Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[Willow]

sad Christmas for all those people and horrible to tell them late Christmas Eve. Not a surprise to see the administrators are E&Y

[Ain't Nobody Here]

You'd think they could have timed it a bit better . So thoughtless.

[PixieDust]

Never a good time but Christmas Eve is bad.

[The Dogmother]

Never a good time but Christmas Eve is bad.

 

I agree.

 

They have been bitten hard though by the newer, cut-price couriers like Hermes and Yodel, both of which are terrible. I know that I used to moan about City Link, but Hermes and Yodel turn incompetence into a new art form

[soapdragon]

Have just realised that its CityLink that lost YS Christmas present back at the beginning of December.......assume NO hope of finding it now However, there must be staff going through depots to send on anything left over Not sure how this sort of thing works but theres usually some sort of wind down process.

 

Feel sad for all the employees facing an uncertain New Year My thoughts are that its the fault of the consumer; the culture nowadays seems to be...buy cheap online which means that the sellers are in a position to squeeze the couriers for as cheap a deal as poss meaning corner cutting and low wages for those actually delivering. Buyers do need to be prepared to pay a little more for the convenience of having something delivered to the door (or, in my case, NOT!)

 

With time seemingly at a premium for many people nowadays I can sort of understand this but nothing beats proper shopping

[Bramble]

I don't have a problem with paying for delivery, but it does bug me that many companies seem to assume their customers have nothing else to do but wait in for deliveries (sometimes for days at a stretch). In these days of mass online shopping and advanced comunication technology is it impossible for companies to offer a reliable choice of delivery slots (eg Monday, between 2 and 4)? I'd pay for that kind of service, but this business of, "well, we'll deliver within the next four or five days at some time between 7am and 9pm" is just ridiculous!!!!

 

If I'm ordering something that I can only get online and it won't fit through the letterbox, I will only order from companies that can either offer some sort of click and collect service, or can give me a guaranteed delivery slot (or at least a guaranteed day of delivery) - yes, you usually have to pay extra for that, but that's fine!!!

[Cinnamon]

I shop online a LOT & was not surprised that City Link went into admin, because they were by far the worst of a very dubious bunch

They refused to deliver a parcel to me for several weeks last spring because of flooding, only my village was not flooded in the slightest. Found out later that the driver had been pulling a fast one to get some time off, by saying he had tried to get to people but couldn't because of the floods (the day my village floods will be a VERY bad day for the uk, as we are really high up!)

 

Anyhow, I am a big fan of online shopping & like to use free click & collect services when I can, rather than a courier

[soapdragon]

I totally agree regarding time slots.... Tesco seem to manage it! Could this be a gap in the market Several times I have asked that parcels are left in the garage but this doesn't work if a sig is needed

[Cinnamon]

Some couriers allow you to put a note on your door signed by you saying please leave parcel in the porch.

My porch is secure, plus I do not have a letterbox, so most leave the parcels there for us. I have heard tales of some couriers also taking a photo of your front door to prove they have delivered!

 

The ones that REALLY bug me are the ones that demand a signature for items that they are collecting from you to be delivered elsewhere, & you have to take a day out, at home, without hoovering (too noisy) or going upstairs in case you miss them

[sjp]

Have just realised that its CityLink that lost YS Christmas present back at the beginning of December.......assume NO hope of finding it now However, there must be staff going through depots to send on anything left over Not sure how this sort of thing works but theres usually some sort of wind down process.

you'll need to get in touch with the sender of the parcel as I think the receivers said that all undelivered parcels were to be returned to sender

Feel sad for all the employees facing an uncertain New Year My thoughts are that its the fault of the consumer; the culture nowadays seems to be...buy cheap online which means that the sellers are in a position to squeeze the couriers for as cheap a deal as poss meaning corner cutting and low wages for those actually delivering. Buyers do need to be prepared to pay a little more for the convenience of having something delivered to the door (or, in my case, NOT!)

It's not fair to blame consumers for the collapse of a parcel delivery company that to be honest wasn't exactly one of the best in the business I used to work with a bloke who's son work in the parcel delivery sector for deferent companies good and bad cheap and not so cheap non of them paid good wages and with the exception of the bulk of the drivers and office staff. most are on sort term contracts or agency staff

With time seemingly at a premium for many people nowadays I can sort of understand this but nothing beats proper shopping

that's ok but it's getting harder and harder to buy a lot of thing in real shops I've had to get some tonic and clean product for the chickens online because I can't get them local

[sjp]

I shop online a LOT & was not surprised that City Link went into admin, because they were by far the worst of a very dubious bunch sadly they weren't the worst there's at least 2 that are worst that them one of which is down to deliver to me tomorrow which if I'd had know that the supplier had changed over to them I'd have gone elsewhere

They refused to deliver a parcel to me for several weeks last spring because of flooding, only my village was not flooded in the slightest. Found out later that the driver had been pulling a fast one to get some time off, by saying he had tried to get to people but couldn't because of the floods (the day my village floods will be a VERY bad day for the uk, as we are really high up!)

 

Anyhow, I am a big fan of online shopping & like to use free click & collect services when I can, rather than a courier

[Cinnamon]

I shop online a LOT & was not surprised that City Link went into admin, because they were by far the worst of a very dubious bunch sadly they weren't the worst there's at least 2 that are worst that them one of which is down to deliver to me tomorrow which if I'd had know that the supplier had changed over to them I'd have gone elsewhere

They refused to deliver a parcel to me for several weeks last spring because of flooding, only my village was not flooded in the slightest. Found out later that the driver had been pulling a fast one to get some time off, by saying he had tried to get to people but couldn't because of the floods (the day my village floods will be a VERY bad day for the uk, as we are really high up!)

 

Anyhow, I am a big fan of online shopping & like to use free click & collect services when I can, rather than a courier

 

 

I guess it depends on where you live.

I actively avoided City Link for the past year & stuck with others who I prefer, but if they are badly run in your area you have no hope really.

Hermes are a total shower too.

[sjp]

I tried to avoid using suppliers that used Citylink

I try to stick to suppliers that use DPD as our area is covered by a really good driver (and his misses)99% of the time and you know if his name is on the tracking info then the delivery will be on time if not early

[kinsk]

To be fair I have always had great service from city link. Was speaking to one of their delivery drivers a couple of months ago, his van was de-stickered. He was telling us they had made a lot of them self employed, they had bought their vans from the company and now they were really shafting them on delivery targets etc.

[Bramble]

To be fair I have always had great service from city link. Was speaking to one of their delivery drivers a couple of months ago, his van was de-stickered. He was telling us they had made a lot of them self employed, they had bought their vans from the company and now they were really shafting them on delivery targets etc.

 

 

I think it depends HUGELY on individual drivers and staff at local hubs - some go way beyond the call of duty, most are perfectly ok, but some just couldn't care less?

[The Dogmother]

I totally agree regarding time slots.... Tesco seem to manage it! ........

 

A bit like a couple of years back, when we had all that snow; Hermes said that they couldn't deliver as the road was too bad. Yes, it was bad, but that very day, I saw deliveries in our road from Ocado and Te$co, so they could get through!