DPD and co

[hughnique]

I recently ordered a couple of HI FI separates from an auction web site in the Netherlands, Catwiki, both vendors sent them via DPD, and they were due to arrive a day apart. I had the customary tracking numbers and was surprised to note that after 2 days the first parcel had arrived, well not at my house, I hadn't received anything. It transpired that the item had been delivered to a fag shop in a village 5km away, so went to collect, I was stunned when there were 2 large parcels to collect, so my new secondhand system had arrived. I made representation to the vendor that I had paid for home delivery, and he sent me a picture of the label he had attached to the parcel. To cut a long story short the bloody driver had put another sticker over the original, so as he could drop it, with a load of others, at the fag shop relais point. Surely that must contravene some sort of customer rights

[exile]

I will add GLS to the "and co". Regular cat food deliveries get left at the point relais instead of being delivered to my home. Interestingly drop off at point relais is excluded from the selling companies delivery options. I have on occasion complained to the selling company* which seems to bring home back for a few weeks. For an auction sale I doubt you will have any joy with the seller complaining. Commercial companies with regular contracted delivery companies are more interested in the delivery going right.

My experience has been that as the final customer of the goods, but not the customer of the delivery company, getting in contact with the deliverer is almost impossible.

* Legally it is they and they alone who can contractually complain to the delivery company, since they have paid for the delivery and therefore have a contract. This, even if you have paid a sum for the delivery.

[hughnique]

I spent a good 2 hours on the phone this morning to what is supposed to be DPD customer services, World wide in Birmingham, supposedly. I cant recall talking to anyone as thick as the first, obviously African descent woman, after 20 minutes she cut me off, then a recall gives me another thicko, man this time, who after 20 minutes says oh is this an international package then you need this number. That turned out to be permanently engaged, so ring first number and get thick African woman who then tells me she can't deal with it and the number I have been given is never answered, and that's it can't go any further as you can't get a non existent department.

[Hotrodder]

DPD is famous around here for being worse than useless. After having trouble with them myself I had a look around and found a high level of dissatisfaction in UK. Oddly the Germans use them a lot. I spent several days trying to get a delivery from Germany that had been sent by DPD. I eventually had to contact the seller and confirm that they had my correct full address and it had been given to DPD. I then added the exact Lat & Lon and detailed directions from the church in the town centre 1km away. When I had to threaten the seller with cancellation and bad comments on every forum I could find, they eventually provoked a response from the local DPD hub who had been adamant the address did not exist. When the parcel did finally arrive the address sticker was incomplete and the driver's delivery sheet was completely wrong, with none of my additional information to help him. It was only luck that I spotted his van passing and flagged him down. He had been all over the area passing my house at least twice.
Here's the deal. A parcel sent from anywhere by this shower ends its journey at a distribution hub for final delivery. In my case that hub is in St. Brieuc about an hour away. From there DPD has no further hands on it. From that hub it is in the hands of any driver with a pulse that turns up at random for a job. Some of these are good and some don't have a clue. And given the sketchy instructions & addresses they are given its a miracle anything ever gets delivered.

[hughnique]

I think I upset number 1 dunce this morning after she answered, I enquired if I was indeed talking to the corporate HQ of DPD, as is listed on a google search, her response was hold on I will have a look for you, I then asked her if she was unaware of where she worked, that really set the tone, absolutely bloody useless, I am not surprised that Chronopost are of the same ilk hereabouts, as they are associated with DPD, It's got to be a case of the driver as you say any old scroat with a van

[DaveW]

DPD also own Chronopost, who are absolutely crap in my area. I cringe when I see Chronopost as the delivery agent and always direct them to the relais up the road from me because they never, ever deliver to my house. Last time they couldn’t even deliver to their relais because it was indisponible, they did manage it two days later.

They always send a customer satisfaction survey and I give them the worst possible score. Doesn’t make any difference.

[exile]

DPD is famous around here for being worse than useless. ................... Oddly the Germans use them a lot.

DPD - Deutsche Paket Dienst. German parcel service. Does that help explain.
*

Chronopost - not problem here. They do not deliver and hand everything over to La Poste.

[DominicBest]

I see Exile beat me to it.

Oddly the Germans use them a lot.

I’d always thought one of the Ds stood for Deutsch or Deutschland.

[DominicBest]

I’ve always found Chronopost excellent.

[exile]

You are right @DominicBest in so far as I got it slightly wrong.

It should be Deutscher Paketdienst. I missed the "r" - writing German was never a strong point for me and not helped by developing my German in the Pfalz, where declensions as spoken moved from:

Der Die Das Die (proper German)

to

De De De De ( pfältzisch)

DPD are now reinventing themselves as Geopost - Dynamic Parcel Distribution