ParcelFarce Fail!
Before Christmas I had a parcel to send to Greece, rather than abuse the company TNT account I decided to send it myself and that the safest way to send it was with good ol' Royal Mail ParcelForce. Mistake... click 'read more' to hear my tail of woe..
The parcel was booked on the 22nd of December and collected on the 23rd of December. This is it's schedule for delivery:
07-01-2010 12:00 ATH Parcel delivered 07-01-2010 11:00 ATH Attempted delivery - addressee unavailable 05-01-2010 11:00 ATH Attempted delivery - addressee unavailable 31-12-2009 08:59 ATH Arrived at delivery depot 31-12-2009 06:56 ATH Awaiting Customs Clearance 30-12-2009 01:03 CDG Arrived in destination country 29-12-2009 22:01 STN On route to delivery depot 29-12-2009 21:27 STN Arrived in destination country 29-12-2009 18:03 STN Left origin country 29-12-2009 16:48 STN Export item accepted into network 29-12-2009 15:10 London North West Depot Despatched to Integrator 23-12-2009 19:05 London North West Depot On route to hub 23-12-2009 10:26 London North West Depot Collected from customer 23-12-2009 09:00 WDM Online
Now, I think it is safe to ignore the failed deliveries, because the recipient wasn't in at the time and they collected it themselves. What annoyed me was that it took 6 days for it to leave the UK, then it didn't even go out for delivery until the 5th of January.
Hey, I accept, it was Christmas and I accept that not everyone works over Christmas. But I paid £65 for three day delivery! I could have attached it to a pigeon and it would have gone there quicker! Would TNT have done it quicker? I don't know, but I know that I paid for three day delivery and got 14 day delivery! I've issued a formal letter of complaint and requested a refund (full or in part I don't care).
What also really annoyed me was that it wasn't until the 5th that anyone responded to my email sent on the 29th! When they did they just asked for more detail (I already provided the tracking number and my name thinking that would be enough). I eventually received two emails saying "we note that your parcel has been delivered, if you need any further assistance...". Of course I need assistance, I need someone to actually CARE!
I don't believe I will use ParcelFarce again, I don't think I could stomach that much hopelessness.