[Closed] Online Retailer really naffing me off.

You can raise a tracking number, but it wont be active until the parcel is with the courier.

Sounds like they are waiting for it to be delivered from their supplier, cancel and order elsewhere.

It may well mean the carrier just hasn' had the resources to  collect yet even if the collection was booked in a while back.

I had to send a package last week - booked it in on a drop-off service via parcel force (rather than collect from my address to try and help minimise the number of collections they might be having to make) - which created a tracking number. Headed straight down to drop off at postoffice and moments before I arrived they'd received a memo telling them large parcel collection had been suspended.

Took a while to find a carrier that would actually collect locally - plenty quote to via service like parcel to go.... until you enter the collection address and they say 'no service'

<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">Many retailers are struggling as they have fewer staff working in warehouses and have to obey social distancing. The welfare of staff is higher than despatching an order on time which will affect the service you receive.</span>

I bought 10 Laurel plants from eBay for a new hedge and the order was despatched with an estimated delivery date of last Thursday/Friday. It turned up yesterday and was marked as DPD 2 day service.

Royal Mail is not currently offering guaranteed next day delivery for example, so given the current climate, it is not something to get upset about.

I have frequently had "tracking number supplied", no further updates and then it is delivered and the tracking still just shows "tracking number supplied". This has been RM in the last few weeks.

I had that too on a delayed order.

RM: Said awaiting parcel, arrived before RM status had updated but was a few days late.

Ordered from Evans, Chain Reaction and Highonbikes recently. All delivered on their next day promise when paying extra.

Stock seems the biggest problem right now.

The tracking number is all well and good, but when you check the carrier’s website it says they are still waiting for my parcel. Two days further and they still haven’t got it.

Have had this recently, politely queried with supplier. As above, supplier had stock but was waiting for courier to collect, which they couldn't do as quickly as normal. The fact you have a tracking number suggest that this is the case.

I would urge patience - no guarantee you won't have the same issue if you ordered from elsewhere, then you've got more faff to deal with by having to return whichever part doesn't arrive first.

Royal Mail is not currently offering guaranteed next day delivery for example, so given the current climate, it is not something to get upset about.

That's fine, I could live with that; but it's not the issue here.

I have tried to query it with the store, but got nowhere. No reply to mail; livechat 'busy', phones not answered.

To clarify, the mail is a contact form. The website has a dummy email which is a bit crap.

In fairness, I got the phone number from Google so could be wrong. The clicker for the phone contact details on the website is a dud link.

Delay’s in posting are harder to swallow. I’ve paid for extra speed and got nothing.

Are you paying for a quicker delivery service rather than a quicker dispatch time though?

The extra fee is for them to despatch ASAP.

Time out for delivery is out of their control and I accept there could be delays in the system.

6 days to get something off a shelf and in a box is not what I would call speedy.

We are not living under normal circumstances, I’m not sure how realistic it is to expect normal levels of service?

Sigh. Did you read the first post?

Wiggle then

Is that an instruction or a guess? 🙂

If you've paid for a service you've not received then you should seek for that to be refunded. Beyond that, I don't need to tell you that we're in atypical times.

Another retailer has what I want in stock, but just one. They say they can deliver tomorrow. Do I just order that and return the other, should it ever turn up?

No harm in doing so (to you at least), you have 14 days from time of delivery to reject goods bought at a distance.

We are not living under normal circumstances, I’m not sure how realistic it is to expect normal levels of service?

100% this. If you are in a hurry for something then you really should be collecting from a physical shop that has stock (phone ahead first!). If no-one has stock of what you want, like has happened to me last week, then you just have to order online and be patient. Every part of the delivery chain is being put under immense pressure right now with high order numbers and limited working practices. I know form speaking to people I know that work for DPD that every stage of their warehouse operation has a backlog of work: deliveries in are sitting there for a day or so to be sorted, his cage of deliveries fills up faster than he can deliver them, when he does pickups from distribution warehouses they have double or more than he can fit in the van. It's busier than christmas and there's not the staffing levels to cope due to distancing regs. It will be the same situation for the pickers at the company you ordered from, don't forget they'll be socially distancing and having to deal with deliveries coming in too. My order from Bike Discount took 3 days to go to having a tracking ref, two days later it's yet to go live on the tracking page so I can pretty much guarantee it's waiting to be picked up from their warehouse into a van to start it's journey. Normally I'd be annoyed but with the way the world is right now I'll just wait patiently until it arrives at my door. A bike part for, presumably, one you ride for pleasure is not high priority right now so don't stress over something you have no control over.

Sigh. Did you read the first post?

Yes 🙂

The extra fee is for them to despatch ASAP.

Maybe this is ASAP for them at a very difficult time? Just because the last order was fast doesn’t mean the circumstances are the same to allow this one to be.

Time out for delivery is out of their control

time for collection is out of their control too. They can  stick it in a box and slap a label on as quick as you like but collections are just as problematic as deliveries.

I'm having the same issue with TriUK. Totally useless.

Ordered some shoes at start of lockdown. After a week they hadn't shown up - figured I'd cut them some slack. After 2 weeks I sent a message enquiring about them and a coupel of hours later get a "your package is on the way notification", no other response. Fair enough, I guess. Still cutting them some slack.

They arrive (late, as they'd forgot to put my flat number on the address and only a chance encounter with the delivery guy meant I got them). Too small but I could maybe get away with it. Bigger size would be better.
Checked their site and they only had one size left - the size I needed.
Contacted them to make sure those were in stock for an exchange? No response after 7 days.
So I fill in the returns form that came with them, box 'em up and post 'em. Haven't heard after a week. Check tracking - "delayed". Eventually get through to couriers who say their guy has reported the business as totally closed up - gates shut etc. Said I should contact TriUK to find out what's going on and let them know.

Contact TriUK. No response. Their phones are off as well.

Cheers guys. I know things are a mess just now, but that is just too incompetent.

I had this recently where a tracking number was posted, but the item did not make it to the courier. After week of no change, I contacted the retailer, and strangely the item then tracked with the courier that day, and was delivered 2 days later.

They can stick it in a box and slap a label on as quick as you like but collections are just as problematic as deliveries.

I'm sure CRC have a special deal with all carriers, and don't have to wait by the door to catch them on the way past.

I've ordered the alternative, they have managed to get it off the premises within a couple of hours.

Proving it can be done even as the world stops turning.

And dont get me started on IKEA. Ordered a cabin bed early March with a Saturday delivery. Covid pushed the delivery date back, but no worries. Now delivery date is rescheduled, but not full delivery. The draw fronts are out of stock and wont be supplied. Refund of £15, but unit now incomplete. Can't modify order to different fronts. If order new fronts separately need to pay delivery charge again.

Have re-ordered whole lot with different fronts, and now waiting in online chat to cancel the original order. No. 32 in the queue.

When they reopen they might find I'm no.2 in the bathroom section #dirtyprotest

I’m sure CRC have a special deal with all carriers, and don’t have to wait by the door to catch them on the way past.

Ha ha ha.

They might manage it quicker but, if as is the case with the parcel I'm waiting on from them and the carrier isn't collecting there's nothing much to be done.

I've goods on my shop floor, should have shipped Monday carrier turned up in a transit instead of an articulated as they didn't have the drivers.

Tuesday Wednesday we got our 7.5t pickup yesterday transit again and no articulated, today transit instead of 7.5, Monday if I'm lucky I'll get my artic.

No collection from parcel force for over a week, though I'm welcome to drive the 60mi each way to drop off at their hub apparently.

I've got a contract with both but it doesn't change the fact the world isn't what it was when we signed and the drivers are in isolation.

Odd that the stuff I sell is (currently) urgent healthcare stuff but those customers grasp the reality of the whole thing yet you're upset about a [s] cassette [/s] derailleur. Maybe it's the working round the dead and dying gives a bit of perspective.

For shops that are open / doing mail order / having stock it's been flat-out mental. I do some part-time work at my LBS - they're working 6am-6pm to keep up with demand for bikes. Generate a courier ticket when you complete the job, but even with daily collections it might not go that day because the van is full. If they haven't got consignment orders / stocks then they're going to run out of 2020 bikes soon and because of the shut-down in China, 2021 bikes are going to be delayed / non-existent.

Yeeeesh WIGGLE 😛

Maybe it’s the working round the dead and dying gives a bit of perspective.

Your Health % Safety must be flicking awful if they are dying at your work... Or are you over inflating things to make a point? Craply?

I'm miffed at paying for a service I've not received.

If I bought Domino's pizza and it wasn't delivered it's not life and death; but I'd still be bothered. I suspect, as would you.

I’d be bothered too, but tbh I don’t think I’d go online to complain about it.

Quite! It's not very productive approach to solving the immediate issue

Purity Spiral