I have posted here before on the problems we have had with receiving parcel deliveries from Hermes.
My two previous experiences were both similar - one to be delivered to my address and the other which was a Christmas gift to my niece to her address. Both times we each had several automated messages advising that the courier was on his way, but nothing arrived. Both times the courier then recorded that he/she was unable to find the address (both mine and my niece's) . Eventually both parcels were marked as lost so I had to request a refund from the retailers. I expect the drivers managed to find a good home for our parcels.
Now, with many shops closed for the forseeable future, I decided to order our usual nuts and fruits etc from Holland & Barrett through their online shop. They advised that delivery would be around 3 weeks due to high demand I was perfectly OK with that. I do understand that everything is pretty difficult for them right now and I was prepared to wait.
I was quite surprised therefore to receive an email saying that my parcel was now on its way and that the courier would be in touch. Sure enough, an email arrived from Hermes(!) saying that the courier had my parcel and would be delivering it between 12 - 2 p.m. on Thursday. Of course, we waited expectantly for our goodies to arrive but, guess what?
As nothing had arrived by 5 p.m. I went online to track my delivery. Oh look. The courier cannot find our address - again! What a surprise.
I have been trying since Thursday to get hold of someone from Hermes to give them detailed instructions as they obviously don't know how to use a simple app to put our postcode and house name into it in order to find us.
Their website has an automated "Help" chatbot which asks lots of questions but just goes around in circles before saying that a member of their team will be in touch within 24 hours. So that didn't happen either.
As I can't use the 'phone, P rang around several of our local freight delivery companies until he got hold of someone who operated the Hermes hub. He promised to check and get back to us yesterday. Of course, nothing happened so we are still waiting.
P is just going to keep ringing them every day until he gets some sort of resolution.
I am beginning to think they are not a company to be trusted as this lost parcel scam seems to be pretty rife everywhere from the various online forums I have since been reading. They have been ranked the worst parcel delivery company in the UK, alongside Yodel.
Online shopping may be something that we are having to rely on more and more these days, but it's no use if the courier firms rip us all off!
Why can't retailers use the Royal Mail? I would be prepared to pay a couple of pounds more to make sure I actually received my goods.
Hermes are rubbish and, of course, there is no telephone number only email address or hopeless online chat ☹️
ReplyDeleteOne Christmas, I ordered two polaroid cameras .... they chucked them over the fence but it was the fence that doesn’t connect to our house ! We had to take the fence panels out !!! 😱😱😱 XXXX
Absolute bunch of crooks 😡😡😡
DeleteI don't like Hermes either. We never had these problems when The Royal Mail were essentially the only parcel delivery service in the country. Another thing I don't like about Hermes is their collect service. Some of the businesses used for collection seem very dodgy to me. Of course, frequently when you order something online you have no idea which delivery service will be used.
ReplyDeleteExactly. I didn't know that Hermes would be the carrier otherwise I would have thought twice about ordering.
DeleteIt would be good if retailers offered a choice of delivery options, with customers able to tick a box for Royal Mail at whatever additional cost.
I'm sorry you're having problems with Hermes and I must say that Hermes here are excellent. My husband in particular orders a lot of stuff on line and as we live in the back of beyond never have problems with them finding our address. It is always the same chap, Steve, who delivers and knows that if we're not in to leave it in the porch. He has even given us his mobile number so that if we have anything to return we can send him a text and he is uaually there the next day to collect it. It must be very annoying if you can't get a simple delivery, but no complaints from us I'm glad to say.
ReplyDeleteYou are lucky Joan. Your local man is obviously one of the trustworthy drivers.
DeleteThere was a bit about Hermes on the TV consumer programme that Joe Lycett is doing at the moment.
ReplyDeleteEach day about 3 lorry loads of undelivered or damaged stuff from Hermes gets delivered to an auction house in Yorkshire for selling. Yet when the consumer programme checked the parcels they found the addresses were on many of them!
It all sounds very dodgy to me.
DeleteI have had two deliveries from Holland & Barrat to my daughters houses one in Walthamstow and one near Wisbech both arrived at the time they said they would deliver. I have ordered another one as a gift for my grandaughter next week and hope that arrives. Now I've seen other peoples problems I am worried! Royal Mail would be better pity we don't have a choice.
ReplyDeleteOh dear. Sorry if I have made you worry about your granddaughter's parcel. I must just be one of the unlucky ones!
DeleteHermes here now use a local person in a private car (a woman) who is really good. We get a notification that she is out delivering, albeit with short notice, but she leaves her own mobile number and is happy to pop back with a parcel.
ReplyDeleteBefore her, I used to dread seeing that the parcel had been sent via Hermes.
Yes, our Hermes drivers here on the island are all locals using their own vehicles to deliver. It all seems to be the luck of the draw whether or not you have a good delivery driver for your area. Ours appears to be either lazy or incompetent.
DeleteIn Wales we had two local people in their own cars delivering for Hermes. Both were very good, he never said much so I could never get into a conversation with him, and he did do a delivery in a hired car once when he'd had an accident in his, like the Pony Express the mail will get through, lol. She was very friendly and chatty and they both gave me their mobille numbers. We have been very lucky with Hermes going by what other people have experienced.
DeleteThere are still some good ones out there 😏
DeleteI have never had a problem with Hermes (I buy Hotter shoes and they always use Hermes for instance) but I have something coming from Artigiano (I often buy from them too) and I had an e mail to say that it was also coming by Hermes - so far no sign. I hope this is not the shape of things to come.
ReplyDeleteIf you have not had a problem before then it may just be a delay due to current circumstances. Our problem seems to be that the courier doesn't know where we live!
DeleteGet P on that phone. My husband hounds them, whoever it maybe or whatever, till he gets action. Don't give up. Phone every number you have. It's amazing how me gets things sorted out. Sometimes he's polite but when necessary hes damn nasty.
ReplyDeleteWe have half a dozen courier companies here, some are better than other but nothing like yours.
The best of British luck
Ha, thanks! We shall keep trying!
DeleteHere on Sheppey in N. Kent they are excellent and all use their own cars. My ex-wife is one of them and when helping her just before Christmas, I was surprised to see the amount of tips and presents that she got from customers. So, like others have said, there's good and bad.
ReplyDeleteI just wish we had one of the good ones!
DeleteI have just sent an order to Bulk Barn - my first time ordering online. I'll let you know how that works out!
ReplyDeleteI am sure that your delivery services are way more efficient than ours!
DeleteNever heard of them. The post van brings most of our stuff in rural Ireland.
ReplyDeleteYou are very fortunate over there to still have a proper mail service.
DeleteGive him a nice tip when he comes and you'll be set up for the future.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure that it is always the same driver each time. They appear to use mainly casual labour with a high turnover of drivers according to other people here we have spoken to.
DeleteI've not yet used them and probably won't now!
ReplyDeletexxx
We don't often get a choice.
Delete