Showing posts with label UPS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UPS. Show all posts

Friday, February 12, 2016

Deliver Now … or not


Whatever suits your schedule.

One of my pet peeves (and I truly don’t have many) is delivery systems: the local postal system although one of the best in the world has sadly gone the way of many for-profit companies and if I have a two-week period where there isn’t a misplaced letter or paper in my post office box, it’s a good period.  After faithfully scanning all the mis-delivered letters and objects I actually got a written letter with their excuses – and enjoyed a whole three weeks without error before going back to same old, same old.

But delivery companies are even worse – I can’t think of one or even one time when they got it right the first time. I have chased UPS trucks around the neighborhood, made innumerable trips across town to pick up packages at the main centers of both UPS and DHL and in general had to put myself out to obtain a package sent to my address (note the nuance, these packages are rarely even for me, but one or the other of the inhabitants at number 15).

OK usually the gate is closed meaning that they need to ring the outside bell – and if someone is in the cellar or the attic that bell is often unheard, but even if noticed by the time one gets to the gate, the delivery truck and driver are long gone.

Since there is no mailbox – or rather the letter part of the mailbox is sealed leaving the “milk box” part available – they will stick the notice on the front of the box thus notifying the whole world that there is potentially no one at home.

As there has always been someone, the notice is seen within 24 hours – often illegible as fallen and dirty and or wet, but we at least know which company to contact to try and retrieve the package.

Today the gate was open (due to my being at home and the amount of persons to-ing and fro-ing currently in my life, it is simpler) leaving them only the necessity of ringing the door bell. I was here – they obviously just pushed it a half a second once. How they managed to miss my being in the kitchen and the two visitors around the same time I’ll never know, but yet again I had to go online to request another delivery date.  Monday.

The only advantage: I was able to transmit my cell phone number and hope that if they don’t get an immediate reply at the door that they will call.

Not to mention names but DHL has chosen nothing better in a country where English is not one of the national languages (we only have four!) of “dhl-delivernow”. Glad that I am not awaiting medication or anything horribly important, but was obligated to tell them to leave it on the bench outside (they allow “neighbor”, “front door” or “other” – at no point can one say “call me when you’re here”).  Now that I think of it… the slip was in French, but the website that popped up was in English. Surely I could have also had French, or German or Italian or Romansch?

So deliver it now if that’s your motto!

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Wednesday, June 25, 2014

It’s a tough life or...


Life on the receiving end of package deliveries.

Now I know that we all buy things from a certain on-line mail-order company: A……com not to mention names: even I do so, usually ordering from the UK as a larger choice in English books and DVDs although I have friends who say that A.com Germany is just as good and if I do a search, my search engine will allocate me to France as that is my normal language.

From the UK my packages (and the last 20 of my son) arrive via our local postal service, which, other than the problem of actually having to go to the village to pick them up (I have a PO box so nothing is delivered), works fairly well. One time in one hundred there are customs and processing fees to pay, but that is rather hit and miss so not a total upset.

The other delivery companies though make my life miserable. They show up, ring the gate bell (or not, I swear) then leave within seconds.  The second time (sometimes one gets lucky and they leave a paper the first time), they arrive at the same time and leave one a message saying that they’ll be back the next day at the same time (like if you weren’t there the first day at that time, you are likely to be there the second day?).

Yes, you can go online and try and change the delivery time and date, but their routes are usually not that variable.  I have been known to get them to tell me where the truck currently is and dash up to get the package myself.

Today, however, none of that was working: the slip was in the mail slot, no date, no time, and no remarks as to a possible delivery, just the notification number (which as it turns out, isn’t even the order number!).

As this is a birthday gift ordered by my housemate for me, it was really in my interest to figure out how to obtain the package!
The telephone number that she had been given was a USA toll-free number, but by going on line and with the info number (remember not the tracking number) I was able to see where it had been: Philadelphia to Cologne, Germany, to Lyon, France to Geneva and the times at which they attempted to deliver it: Monday 12:10, Tues. 12:02 so I opened up the gate and hoped for the best. Of course I only did that when my housemate called at 12:40 and missed the truck which according to later information had been here at 12:35!

But the website also had a Swiss toll-free number: progress is being made. I duly called that and was offered a choice of German, French or Italian as languages. OK, then a choice of 1, 2, 3 or 0 (what they corresponded to I can’t remember). When finally I had a person online he was very disagreeable: amongst others, “you chose how your package would be sent, so you need to contact that company”… so I gave up temporarily.

Waited with open gate (and bated breath) but of course no truck.

After lunch, a couple more telephone calls to other persons (some much more enjoyable) I felt able to re-tackle the problem. Called the number again, went through my language choice, my “problem” choice and got a live person… who was very professional, apologizing profusely for the original contact (profusely, but not in an unprofessional or smarmy manner), and proceeded to try and help me get my package: one line that I recall was “I will help you get your delivery to your home at a time and date that is convenient FOR YOU”!  In the end – and with his lovely attitude – we did settle on a 3-hour period Friday where I will make myself available at home for this delivery.

Didn’t endure me any more to that particular delivery company (Uxx again not to mention names), but at least the second person is to be lauded in his handling of an irate person!

I know that I don’t yet have the package, but I now have a better feeling that I might actually get it before it returns to the USA.

Another positive: my birthday is still 6 weeks away! So we have wiggle time.