The "crap" test, applied to delivery services :P

[nextdayprint]

I'm sure most of you are aware of and probably use the "crap" test on a regular basis, but I just applied it to a few delivery services with laughable results:

"city link are crap" = 302 exact matches
"citylink are crap" = 5410 exact matches
"fedex are crap" = 7 exact matches
"fed ex are crap" = 1 exact match
"parcelforce are crap" = 55 exact matches
"parcel force are crap" = 114 exact matches
"tnt are crap" = 24 exact matches
"DHL are crap" = 70 exact matches

Anyway, I leave it to you to guess which company inspired me to run the test in the first place

 

[Digger]

I could of told you that - they are indeed dire.

We are very happy with our current courier - nothing is too much trouble

 

[Investors-Wanted]

Hi OP

I just done the same this but with the keyword "Yell is crap" and got only 10 back. I was supprised with this.

 

[Digger]

I think City Links problem is they ditched the francise - bought it in house.

The lost us at the same time- effectively ditched as a "perchieved" low user wanting to have a minimum direct debit even if nothing was sent!!

And also LIEING about the Insurance cover didn't engender. It is worthless

 

[nextdayprint]

Amazed how quickly google got this thread... already at number 2 for "citylink are crap". Lol

 

[peebles]

very funny!

digger, who do you use?

 

[kontracta_com]

That's brilliant nextdayprint! I joined this forum to pick up some business ideas so if you don't mind I'm going to extend this idea to research each and every sales call I get.

I'll also remember which delivery company not to use.

 

[JohnDet]

Well, we're not in any way connected with City Link, - have used them for 7 years, and think they're OK.

They did dip a couple of years ago, and we hade problems when they integrated Target, but we would say :

We recommend City Link as a reliable logistics partner for UK next day delivery.

So there!

 

[quikshop]

It always amazes me to come across supposedly level headed business people who make important decisions based solely on Internet commentary written by complete strangers, a lot of which is done with vested interests at heart

There are dozens of threads on this forum alone that criticise particular services (usually SEO) that attracts loads of 'first time' posters who can't wait to add their negative comments.

Some of it is justified no doubt, but the vast majority of anonymous criticism should be discounted for what it is, big hairy ones

 

[nextdayprint]

It always amazes me to come across supposedly level headed business people who make important decisions based solely on Internet commentary written by complete strangers, a lot of which is done with vested interests at heart

There are dozens of threads on this forum alone that criticise particular services (usually SEO) that attracts loads of 'first time' posters who can't wait to add their negative comments.

Some of it is justified no doubt, but the vast majority of anonymous criticism should be discounted for what it is, big hairy ones

Well, the reason I was doing the test on the delivery services is that I have been using Citylink for a couple of weeks and currently they have demonstrated a very high failure rate - about 4%. The claimed success rate was 99.8%!

We offer guaranteed next day delivery on printing, and as such these failures have cost us both in terms of money and reputation. On one occasion they even insisted the parcel had never been collected from us, only for it turn up at some random address in Nottingham! As a result of their various errors we are moving away from them again. It was a brief and somewhat unenjoyable experience.

Beyond this I feel the search method employed here has demonstrated a statistical difference in the various levels of service between the delivery services. It obviously is not foolproof nor is it meant to be, but when the difference in returns is in the thousands of percent, I think we can reasonably assume that City Link has something seriously wrong going on.

Do you never employ this method yourself or search potential suppliers along with the word scam to ensure that you are not making a huge mistake? My only regret is that I did not try this before using their service.

City Link is crap!

 

[roydmoorian]

Come on guys, most Nextday delivery services are incredibly good value but we all know that they can go wrong.

Mis-routes are the most likely problem and it is how the delivery company deals with those mis-routes that sorts the men from the boys.

Speaking as a sameday courier who has worked for CityLink, Parceline (now DPD), UPS, ANC,APC,Nightfreight,DHL,ParcelForce & Business Post (UK Mail) I can say that my service of choice would be Business Post (UK Mail).

I have experienced DHL's "carded you were not at home" for a delivery to a 24 hour office - we recieved the card after 3 days via our regular Royal Mail postman with a 2nd class stamp on it

Sometimes the problems with a delivery stem from the address given by the consignor, I would recommend that you ALWAYS include a telephone number sao that if there is an anomoly with the address the delivery driver can contact your customer (UK mail drivers will generally use that telephone number)

Uk Mail Tracking is 2nd to none, you can even see then name of the van driver who has your parcel on board.

There are a number of ways to ensure that YOUR parcel is the one that the driver is able to identify easily amongst 80 or 100 other consignments on his van and so ensure a successful delivery.

We are able to set up UK Mail on-line accounts for you with NO MINIMUM USAGE at competetive rates.

www.sameday24-7.co.uk

 

[thespraytanshop]

City Link - Wow I have never ever ecperienced so many problems as I have with them. Had problems with Interlink Express and UKMail. Going to give FedEx a go I think or perhaps Fastway.