Wednesday 11 July 2012

11.7.12 Bird Cage Delivery

I decided (long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadow) - sorry, it just came into my head - a while ago that I'd like to get some finches.  Jimmy the canary will never lose his 'top spot' but I thought it would be nice to have a few more tweeters in the house.  I therefore decided to buy another bird cage, and went on line to find the cage I wanted on Monday evening, over a week ago.  My experience was less than satisfactory, from the time the order was placed through to the arrival of the cage today - a full week later.

For anyone who occasionally has an issue with online shopping, and cause to moan about delivery being delayed, take note of the following account which shows the steps relating to this order.

Tue 3rd July - Order placed with Personalised Pet Products
I asked about delivery and was told that it would be despatched the next day for delivery by Friday.

Tue 3rd July - 2.30pm: email received
Your order has been updated to the following status: Complete
Please reply to this email if you have any queries.

Fri 6th July - 5.00pm: email sent to PPP
I was rather hoping that a Tuesday order for despatch by Wednesday would mean delivery by Friday (?)
I think it would be helpful either to email with a tracking number for the courier, and/or to state which carrier you are using, and/or give an indication of the service level being used, eg. 24hr, 48hr, 72hr.  It's not the end of the world but I won't be buying birds to put in the cage this weekend, and will have to wait another week . . .
Rgds

Mon 9th July - 11.15pm: email sent to PP after no delivery or response
Can someone please email with some news on delivery!  This is hardly a good customer experience.  When was the item despatched, with which carrier was it sent, when is it scheduled to arrive, and how come it takes so long to: a) get the item, and b) get an answer from you?  If my order on Tuesday was despatched Wednesday, surely it's overdue - or have you found a 3-5 day service to use and I'm getting the 5-day part?
Please advise - thanks.

Tue 10th July - 9.50am: email received
Order ID 2989   Date Ordered: 03/07/2012
Your order has been updated to the following status: Shipped
The comments for your order are:
Thank you for your recent order.  This has been despatched using Fedex.  Your consignment number is 10173930339
Please reply to this email if you have any questions.

By this stage I was pissed off.  The delivery should have been completed by Friday, and yet here I was receiving an email - at last - that answered some of my queries, and confirmed the thing had been shipped - fucking marvellous.  Oh how I jumped for joy at the wonderful news that something I'd paid for a week ago was finally in the 'shipped' category!

Tue 10th July - 10.15pm: A check on the FedexUK/ANC site
9th July:  Despatched
10th July 7.53am:  Arrived at Delivery Depot
Service Level:  Within 3 days

At least I was able to see the fucking thing, and know it was 16 miles away.  In theory, I'd be receiving it either today, Wed 11th or tomorrow, Thu 12th.

Wed 11th July - 1.20pm: Delivery made
The box was so bent that I struggled to believe it was packaged by anyone with a brain - it was taped up in a way that it could have been the handiwork of a manic four-year-old who'd been fed 1500 blue Smarties and given 6 litres of Coke.  Part of it was protruding from one side of the cardboard.  I commend Fedex for not buggering the box and for the contents arriving safe despite the weird packing style.  In fact, the delivery only took two days, and it was the retailer that needed four days (plus a weekend) to despatch the cunt!

So, there you have it (the quick run-down) and I have it (the cage) at last.  Most people would think a Tuesday lunchtime order and delivery on the Wednesday was good, but normal.  However, delivery was not the next day but a week and a day after the order - not good.  I shall not order again.  In summary, the delivery service and timescale is but one element of the process; of equal or greater significance is the approach of the retailer.  If the retailer acts like a half-soaked, forgetful, hormonal teenager who thinks he's being nagged to tidy his room, then it's not surprising things take rather longer.  Overall, a 6-day delivery.

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