ha ha ha ha, sorry!!!)

 

dont! i still have steam coming out of my ears!

 

[bestforsextoys]

I think the best thing you can do is give trading standards a call and see what they think about the problem they will try and get your money back

Thanks
Austin

 

[MH1]

Sorry to hear your problems, use them myself and never had a problem.

I'm about to look for an alternative simply because they have introduced a surcharge for 4 or less shipments per collection.

 

[mjh]

I have had nothing but problems with Dispatch bay formerly Sale Track parcels, they offer you everything and give you nothing. Just been charged a retrospective charge for an over volume parcel to the UK which was definitely not, had many problems with them not arranging a collection with DHL when plenty of time given. I now use interparcel.com not as cheap with DHL but far better service, they have now just introduced a 3-5 day service which is amazingly cheap. My advice STAY CLEAR OF DISPATCH BAY!!!!!

 

I agree, interparcel are excellent,

 

[TheBalloonPrintingCompany]

I agree, interparcel are excellent,

I recently had a very bad experience with Interparcel, they do what is exoected, but if something goes wrong good luck with getting through to their customer support, that will tell you the waiting time (times it by 2 for a realistic time) then find out they offer no sympathy or upgrade to a service when they forgot to book it on the system!

 

[Rust2000]

I have had nothing but problems with Dispatch bay formerly Sale Track parcels, they offer you everything and give you nothing. Just been charged a retrospective charge for an over volume parcel to the UK which was definitely not, had many problems with them not arranging a collection with DHL when plenty of time given. I now use interparcel.com not as cheap with DHL but far better service, they have now just introduced a 3-5 day service which is amazingly cheap. My advice STAY CLEAR OF DISPATCH BAY!!!!!

I had a very good experience until recently and tghe bad weather exposed a major issue for independent retailers like myself. I have been waiting for two parcels to be uplifted since December 31st. Yes there was snow around and I agreed to wait until the 4th January, then the 7th, then the 8th, then the 12th, then the 13th (I have been very patient), and still today the 14th, and still DHL have not been to pick them up. I have had to make the contact with Dispatch Bay each time. They have so far refused to give me any refund or compensation for the delay and tell me that the pick-up from DHL is "not guaranteed" but that they will charge me for not the parcels not being ready for pick-up. This sounds like an Unfair Contract under the relevant Act. They are cheap but I find them less than cheerful and will be sending these by a different and more expensive route now.

Russell

 

[fourblankwalls]

I use despatch bay and also use their sale track service.

Like all couriers they do have problems and i can say that they are all the same.

If you have something lost then take it into your own hands. We had several canvas prints go missing at Xmas. These are quite expensive and you don't always get insurance unless you use the before 10am service and that costs £13.

I called the depot that picked up the item
I called the main hub
I called the end hub

Eventually i called the DHL lost property area and they found it. The label had come off in the snow and they have no way of knowing where the item came from.

From now on, i put senders details on all boxes with my mobile number.

A note on their policies. Everything is geared to them making money. You won't get anything out of them if things go wrong. READ the terms and conditions.

The good thing about them is that it is very very easy to use.

The bad thing is that you pay upfront so you have to wait 28 days to get a refund on postage costs when you wouldn't have to do this with an invoiced account. They would simply not charge you.

I love the idea behind Despatch Bay and the company behind it have some excellent products and ideas.

I have some problems with them but if you push, they do sort them out.

Be aware that when you make a claim, you will have to prove the cost of the items to you. This isn't the cost you sell it at. This is the cost it costs you or the cost of making an item

In my case, a piece of perspex can sell for upto £300 but i can't claim that retail price back even tho i have to refund the customer. I can only claim back the cost of the materials used and i have to prove those.

I factor a lot of this stuff into my costings and make clear certain things to my customers. Firstly they have to call me or email me on the day of delivery if there is anything wrong with the parcel. Secondly they have to sign for an item as damaged if there is any sign of damage on the box.

Doing this can help you when you have problems.

Stick with despatch bay as there are very very few companies that are any good out there unless you want to pay Fedex prices.

 

[handystorage]

I have had a bad experience with Despatch bay.

We used these for 2 weeks, because we already use DPD but was losing on each single parcel, so we moved to test Yodel out with despatch bay, Yodel no problem, Despatch bay, problem after problem.

We used them for a test of 2 weeks, middle of the month and given an excellent rate of £4.15+vat per parcel (2 day service), 2 weeks down the line the price went up to £5.39+vat per parcel ( 2 day service ).
We are regular sender who sends about 100 parcels a weeks and this is the best price........ don't think so..

The customer service is shocking, can't reach anybody on the telephone which is a 0871 number and charged at 10p per min, maybe this is where the money is made.

I sent near 13 emails and only got limited response on 3 of them, nobody is willing to help, but are quick enough to take your money.

When we did speak to somebody we asked why the prices so high, even higher than what we are charged via DPD for a next day service,
I told them we want to send single parcel via Yodel but not lose on each parcel.

I was told by Steve at despatch bay, who was told by his manager Tony, so send parcels at the £5.39=vat = £6.46 parcel parcel, with us losing 75p on every parcel, then thier MIGHT lower the price.

Common sense, who is willing to gamble on losing money for something which might happen...........

I run a business not a loan service.....

I have also asked for my money back which is in credit in the despatch bay account, which i am expecting refunded for parcels which was never sent and various other refunds, which have never happened yet.
Guess what steve said about my money....... '' If you had a pay as you go mobile and topped it up, would you ask for a refund on the money''

Can you believe that........ I have a good mind to contact trading standards, has they T's & C's seems to be unfair to the consumer and after all that money was paid in good faith and wonder if the credit consumer act would cover this........ we'll see.

Please just beware about this company, because the customer is number 2 behind taking your money first....

If you did a search on google with ''despatch Bay problem's'' you will see I am not alone...............................

They don't care about you your or business and dont' care at all about customer support.

Think i will be looking at the other companies who do the same thing and cheaper than £5.39+vat per parcel, and maybe someone who cares more about the customers....... than ripping the customer off...