@royalmail Parcelforce, how stupid can they be?

[alvinlwh]

First off, let me explain that I am in Shetland. So other courier services like DHL or FedEx is not an option.

 

I had some documents I need to send to Philippines very urgently for a visa application for a honeymoon. I walked into the local Post Office on Friday, 7 June 2013, and got it sent by Parcelforce Global Express service, which is a "guaranteed" service. I paid £60.60 and was told it will be there on Tuesday, 11 June 2013.

 

Standard Global Express service to Philippines takes 2 days but being in Shetland, it takes an extra day. Saturaday is counted as a working day, so a Tuesday arrival sounds right.

 

So imgaine my horror to get home from work yesterday (Monday, 10 June 2013) to find the package sitting on my door mat! Instead of making its way to Philippines, it went 10 miles the wrong way!

 

So I have to take it back to the Post Office today and was told "this shouldn't happen". The address on it was clearly typed and on the customs form, the "from" and "to" address are both correctly filled in. What do they mean by this shouldn't happen? Clearly it is not the mistake of just one party as it will have to go through sorting before being handed to the postman to carry to my door. I as told by the manager he will make sure it will go correctly this time. However when I just checked (10 hours since handing it to him), the tracking number is still not registred on their system.

 

While I know I can claim back the postage I paid for late delivery (not hopeful as there are many stories of failed claim against Parcelforce on the internet), there is no vaule to the contents and thousands loss if the visa cannot be approved in time.

 

I had emailed them a few times today, but I got no response as well and strangely Parcelforce is not regulated by Ofcom, so I cannot even complain to them.

[renegadeimp]

Tracking numbers on the system and on their site can take 24 hours to update. I would try and keep calm and give it a full 24 hours then demand answers.

[alvinlwh]

It is a bit hard to keep calm when they send it to the "From" address instead of the "To" address... Considering they sent a "Global" Express item from the UK to the UK. If I wanted that, I would had sent it Special Delivery.

 

And to top it off, I am faced with the posibility of missing my honeymoon...

[renegadeimp]

Human error. Or at least thats what they'll say it's down to. If you try to get compo out of them, especially if you miss your honeymoon, they can say why did you leave it to the last minute. Coupled with the "human error", they would simply say its a series of unfortunate events, but they'll offer a small token of comp as a gesture of goodwill.

[alvinlwh]

I don't think I can actually claim for lost of the honeymoon because their own terms states:

 

9.5 Parcelforce Worldwide does not accept liability for any loss of contracts, business, profits, revenue, anticipated savings or any indirect or consequential loss or damage whatsoever or howsoever arising whether from contract, breach of statutory duty, tort (including negligence of Parcelforce Worldwide, its officers, employees, contractors and agents), or otherwise.

 

http://www.parcelforce.com/help-information/terms-and-conditions/conditions-carriage#9

 

As for me leaving it to the last minute or not, is not their problem, I used their "guaranteed" service and instead of providing me the service they guaranteed, they cannot even send it in the right direction. In any case, I was given 10 working days on 6 June by the embassy to send the documents to them, therefore it was not me that left it to the last minute since I sent them off on 7 June. By the way, I started the visa application process 3 months ago, hardly last minute. But again, in any case, this is of no concern of Parcelforce, their job is to send what I want sending to the right place in the time they guaranteed.

 

http://www.parcelforce.com/send-worldwide/non-account-services/express/faq

 

The only "guarantee" I can see is they made sure they will not be responsible for any loss suffered due to their only incompetence.

[renegadeimp]

Well, they have 5 days to get it to the destination, otherwise you could sue for breach of contract and claim comp that way. Although it would be up to a judge what happens there.

[alvinlwh]

Fingers cross that it will actually go in the right direction this time. But as I said in my first post, the tracking number is just showing as "Advised" is really worrying as it was that status since Friday when I first posted it and then finding it on my door mat yesterday.

[Conniff]

It happens on the mainland in cities as well, my son had a parcel come back to him that we posted for him the previous day.

[alvinlwh]

Tracking numbers on the system and on their site can take 24 hours to update. I would try and keep calm and give it a full 24 hours then demand answers.

 

It is 24 hours now, it is still showing as "Advised". I will not be surprised if it is making its way back to my door mat again.

[RedHot2000]

It is 24 hours now, it is still showing as "Advised". I will not be surprised if it is making its way back to my door mat again.

.........Well - - don't hold us in suspense - - did it get there????

[Old Cogger]

It is a bit hard to keep calm when they send it to the "From" address instead of the "To" address... Considering they sent a "Global" Express item from the UK to the UK. If I wanted that, I would had sent it Special Delivery.

 

And to top it off, I am faced with the posibility of missing my honeymoon...

 

 

Sounds familiar?

[Old Cogger]

Oh! and if there was a delay they will state " must of been the other end who delayed item", but of course as anybody knows that the item into Aquino international, then on to Makati then on to destination and as I found a record on reverse of letter package states date/time event and where.

 

I could tell you other stories of Royal Mail incompetance in the past decades. Hope there is no more problems there.

 

by the way where abouts is the lady from, we have our other home over there?

[Phyrefly]

If I were you, I would also contact the embassy directly, and tell them that the documents are on the way, but due to postal service timescales it may take more than ten days. Don't spin your story out to them, they don't care!

 

If everything goes wrong, remember that EU contract law overrides ParcelForce's terms and conditions. If they promise to do something and fail (and "human error" is no excuse - it's the problem, not the explanation!) then they are responsible by law for the fallout. Saying "No we're not" does not relieve them of that, it just convinces most people not to try claiming.

 

Remember: IANAL, this is just my opinion...

[rjsdavis]

First off, let me explain that I am in Shetland. So other courier services like DHL or FedEx is not an option.

 

I had some documents I need to send to Philippines very urgently for a visa application for a honeymoon. I walked into the local Post Office on Friday, 7 June 2013, and got it sent by Parcelforce Global Express service, which is a "guaranteed" service. I paid £60.60 and was told it will be there on Tuesday, 11 June 2013.

 

Standard Global Express service to Philippines takes 2 days but being in Shetland, it takes an extra day. Saturaday is counted as a working day, so a Tuesday arrival sounds right.

 

So imgaine my horror to get home from work yesterday (Monday, 10 June 2013) to find the package sitting on my door mat! Instead of making its way to Philippines, it went 10 miles the wrong way!

 

So I have to take it back to the Post Office today and was told "this shouldn't happen". The address on it was clearly typed and on the customs form, the "from" and "to" address are both correctly filled in. What do they mean by this shouldn't happen? Clearly it is not the mistake of just one party as it will have to go through sorting before being handed to the postman to carry to my door. I as told by the manager he will make sure it will go correctly this time. However when I just checked (10 hours since handing it to him), the tracking number is still not registred on their system.

 

While I know I can claim back the postage I paid for late delivery (not hopeful as there are many stories of failed claim against Parcelforce on the internet), there is no vaule to the contents and thousands loss if the visa cannot be approved in time.

 

I had emailed them a few times today, but I got no response as well and strangely Parcelforce is not regulated by Ofcom, so I cannot even complain to them.

 

I have had a similar experience of incompetence from Parcelforce.

 

I sent a Limited Edition BlackBerry via their top Global Express service at a cost of £54 to Russia, with a guaranteed 2-3 day delivery target. It was eventually delivered some 17 days later, and I discovered that they breached their contractual terms to "downgrade" the service used from Global Express to Global Priority. I filed a compensation claim for the delay immediately after delivery, and they rejected the claim on the basis that "any claim needs to be filed within 15 days of posting the consignment"!!

 

A letter before action email sent directly to the Director of Parcelforce and Cc'ing in the CEO of Royal Mail highlighting the clear and unlawful breach of contract, quickly got this overturned an apparently a full refund of the original cost is on its way back to me now. The email format for all key staff at RM is firstname (.) surname (@) royalmail (.) com - this includes Parcelforce key staff as they owned by RM.

 

It simply shouldn't have to be this way though should it!

[Queens_king]

Hi

 

I am an ex pat living in the Philippines. One wonders why you sent your Visa application to here for that when you could have sent it to London (and you do not need Visa for less than a 21 day stay as you would be classed as a tourist and an automatic extension to 59 days costs GBP22). The fees paid in London are a lot cheaper than sending it to the Philippines

 

On top of that using Global Exppress. I have been waiting 15 days for a parcel from the UK with a gaurenteed 6 days delivery, it has been tracked to the dispatch point in the UK and that is it. I understand from Phil Post that Customs are a sticking point