Problems with couriers

[garyscottadamson]

I run a small business selling bespoke made-to-order furniture and send these items with XDP and DX. Items are wrapped well and if handled with even minimal care, shouldn't be damaged.

Lately a lot of the stuff that I'm sending out is getting damaged or lost in transit and it really feels like an insurmountable problem.

I dread refreshing my customer service inbox, because I know that somebody will be extremely distressed because something is late or has been damaged.

If something has been damaged or lost , I'll have to get a replacement made which is extremely costly (insurance only covers around £5 per k/g). If the courier says they've located the item and it will be delivered on a certain day, it rarely is - and I lose even more credibility.

And then even when an issue has been resolved, a customer will ask for extra compensation for the emotional distress.

In the end, issues cost me about 150% of the orders value.

My profit margin is around 25%. With the number of problems that I'm having now, dealing with all of them in an effective way which the customer finds acceptable, is really making me question the viability of the business.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience of sending large items with couriers and what kind of damages are happening?

 

[Mr D]

If a courier isn't working out for you, use a different courier.


Have sent a few 1 meter plus long parcels, UPS mostly - plus a couple of couriers that are no longer trading. Biggest probably 1.8m long - artwork for commercial use.
Never any trouble with damage on those things. We always packed for 6 foot drop as standard.

Several times have had large stuff delivered by APC. No trouble - just big heavy boxes.

DX stuff I get tends to be computers or equipment, easily damaged but well packed. Not had any problems I can recall but I'm not choosing them as a courier, my suppliers are.

 

[MBE2017]

You need better carriers, improved insurance cover, and probably a price increase to cover for that.

I used to deliver all sorts nationwide, never had any problems except with poor packaging.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

You are using the wrong type of companies but here is the problem. We do a lot of work for companies like yours .We offer the exact service you require.

Oue prices however are a considerable amount higher than the parcel companies

The parcel companies were never invented for this type of deliveries

 

[Chris Ashdown]

If you are "selling bespoke made-to-order furniture" then you should price it accordingly with first class transport, and package it with clear return and delivery address both inside and outside of the packaging in multiple locations so whoever delivers your good cannot claim the labels were torn off

 

[Guy Incognito]

I feel your pain! We send out several hundred oversize items per week.

You need to increase your prices to cover this, because unfortunately it does happen.

 

[Pish_Pash]

Couriers must be the only biz model where they accept your carton, accept your added insurance (i.e. that you've paid on top), then when *they* damage it en-route...they wriggle out.

There's no other industry I can think of that takes something from you (accepts it from you in other words)...then shrug their shoulders "it wasn't sufficiently well packed guv"

I sent a printer out with UPS ...strong double walled carton...they trashed it en-route...and then started pulling the old "item must be packed with at least 3cm styrofoam surrounding it" blah blah. It was a £90 used printer ...they had someone collect it, someone else inspect it...write up a report...send to an assessment team, assessment team then make their decision ....for a modest £90 (used!) printer that I'd paid extra to insure! The manhours/petrol alone must have cost them more than the £90 claim

I used to rate UPS...but they're all a sham.

 

[alan1302]

Couriers must be the only biz model where they accept your carton, accept your added insurance (i.e. that you've paid on top), then when *they* damage it en-route...they wriggle out.

There's no other industry I can think of that takes something from you (accepts it from you in other words)...then shrug their shoulders "it wasn't sufficiently well packed guv"

I sent a printer out with UPS ...strong double walled carton...they trashed it en-route...and then started pulling the old "item must be packed with at least 3cm styrofoam surrounding it" blah blah. It was a £90 used printer ...they had someone collect it, someone else inspect it...write up a report...send to an assessment team, assessment team then make their decision ....for a modest £90 (used!) printer that I'd paid extra to insure! The manhours/petrol alone must have cost them more than the £90 claim

I used to rate UPS...but they're all a sham.

How did you pack the printer? Assuming it wasn't just a printer in a box with no other packing.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

5 OR 6 Quid delivery

You got your moneys worth @Pish_Pash You got 6 quids worth of service

 

[Pish_Pash]

How did you pack the printer? Assuming it wasn't just a printer in a box with no other packing.

Do you work for UPS? ;-)

It was well packed...really strong double walled box...mega thick bubble wrap all around to protect from side slams etc....but nevertheless, the point of the story is...they'll gladly take your money, take your package ...damage it (significantly) & then shirk (in fact, they'll spend a whole heap of manhours to shirk)

When it comes to couriers...fine if something gets lost...but the worst outcome in the delivery chain is damage...then you're in for a rough old admin ride.

5 OR 6 Quid delivery

You got your moneys worth @Pish_Pash You got 6 quids worth of service

Well I'm hardly going to pony up 2x or 3x more .... for someone to deliver a £90 used printer

 

[japancool]

Imagine if airlines ran on the same model.

"If we crash and kill you, you are entitled to £20 compensation unless you purchase extra cover."

 

[MBE2017]

Uk carriers are exceptional value for money, in possibly the most competitive market anyone operates in. UK couriers offer great value and great service for more money, you get what you pay for.

I remember TNT charging £18 for a small parcel 35 years ago, with fuel and vehicles costing possibly five times as much today, £5/6 per parcel is a bargain. Try driving for a day and see how many deliveries you can manage on a single tank of fuel.

Anyone who thinks differently, why not start up a UK carrier and show us how it should be done?

 

[Mark T Jones]

Uk carriers are exceptional value for money, in possibly the most competitive market anyone operates in. UK couriers offer great value and great service for more money, you get what you pay for.

I remember TNT charging £18 for a small parcel 35 years ago, with fuel and vehicles costing possibly five times as much today, £5/6 per parcel is a bargain. Try driving for a day and see how many deliveries you can manage on a single tank of fuel.

Anyone who thinks differently, why not start up a UK carrier and show us how it should be done?

Precisely this

When CityLink went bust about 5 years ago, the papers had a field day highlighting the onerous conditions their operators worked under (I believe the quoted rate then was £1 per drop in urban areas and £1.50 rural).

Mr & Mrs Righteous from Suburbia were up in arms at the appaling rates of pay, and nasty people at Amazon treating their contractors in this way. And continued to demand cheaper & cheaper goods from Amazon to drive prices down.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

It's is not about how hard it is for them to make money, but how they look after your goods. they are tracked every depot and if they don't make the next one they should be searched for and when found opened and looked for customer or sender information to try and solve the problem. this they don't do

They do seem happy to find these lost parcels and auction them off and keep the proceeds though

No doubt a number of lost parcels have lost all trace of customers, but that should be a small number of parcels and poor packaging in many cases

 

[MBE2017]

No doubt a number of lost parcels have lost all trace of customers, but that should be a small number of parcels and poor packaging in many cases

The parcel carriers do this already, but as with any low margin business a small percentage get lost/damaged.

The Post Office alone sent 1,211,000,000 parcels through their core network last year, and pre covid private carriers sent 2.8 billion parcels through their various networks. That is at best estimates 4 billion parcels, so if only 1% have a problem you have forty million lost/damaged parcels.

Until people want to pay more for fewer problems, that figure is here to stay, most carriers would feel 1 to 3% an acceptable level IMHO. When I used to work for TNT many years ago 1% was our target, reality was normally nearer 1.5%.

 

[japancool]

Want to see an efficient parcel service? Look at how Ta-Q-Bin works in Japan.