Delivery Times

[superblue24]

Something that really gets my goat, and I mean REALLY gets me angry is why I have to take a half bloody day any time I want to have anything delivered, or an engineer call-out.

Does nobody in this world "get" the fact that people tend to be at work between the hours of 9 til 5 on working days?

"We visited you at 10:30 am to read your meter, but you weren't about so will call again on Thursday between 2pm and 4pm"....Ummmm, No sh*t sherlock, and dont bother!

Has no-one at one of their board meetings stepped forward and said "why dont we stop wating our money on sending engineers, meter readings and dleivery men out between 9 and 5, Mon-Fri"????

It's not rocket science, is it?

Or am I missing something?

 

[Perth Bambi]

Probably because they would then get moaned at for interrupting people's evenings and would need to be paid extra for unsociable hours.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Quite simple I'd have thought, offer people a weekend service at a small premium and pass that on to those working the weekend hours.

 

[Hotman]

Quite simple I'd have thought, offer people a weekend service at a small premium and pass that on to those working the weekend hours.

Which is exactly what a lot of companies offer for their courier services etc.

 

[Pubey]

or get it delivered to work?

 

[OldBlueLady]

or get it delivered to work?

Can't really do that with an engineer or meter reader though can you?

 

[Pubey]

Can't really do that with an engineer or meter reader though can you?

I was referring to deliveries.

You don't need a meter reader, you can just phone it in.

If you need to call an engineer out then plenty will come out early, late or at the weekend

 

[OldBlueLady]

I was referring to deliveries.

You don't need a meter reader, you can just phone it in.

If you need to call an engineer out then plenty will come out early, late or at the weekend

Meter readers operate in exactly the way that the OP said but yes, you do then have the option to phone it in - but if you get a situation like we did where it was read wrongly for 5 years despite our insisting that they were wrong then it's in your best interests to have it read. I don't know what engineers you use but you're quite often lucky to just be told whether it's morning or afternoon around here!

 

[londonblue]

Here's a good story.

When my sister got married her and her husband had their wedding list at John Lewis. Something got mixed up and JL delivered two bins. When they got back from their honeymoon my brother in law rang up JL to let them know.

The woman on the other end of the phone apologised and told him to take the 2nd bin to the nearest JL store. My brother in law refused pointing out that it was them that made the mistake, and that they would have to come and collect it. The woman agreed and said that a van would be able to collect later that week between 9.00am and 5.00pm. Again my brother in law refused saying he wasn't taking time off work for them. He then told the lady that they could collect either Tuesday or Thursday evening, and in line with their policy of charging £20 for an evening delivery, he would be charging them £20 for an evening collection. Believe it or not, they paid up!

 

[Pubey]

Here's a good story.

When my sister got married her and her husband had their wedding list at John Lewis. Something got mixed up and JL delivered two bins. When they got back from their honeymoon my brother in law rang up JL to let them know.

The woman on the other end of the phone apologised and told him to take the 2nd bin to the nearest JL store. My brother in law refused pointing out that it was them that made the mistake, and that they would have to come and collect it. The woman agreed and said that a van would be able to collect later that week between 9.00am and 5.00pm. Again my brother in law refused saying he wasn't taking time off work for them. He then told the lady that they could collect either Tuesday or Thursday evening, and in line with their policy of charging £20 for an evening delivery, he would be charging them £20 for an evening collection. Believe it or not, they paid up!

good story, i don't find that unsurprising though! having had problems with our JL gift list they do work hard to sort things out!

 

[pickledseal]

When we had problems with BT I had to wait until next school holiday each time to get an engineer out. A bit annoying....

 

[southend4ever]

Here's a good story.

When my sister got married her and her husband had their wedding list at John Lewis. Something got mixed up and JL delivered two bins. When they got back from their honeymoon my brother in law rang up JL to let them know.

The woman on the other end of the phone apologised and told him to take the 2nd bin to the nearest JL store. My brother in law refused pointing out that it was them that made the mistake, and that they would have to come and collect it. The woman agreed and said that a van would be able to collect later that week between 9.00am and 5.00pm. Again my brother in law refused saying he wasn't taking time off work for them. He then told the lady that they could collect either Tuesday or Thursday evening, and in line with their policy of charging £20 for an evening delivery, he would be charging them £20 for an evening collection. Believe it or not, they paid up!

A good story and I hope a true story. So many companies really do push their luck. They don't expect to be pushed back. When actually negotiation can take place with most companies because they either don't want to lose business elsewhere or have their reputation damaged.

 

[Dave of the Match]

Because no workers would ever want to go out to do evening and weekend calls en mass.

 

[londonblue]

A good story and I hope a true story. So many companies really do push their luck. They don't expect to be pushed back. When actually negotiation can take place with most companies because they either don't want to lose business elsewhere or have their reputation damaged.

Genuinely true. My sister has a John Lewis account, and they credited the account with £20. Personally I think that is just good customer service, and has bought them goodwill that is probably worth a whole lot more than £20.

 

[sufcis4life_notjust4cardiff]

Meter readings, just do online.

Can save you around 20% on your energy bills with some companies for doing online accounts.

 

[Winkle]

Sorry dont want to barge in on this thread but one thing is seriously p*****g me off lately and thet is" When you start emptying your trolley full of groceries on the cashier conveyer, suddenly the poxy thing starts moving" CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHY have they got a secret "P***s you off button underneath!

 

[Pubey]

just my luck after that post... had to work from home today and wait in for Mrs Pubey's new passport to be delivered.

 

[OldBlueLady]

just my luck after that post... had to work from home today and wait in for Mrs Pubey's new passport to be delivered.

:D Karma, I think you'll find!

 

[Pubey]

:D Karma, I think you'll find!

true. to be fair they offered a saturday delivery but we're out.

 

[canveyshrimper]

If I make a purchase that requires delivery I ensure that the delivery is made when I want it, if they don't agree I'll spend my money elsewhere. A few years ago I bought a new fridge from Comet, they didn't deliver at the agreed time or date. The next day I went to the store and cancelled the order and demanded my money back immediately, at first they refused, but as my voice grew steadily louder and customers started edging to the door they paid up.

Similarly I ordered something online, it turned up as agreed, but a few days later I saw the same item on the same web site but 25 quid cheaper than I paid. Luckily for me it was within the "satisfaction guaranteed" period, I called them and said I wanted 25 quid credited to my card, initially they refused, and then offered a fiver off. I told them if they didn't agree I'd send it back at their expense. They agreed.

My advice is particularly in the current financial climate is to ensure that stores do what you the customer want.