Couriers....!!

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Not against change Erf, it's ongoing and life.

Piece work, done plenty and earned well as a welder. I was good at it, multi drop I hated.

Unions gave us 5 day week holidays/sick pay, those changes were fought for, not given

[i12fly]

Not model/toy related but we've had our food/groceries delivered by Morrisons for 2+ years. Extremely courteous and friendly, text or ring if they are running late or ask if ok when early. This week the guy got stuck in snow 30+ miles away and was told it would be 3 hours before a rescue truck could attend, but using his initiative sorted it himself so was only half hour late. Different drivers most weeks, male/female, all motivated to do their job the best they can.

[Erfolg]

I am a little surprised John, if you believe any of my remarks are targeted at yourself, nor specifically Unions.

 

The specifics you mention with respect to Unions achievements are absolutely correct. I do agree that unions in general have made many positive contributions to us working classes. The fuller picture involves many other influences many positive although many negative. I think of the injustices of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, the Peterloo Massacre. I also have read of self interests and injustices of the Enclosure acts, the Corn Laws. The same is very evident today with those seeking tariffs under the guise of health and safety and welfare, for say chicken where it matters not, that lettuce is often washed in Chlorinated water etc. Many of our rights taken for granted are built on the backs of groups such as the Charterists (one of my distant relations was a mover within the group) etc.

 

When I think of the Luddites, another self interest group, seeking to halt change, to maintain the status quo. Yet as today I have many sympathise with their position. There are more than a few passing similarities with some Logistics/couriers/Postal Services. Many changes have, and almost certainly will continue to change, as IT has made many things possible that seemed a pipe dream, of the ideal. Mechanisation, optimised delivery structures and IT changes will continue, World wide in addition to the UK.

 

I have spoken to two Amazon delivery drivers, one leaving, having completed a Plumbing Qualification whilst a driver, the other self employed. Both seemed to have similar views, that they had no issues with their employer, it was broadly similar to other white van delivery services, no worse. I was a little surprised (may be they thought I worked for Amazon). 

 

For me I use the Internet to make purchases, including books, more and more of my modelling items, delivered by couriers. Some couriers appear to be better than others, which will change with time, due to competition and some other factors. 

 

I continue to urge my Grandchildren, to obtain a good qualification, that is potentially transferrable, to many potential jobs, as what is in demand today, as a job may not exist tomorrow.

[john davidson 1]

An acquaintance of mine left a job of 20 years , looking for a change, accompanied a courier for a few days then started full time. He discovered pretty quickly the round  he was given as a newbie did not compare financially to the one he was shown and expected, and went back to his old employer. Old job already filled by two part timers. 

Edited December 16, 2022 by john davidson 1
missing word

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

No erf, I  don't think you targeted me, just a comment, no offence intended.

[kc]

The problem with couriers is the same one that affects lots of services - the people actually doing the work are paid very little.    There is a huge spread of wage rates  nowadays that did not exist in the 60's and 70's.   Although the cost of food, petrol, electricity etc etc is the same for everyone, in 2022 there are huge discrepancies in the wages that some people get.    And to make it worse the higher rates of income tax are now in the favour of the richest!

So if the pay is peanuts then you are likely to get only monkeys......the amazing thing is that some of the poorly paid still do a really good job!

[Don Fry]

Erf, sorry, I like animals, I eat them, and I don’t wish to disrespect my food. You said “The same is very evident today with those seeking tariffs under the guise of health and safety and welfare, for say chicken where it matters not,” . 
Have you ever seen a modern chicken, bred for meat, gone off its legs, eaten by maggots, dying of thirst. Or a skipful.
Or a habit of USA dairy farms, a cow in the herd gets an operation, to provide a plastic window to into grass digester stomach, so the owner can fine tune food input and maximum milk production. 

I’m going veggie before I eat or drink that. 
 

And the Luddites were a self interest group, as you say, who saw the writing on the wall, and decided that revolution is preferred to starvation. Lost that argument. Folk song, “I’m a four loom weaver as every man knows” tells the end of that sad tale, a fair number of years later. 
 

Trouble with systems without checks and balances, is the two halves who emerge can no longer speak and communicate. And that always ends badly. 
 

 

 

 

[Erfolg]

KC, I totally agree that wage rates now cover a wide range. Apparently from "Freedom of Information", that some train drivers and signal men are earning +£100,000 a year. I suspect that these figures were from a prompted enquiry. That qualified nurses staring pay is £35,000 pay, the majority are ppaid between £40-46,000, which are quoted figures which I can believe represents the vast majority.

 

The problem for many is that there has always and will always be low paid (relative to the median). It is just the jobs that change with time.

 

My comments with respect to vested interests was meant to high light the wide range, and their circumstances. Some political parties are only interested in the wealthiest be it by income and so on. Yet there are many groups that are not as obvious, be it farmers, steel makers, us workers etc. There is a tendency to argue that the situation is in the public interest, maybe a moral position, fairness, every one will have their own opinions.

 

When I was young there still farriers in numbers, I regularly past a cooper, British Railways still had Boiler Makers. I have seen the mass of typists disappear from the office environment, Tracers disappear from the Drawing Offices, qualified banking and general staff. You can add your own list of jobs that have gone.

 

In many cases we all changed with the changes in technologies and demands of the working environment.

 

We have seen companies come and go. Some I thought when young, were permanent fixtures, that could never fail, or become a pale shadow of their once great might.

 

Some despise profit, yet without profit most if not all the suppliers to us modellers, would not bother, however much they love what they do. Particular bile is poured out against major companies, there profits are to large, or not paying as much tax as some believe is appropriate, not able to separate gross from net, that massive investment should not be tax deductible. This week we have seen that the windfall tax, has had an impact on the three major North Sea operators. Total saying all new investments is now halted, Shell putting all spends halted whilst projects are revaluated (company speak to all projects halted, until changed environment), anf now some compamy I have not heard of (apparently the 3rd largest) has followed suite.

 

As for the couriers and their environment, you change with the times, obtain a privilege position, or potentially cease to exist .

 

We all think nothing of shopping all through the week end, expect trains to run, hospitals to be always fully staffed. Now I think nothing of parcels arriving on Sunday, or pretty late into the evening. Many going out at night, or visiting a big city, here or abroad, talk, and want the city to be alive 24 hours a day. For this to happen someone is working to make it happen.

 

Do I approve, now you have me, I see much as unnecessary, until it suits me.

 

 

[Don Fry]

2 hours ago, Erfolg said:

That qualified nurses staring pay is £35,000 pay,

£27055 for a starter fully qualified band 5 SRN nurse. Top of the band after 5 or so years experience £34934. 
That’s the pay scale.
The RCN say the average pay for nurses is between £33000 and £35000. They might be right or wrong but that’s what they say. Your figures come from a different, unnamed source.

Edited December 18, 2022 by Don Fry

[john davidson 1]

Read in this mornings paper that undelivered parcels by Evri turned up at a car boot sale!

[Benny]

On 19/12/2022 at 10:54, john davidson 1 said:

Read in this mornings paper that undelivered parcels by Evri turned up at a car boot sale

Rather interesting) How did they get there?

[PatMc]

4 hours ago, Benny said:

Rather interesting) How did they get there?

By car. They were in the boot. 😄

[cymaz]

Don’t knock the delivery drivers too much until you’ve tried it ! 

I’ve done it in one form or another for 30 years. We’re caught in the middle ..... the accountants that run the business, seeking ever greater margins and economies ( it’s not a Transport Manager) and the CPC course that says you must drive slower and safer and you need to look out for cyclists. The driver doesn’t know what to do next. BTW, I’m not immune to missing parcels !

 

 

[Nigel Heather]

I previously posted that I had never heard of Evri but was since educated that they are simply Hermes with a new name.

 

Apparently, Hermes had such a bad reputation that the leadership team felt that the company and employees needed to change their working practices but that wasn’t enough they needed a new name and a fresh start.  I can imagine that communications went out explaining the crisis that the company was in, that things needed to change, but the sad reality is that operations continued exactly as they were - different name identical poor performance.

 

I experienced Evri for the first time a few days ago with an eBay purchase and what happened must be the funniest explanation for failure that I have ever heard.

 

I got all the usual tracking emails  which makes the business sound professional, we got your item, it’s on it’s way, it’s out for delivery will be delivered today between 11:30 and 13:30.

 

So that was yesterday, and last night, sat in bed, it occurred to me that I hadn’t received anything.  I was in all day but maybe my son had taken it in, or it had been left outside, but it played on my mind so I checked the online tracking and this is what I found.

 

Firstly, let me describe the item, a small plastic box with assorted DuPont connectors (similar to servo plugs), it’s about 130mm x 70mm x 25mm, and weighs less than 100g.  Add a little extra bulk and weight for packaging but basically we are talking about a parcel that weighs next to nothing and would probably fit through a letter box - this is important to understand just how funny Evri’s excuse is.

 

Here is a screenshot of the tracking

 

 

So the excuse for non-delivery is that the item is ‘bigger than expected’ and needs a ‘specialist courier’ to deliver it.

 

Remember we are talking about a package that is smaller and weighs less than a typical paperback book.

 

Plus, they only discovered it was ‘too big to handle’ after it had been put on the van delivery and just as it was about to be delivered.  Surely the Evri handlers and driver realised the immense size when they were loading it onto the van.  Surely they would notice that it filled the entire cargo space and the that the suspension was bottoming out. Nope, they only worked that out just as they reached my house.

 

Truly comical excuse.

 

My guess is the real problem is that the parcel is much smaller than expected and courier couldn’t find it in their van amongst all the other parcels.

 

Will be interested to see whether they manage to find a ‘specialist courier’ and if it ever turns up.

 

Not bothered myself, only £6 and it’s protected by PayPal.

 

 

Edited March 31, 2023 by Nigel Heather

[Ron Gray]

Whereas my experience of Evri over the last 6 weeks has been quite the opposite. I have packaged 20+ items, sent them next day delivery and all have been delivered as expected. I think the problem is more to do with the actual person at the last point of delivery, not necessarily the whole system (although you could argue that it’s only as good as it’s weakest link).

[Bruce Collinson]

All part of the race to the bottom, cheapest is best, shave a halfpenny off by buying from the Far East etc.

 

In life, you get what you pay for.

 

BTC

[Nigel Heather]

26 minutes ago, Ron Gray said:

Whereas my experience of Evri over the last 6 weeks has been quite the opposite. I have packaged 20+ items, sent them next day delivery and all have been delivered as expected. I think the problem is more to do with the actual person at the last point of delivery, not necessarily the whole system (although you could argue that it’s only as good as it’s weakest link).

Yeah, I’ve not had much problem with couriers either, hundreds of parcels over the years, only issues with a handful.

 

In this case, it’s not that they failed to deliver the parcel, these things happen, it the excuses they make up.  To be honest, I’m quite fortunate because at least they have admitted it wasn’t delivered, which is not what usually happens according to reviews I have read.

 

I imagine that Evri deliver the vast majority of parcels without any issue.  Their problem is how they deal with the the tiny minority that go wrong, making up fake excuses, making it near-impossible to contact them is not the way to deal with issues - that will only result in bad reputation because those that experience unacceptable service are 100x more vocal than those than those that don’t experience problems.

 

Good service is a given, it is how you deal with issues that is the making of a business - and this is why Hermes/Evri gets the bad reputation.

 

Because of the blatant lie of an excuse I am left feeling ill of Evri, had they simply reported to me and the sender that they had mislaid the parcel then I’d have been disappointed but understanding.  Just can’t stand businesses that lie to me.

Edited March 31, 2023 by Nigel Heather

[Ron Gray]

40 minutes ago, Nigel Heather said:

had they simply reported to me and the sender that they had mislaid the parcel

I suspect that that specific reason is not on their automated delivery update system! I think that they all must get the automated update system from one supplier as I had a very similar worded response from DPD not so long ago, they delivered it the next day (it was a shoe box size parcel).

Edited March 31, 2023 by Ron Gray

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

I’m waiting for an 2 day delivery service Evri parcel which has been at their local depot since Tuesday according to their tracking. I’ve just raised a query via their web app so it will be interesting to see how well they respond. 

[Nigel Heather]

People are inclined to be critical of poor performance but are slow to praise good performance, so to help put that straight - three for the price of one.

 

I was due to receive a parcel by Royal Mail today.

 

It was one of those things that I ordered in haste and in the cold light of day decided I didn't really want it.

 

I decided that I was going to send it straight back at my own expense.

 

So in preparation, yesterday I called the company that sold the item and spoke to their customer service, they said

 

"no problem, of course you can do that, but as you have not received the parcel yet why not reject the delivery, then it will be returned to us without costing you anything"

 

So Great Service #1 (helpful suggestion to save me money)

 

Later that day (yesterday) my post was delivered and I happened to see the postman.  I explained what I intended to do the following day and he said

 

"no problem, of course you can do what, but tell you what, who is it from (I named the company), I'll look out for it and cancel it as soon as I see it in the depot"

 

Great Service #2 (not just understanding what I wanted to do but offering up an improvement)

 

This morning (being slightly cynical) I prepared to watch out for the postie, I doubted that he would have remembered, I wouldn't have done.

 

Indeed I got an email this morning saying that the parcel was due to be delivered which I thought confirmed my doubt, but it had a link to the tracking and when I opened that it said 'rejected and returned to sender'

 

Great Service #3 (the postie remembered what he had promised and did it)

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

Edited March 31, 2023 by Nigel Heather

[Erfolg]

If Evri do not get their house in order, that is if there is a problem, they will see business decline etc. Although I am not sure what etcetera means in this case. In the case of the postal service, it could be receivership according to one newspaper.

 

Getting mishaps in perspective, this week, the door bell went, a parcel is thrust into my hand by a Parcel Force operative. I was surprised, as  it should not be for me, must be the better half, I thought. Quickly scanning the label, the addressed name was not ours. Reading further I could see the post code was not ours. The street name was the same. 

 

I put this to the young woman (every one is young to me now) who replied, the satnav brought me here. Eventually she recognised that the issue was she was indeed at the wrong address.  In this case understandable, indicating it does not take much for things to go wrong. It was not the end of the world for me, the actual addressed person, it could be a poor, in time, delivery service

 

 

 

 

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

After raising a query, the next development was an email from Ebay stating that the local courier would be delivering today.  The Evri tracking app still continues to state that it is at the sender's local depot.  However, following the tracking link from Ebay via their website on my PC shows full details of its progress through their hub to my local depot and even a photograph of the courier who is due to deliver it this afternoon...although Ebay shows it in transit to the delivery hub and estimates delivery on Monday!

 

Tracking is a great facility - but it would be a lot better if their app worked properly!

[Zflyer]

Think my partner and I are in a small group who laways pass our thanks for good service, whether in person or via a companies website. We have received excellent service from Sports Direct to name but one, they tend to get crap reviews. On another occasion my partner was stopped by the trolley lad outside Tesco as she had left the pound in the trolley. On getting home she informed the Tesco management. Next visit the lad comes rushing across the car park to say thanks as the manager had let it him know of her comment and praise.

Quite restores ones faith.

[Don Fry]

Not just the UK. French equivalent of Parcel Force, Chronoposte, nice lad with my parcel.
Conversation, “ Have you the code sir…No, sir… It was sent on an e mail….. I haven’t had it”

so we went through inbox, bin, junk, deleted, no code. Clearly embarrassed, having offered three forms of photo identity, and we stand in the living room of the address on the package, he said he can’t hand it over.

I’m busy at the moment, short of time, the next day I toddled 6km down the road to collect my parcel, with the same ID.

Livid. Both barrels loaded and cocked. 

And the lady on the counter was Worzle Gummages’ girlfriend. (Hair style ). I have day dreams. Charming, efficient, beautiful, friendly, and I’m melting looking into her eyes as she rolls them in exasperation and sympathy. 
Broke both barrels, removed cartridges, and wandered away with parcel and inane grin. 

 

[John Tee]

I was expecting a woodworking router. There had been a mix up with the shop and it was delayed. That sorted out I had an email saying it would be delivered between 15.58 and 16.58 last Saturday which timing suited me fine. Saturday I checked the tracking and all ok, then got an email stayting that it would now be delivered Monday, which while disappointing was no problem. I had literally only just finished reading the mail and telling my wife that it was now Monday when the doorbell rang and there was DPD with my parcel (16.15p.m.). It seems the computer system is sometimes to blame not always the courier who is on the recieving end of complaints.