Is anybody else having problems with DPD deliveries?

[RB51]

DPD are fine here and the app works perfectly- so far. I understand that DPD and UPS etc. are inundated with parcels from companies that have moved away from Royal Mail whilst the strikes are taking place. Interestingly, Hattons now offer Amazon delivery for £4. R-

[Brew Man]

DPD are fine here and the app works perfectly- so far. I understand that DPD and UPS etc. are inundated with parcels from companies that have moved away from Royal Mail whilst the strikes are taking place. Interestingly, Hattons now offer Amazon delivery for £4. R-

 

 

Yeah, I'm struggling with Hatton's Amazon option. Although I said I would choose DPD every time, The Amazon option with Hatton's is, err, £3 cheaper.

[sir john]

@RogerB

I've used hattons amazon delivery it was delivered in 24 hours great service

John

[Brew Man]

Yes, it's a decent service, but the delivery slot is not as tight as DPD's 1 hour slot and delivery can be way into the evening.

[sir john]

Brew man

True but I've been waiting for royal mail to deliver a Christmas present for one of my grandsons since the beginning of this month it's just reached our Local mail center I know who I'd rather use .As an aside dpd delivered a package from Sheffield next day for the same cost

[Brew Man]

Totally agree, RM is a complete shambles at the moment.

[DarkRedCape]

Been a while since I set up my DPD app, but from what I remember, after entering your details, you can’t go wrong. After its setup, it just finds you, and you never need to mess with it again. As soon as they have your parcel, the app updates all the way until it’s in your hands.

@Rallymatt

I would recommend downloading the app and trying again. I dare say that the issue was likely on your end and not DPD or the app. It’s definitely a tool worth having.

[ColinB]

Well DPD should very soon have my new class 59 from Rails. I am wondering if it will beat the other one sent by Royal Snail last Monday. Royal Snail seems, even without the strike, to be delivering mail in a very irregular way. No post Monday or Tuesday, probably too cold to get in the van. It appears they have a manpower shortage, that should be sending a message to their top management.

[Rallymatt]

I tried all the re-installing business but their server is having some sort of melt down. My delivery today was fine because I was in but the tech behind the company in my experience is total junk.

I have recently paid for Amazon delivery with Hattons, for me it was flawless but my Amazon deliveries are always fine.

Excluding the issues with industrial action, DPD are currently my worst delivery experience purely on their lack of technical ability. I must admit I would pay extra to use a different courier service

[ColinB]

Well after all those good words, I had a delivery from Rails. I got a mail telling when the package would arrive, time slot passes, so I thought they are late. Went out to the bins and there on my doorstep is my £200 loco for all to see. I was in sitting in the loung, the kitchen light was on, the doorbell is working and is above where they placed the box, so there is no excuse.

[Aussie Fred]

Guys, You want experience Australia Post. I get parcels in country South Australia from UK or even Netherlands quicker than from Brisbane or even Melbourne which is only 450 miles away. The last parcel from UK was on my doorstep within 5 days.

[96RAF]

I had a tracked delivery from Canada Post, at ridiculous cost, which took ten days to get to UK from Calgary, likely seeing as it went via Dubai.

[ColinB]

When I used to travel all over the world with my job, one of the things that hit me was that things in other countries were not always that much better. Even the mighty Germany had its faults. Trouble is people go there on holiday and only see the good things. I have to admit though our delivery firms are getting worse, I like paying the cheap postage and packing but I think it is not a long term option, these delivery firms cannot get decent staff to work for them. So there seems to be an increasing chance that things go missing.

[Brew Man]

Well after all those good words, I had a delivery from Rails. I got a mail telling when the package would arrive, time slot passes, so I thought they are late. Went out to the bins and there on my doorstep is my £200 loco for all to see. I was in sitting in the loung, the kitchen light was on, the doorbell is working and is above where they placed the box, so there is no excuse.

 

 

Was it Amazon by any chance? They seem to be firmly in the routine now of leaving things on the doorstep, though they do usually knock. They don't, however wait to see if someone answers. So if no one is at home your valuable package could be lying there all day. They have been doing this ever since the pandemic struck.

[malB]

Indeed over the last fortnight I've had issues with DpD. I placed a repeat prescription. I got the text giving an eta. Then another on the day "....Sorry it has been unexpectedly delayed", with a new date. once more another "....unexpectedly delayed" and another date, once again another delay. Only to be followed on with a message on the website of return to sender....

As it stands I'd re-ordered my stoma bags and got a text say expect a delivery on the 13th, 4-5pm. 4:15 "...Sorry we missed you" complete with a photo of the stair well. Pity the driver went to the wrong block of flats. I know it was the wrong block as the lights on the ground and 1st landing of my block have blown and are in semi darkness...... All the lights were on in the other block. Another delivery was attempted on the 14th and again "...Sorry we missed you" with a photo of the locked main door in the photo. As it stands you could/can see the other side of the stair well with the other door and intercom. Didn't bother going round. So how the driver expected to get in without using the intercom, I know not. They dropped the parcel off at the pharmacy by my GP instead.

[ColinB]

No Brew Man it was DPD I have got used to Amazon doing it although of late they have been knocking on the door. Yodel left one in front of the Garage behind the skip I had at the time. Evri have to get a photo of it delivered by an open door, but of course with them a fair percentage never makes it to the Courier, and this is the business model Royal Mail wants to adopt.

[Bulleidboy]

I have just watched Amazon deliver a parcel to a neighbour who I knew was out. Rang the bell, left the parcel on the step, got back in the van and drove off. I rescued the parcel. I think we can agree that they all appear to follow the same practise, depending on the driver.

[AndyMac1707817969]

At the end of the day they are all competing against one another. People want to pay as little as possible for postage so that is just going to drive things in one direction, downwards. The idea of pay less get more is hardly realistic. No courier can make money if they have to drive time and time again to a drop-off until the person is actually there. Pay for a one star and expect a five star service. Reminds me of those who bought a £100 holiday in Spain and then complained because the hotel was not very good.

 

If any business is required to suddenly do ten times the thought-put of the rest of the year then there is always going to be problems. Margins are tight so they can’t just have vast resources on standby that may or may not be needed. Maybe the solution is simple, when a courier including Royal Mail reach the capacity of what they can handle then they should stop accepting parcels. Go to the post office to send your parcel and you are told the system has reached capacity try again tomorrow.   

 

[sxbiker]

After giving it some more thought, I realised that the problem was more to do with deliveries scheduled for the hours of darkness, the drivers were not even getting out of their van. In the end I made an official complaint to DPD. Since making the complaint all of my deliveries have been made in daylight hours and I have had no further problems. It remains to be seen if this is permanent improvement or if I have just been lucky.

[ColinB]

Actually Andy Mac you are right in that we should pay more for postage, although Royal Mail prices are significantly higher than the other Couriers. The issue now for all the Couriers is that they cannot find the staff to employ. I talk to my postman a lot, we have a mutual interest in bikes and trains and the issue at his sorting office is that there are just not enough of them. They keep leaving and as the remaining ones get even more work, they leave. Hermes/Evri have the same issue. All new starters for Royal Mail are on casual contracts, trouble is that lots of employers have found, they spend all day phoning up "zero hours" employees trying to find someone who will work for them on the day.

Then there is the liability, if you Courier decides to drop or lose your £200 loco, then employing cheap staff becomes a huge overhead.

[Anglia998]

My parcel due for delivery by DPD was left at Argos in Sainsbury's. I have just collected it.

[Twintop]

I think we should have some sympathy with the drivers as they are working in a very pressurised business at any time and much more so at Xmas with huge volumes.

Pay is poor. A few years ago, a drive had broken down in winter outside our house. I went out to assist as it was freezing and the mobile signal is very poor here. Eventually he did accept and came in to the house - this was around 9 p.m. and he had been there for a few hours. He was rescued at 10 p.m.

We had come difficulty communicating, but essentially he said he had to hire the poor condition van off the firm, had to deliver all the parcels he was given that day and was paid a pittance. Hence the pressure is on, so rushed deliveries are no surprise.

I also think that whilst there are many unacceptable horror stories, there must be millions who are happy. One parcel company delivers 3 million a day,

I understand one main player has 30,000 employees so statistically there must be quite a few rogues in that number. I used to work at a financial institution with about 700 employees and I investigated and recommended for dismissal on average 3 staff members a year for theft or corruption.

Re parcel deliveries, last Thursday I ordered from a faded but once major retailer a present and they said it would come on the 22nd - fine. It was actually attempted to be delivered on the 19th, I got an e-mail from the courier to say it would be delivered on the 20th and it was, so, no issues with that at all.

Contrary to that I had 2 parcels delivered in a week and they were left on a neighbours doorstep and in a neighbours outbuilding. They insisted they were delivered correctly and I had signed for them !!!

Contacting them is a nightmare. Luckily one neighbour brought my parcel around as by chance he had been in the outbuilding and the other we recognised the picture being the other neighbours door, so I could retrieve it.

I personally wish the shops would have a come back as there is no dispute when you hand over your payment and you get the goods there and then. In the case of locos, my retailer used to test every one whilst you were there.

[Aussie Fred]

Hey guys again, I take back my comment on Australia Post, just go informed a very precious parcel for the missus from Melbourne (450 miles away) tracking show posted 12 December, but now not due until Jan5 - 4 weeks. Apparently it has been to every state except West Australia and is still flitting from state to state, but not my state.

[96RAF]

Even with all their woes RM came up with the goods. I ordered from Amazon on Monday who said it would come direct from a third party supplier via RM, expected delivery Friday. Thats that then, I thought, but it was delivered by the RM van man first thing Wednesday. The postie said we are trying to get stuff out as we are on strike for a couple of days. Excellent attitude and performance.

[Going Spare]

Good outcome for you, Rob, but my understanding (which bears out your experience) is that RM are dealing with the backlog on a last-in, first-out basis as they gradually dig their way through to what came in to sorting offices at the beginning of the dispute. Not railway-related but I am still waiting for a package that entered the RM system on the 6th.

Delivered a few minutes ago!