A BIT OF A STORY

“A BIT OF A STORY”

Written on: 30/03/2012

I purchased an item from an auction site for which the seller only offered ‘collect in person’ but after an email he agreed if I arranged collection/delivery he would pack and address the item should I win the auction, which I did.
The seller had a really full diary but we agreed a date and I tried to book City Link over the internet but it would seem you need to register as an account holder which, as I was unlikely to use this service again for some time I looked for an alternative and found Interparcel.com who would book using a courier with whom they have an account which turned out to be City Link on this occasion, so I booked and paid for collection between 0730 – 1800 for next day delivery which I confirmed with the seller, brilliant all’s going well.
Next day at 1830 I receive a call from the seller who was just a little upset, “we have been waiting in all day and no collection, can you find out what’s going on”, I try to contact Interparcel who’s customer service help line is charged at 10p a minute, a recorded message informs me the office closed at 1730 but will be open at 0800 next day (not Sat or Sun) so I phone City Link, after waiting 20mins I speak to an advisor who was very helpful she asks for a consignment number but as Interparcel do not supply this so it took a while to locate my order, once found she gave me the consignment number for future reference, the collection depot had added a message to my consignment number, the driver said “no such address and no answer from telephone number supplied” I explained that I could see the sellers property on Google Satellite as we spoke so was at that postal code supplied and the seller states no telephone call was received, I was then told if I wanted to rebook I would have to go through Interparcel as they are the account holder, I then phone the seller and re-laid this info who then agrees another collection date.
Ok so far not Interparcels fault, then it starts, I phone Interparcels customer service next day who remember charge 10p per minute and again a very helpful advisor who books a next day collection, I phone seller who states next day not good change to today if possible, go back to Interparcel another very good advisor puts herself out and alters collection details then contacts City Link and confirms she beat the cut off time and confirms 100% the booking for that day with me I then confirm this with the seller, phew.
At around 1500 hrs next day I look on the web site on both Interparcel and City link and it says COLLECTION CANCELLED on both sites, I am concerned about what the seller is going to say so go through to Interparcel to try and get some answers first, put on hold with not very nice music at full volume then advisor answers I run through the problem although sympathetic she cannot explain why the collection was cancelled but says nothing can be done today but can rebook for another date, I really need some answers to pass onto the seller who I know will not be happy so ask to talk to a supervisor, she asked for my ref number, my name address etc which as I had done just done this with the advisor to prove my identity I thought this strange to do it all again anyway I run through the non collection problem, she asks why I was transferred to her and I explain I hoped she may be able to give me an explanation why but she just repeats what the advisor told me off he monitor, I ask could she call the collection depot and find out why the parcel had not been collected, she says she will ‘ make enquiries and send an email but no chance of a collection today you will have to rebook’.
I contact the seller and I am full of apologise and begin the update, after a few minutes he stops me and says he cannot understand either company because the parcel had been collected only 45 minutes ago, he said the driver apologised for missing the previous days collection but did not go far enough down the road as he did not realise there were other properties further on, etc etc (at least the parcel has been collected)
I am now concerned, if either company think the parcel has not been collected will they deliver? I once again contact City Link who confirm collection after checking my post code and issue me with a new consignment number so I can track, I then contact Interparcel and once through I ask for the same supervisor, I eventually get put through and start to explain about the cancelled collection being collected, she stops me and once again wants all my details I explain that I had just spoken with her but she insists I have to pass her this information which I give, I explain all, and once again she asks why I was passed onto her and it not dealt with by the advisor I say because I had spoken with her last and she was investigating, I ask why she did not contact City Link when I first spoke with her which would have saved a lot of problems and said I had been on the phone chasing this problem for nearly 2 hours either to them or City Link for most of that time, all this could have been done in a few minutes by her or customer services and saved me quite a lot of stress not to mention quite a few pounds in telephone calls, she replied she was sorry I was not happy but said she would investigate, to date I have heard nothing from her.
She was obnoxious and very unhelpful where as the advisors were very helpful at both Interparcel and City Link, it took just two small links to bust this otherwise good chain, a driver who assumed he knew every property in a road and did not bother to check even though he had a post code and a so called supervisor in customer care who seemed not care. NEVER AGAIN MY REVEIW IS NEGATIVE JUST LIKE THE SUPERVISOR
As a footnote the parcel was delivered next day