0844 numbers

[Davey]

I bought some clothing online, and received an e-mail message giving me the tracking number and link for the shipment, via DXDelivery. I clicked the link, nothing. So I entered the Tracking number and my Postcode into their Tracking form, and was told that one or other of them was wrong. They were both taken from the message to me, and the Postcode was correct. I have no way of confirming the Tracking number.

DXDelivery offer the option to call them for enquiries, but they only offer 0844 numbers, which they confirm will be charged at 7p/min. Why? It's because they cannot provide the information that I am trying to contact them, so why should I pay more?

And the supplier wants 13p/min. if I call to enquire!

I'll probably get one of those notes pushed through the door saying I was out, even though I was in and waiting.

Grrr. A good start to 2016!

[Richard]

I might try:

If that didn't please me, I'd try emailing the address below and place 'Phone Charge Scam' in the subject line with your complaint.

Track My DX Item

WARNING FRAUDULENT SCAM

Fraudulent text messages have been sent by someone trying to defraud people by asking them to visit dx-delivery.co.uk to make a payment of £50 for redelivery of a parcel.

DO NOT ACTION THIS MESSAGE. This has nothing to do with DX and we are doing all we can to close this site down urgently and are working with the authorities to resolve this situation.

Please provide your details to ? [e-mail]? placing ?Text Fraud? in the subject line as we are collating a list of all people contacted.

[Michael Chare]

I do my best to avoid dialling such numbers - and not because I no longer use a phone with a dial.

DX Delivery are listed on:

[Tim+]

Try

They cover more than 0870 numbers.

Tim

[Chris French]

In message , Davey writes

It might not be into the tracking system yet? I've had a number of deliveries where the seller has supplied me tracking details, but they don't work straight away. Often it seems that until the item gets to the depot it's not properly in the system.

I use the WeQ4U app on my phone, which works for lots of numbers 084*. Basically you get charge for standard call to a landline, which will come out of any minutes you have.

You can use it without the app, calling their access number directly. According to their number search, 2 of the 3 numbers on the DX website are included.

The press #9 to queue without waiting on the line works well, though you don't have to use it.

The service is free. The company behind it make systems for call centres, I guess this helps them in that business.

There is also the sayno to 0870 website, which sometimes turns up numbers not on WeQ4U, but it's much easier to use the app on my phone first

[Davey]

This may be the problem. At least DX answered my e-mail quickly, with basically this reply. Once I receive the item, I will continue with my complaint about the call charges for using the 'phone. But I wonder how the supplier can know the DX number if DX don't know it themselves? Do they get a block of numbers, and use them as they ship items?

[Davey]

I had wondered, but when I tried, I got somebody telling me how he had won a million dollars. I tried again just now, without the full URL, and got to it ok.

[Andrew Gabriel]

You have a contract with the supplier for supply of goods. By law, they must give you an 01, 02, 03, or 0800 number to contact them (unless they are a financial services company), so that calls cost no more than a geographic number, and come out of any free call allowance you have. If you found an 0845 number, try dialing it using 0345 instead, as they have been reserved for people who used an 0845 number and are now no longer permitted to do so. (Don't know if that works for 0844, but might be worth a trying 0344.)

Note this only applies when you have a contract in place with a supplier. It doesn't apply before you buy an item.

You don't have a contract with the delivery company (your supplier does), so delivery company can charge you whatever they like, but your first port of call is the supplier, and they should contact the delivery company for you.

[alan_m]

+1 I've had emails minutes after placing an order saying that my item has been dispatched and giving me a tracking number. In reality the shipment didn't take place for another 3 days and the tracking didn't work until the carrier picked it up or, in the case where the seller packs the lorry trailer, until the trailer reaches the first depot in the carrier chain.

If its royal mail the tracking doesn't work until the item has been delivered!

And then you can sometimes watch a package where the seller is only 30 miles away but the package travels a couple of hundred miles on a round trip to various centralised depots.

[alan_m]

I would guess that large suppliers have deals with carriers where they can issued their own agreed numbers and the carrier charges based on the packages they track through the system.

[michael adams]

The supplier will have been supplied with a roll of labels each with a different bar-code on it. One of which was stuck on your parcel, entered into the suppliers system and then thrown in the bag/or bin. When the DX driver eventually comes to collect them he will then scan them all again to put them onto DX's system.

michael adams

...

[Kipper at sea]

SAYNOTO0870.COM Try this for alternative 08 numbers

[Davey]

Yes, some time after I asked the question, I recalled my own experiences with FedEx. A jobsite would be issued with a package of blank envelopes and boxes and pre-numbered labels, and the next label would be applied to the next outgoing package. This would then enter the FedEx database when the driver arrived to pick it up and scanned it. So I knew the answer already, but had forgotten that I knew enough background to know it.

[Davey]

Thanks, but this has already been discussed. Read on...

[Davey]

Do you have a link to that law, so that I can quote it to them? As reported elsewhere, DX replied to e-mail, but I would love to get them and Samuel Windsor to give the proper contact info. out.

Ah, here we go, by the looks of it:

which includes the statement:

"where the seller offers a helpline number, you should not be obliged to pay more than the basic rate to contact them about something you have bought".

Since I was told that it had been shipped, I can safely say that it is an enquiry about an item I have bought.

Both Samuel Windsor and DX will be getting this information. Thanks.

[michael adams]

Just to clarify what's meant by "basic rate" as I wasn't sure myself and as 0844 numbers were often touted as a "cheaper alternative" to national calls

Press release

13 December 2013 Government cuts off costly calls Customers calling helplines to complain will no longer have to pay more than the basic rate putting a stop to costly calls.

Whilst many firms already offer freephone or basic rate numbers, consumers can find that some traders provide an 0800 or free phone number for pre-contract calls to lure people in, but then only offer expensive premium rate numbers when the customer has paid for a product or service. Everyday examples, such as a security company offering a freephone number for new enquiries yet expecting existing customers to call an 0844 number to report a fault, would be stopped under the measures.

That's assuming the legislation was actually passed.

The invidious nature of 0844 etc calls being that they're outside the scope of the free local calls offered by most calling plans

michael adams

...

[Davey]

According to the site I referenced in another post, it is in force.

[Robin]

Yes - but as Andrew Gabriel made clear you had no contract with DX so that legislation does not apply to stop them offering you an 0844 number.

And AFAICS you have not told us what telephone number the seller gave you, and whether you asked them for help..

[Judith]

Saynoto0870:

DX Delivery 0845 600 3613 01923 265757 This is a direct number to the Watford Centre and it works. However you may need luck finding where your parcel is. DX Delivery 0844 371 3335 020 7405 1403 Watford centre DX Delivery 0844 371 3335 01902 604000 Alternative route to Customer Services given to me by their HR Dept. dx delivery 0844 371 3331 01604 782895 Customer Service DX Freight 01604 496798 Northampton DX Freight 01753 762616 Heathrow DX Freight 01709 531067 Rotherham DX Freight 0844 371 0000 01634 401402 Specifically for Rochester Depot Deliveries/Tracking DX Group - DX Secure Mail 0844 371 0000 01279 626049 Harlow Depot

[Davey]

Thanks, but this has already been discussed. Read on...