I hate DPD

olafgarten

I hate DPD.

RiftAmps

Me too. Or at least until last week when they fired my local driver and gave the route to someone with a brain cell.

dindude

But not s much as Yodel / Hermes / Parcelforce / etc. they are truely terrible.

DPD are pretty good round my neck of the woods, and at least give you a timed drivery.

ICBM

dindude said:

DPD are pretty good round my neck of the woods, and at least give you a timed drivery.

They just failed to deliver an important package on the arranged day - no excuse, since it was a day later than the original schedule, which I changed on purpose. So not only did I partially waste the day I'd originally booked waiting for them (luckily I work from home as well, so it wasn't entirely written off), I had to wait in the following day as well. They did deliver it the following day, but without any text first as they were supposed to so again I had to not go out to do things I needed to until it had arrived.

What's the point of specifying a day if they don't stick to it or at least communicate to tell you there's a problem?

TTony

ICBM said:

What's the point of specifying a day if they don't stick to it or at least communicate to tell you there's a problem?

Indeed.

I was supposed to have a DPD delivery today - but it turned up  yesterday.


(Placed the order Monday pm, arrived Weds pm, from Holland!).

I think with all the courier companies, so much depends on the last leg - ie your local depot and the driver.  What goes on behind the scenes in the sorting centres and big trucks is - I believe - much the same for all of them.  That's "just" an exercise in optimising logistics efficiency.

It's the person who delivers that creates the good or bad impression.

On the rare occasions that I meet a grumpy one, I try to remember that he's being paid 50p for the delivery (or min wage rates), and I'd probably not be smiling either if I was doing it ...

impmann

TTony said:

On the rare occasions that I meet a grumpy one, I try to remember that he's being paid 50p for the delivery (or min wage rates), and I'd probably not be smiling either if I was doing it ...

Erm... do you feel the same in restaurants? Do you feel the same in supermarkets?

Nobody forces someone to do a job. If you can't do it with a good grace, don't do it and find something 'better'. As a customer service representative of their company, they *should* be promoting a positive view of their employer - if they aren't, they aren't doing their job.

My problem with couriers - and especially the Post Office - revolves around missed deadlines (and misleading names/claims for the services they provide), insurance that is a con and theft/damage.

TheBigDipper

ICBM said:

dindude said:

DPD are pretty good round my neck of the woods, and at least give you a timed drivery.

They just failed to deliver an important package on the arranged day - no excuse, since it was a day later than the original schedule, which I changed on purpose. So not only did I partially waste the day I'd originally booked waiting for them (luckily I work from home as well, so it wasn't entirely written off), I had to wait in the following day as well. They did deliver it the following day, but without any text first as they were supposed to so again I had to not go out to do things I needed to until it had arrived.

What's the point of specifying a day if they don't stick to it or at least communicate to tell you there's a problem?

It's totally frustrating, because (if you're the recipient and not the sender) then you're not their customer and they don't need to care. In part, some of this is the way we (as customers) pick the cheapest rather than the best - therefore encouraging the companies to pay peanuts and set difficult deadlines for their zero-hours or subcontracted staff to fail to meet. 

At least I know the postman (who works for a private company, remember) is obliged to walk past my front door, so he might as well deliver something. Everyone else, it's pot luck. Including Parcelforce.

dindude

Well I had a guitar delivered bang on within a one hour time slot yesterday by DPD, no complaints.

Jimbro66

I have to say I've been happy with deliveries from DPD. They've never let me down on their one-hour delivery slot. Maybe just luck but perhaps, as said above, it comes down to the drivers. Our area is covered by a couple of brothers who are reliable and always very upbeat.

It's Parcelfarce and UK Mail that have me tearing my hair out. Parcelfarce text a one hour slot for, maybe, late morning so I go out for a while thinking I have time then return well before the slot to find a missed-delivery card. Grrr. The UK Mail driver clearly doesn't give a fuck and will just dump a package somewhere near the front door in the rain if no signature is required.

usedtobe

Some people do have to take whatever job they can get, and put up with whatever shit pay and conditions go with it.

Cirrus

I think it's interesting that everyone has different ideas of which delivery companies are good and bad.

it's just pot luck, modified by how shit and how overworked the delivery driver in your particular area is. In some cases these people are being paid ~30p/ delivery, have to pay their own expenses and provide their own vehicle, and are worked to the bone. It's an industry where the advertised working hours are a joke, and if you're good at your job you'll be lucky if you only need to do an hour or so's overtime each day on average to stay on top of things.

Totally distorted industry, but we don't care as long as a massive organisation successfully delivers our 5kg package across the country for the cost of a nice cup of coffee.

Grumpyrocker

No problems with DPD here. I think our rural location makes for better courier services. If they are coming out all this way then they want to get it delivered and not have to come back out. Even Amazon Logistics does a decent job.

Yet when I loved in London they were all rubbish. 

TTony

impmann said:

TTony said:

On the rare occasions that I meet a grumpy one, I try to remember that he's being paid 50p for the delivery (or min wage rates), and I'd probably not be smiling either if I was doing it ...

Erm... do you feel the same in restaurants? Do you feel the same in supermarkets?

I can't really remember the last time that I had *bad* service in a restaurant.

My experience of supermarkets is that the till operators generally respond in kind - if you smile and have a simple means-nothing chat with them, they'll generally smile back - and not chuck the stuff across the till quite so quickly.


But generally ...

usedtobe said:

Some people do have to take whatever job they can get, and put up with whatever shit pay and conditions go with it.

... is very true. 

Working as a courier delivery driver is pretty tough physically, you're in and out of the cab in all weathers, jumping in the back and trying to find  *the* parcel for that drop, have to deal with traffic aggro, finding somewhere to park, spotting houses that aren't clearly  numbered or named ... and all against the schedule clock.

Don't think I'd choose to do it.

bermudianbrit

yep. really really do not like dPD, I've had countless issues.

crunchman

DPD have always been pretty good for me - one of the better ones.

Yodel were the absolute pits.  A one point I stopped buying stuff from one online retailer because they used Yodel.  We did have a Yodel delivery the other week that actually arrived so they may have improved.

RandallFlagg

I used to manage a warehouse and we had a saying "all delivery drivers are w*nkers"

We made no exceptions, ALL if them!

JayGee

I like DPD, they’ve been excellent every time I’ve had a delivery from them,. This m,at or may not be connected with the fact that the guy who’s done the deliveries has always been the bloke who lives around the corner who keeps a DPD liveried van on his drive...

And bluntly I’m with @usedtobe and @TTony on the root causes of crappy service. As long as we (collectively) keep clicking on the “lowest cost including shipping” option we’ve got no business expecting anything other than what a miserable, disincentivised, and over-stressed workforce can deliver...

olafgarten

Ok, an update and more info about the whole story.

On Friday night I ordered a Boss Katana 100 and was told by the shop it would be shipped Monday morning and be with my by Tuesday. They used DPD Next Day and I've had decent experience with DPD in the past and so I wasn't too worried.

On Tuesday I stayed home so I wouldn't miss the delivery, I was told I was going to recieve a delivery window by 11 and though it was a bit strange but it took them until 3 to tell me it wasn't coming until tomorrow.

Wednesday it was the exact same story, I even called them up Wednesday morning and confirmed that it would be coming. Luckily I didn't need to miss University on Wednesday because my Mum was home all day. 

I have now been informed that my Delivery has arrived, only 2 and a half days late. 

uncledick

Even Amazon Prime stopped offering next day deliveries this week.  Black Friday etc. is bound to have an effect.  I've always found DPD the best of a mediocre bunch.

olafgarten

uncledick said:

Even Amazon Prime stopped offering next day deliveries this week.  Black Friday etc. is bound to have an effect.  I've always found DPD the best of a mediocre bunch.

I have no problem with delays, It's just that I wasn't informed that it was going to be delayed. Every time I contacted them for an update they seemed to be sure it would be delivered on time. And today they deliver it without even letting me know! If my Sister didn't have the flu we would've missed it. 

Bridgehouse

I have had goods "delivered" by DPD before. I just wish their delivery scheduling options were more honest.

See when they miss you, they leave you a card and you can go onto their website to change it. 

Strangely, their card says "in a safe place (in the porch)" which it turns out actually means in the middle of the fucking front garden where any bastard can nick it or it will get wet in the rain. 

I wish they would just say that.