Mail order limbo - an extra dimension?

[David W.E. Roberts]

Hi,

having watched a program on string (not Strigfellow) theory, apparently there are loads of other dimensions around which we can't see, but could if we looked a little harder.

Supporting evidence for this abounds.

For instance, a parcel from Screwfix can arrive by Parcelforce overnight, but a package from Toolbank via Businesspost

takes a full week from order to delivery - ordered Friday delivered next Friday.

O.K. it came to Suffolk from Scotland but seven days? It must have been artificially aged in holding tanks all down the country for delivery this slow.

Parcelforce also lost all trace of a Screwfix shipment - shown as despatched by Screwfix, but shown as not collected by Parcelforce. This disappeared into limbo for two days, then turned up at the same time as the replacement package. It was correctly labelled and everything.

So I postulate a 'package limbo' dimension which must contain, on average, at least 25% of all packages currently in transit.

Alternatively, the carriers deliberately delay orders with low cost shipping options to make the higher price services seem attractive.

Let's face it - if Screwfix can deliver overnight for about £5.99 then other suppliers should be able to match this - or get close as Screwfix will be a premium customer with bulk discounts.

So overnight - spot on. Smaller mail order supplier - 3 days max, usually 2. 'Parcel Post' services via PO or other supplier should not take 7 days.

Just as well I managed without the white Bostik Viking wall plugs I ordered for fixing my wiring clips. Still, stock replenished for the future.

Cheers Dave R

[bill]

ebuyer have an interesting new slant on this.

Placed an order with them on monday for in stock items. Select cheapest delivery charge, which, curiously, doesn't say 3 day delivery, it says deliver by Friday 14th. Check order status next day, says awaiting dispatch. Strange I think, if it's in stock why don't they dispatch it?

Thursday, check order status again, still awaiting dispatch. Try to ring them, no one seems to want to answer their expensive phone number. Finally speak to someone and their reason for not dispatching the parcel was that I had selected delivery on Friday; they would dispatch on Thursday to be delivered Friday. (Wouldn't work for us; it usually takes at least 2 days for next day delivery to get here)

So ebuyer have a new s$$m, they sit on your goods for several days unless you pay them more.

Bill

[Woodspoiler]

But all suppliers are at the mercy of the carriers. Screwfix deliveries here (somewhere in North Zummerzet, not too far from Brizzle) are sometimes "next day" but often it takes an extra day or two or three. Plan for three days maximum and it'll take four or five, so the best plan is to order early and try to forget why and when you needed the stuff until it or the credit card bill comes through. Things you didn't really need but ordered anway always come next day, however, sometimes as part delivery or a larger order. The urgent items are sent in another parcel next day, but arrive one week later.

Back in the golden days of National Carriers, extra dimensions were not required. They simply routed stuff to the opposite end of the country where, because the Caithness depot could not find Bristol on the local route map (or vice versa) they dumped it behind a pile of other awkward things they didn't know what to do with, forgot it instantly, and thereby lost it for weeks, months or forever.

You needed a despatch manager with the tenacity and manners of a rabid pitbull to persuade them to (a) admit they ever had it, (b) find it again, (c) deliver it intact before your customer, a two-man sheet metal outift under a railway arch with decades of faultless trading to its credit, went bankrupt due to the massive penalty clause incurred by horrendously late delivery of the item for which he needed your custom-made material with the the two-month lead time.

W.

[Colin M]

Amazon UK are just as bad. Spend over £25 and qualify for Super Saver (free) Delivery.

Go to "My Basket" and see "Choose a delivery speed:"

FREE Super Saver Delivery 3-5 business days First Class 1 business day

However, read the small print and Amazon say their free delivery is an

*additional* 3-5 days and this is only an estimate. I ordered some items from them, chose the free delivery and it took almost a fortnight to arrive. Amazon not very accomodation with my complaint that the "basket" options were misleading. I wouldn't have minded but 6 business days plus their contingency means 2 weeks in their book. (Pardon the pun).

Colin

[Tony Bryer]

Given that they are only in Yeovil this must be a bit gutting. But presumably 'in the interests of efficiency' everything gets routed through their Derby depot or somesuch place!

[David Hearn]

I noticed this too - though I got my stuff a day early. Very different from Dabs who say 3-5 days but is often next day.

I must admit though, if they sent everything out immediately and was delivered next day, it would put the value down of paying for next day delivery (which they probably make a profit on). You choose the delivery date, and they will deliver by that date.

D

[Andrew]

I've just had exactly the same experience with ebuyer.

In the meantime Rapid Electronics delivered in 14hrs (ordered by phone

7:30pm, delivered 9:30am next day) with FREE delivery on orders over £25.

Similarly Farnell for orders over £10 deliver FREE and usually next day.

Neither of these latter two are guaranteed next day but they rarely fail.

Andrew

[Christian McArdle]

I ordered some books on free super saver delivery on Wednesday night (around

10pm). They arrived this morning. Presuming they don't dispatch at night like Screwfix, that counts as next day delivery to me.

Christian.

[Martin]

My last order to ebyer was delivered the next day; the on line system still said waiting to be processed for a further 3 days. I wonder what would have happened if I'd cancelled it?

[Toby]

miles just to deliver one parcel'

Securicor . Our firm would use them on and off, really really cheap (~£3 per package) when you have an artic lorry load going out every day, but you end up paying all the staff in your callcentre overtime sorting out all the sh*t.

Strangest courier delivery experience - getting radiators delivered one per day as the bloke said it would otherwise fill up his van?

[James Hart]

My stationery supplier rather stupidly posted me an order a few months back (never did get a good reason why, normally they ring us and we collect) and it went from their place to the local depot, from there to the main depot, from there to a different main depot, from there back to the local depot and finally to us. We reckoned it had done about 150 miles to get to us, from a firm who are less than 2 miles away. We tracked it using the delivery firm's tracking jobbie which gave us lots of info all the way through the 3 day process, except for the reason why it sat in Norwich for 2 days.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I had my best ever mail order experience.

Sent an email to small supplier. Got e-mail back at 8pm.

Answered it and requested he call me back to get c'card detail, or if too late would phone next motrning,.

Forgot to phone, got call about 4pm, goods in letter box following morning after a useful chat...

Sadly of no use to DIY'ers unless you like model plane construction..

[The Natural Philosopher]

Two strange mail order experiences.

One getting second delivery 2 months after order of goods ordered at a show. Can't remember the address of where to send them back, and no paperowrk. *shrug*.

Other ordering three small garden plants, and getting a very large box of serious fireworks instead. Should have kept mouth shut, but eventually discovered that three small plants had probably gone to lady in London expecting weapons of mass distraction isntead. Sadly they went back, and small plants arrived instead :-(

[Rod Hewitt]

"David W.E. Roberts" wrote in news:bp27j4$1js3c1$ [e-mail]:

I think that I have just found some evidence of the occupants of one of these other dimensions.

B&Q offer a piece of counter top - 320mm x 2m - at the wonderful, knockdown price of £45. (Well it seems very cheap compared with £21.99 for 600mm x 3m for their own standard worktop, doesn't it?) And then offer to deliver it for just £49.95.

Add to this the fact that their phone support say that it is 'normal stock' but in the shops they say that it takes four weeks for delivery (to them).

Certainly not in my dimension.

Rod

[Dave Plowman]

I've found Parcel Post - ie the PO service - to be superb, so much so I never use first class. Parcelforce is a prime example of privatization gone wrong.

[Gnube]

It must be down to regional differences then, I've never had poor service from Parcel Force since they went private, had nothing but trouble before that.

I ask for stuff to come via them if that's an option, since I know I'll get it, and in a timely fashion. Really odd how it varies.

I had a parcel come from Scotland: Ordered by phone late one friday lunchtime 14:00-15:00Hrs, arrived at 06:40 Hrs next day! Boy was I pleased to be knocked up at that time on a Saturday morning - it was my only "lay in" of the week at the time. Now I don't get one, so they can do that any old day of the week as far as I am concerned. Good value for the £4.65 standard charge at the time. The supplier asked if I wanted express delivery and I said I could not see the point; I reckon that proves the point!

Take Care, Gnube {too thick for linux}

[Rick Dipper]

Have we done a full circle ?

Stuff used to move by train, but BR lost stuff in depots for weeks. This mixed in with the odd strike got us all using road.

Mow the road carries "loose" stuff, one decent strike and we will have to see if the country has any trains left ?

Rick

[Dave Stanton]

Interesting, I have exactly the same thing going on with ebuyer, ordered router, delivery by Mon 17th Nov, it was despatched on Sat although ordered on Weds. So deliver by, means on that date, as far as I can see.

Dave

[The Q]

delivery company that always seems to put a " you were not in this is the second attempt at delivery" in the door however we never get a first attempt card and sometime were were in anyway.!!! My best delivery was Screwfix an order placed just before 6 one evening was delivered at 09:00 the following day Yeovil to deepest Norfolk in 15 hours not Bad!! Normally they are more like 36 hours though.

The Q

[Colin Wilson]

Most orders i`ve made through ebuyer only get despatched the day before its supposed to arrive.