Parcelforce Strikes Again

More problems with Parcelforce (aka Parcelfarce).

I ordered some stuff from the Nokia Shop on Monday 14th May. Unfortunately, they will only deliver to the cardholder address, so getting it shipped to work was not an option. Nokia’s website doesn’t specify the carrier, so I was disappointed to find a card through the door last Thursday from Parcelforce. Another card appeared on Friday, so we used Parcelforce’s website to book a redelivery. The website offered to retry on Saturday, so we accepted and it even gave a confirmation number.

We stayed in on Saturday but Parcelforce failed to turn up. I emailed Parcelforce to complain. I’m still waiting (3 days later) for a response.

There was also no attempt to deliver on Monday (yesterday) so I rang the depot (annoying automated line which assumes you want to rebook a delivery and tries to make you to speak to a machine), I managed to break through the callgate and speak to an operator only to be told,

“That’s not possible, we don’t deliver on a Saturday, the parcel is still here.”

me: “Well I have a piece of paper with a confirmation number here saying that you will.”

Parcelforce: [clickety click] “well that’s not right, the website shouldn’t have offered that.”

me: “well it did, and you wasted my time, when are you going to deliver the parcel?”

Parcelforce: “I can send it out tomorrow [Tuesday], will someone be in to receive it?”

me: “maybe, I can’t guarantee that” We can’t sit in all day, waiting to see if Parcelforce turn up.

Parcelforce: “well that would be wasting the driver’s time.”

me: “pardon me, but you just wasted my whole Saturday!” and you haven’t even apologised. “I’m not driving all the way to Preston and back (a 40 mile round trip) for a parcel that you’ve been paid to deliver. I might as well have gone to the shops myself”

Parcelforce: “well, I’ll put it out for delivery, but it’ll be up to the driver whether he delivers it or not.”

What!!?? Yes you read that correctly, she said it was up to the driver whether he feels like delivering it. Absolutely disgusting. What kind of delivery company relies on the driver deciding whether to deliver or not?

I then rang Parcelforce’s main customer service (0191 512 7003), and in complete contrast, the first words out of their mouth were “I’m very sorry, you should not have been spoken to like that”. Obviously someone who is actually trained in customer relations. “If the parcel is put out for delivery, the driver will attempt to deliver.” She offered to email the manager at Preston.

The parcel was finally delivered today.

UPDATE: I also got a reply to my email from three days ago, but was a standard reply saying:

The details that you have sent me do not include the parcel’s track reference number and without this, I am unable to track the item.

So how come when you use the website to arrange a redelivery, it can find the details based solely on the delivery address, which I gave in the email along with their confirmation number, but Parcelforce’s customer services can’t? I rather think that Terresa Temple ‘Internet Advisor’ chose instead to fob me off with a standard email.

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