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| rieekan333 Member 388 Posts 3/02 |  Posted - Apr 11 2002 : 9:57PMJust wanted to drop a note about courier service in Melbourne, Australia. Might be relevant to other Melbourne customers of international retailers, and to the retailers themselves. While I'm not claiming this is the norm, I (and a few other people I know) have had recent difficulty with couriers. Last year, the quality of courier service was very good. In recent months, that service has dropped to a level where I won't be considering any sort of international order for a very long time. The two main problems seem to be couriers dumping shipments on doorsteps (or jamming them in my letterbox) if no one's home to sign, and in some cases not even bothering to seek signatures at all. In the latter case, a friend was home all day and the courier didn't even ring his doorbell, just left the boxes on his porch. This raises a host of questions about other aspects of the delivery service, but the main issue is that this creates immense problems for customer and retailer if the shipment is not delivered (or is stolen, lost, etc). It's neither the customer nor retailer's fault and working out a solution will be difficult due to the couriers not having any signatures or records. Anyhow, this is just the experience of a few people I know and myself. I don't wish to name particular companies (and I can't name the bloody couriers because there's no way of knowing who they were), but if those companies are having complaints or noticing problems with delivery to Melbourne, they should investigate the courier co and consider switching. Couriers not seeking signatures, dumping and/or losing shipments, and creating customer-retailer problems are a waste of everyone's time and money.  [Link] |
| Will Member The Wonderful Land of Oz 28 Posts 6/01 | Posted - Apr 16 2002 : 10:35AM Anyway even if you do find it after they dump it on your doorstep you should feel free to ring up the courier company and berate them for doing so. It works wonders for that bottled up stress (and you in the right to so they really have nothing to say in their defense).
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| rieekan333 Member 388 Posts 3/02 | Posted - Apr 16 2002 : 8:15PM Thanks for your comments. You are quite right. Couriers (I'm not sure if all couriers but I'd certainly hope so) generally require signatures. Therein lies the problem!If a parcel goes missing they should be liable for it, but this only creates more problems for the customer and retailer. Not only is it all a grand waste of time, the courier company will probably be a hassle and likely do one of two things - a) claim delivery and forge signatures; b) stall and continue to waste everyone's time. In the former case, the courier company "wins" because they have "proof of delivery" and can accuse the customer of lying. Anything can be scribbled in the signature box and that will work for the courier co. One thing that really annoys me is that most couriers aren't in the practice of issuing receipts upon receiving. In the latter case, the courier company claims it doesn't know what happened, is investigating the case, changes its story a few times, etc. There's not much the customer can do about it and probably even less an international retailer can feasibly do. And it's not likely that a customer will want to bring the case before the ACCC or a tribunal for a number of reasons. Again this would just waste everyone's time and not even worth it for the amount of money the shipment cost. Perhaps I am being overly cynical, but this situation absolutely infuriates me. While I would love to do that, you're left with one big problem. Who exactly are the courier company? If they dumped it while you weren't at home, or didn't even bother to ring your doorbell when you were at home, you have absolutely no idea who the company was. And without wanting to cast too many aspersions, a friend recounts that his retailer was unwilling to divulge which courier co they were using (possibly because they didn't know).Oh I'm sure they'll make something up. "No Joe, we have your signature right here! Get lost!"Oh well. Thanks again for your comments Will, your concern is appreciated! Hope your courier experiences are turning out alright. Have a stressless day [Link] |
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