After DPD, all other couriers are just a disappointment.

On Tuesday I was getting a parcel delivered by DPD, clicked on the email link and saw the hour slot it would arrive in and also it would be delivered by Vitally.(All the East European sounding names must piss the UKippers off, when waiting tracking their stuff!) I could plan my day and still be in when the delivery arrives. Result.

Today I have a Parcelforce delivery coming, clicked on the tracking link and all I know is it left the depot at 6 this morning. No indication of when it will arrive. Rubbish.

As they all must use similar planning software, why can’t they give me more information on my delivery?

Royal Mail are currently building a whizzy tracking/reporting system to give you that level of detail BTW.

Royal Mail are currently building a whizzy tracking/reporting system to give you that level of detail BTW.

I got a text delivery slot for a bottom bracket this week through Royal Mail. I was pretty surprised.

DPD are great. They even make the driver wait to deliver at the correct time, so they don’t blast around chucking parcels over hedges to get home a bit earlier.

They are truly the masters of the courier universe. Our DPD driver is Alberto and he’s great!

Our DPD driver is Alberto and he’s great!

Our DPD driver shouts at himself in the lift when he thinks no one can hear…

All courier companies are currently trying to create something like that, even Yodel are set to get something like this for Q3 of this year…

DPD also don’t make the driver wait per se, he physically cannot deliver the parcel on the system until the time frame opens up. They are very expensive though from a business perspective so you get what you pay for, time slot, constant gps updates, photos of the card or where it was left safe, still amazing service and you can actually trust your parcel will be where it says it is 🙂

UK Mail are sending out texts with 1 hour delivery slots now as well.

They also let you print off a form to leave for the driver if you want he package left with a neighbour or in a “safe” place.

and you can actually trust your parcel will be where it says it is

99%+ on time, first time delivery rates for us – even in the lead up to christmas. That’s unheard of from anyone else we’ve tried.

They are very expensive though from a business perspective

Really?

I was only charged £7.20 for next day and up to 30kg by the supplier.

(The Malt Miller who are also very good for any of the Home Brewists out there. Happily recommend them.)

Used ’em, liked ’em, rare for me.

99%+ on time, first time delivery rates for us – even in the lead up to christmas

The thing is, Yodel’s service for us is 99%, at Christmas they dipped to 70% but they are consistently hitting 99.5% since.

Unfortunately there is still a lot of noise from consumers 🙁

@gobuchul

From a business perspective yes, switching from Yodel to DPD would cost an extra couple of quid per parcel, that may seem minimal but when delivering 4-10k parcels per week it quickly adds up over the year.

I guess, as a buyer, it’s good to have the choice. I notice a few places (Planet-X for one) have the option of Royal Mail/Yodel for the free/lowest price option or use DPD for an extra couple of quid. It means the customer has the choice and the retailer won’t lose much/any on it either.

The thing is, Yodel’s service for us is 99%, at Christmas they dipped to 70% but they are consistently hitting 99.5% since

I’m not surprised by this, mainly as their definition of “delivered” is “throw in the vague vicinity of the address” rather than actually handed over to someone.

The thing is, Yodel’s service for us is 99%, at Christmas they dipped to 70% but they are consistently hitting 99.5% since.

Really? Last time we trialled them they were down around 75% – that was a couple of years ago but it has definitely ensured that we won’t rush into anything with them again.

edit: Out of interest, roughly what sort of parcels do you deal with? Ours are typically large and often of (very) high value – I wonder if there’s an impact from that.

DPD are my least favourite.

All the others just seem to leave the package behind my car or just chuck it other the gate.

DPD never do this. Then when u go to the site to collect they keep demanding 2 forms or identification.

I’ll only have my passport and will refuse to hand over even though its clearly me.

The second bit of identification they want is a bill, so I’ll show them a bill on my phone.

There’ll refuse to take it and ask for a paper bill but who gets paper bills anymore ???!?!?!?!?

From a business perspective yes, switching from Yodel to DPD would cost an extra couple of quid per parcel

But if you are passing the cost on to the purchaser like Planet X/On-one do its not actual costing the business much more other than administration.

If its a part/item that is time sensitive then I will quite happily pay the extra for a company like DPD to deliver for piece of mind, otherwise i’m happy to take the lottery that is Yodel,Royal Mail etc.

I’m always pleased when I see a delivery is coming to me via Interlink. (Smudge at MTB Batteries and Happy Donkey – coffee beans and coffee bean accessories) . Their tracking is spot on and they’ve never let me down or kept me waiting.

DPD is ace, time slots, real time tracker, website that actually works, possibility to decide whether to have redelivery or to pick your parcel up. However the majority of people (including myself unless in a hurry for an item) will always go with the cheapest. So who’s got the best business model?

I’m not surprised by this, mainly as their definition of “delivered” is “throw in the vague vicinity of the address” rather than actually handed over to someone.

I’ve already factored that into the complaints vs service and its still 99%…Having witnessed that sort of behaviour myself i’m just not shocked by it anymore, some of them genuinely care and give a s**t, but most don’t 🙁

The option for choice of delivery companies is becoming more widespread and nothing but a good thing imo, consumer habits are changing rapidly and it doesn’t take much effort to make enough noise over social media/blogs etc. There are a lot of new ways companies are looking into for their delivery services, some of them (Google/Amazon) taking it into their own hands with varied results.

Yodel are rubbish, my wheels were dispatched by bike shop on monday and yodel still have them as awaiting collection so no tracking info! How can they be there for three days and still not be scanned in! Due for delivery by today but shop said that it is unlikely which is about the chances of me using them again! Have now been told that tracking website is likely to only be updated after the parcel has been delivered, helpful!

Agreed DPD are the bomb

Gloria the Myhermes woman is also pretty good

Is it possible i could get dpd to get my parcel from yodel and deliver it?

@lemonysam – our items value form £10 to £200 so very little in comparison to some.

@unovolo – we offer free delivery so the cost is covered by the company, not passing it on to the consumer, competition is pretty strong and with that being a deciding factor its a business decision. Next day delivery is paid for by the consumer if they wish to receive it quick sharp

Halfway into my hour slot, come on Tom, don’t let me down!

And it’s here! Magic!

Edit: hitting refresh on the DPD website, the status had updated before the van had driven away.

@lemonysam – our items value form £10 to £200 so very little in comparison to some.

Ahh, I wonder if that makes a difference – our average order value’s over £300 and at the higher end we go up to over £10,000.

I often see moans about DPD, but generally had good service from them and the notification of a time slot is what all couriers should do.

I’m not too sure but it might have been them who also provide a photo to the sender of where they’ve left the parcel if left with a neighbour etc.

Worst has always been Parcel Farce. Long list of hassles with them that I won’t go into.

gabor is my local DPD driver – he is ace.

had a stand by in last week , he was a bit flustered as he had no idea where he was going and was right on the end of the timeslot for me….. meaning he was probably.

would not like a rural delivery round 😀

DPDDave rools round these parts.

Hairy Hermes man is a legend too.

Yodel guy is nice enough but too happy to leave boxes out on the common rather than in the back of the yard like everyone else.

local ParcelForce man is great; as is the Hermes delivery man. Yodel ho hum, same with UKmail. DPD arrives with the last 25 miles courier (AJG round here).

My recentexperience with DPD is that they have been by far the worst delivery company.

Several non-deliveries and complete apathy when complaining

I usually get a text message from dpd with my 1hr time slot. It usually come through about 2 hours after it was delivered. This of course on the occasions when they’ve managed to find me because despite it always being the same driver, every other parcel takes about a week to get to me because they send it on a tour of the British isles whilst telling me that they cannot find my address.
Disappoint People Daily is how they are referred to round these parts.
Oh yes and they simply don’t care.

I love the DPD GPS tracking/incitement to armed robbery. It doesn’t work here because there’s one dude whose entire beat is our campus, more or less, but that doesn’t stop me obsessively refreshing.