Crap, unreliable parcel delivery/courier companies - feel free to vent here

[Smokeandsteam]

Has anyone posting on here got a copy of the exact DPD contract and/or worker terms and conditions?

As I understand it the model is similar to but not exatly the same as Amazon etc?

 

[belboid]

Ah I only just saw that post, haha I am not alone with the name thing then. Whats yours called?

Mine is Dave, always Dave. Even when it’s a woman.

 

[pug]

Fucking hell. And they are paid per parcel (rather than a daily rate for the round plus a bonus per parcel)?

So a sick day can mean:
No pay for the day (although some work might be caught up later but at a lower rate)
A fine taken off the rest of that months earnings
Still having to pay out for van rental (and DPD vans are branded so it will be hired from them)/insurance/tax, public liability insurance, phone contract, etc for the time off sick
And then when coming back to work (in many cases still not well) you could have a backlog of work to get through, paid at a lower rate.

That's utterly disgusting.

Basically they're paid by delivery rather than by parcel so if they have two parcels for the same address then they might get paid twice but if it's three then the third one they'd get half for on a reducing scale or something like that.
Also if they turn up in the morning and there's only 20 deliveries to make then they have make those deliveries even if the payment for the deliveries won't cover the cost of the fuel.

The vans are often on leases/hp or owned outright and the lease contracts would likely be with a commercial vehicle dealership and completely separate to the parcel company,(meaning that the driver is tied into another contract for which penalties will apply) the sign writing stickers would have to be bought (like the uniform) from the parcel company and then be applied to a professional standard$. The vans also have to be fitted with security locks$$. The vans have to be newer than ~3years old and when they go back to the lease co there's the cost of sign and lock removal.

Some companies make a hire charge for the handheld scanners too.

A lot of what the driver has to suffer is at the mercy of the depot they work at, if the manager and staff in the office are ok then the driver would be treated a bit more reasonably.

 

[pug]

Many drivers who were employed and on the cards with DPD were persuaded, cajoled and pressured to go self employed, lease the vans and sign contracts with clauses that made them responsible to find cover if they were unavailable. This included accepting charges of £150 per day if they couldn't find cover for any absence.
How they can get away with calling that self employed is a scandal in itself - working people to death is corporate manslaughter

It's the same with all of these companies including parcelforce. Citylink partly suffered because of it's failure to convert over to the psuedosubcontracting system quickly enough but all of the companies(not sure about UPS) have shifted or are trying to onto these contracts.

Parcel delivery is a pretty cutthroat business with hefty competition between the various entities, most consumers don't like paying for delivery and so cost is the major factor, quality of service not so much, treatment of employees and the social cost of that are nowhere to be seen in any of this factoring.

It's not just working people to death, the unwritten contract says that the driver must exceed the speed limit and must work whilst unfit to drive through sickness. The hours expected of these drivers are totally off the scale compared to any driver of a tacographed vehicle so there's a very real cost to society and threat to the safety of everyone on the roads.

 

[existentialist]

It's the same with all of these companies including parcelforce. Citylink partly suffered because of it's failure to convert over to the psuedosubcontracting system quickly enough but all of the companies(not sure about UPS) have shifted or are trying to onto these contracts.

Parcel delivery is a pretty cutthroat business with hefty competition between the various entities, most consumers don't like paying for delivery and so cost is the major factor, quality of service not so much, treatment of employees and the social cost of that are nowhere to be seen in any of this factoring.

It's not just working people to death, the unwritten contract says that the driver must exceed the speed limit and must work whilst unfit to drive through sickness. The hours expected of these drivers are totally off the scale compared to any driver of a tacographed vehicle so there's a very real cost to society and threat to the safety of everyone on the roads.

It's almost like we need some kind of employment legislation, or something...oh, wait, we had lots of that. I wonder where it went

 

[elbows]

It's almost like we need some kind of employment legislation, or something...oh, wait, we had lots of that. I wonder where it went

Slightly different context, same daleks, same agenda.

 

[teqniq]

Apologies if you've already had this but apparently they have a 'policy' of fining their drivers £150 for missing a shift. This bloke died as a consequence.

Email the scumbags now

Contact DPD

 

[equationgirl]

I ordered something to arrive last Saturday. It did not arrive, so downloaded the DPD app and rescheduled it for today.

Tuesday the app notifies me it has received my request to delivery on Wednesday. As I didn't make this request and will not be in, I reschedule it again for today.

Mid-morning I receive my allocated delivery slot of 15.20-16.20. App helpfully notifies me that my driver is called Brian and that at 12pm he's on delivery 1 of 44. I am delivery 20- something.

Delivery slot comes and goes, and the app stops showing me tracking of my parcel, as the slot is now the general slot of 6am to 10pm.

Places your bets on whether my parcel will arrive today, before 10pm. Personally I'm not hopeful...

 

[cybershot]

I ordered something to arrive last Saturday. It did not arrive, so downloaded the DPD app and rescheduled it for today.

Tuesday the app notifies me it has received my request to delivery on Wednesday. As I didn't make this request and will not be in, I reschedule it again for today.

Mid-morning I receive my allocated delivery slot of 15.20-16.20. App helpfully notifies me that my driver is called Brian and that at 12pm he's on delivery 1 of 44. I am delivery 20- something.

Delivery slot comes and goes, and the app stops showing me tracking of my parcel, as the slot is now the general slot of 6am to 10pm.

Places your bets on whether my parcel will arrive today, before 10pm. Personally I'm not hopeful...

How's it going?

 

[equationgirl]

How's it going?

It arrived about 7pm, driver didn't even say hello, just pushed the signature machine at me and walked away.

 

[Sasaferrato]

Hermes is the delivery pits.

 

[Farmer Giles]

My DPD app tells me that every parcel I receive is being delivered to a Doddle shop down the road from me. It closed down 2 years ago.

 

[Saul Goodman]

I use DPD all the time, for sending and receiving. They're by far the best company I've used. Nobody else comes close. I get a text to let me know when the package will be collected/delivered. It's a 1 hour window (8:20am - 9:20am). The driver phones me 15 minutes before he arrives, and he's always here by 8:30. If I'm not going to be in, I'll tell him where to collect/leave the package.
I've used pretty much all of the available carriers, including DHL and other ridiculously expensive ones, and DPD beat them all, hands down.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

I use DPD all the time, for sending and receiving. They're by far the best company I've used. Nobody else comes close. I get a text to let me know when the package will be collected/delivered. It's a 1 hour window (8:20am - 9:20am). The driver phones me 15 minutes before he arrives, and he's always here by 8:30. If I'm not going to be in, I'll tell him where to collect/leave the package.
I've used pretty much all of the available carriers, including DHL and other ridiculously expensive ones, and DPD beat them all, hands down.

Yeah, me too. Always arrive in the allotted hour time frame, knows where he can leave stuff and have not let me down.

Ordered a big-ticket item from ebay last week, seller claimed to be in hospital and that ebay had held the money back, today he's in touch to say that he has the money and will be sending via Hermes for signed delivery. My heart sank. Will post a bunglesuqe thread on its progress later in the week...

 

[cupid_stunt]

Ditto with me - never had any problems with DPD, I would rate them the best of the lot, and Hermes by far the worst.

 

[Looby]

Yeah, DPD are still great round here. My heart sinks when I see Hermes are delivering too.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Yeah, me too. Always arrive in the allotted hour time frame, knows where he can leave stuff and have not let me down.

Ordered a big-ticket item from ebay last week, seller claimed to be in hospital and that ebay had held the money back, today he's in touch to say that he has the money and will be sending via Hermes for signed delivery. My heart sank. Will post a bunglesuqe thread on its progress later in the week...

The thing arrived on Friday, turns out the sender switched to UPS who then emailed me to say it was delivered and signed for. I didn’t have it. I work in a group of offices so went to the admin block, they didn’t have it, the I spotted a package leaning against the door of an office with no tenant.

Could well have claimed I never got it cos it clearly wasn’t signed for and cost £600, but can’t be fucked to get someone in the shit so will let that slide.

 

[Leafster]

A few minutes ago I had an email from Hermes saying they had successfully delivered my parcel. The only problem was that I was sat in the room by the front door and there had been no sign of a delivery. I went outside - no sign of a delivery there or anywhere in my front garden!

Looking along the road I saw a van with the doors open. I walked along and asked the guy if he was from Hermes. He says yes, so I ask if he's got a parcel for me to which he replies he's just delivered it. I say where, he points to a neighbour's place a few doors down.

I now have my parcel!

 

[skyscraper101]

A few minutes ago I had an email from Hermes saying they had successfully delivered my parcel. The only problem was that I was sat in the room by the front door and there had been no sign of a delivery. I went outside - no sign of a delivery there or anywhere in my front garden!

Looking along the road I saw a van with the doors open. I walked along and asked the guy if he was from Hermes. He says yes, so I ask if he's got a parcel for me to which he replies he's just delivered it. I say where, he points to a neighbour's place a few doors down.

I now have my parcel!

And what did he say when you asked him why he didn't deliver it to the correct address?

 

[Leafster]

And what did he say when you asked him why he didn't deliver it to the correct address?

To be honest, I didn't get a chance to ask him why he didn't deliver it to me. He said he'd delivered two parcels to my neighbour and then rushed off to retrieve the one that was actually for me.

He did say sorry when he gave it to me.

 

[skyscraper101]

To be honest, I didn't get a chance to ask him why he didn't deliver it to me. He said he'd delivered two parcels to my neighbour and then rushed off to retrieve the one that was actually for me.

He did say sorry when he gave it to me.

I'd be well pissed off if I had a parcel delivered to a neighbour with not so much as an attempt to see if I was even in.

 

[existentialist]

I'd be well pissed off if I had a parcel delivered to a neighbour with not so much as an attempt to see if I was even in.

So would I, but I also feel rather sorry for these poor Hermes people - of all the courier companies, they probably are one of the ones who treat their people the worst.

 

[skyscraper101]

So would I, but I also feel rather sorry for these poor Hermes people - of all the courier companies, they probably are one of the ones who treat their people the worst.

I do feel sorry for them, and fine if its an honest mistake. But not bothering to show up or marking something as delivered when it's not (or delivered to the wrong address) seems to be a concurrent theme and not really good enough. People take days off work on the basis of things like this.

 

[ddraig]

wtf fuck is this?!? fuck sake GMB

Union drops support for DPD courier walkout after legal threat

DPD said it would hold GMB liable for losses if it backed Black Friday action in Glasgow

 

[cybershot]

Today I'm sitting around waiting for an order I cancelled, which apparently they couldn't stop from exiting the warehouse or call it back from the courier (hermes, great, notoriously shit around here) themselves!

So I've got to sit in just so I can catch the courier to ensure he doesn't try and deliver it to a neighbour and ensure he marks it as 'customer refused receipt of parcel'

Blink XT camera also positioned ready to record the whole conversation!

Otherwise I'm lumped with the cost of returning it.

Reasoning is I found something more suitable afterwards, and at least with that company I can click and collect.

Hoping to get other stuff done today in garden, but currently watching the hours twindle past while I wait for nothing!

 

[Gaia]

Today I'm sitting around waiting for an order I cancelled, which apparently they couldn't stop from exiting the warehouse or call it back from the courier (hermes, great, notoriously shit around here) themselves!

So I've got to sit in just so I can catch the courier to ensure he doesn't try and deliver it to a neighbour and ensure he marks it as 'customer refused receipt of parcel'

Blink XT camera also positioned ready to record the whole conversation!

Otherwise I'm lumped with the cost of returning it.

Reasoning is I found something more suitable afterwards, and at least with that company I can click and collect.

Hoping to get other stuff done today in garden, but currently watching the hours twindle past while I wait for nothing!

That may very well still happen. Hermes drivers are gig workers paid per delivery and very likely won't get paid for that delivery if you refuse it (yep, Hermes are even more shit than you previously thought). I know it's a PITA to have to return summat but think of the driver, (s)he's likely to be on shit wages, and you'd be denying them money. Having watched Broke, I feel far more sympathetic towards delivery drivers. The 'gig economy' ought to be illegal, it's exploitation.

 

[Pickman's model]

That may very well still happen. Hermes drivers are gig workers paid per delivery and very likely won't get paid for that delivery if you refuse it (yep, Hermes are even more shit than you previously thought). I know it's a PITA to have to return summat but think of the driver, (s)he's likely to be on shit wages, and you'd be denying them money. Having watched Broke, I feel far more sympathetic towards delivery drivers. The 'gig economy' ought to be illegal, it's exploitation.

all work is exploitative, it's in the nature of the beast

 

[cybershot]

That may very well still happen. Hermes drivers are gig workers paid per delivery and very likely won't get paid for that delivery if you refuse it (yep, Hermes are even more shit than you previously thought). I know it's a PITA to have to return summat but think of the driver, (s)he's likely to be on shit wages, and you'd be denying them money. Having watched Broke, I feel far more sympathetic towards delivery drivers. The 'gig economy' ought to be illegal, it's exploitation.

It's a fair point, however, the retailer should, and I'm sure does, have the power to have recalled the parcel before it even got this far.

They reckoned it was already 'on the lorry' before I even got the dispatched email. It may have have been but it's had to go through various hubs to even get this far, they could easily have recalled it. Personally I think it's because they don't want to have to refund the delivery charge themselves, so the tight gits can do one. Well, hopefully, if he insists I have to take it, I will, but only after he convinces me he has no choice.

 

[binka]

You're perfectly entitled to refuse the delivery so don't feel bad about it, just make sure you have a proper look at the machine and that you aren't actually signing to accept delivery...

 

[not-bono-ever]

They have tried to deliver something for one week now, every day. I have asked for it to be dropped with a neighbor at least 4 times but I just get another email each day saying they missed me. They are shite