I am a bit confyuzzled. Early hours Thursday morning (what I would really call Wednesday night) I placed an order, through eBay for a replacement transformer for a piece of busted kit. Within seconds I received three emails. One confirmed my payment, no worries. The remaining two advised me that my item was on its way and had been dispatched RM first-class with stamps! (the 'with stamps' part was a relief!), while the third message said that the item had been sent via Hermes Tracked and would be with me in 5 to 7 days.
5 to 7 days, North of England to South of Scotland, not impressed. Particularly when claiming that the item had already been dispatched within seconds, and in the early hours too! Or, possibly the other option, RM First class (with stamps), no, wait, am I getting two of these? Are people REALLY packing these things up in the middle of the night and getting them out of the door in seconds? I know that it's really just an automated 'receipt of order' message most likely but, RM, Hermes Tracked, first class, with stamps, 5 to seven days - woah up there - I'm a bit confyuzzled!
Ye gorra love eBay sellers doncha... LOL, well, no... ,well, OK, possibly ye do, or not, maybe, I think.
Did I mention that I was a bit confyuzzled?
Quote from: Zogbert Splod on August 20, 2016, 02:55:34 PM
I am a bit confyuzzled. Early hours Thursday morning (what I would really call Wednesday night) I placed an order, through eBay for a replacement transformer for a piece of busted kit. Within seconds I received three emails. One confirmed my payment, no worries. The remaining two advised me that my item was on its way and had been dispatched RM first-class with stamps! (the 'with stamps' part was a relief!), while the third message said that the item had been sent via Hermes Tracked and would be with me in 5 to 7 days.
5 to 7 days, North of England to South of Scotland, not impressed. Particularly when claiming that the item had already been dispatched within seconds, and in the early hours too! Or, possibly the other option, RM First class (with stamps), no, wait, am I getting two of these? Are people REALLY packing these things up in the middle of the night and getting them out of the door in seconds? I know that it's really just an automated 'receipt of order' message most likely but, RM, Hermes Tracked, first class, with stamps, 5 to seven days - woah up there - I'm a bit confyuzzled!
Ye gorra love eBay sellers doncha... LOL, well, no... ,well, OK, possibly ye do, or not, maybe, I think.
Did I mention that I was a bit confyuzzled?
I think the vendors are just as confused by Ebay as the rest of us, so they pre-select the wrong automatic response.
However, some products are held by 3rd party warehouses and shipment is immediate as there is a continuous 24 hour postal collection direct to sorting hubs. think Amazon.
Quote from: Snowwolflair on August 20, 2016, 03:21:15 PM
...I think the vendors are just as confused by Ebay as the rest of us, so they pre-select the wrong automatic response.
However, some products are held by 3rd party warehouses and shipment is immediate as there is a continuous 24 hour postal collection direct to sorting hubs. think Amazon.
I'm sure you are exactly right about that. My mild annoyance is based on the fact that the item in discussion is almost certainly not going to fit through my letterbox and my neighbours are not in a position to accept delivery for me. I'm not going to be around much in the day time for a couple of weeks so I'm hoping for the RM(with stamps) option. The postie will leave the package at the village post office and let me know with a card that he has done so. The other option - well, who knows! I've had the option, in the past, to pay for a follow up delivery ('sometime in the next few days') or collection at the carriers facility. (£6.00 or a 50+ mile round trip)
I'm still smiling at the 'with stamps' part though.
As an aside, yeah, I do know about those large warehouse/shipping facilities. I once spent 3 weeks working in one of those. The job from hell! The facility shipped VAST amounts of product for MS and also for Apple. Wait for this bit - by the most amazing co-incidence I, some weeks later, went into a shop in London and bought a copy of Windows 7 only to discover my own packing code on the outer box that it came in!
Afraid I always take eBay shipping and delivery times with a pinch of salt and when they turn up am always pleased
In my post above, I forgot to mention,
Quote
As an aside, yeah, I do know about those large warehouse/shipping facilities. I once spent 3 weeks working in one of those. The job from hell! The facility shipped VAST amounts of product for MS and also for Apple. Wait for this bit - by the most amazing co-incidence I, some weeks later, went into a shop in London and bought a copy of Windows 7 only to discover my own packing code on the outer box that it came in!
The placed that I worked was in Pennsylvania, USA.
Quote from: Zogbert Splod on August 20, 2016, 06:16:03 PM
In my post above, I forgot to mention, Quote
As an aside, yeah, I do know about those large warehouse/shipping facilities. I once spent 3 weeks working in one of those. The job from hell! The facility shipped VAST amounts of product for MS and also for Apple. Wait for this bit - by the most amazing co-incidence I, some weeks later, went into a shop in London and bought a copy of Windows 7 only to discover my own packing code on the outer box that it came in!
The placed that I worked was in Pennsylvania, USA.
One hell of a commute from Scotland :o
:laughabovepost: :laughabovepost: :laughabovepost:
Hey Zogbert. I work for Royal Mail. Kill me now!!!!
Anyway, you did the right thing arranging for your parcel to be delivered to the Post Office. What a lot of people don't know is that around one in two of all the parcels we have to deliver, we have to abort and bring back to the sorting office. It's a waste of everyone's time, including the customer.
Our advice is :
a) Have a family member's, or neighbour's name and address put on the package, someone who is usually home during the day.
b) Put your works address as the delivery address.
c) Arrange with your local sorting office to have it delivered to your local post office.
All of them are feasible. A lot of people just blindly put down their own home details down, and then complain to anyone who will listen about the poor service they get from Royal Mail.
There are other options, if you just stop and consider them.
Anyway, I hope I haven't hijacked the thread too much. I hope some of you guys who buy things regularly on the net may be able to use this advice and find it helpful!
Andy
UK
Quote from: texhorse on August 20, 2016, 10:26:07 PM
Hey Zogbert. I work for Royal Mail. Kill me now!!!!
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Anyway, I hope I haven't hijacked the thread too much. I hope some of you guys who buy things regularly on the net may be able to use this advice and find it helpful!
Andy
UK
:thankyousign:
Noooooooo! I ain't killing the postie! I think RM is generally a great service.
Your tips are excellent, well worth remembering.
And...
My package came today, via RM(with stamps).....
Yes Andy great advice on ways to get your package to you quicker and with less hassle.
As an ex R/M employee of many years I also believe they generally do a very good job !
Thanks Guys. It's not an easy job nowadays. In the last year :
I have been bitten by dogs three times.
I have been sworn at by customers eight times.
I have been threatened with physical violence once.
I have been spat at once.
Other things have happened to me in the past, but all the above has happened in the last year. There are some nice customers, don't get me wrong.
Andy "Get off your soap box and stop changing the thread!"
:veryangry:
Andy
UK
The nature of most of my employment has caused me to travel extensively world wide. It has also caused me to use the postal services all over the place too. Everywhere has quirks but I have to say that RM is high in the league table, very high. If we all use the addressing tips above where possible, it will bring the service even higher. No postie coming to my door needs his Kevlar vest.
And, Andy, feel free to use the soapbox - the original point of the thread is made and RM came out of it just fine..... :thankyousign:
I don't think anyone can beat the service of Union Mills Models and the Royal Mail you order at 3/30 pm and get your loco at 10/30am.
Bob
Yes, that really is excellent service Bob!
:thumbsup:
Andy
UK
Texhorse ,that's the normal service you get from UMM even the one repair I sent on a Monday was returned on the Thursday the same week .Colin fitted a brand new twin shaft tender to my very old first batch D 20 after my mate accidenty burnt out the motor by changing a point under the loco and then forgetting to switch off the power,and I was only charged for a new motor.
Speaking as a very happy customer no connection at all with this company.
Bob