ok, because of being ill, i can't often get out of the house, so i sometimes place food orders to be delivered. groceries and stuff. it's more expensive, but sometimes it's the only way to get food in.

i had placed an order with a health food website, for food and drink stuff, cos i'm not getting out very often, and their stuff is so amazing.

this afternoon (well, technically, yesterday), the delivery guy knocked on the door and said he had two boxes for me but they were too heavy for him to carry so could i go down and help him. i hesitated and he said that if i didn't then i'd have to go down to the warehouse to collect it, which is obviously impossible, so i reluctantly went down with him.

it's about a 300m walk and we got to his van and he said one parcel was really heavy and the other slightly lighter. i took the lighter one and he took the heavier one, i commented on how heavy even the light one was, and he said "well you shouldn't have ordered so much then should you?"

anyway, he waited until i had got in the lift with mine, he put the heavy one in the lift too, and then he buggered off. he just went!!!!

i could not believe what had happened!!!! i got to my floor in teh lift, and the boxes were so heavy i couldn't even get them out of the lift. a woman in the end helped me to get them out and i just stood there in total disbelief.

i phoned a friend and swore a lot and she didn't have any ideas either as to how i was going to get two huge and heavy boxes (which mr delivery driver himself had admitted were too heavy for *him* to carry) the 300 metres to my house.

i started crying but then told myself off and told myself i needed a solution, not a weep.

i thought i could kick them maybe, sort of push them along with my feet, but they were too heavy for that.

in the end, i had to go the whole way picking one up, carrying it a metre or so, then going back for the other one, carrying it a metre or so. again and again until i finally got home with them.

i am totally furious. i paid for these things to be delivered because geting out of the house is very hard.

i ordered lots of drinks because i knew they would be getting delivered and they're so heavy to carry back from the shops.

i ordered it all to be delivered to *simplify* my life not to cause a lifetime of back problems!!

i'm in a complete quandry. i *love* their food and don't want to stop ordering from them, but as long as they're using that delivery company i just can't use them.

i have phoned them up and allegedly the supervisor was going to call me back. the woman i spoke to seemed to take it pretty seriously. but the supervisor never called back.

GGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

What with one thing and another in company 'downsizing', customer service is now a thing of the past, along with doormen and lift operators.

Check their delivery conditions with a fine tooth comb and report them to trading standards if they aren't doing what they are supposed to.

It's a sad fact the chances are that it's more hassle for them to chase up your complaint and change delivery companies than it is to lose your custom.

Aww thats awful Pippa!! :( Why couldn't he have just split the heavy stuff into bags or something then he could have carried it all. :confused:

Write letters Pippa, keep writing letters.

Write a letter every day, keeping it civil and helpful, asking for what you want - to my mind an apology from the driver and the delivery company at least followed by assurances that this sort of fiasco will not happen again.

Keep writing letters every day, starting with "I noticed that I have not yet received a response to my previous letter". Tell them everything you told us.

Get the name of the MD of the firm.

Send them Private and Confidential to the manager of the firm. Be clear that in all cases apart from this one you are a very satisfied customer and get the supplier on side.Be clear that if this does happen again, you will refuse to take delivery, and having ordered on a credit card, you will call your card issuer and say you have been charged in error and that they should retrieve the money. Also point out that although you would love to remain a customer, if it carries on like this you will have to look elsewhere, which you really don't want to (for all the reasons you outlined above, great products, good range etc. etc.)

It always helps to pour compliments on before you ask for something.

The MD should see that he has a potential problem, and he will have a quick word with the delivery agency, if (s)he has any sense.

Worked for me

That is really really bad. Go further with reporting that man. Useless at the job.

Could you have taken some things out of the boxes and made a few small trips?

The delivery man was well out of order but the company has to take a lot of the blame. Imagine being sent out to deliver heavy boxes and not supplying the employee with a trolley?

The delivery guy shouldn't have been made to pick up anything over 25kg anyway...

that story is awful! i wonder what their delivery policy is? you could ask for a copy. would they have treated an elderly/disabled person like that? i assume they thought you were capable - not that that is an excuse.

There is no weight limit for deliveries, unfortunately. I worked for Tuffnells for a period and I well remember opening the tailgate and finding a plough which had to be delivered to a farm out in Lincolnshire. They'd used a forklift to get it in but forgot to tell me I might need one at the other end. I ended up tying one end of a piece of rope to the plough and the other to an upright in the barn and just driving off.

Not much help when it's groceries in a lift but I thought I'd share. :)

It is illegal to expect the delivery driver to lift it by himself if it's over 25kg - ask the company how they expected the delivery guy to get it out of the van and to your house by himself?!?!

Originally posted by fnkysknky
It is illegal to expect the delivery driver to lift it by himself if it's over 25kg - ask the company how they expected the delivery guy to get it out of the van and to your house by himself?!?!

25kg is a LOT. like 4 stone or 55lbs

That would have to be one **** of a lot of food and drink (25 litres of fizzy pop would do it)

Which would mean PPs items (2 boxes) came to over 100lbs. OK if she had ordered monumental masonry, I can understand it, but food and drink?

I think we can safely assume it was under 25kg.

You should have left the parcels where they were and phoned the company to send another delivery man straight away.

25kg is liftable though by an adult - if the guy could only just lift it I'd take a guess at it being over 25kg... :)

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your sympathetic outrage!!

I agree the delivery guy should have been given a thingie to push them on wheels, but the fact remains that if he couldn't carry them, then he shouldn't have left me to do it.

The company in question (as yet unnamed though if they annoy me much further... or is that illegal?) phoned me today and said that they are doing two things.

One is telling their packing people to pack in smaller boxes to help people with disabilities (I had pointed out to them that being a health food place a significant number of their customers would be disabled or unwell).

The other is they are complaining to the delivery company.

They also apologised to me.

Do you think that's enough? I'm not sure it's enough but I don't know what else to suggest they do.

Any thoughts?

Originally posted by purplepippa
...The company in question (as yet unnamed though if they annoy me much further... or is that illegal?) phoned me today and said that they are doing two things.

One is telling their packing people to pack in smaller boxes to help people with disabilities (I had pointed out to them that being a health food place a significant number of their customers would be disabled or unwell).

The other is they are complaining to the delivery company.

They also apologised to me.

Do you think that's enough? I'm not sure it's enough but I don't know what else to suggest they do.

Any thoughts?

What else can they do?

I think asking for any form of compensation would be a bit cheeky, but you might get something, who knows?

Provided they actually implement their changes, then you have effected an important change in their working practice and IMO that is enough.

For the sake of clarity, and on behalf of the many of their customers that you know personally (this may be a lie but who cares?), write to them and ask that these changes be detailed to you in writing, in order to give you the confidence to order from them again.

Once you have a letter from them, you have a nice big stick to beat them over the head with if they ever cock up like this again.

I cannot stress enough that (to paraphrase the late Sam Goldwyn) verbal assurances are not worth the paper they are written on. Be friendly in your letter, nay overjoyed, since this will make them feel good, and more inclined to do as you ask.

Compensation!

ask for something like a 10% or something discount on your next delivery!!

:thumbsup:

Do they charge for delivery?

If so, then I think you'd be justified to ask for the delivery charge to be refunded, or waived next time you place an order.

If not then, well you got what you paid for :thumbsup: