UKMail Sacked by Ebay (allegedly)

[Harold Gough]

I have just purchased a very desirable lens off Ebay. I chose to use Click & Collect at my local Argos. According my Ebay order update it was "Dispatched on 04-Oct-16
Royal Mail 1st Class" to Argos.

I had been told (Ebay) it should be available at Argos "after 6 October". After the morning of 7 October, and having received no notification from Argos, I contacted the seller via the Ebay system.

The seller happened to live close to his local Argos. So he dropped in that day, to just make enquiries. He was surprised to find my lens there, which he retrieved and fed it back into the system via Royal Mail first class.

I got my notification and collection code from my local Argos on Saturday afternoon and collected the lens the next day.

Clarification:

The initial carrier was UKMail, not Royal Mail, and this coincided with Ebay sending out a notice to sellers that UKMail would not be handling any more deliveries to Argos.

Harold

[Naughty Nigel]

Re: UKMail Sacked by Ebay (allegedly)

Nothing would surprise me with any of the couriers, and the whole courier industry seems to be in some sort of meltdown at present.

(The main issue seems to be that there are too many courier firms, all trying to undercut each other by expecting drivers to complete impossibly long rounds every day of the week. Customers and other road users suffer the consequences.)

We may be lucky, but Royal Mail and UPS seem to be the only organisations that provide a consistently good service.

[Steambuff]

Re: UKMail Sacked by Ebay (allegedly)

I would add DPD to the list of couriers that constantly give excellent service.

UKMail are the worst I have come across, if a supplier uses UKMail, I will order elsewhere

Dave

[Naughty Nigel]

Re: UKMail Sacked by Ebay (allegedly)

I would add DPD to the list of couriers that constantly give excellent service.

UKMail are the worst I have come across, if a supplier uses UKMail, I will order elsewhere

Dave

I would agree that DPD are consistently good. I particularly value their email alerts allowing you to track the vehicle, and providing an approximate delivery time.

However, my enthusiasm for DPD is tempered by the fact that they have recently merged with, or bought Interlink, whose service has become even more diabolical as a result.

I made an official complaint about their service a few months ago, and the next time they delivered I received verbal abuse and threats of assault from the driver. The fact is that he had never visited us before, (he had actually tried to deliver to the wrong number several doors away). I tried to stop him as he drove away, but received a hand signal that doesn't appear in the Highway Code.

I tried to call the depot but nobody would answer the phone, so I booked online to collect my parcel in a one hour time slot from 18.00 to 19.00, some fifteen miles/30 minutes away; although the depot allegedly closed at 18.30.

When I arrived I was told that the driver wasn't back yet, and that if I had called before travelling they would have told me so. (Perhaps if they had picked up the phone.) I voiced my displeasure but was told that if I complained I 'wouldn't get my f***ing parcel'!

So, I had to wait around for just over two hours for the driver to return, otherwise the office would be closed.

Apart from wasting my time and money it also meant that a customer cancelled their order for the special item I was waiting for as there was no way that I could dispatch it on time.

[drmarkf]

Re: UKMail Sacked by Ebay (allegedly)

I would agree that DPD are consistently good. I particularly value their email alerts allowing you to track the vehicle, and providing an approximate delivery time.
...
...
Apart from wasting my time and money it also meant that a customer cancelled their order for the special item I was waiting for as there was no way that I could dispatch it on time.

After calming down (an evening in with a nice bottle of red normally works for me) I suggest reporting this to all appropriate places, with full corroborating detail, like tracking numbers etc. Is there an appropriate Professional Association for these cowboys?

It would make you feel better, at least, and you could copy the same report to each place!

I must say all the various couriers we've used recently have been OK, but the delivery drivers are noticeably more and more hassled.

One of the local Yodel drivers has dropped several things off over the last few weeks. He's very pleasant and now tells me how many deliveries he has to fit in to the rest of the day - it's going up each time.

[iso]

Re: UKMail Sacked by Ebay (allegedly)

I know it depends on the Sorting Office area you happen to be in. I am lucky. We know the Postie by name and quite often she will 'sign off' for us if we are not in. So on balance RMSD beats most courier companies.

[oddbits]

Re: UKMail Sacked by Ebay (allegedly)

Never used click and collect, and i hate couriers , Ialways use RMSD or RMSF first class, even parcel force is getting to be a big rip off...But i wonder if ebay sacked the courier or if the courier sacked ebay ??..

[Harold Gough]

Re: UKMail Sacked by Ebay (allegedly)

Never used click and collect, and i hate couriers , Ialways use RMSD or RMSF first class, even parcel force is getting to be a big rip off...But i wonder if ebay sacked the courier or if the courier sacked ebay ??..

That's fine if you don't mind being available to accept deliveries. I would rather be out taking photographs.

With Argos click and collect I can combine it with a trip to our regular supermarket, which is nearby, and have five days to do it.

Harold

[Harold Gough]

Re: UKMail Sacked by Ebay (allegedly)

I know it depends on the Sorting Office area you happen to be in. I am lucky. We know the Postie by name and quite often she will 'sign off' for us if we are not in. So on balance RMSD beats most courier companies.

That used to be our arrangement but RM has clamped down. Not only that but my Postie of a decade or more is often, without notice, put on driving the van and any of several Posties do the delivery and agreed places to leave items are unknown to them.

Harold

[Naughty Nigel]

Re: UKMail Sacked by Ebay (allegedly)

After calming down (an evening in with a nice bottle of red normally works for me) I suggest reporting this to all appropriate places, with full corroborating detail, like tracking numbers etc. Is there an appropriate Professional Association for these cowboys?

It would make you feel better, at least, and you could copy the same report to each place!

I must say all the various couriers we've used recently have been OK, but the delivery drivers are noticeably more and more hassled.

One of the local Yodel drivers has dropped several things off over the last few weeks. He's very pleasant and now tells me how many deliveries he has to fit in to the rest of the day - it's going up each time.

I made an official complaint to the company, (hence the driver's aggression and threats a week or two later), but also complained to my supplier, and told them that I wouldn't accept any future deliveries from Interlink.

As it happens they had received complaints from other customers around the same time, and were not satisfied with the response form Interlink management, so they terminated their contract and now use either UPS or Royal Mail.

If I pay for a courier service I don't expect to waste my time and money chasing parcels around the country. Their inability to pick up a telephone is surely symptomatic of a dysfunctional organisation.

[Harold Gough]

Re: UKMail Sacked by Ebay (allegedly)

I've just received this notification of an impending direct delivery:

Your order 31300790002965 is estimated for delivery by UK Mail between 14:48 - 15:48.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH

I think this is a book via Amazon.

Harold

[wornish]

Re: UKMail Sacked by Ebay (allegedly)

I would add DPD to the list of couriers that constantly give excellent service.

UKMail are the worst I have come across, if a supplier uses UKMail, I will order elsewhere

Dave

Fully agree DPD set the standard that others struggle to match.
They give you a delivery window of 1 hour ( not "Delivery by end of day" which is the best you get from DHL).

If you want an even more accurate delivery time DPD let you see the real time location of your delivery van and the parcel number they are currently delivering together with your place in the schedule. Even better they have friendly intelligent and helpful drivers.

The worst one in my experience is Yodal. Their drivers can't even be bothered to ring the doorbell and leave expensive items on the doorstep. If the drive gate is closed they have on two occasions just thrown the parcel over the wall ! The parcel contained plants !

[Harold Gough]

Re: UKMail Sacked by Ebay (allegedly)

I've just received this notification of an impending direct delivery:

Your order 31300790002965 is estimated for delivery by UK Mail between 14:48 - 15:48.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH

I think this is a book via Amazon.

Harold

Another piece of misinformation from Ebay! My Order details says "Royal Mail 2nd Class".

It was some Xylene thinners.

Harold

[Naughty Nigel]

Re: UKMail Sacked by Ebay (allegedly)

It was some Xylene thinners.

By post?

[Harold Gough]

Re: UKMail Sacked by Ebay (allegedly)

By post?

I was surprised too. A potential Molotov Cocktail.

Harold