Lost delivery - what's your procedure?

Had a parcel go missing that was due on Thursday but still hadn't turned up for an event taking place that night on the Saturday. I finally tracked it down at 11am at a Parcelforce depot 15 miles from the customer, but he was setting up the venue so couldn't collect. I arranged a Taxi pick up and explained that he would have no calling card but that I would take any comeback.

Put a claim in to Parcelforce and was refunded the cost of delivery and Taxi fare. Can't knock that.

 

What ID did the taxi driver show at the depot?

 

He didn't.

Fortunately the depot manager had the sense to realise that the likelihood of an account customer some 260 miles away going to the lengths of ordering a Taxi collection for local delivery, was very unusual so he was happy to accept the email trail as some assurance.

 

It depends on the customer...some a gruff, some easy going...as I say, I push it as long as I can *but* I'm finely tuned into the Customer's stance ...I don't push it with the ones who are coming across as irritated for the reasons you mention! If they come in all guns flailing & exceptionally rude ...I figure I'll be getting negative feedback anyway, so there's not much to lose by making those types wait!

Majority of my Customers are nice, easy going & fully understand that these are challenging times, so are prepared to cut me a bit of slack while the couriers get their act together.

 

I've never got an acknowledgement for a refund application from RM, I sent off their stupidly long form twice and they didn't even bother to reply. I guess they will claim it was "lost in the post".

I have been on the receiving end of a customer lost form. Someone sold something to me and it didn't arrive and I as the customer had to fill in a form sent to me by royal mail to send details of it. This is where the problem lies, it's one of those forms you look at and just think "I can't do this now, I'll do it later". So you never get round to filling it up and sending it back to RM and therefore seller never gets the refund from RM.

Call me cynical but I feel this was intended to make the refund process so elongated and stop from paying out.

 

In this situation when there is a deadline always offer your customer the option of a sameday delivery to avoid any potential problems
Never assume that the customer is not willing to pay for a dedicated delivery when it is against the clock

 

You don't know my customers Jeremy Also this was 260 miles away so how much would that have cost?
To be fair to Parcelforce and with a degree of acceptance that it's an industry where mistakes can happen, they've not really *let us down badly in over 15 years. I'd suggest the main reason for that is that a lot of their drivers have been with them for years and if there is a problem you can, with a bit of patience, speak to somebody at the relevant depot.

*Delivering a parcel to a Glasgow address that should have gone to Block 4 flat 5, but was mistakenly dropped off at Block 5 flat 4 - the local drugs den - was a challenge, but the intended recipient ran an MMA/Kickboxing academy

 

My one experience of an international tracked parcel was very positive. Paid up within a few days of claim (the stated time is up to 30 days, or was it 90?).

 

If the customer kicks up a fuss, I refund. I had one customer wait 10 days for their Royal Mail parcel to arrive and it never did apparently, although there are Royal Mail delays right now so wouldn't be surprised if they receive it weeks later.

 

You can test the integrity of a person in these scenarios, do they come forward when they receive the package after they receive the refund. I was pleasantly surprised when someone did that to me - it restored my faith in humanity that I just gave the item to them for free even though they wanted return it (bought item elsewhere).

It really is down to how much the item is worth. I'm lucky in that I sell an item with about 900% markup. So I can take the losses easily. I'll gladly offer to resend the item again with special delivery at my expense. If they refuse and want a refund it would be quite suspicious.

 

It's been about 2 weeks so either they've received it and haven't reached out to me or they are still waiting for it. I unfortunately sent it untracked (now I've amended this so I send tracked only) but they also sent me about 3 angry emails all in CAPITAL LETTERS. Bit of a keyboard warrior as I did a search and found out they're a teenager/early 20s.

 

If it's a small parcel posted at the post office you have a tracking number on the certificate of posting. Its 16 characters with dashes between groups of 4 characters. Just enter this on then usual RM tracking page. It's not quite as good as a "signed for" but it gives basic info like delivered, delivery failed awaiting collection at the depot, not delivered yet.

I don't know how it works if you purchased postage on-line. Presumably you still get a cert. of posting.

I always rely on this, rather than pay for signed for, within the UK and have saved a small fortune on tracked post. Very few parcels are total loss. Maybe I have a better customer demographic

 

Thanks for this.

I post at a delivery office (post office queue's are too long and I buy postage online) and they do not provide a receipt for dropped off parcels, just stamping the certificate of posting so I've had to use signed for unfortunately!

 

£340 to you Sir
Would that be card or bacs

 

I know a little more now. If you drop off a parcel at our local PO with a pre-paid label, they don't stamp the certificate posting, they scan the parcel label and give you a printed cert. of posting. It doesn't however, have the same sort of reference number I referred to, just a barcode ID (presumably from the label). No idea if this can be used in some way for free tracking.

 

LOL, the order was for £200.
Do you accept Woolworths vouchers?

 

If it's untracked, there is no reference number if you have a pre-paid label via delivery office.

I think your method regarding bar code only applies to items without postage label via post office.

 

You have really set something off talking about lost deliveries
Unbelievable !

I have just opened an email about a missing bed !
We have not had any beds go through for ages as we dont want to do them !

I look further job booked at the beginning of 2017 and this is the next thing we hear 4 years later
The customer is talking like it is at the top of the list after four years !
Four years to decide that it is missing
If it went missing then where do I start now

 

How do you lose a bed...after 4 years? How will you respond?

 

I wont Ralph will

First we have to establish exactly why they did not report it when it did not arrive after a week
We will have an invoice if they are a customer

We have some things that have been hanging around for donkeys years These are blocked in by a massive long term storage job and the customer is stuck in Australia and I dont know when they will be back . I dont want to pull all this out until it is ready to be dispatched
I may have to get a gang together on a quiet day and pull everything out and see if we have an invisible bed