Parcel Farce: Might as Well Give Your Package to A Stranger in the Street (Parcelforce)

Member Name: Rob Stone

Product:	Parcelforce
Date:	13/05/07 (772 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nil

Disadvantages: All of them

I will not do business with any company that uses Parcelforce as a courier. Two reasons:
1) Parcelforce are clowns
2) Any company that uses Parcelforce must also be clowns.

Believe me, I have a history with parcelforce that stretches back years, from London, Northampton and Derby. Every depot is manned by idiots who use the same excuse over and over:
"It's out for delivery today."

What they don't tell you is that driver couldn't care less how many times your parcel has been on the back. All he cares about is doing as little as possible, getting stuck in as much traffic as possible, and avoiding as much heavy lifting and standing in the street as possible.

He doesn't want to write anything on a card, because he can't be bothered. The depot won't contact him because they claim the drivers don't have mobile phones.

Let's all have a laugh at that one. Has anyone in the history of the universe ever seen a driver who DOESN'T have a mobile phone. Of course he does. What do you think he's doing all day when he's driving, because he's certainly not delivering parcels.

Last time I was ordering wholesale gear from a company, who told me they were going to send it with Parcelforce. I said, no, it would not get there. This guy actually had the nerve to say "Well none of my other customers have ever complained." That immediately gave me the feeling he was lying. That was just NOT possible with Parcelforce. It also made me suspect that the wholesaler was as big a f**wit as Parcelfarce was.

Anyway, the parcel failed to show as I predicted and the wholesaler soon proved to be just as incompetent.

So in a way Parcelforce can do you some good. Thinking of ordering from a company? Ask if they use Parcelforce. If they say yes, then you know never to order from that company.

Whenever someone sends a package via Parcelforce without my say so, I immediately arm myself with the Postwatch complaint numbers, as I KNOW I will be using them, and always do within 24 hours.

So my advise to you when dealing with the clowns at Parcelforce is this.

1) Forget the automated system. Those people don't care about you or your packages. They care about their wage packet and you are just a fly in the ointment between them and that.
If your package doesn't show the first time you have been assured it's on the van, ask immediately for the Parcelforce Distribution Office number that services your district. Those muppets have to give it to you. You can just as easily find it on-line or through directory enquiries.

2) You'll get the automated rubbish again, but when you get through to the depot, ask for the manager.

3) Tell the manager you're not interested in any stories about where the item is or isn't. Tell him that you want him to personally authorize your package to be delivered by the next day driver. That way, if it FAILS (and chances are it will, trust me there is NO end to this companies incompetence) you then have a name of someone directly responsible.

4) Don't call the depot back. Don't waste your time. Now give Postwatch a call on this number:

Tel:
08456 013265

Remember, that package is life or death to you right? Stress this. Give them the name of every one you spoke to. You can even contact local departments by going to their Web Site:
http://www.postwatch.co.uk.
While you are on the phone to Postwatch, ask for the head office number of Parcel Farce.

5) Call the head office of Parcelfarce. Ask for a manager. Tell them what's happened and make it clear you have already contacted Postwatch.

Sit back and watch them jump.

Believe me, when I had a serious problem with Parcelfarce failing to deliver an item 4 times in a row and losing me £2K of sales, I took this route and my phone rang itself off the wall with top Parcelfarce Personnel licking my proverbial.

Unfortunately, although I finally got the package I lost the sales. So final tip...

Don't BOTHER with Parcelfarces compensation scheme unless they have LOST the item and you can prove that.

Instead, go straight to the small claims court and submit an inventory of damages caused to your business by Parcelfarce.

You can even do it on-line:

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp

For anyone else who has been clowned over by PF, you have my sympathies. But what are you doing about it?

Unless you take direct action against them they will continue to treat customers this way. Why?

Because they can.

Summary: Parcelforce: Deliveries by Clowns, for Clowns.