Update

Its been a while since my last post, mainly because this whole incident had driven me close to madness and a rest was in order. 

4 monitors are better then 2

Above shows the 4 monitors that I ended up with, the top 2 are from Scan & DPD and the bottom 2 are from Amazon & Yodel.

A point to make here is that the order from Scan came in a nondescript box with both monitors safely packaged inside, to the point where I was annoyed at how much packing bubbles I had to pop so I could dispose of it. The monitor boxes are in perfect condition, unmarked and undamaged. 

The Amazon order simply had the monitor boxes shipped with the shipping labels slapped directly on the boxes:

Stickers Sir?

This is annoying for 2 reasons:

Security: You are having what could be 2 expensive items shipped that are clearly identifiable and accessible.

Resell: The stickers damage the box, and if like me you usually hang on to boxes for items that you believe you'll sell in the future this can be annoying. You can remove the documents but the labels need some work to obscure my name and address and removing them will damage the boxes further.

The boxes are fairly battered and Yodel took it upon themselves to write lots of different numbers on both boxes in either biro or marker (can see them on the box on the right). 

Also more worrying is that the boxes looked like they'd been opened as the seal was broken and the little cardboard flaps looked like they had been bent down. 

No security here, welcome.

I didn't bother opening the boxes to check inside them, after all they weren't mine and were owned by Amazon. 

Yodel know where to return the items if they couldn't deliver them, as had been the case for over 8 days. They never did try to call me on the phone number I gave them the evening the first day they should have delivered!

To the bitter end

Lies in ink

I think this picture is the most crucial in the entire episode. 

Yodel got back to me after I made a complaint and showed them this blog, as it was the easiest way to explain. They said they had spoken to the driver and found that he ran out of time and they would find out why he was allowed to run out of time on so many occasions when trying to deliver my package. 

Why then does it say "Wrong Add" on the label, and why was it then delivered to my billing address?

They admitted that the driver didn't have time, and not that the address was wrong! A worrying situation and I can't believe I was the only one to have fallen foul of Yodel not having enough time to deliver parcels. 

The actual end

Amazon arranged for CityLink to come and collect the monitors, they gave me a day and the ever helpful "courier time" of 9am to 5:30pm for collection. 

The monitors were collected (from the address Yodel had such issues delivering to) and the following day Amazon emailed me to say the items have been successfully returned. 

So here ends my adventures with Yodel, be wary of who is going to handle you parcels and if a company lets you down so badly then the only option is to not use them again. 

Yodel appear to make as much sense as a banana on the moon.

This picture is relevant

So anyway, as mentioned previously I told Yodel to cancel the delivery for my monitors about 8 days ago, but they still tried to deliver the monitors even after Amazon had refunded me. I watched the delivery attempts in amusement but with the hope that maybe they could get them delivered to me. 

Yesterday I posted on here that the 2nd parcel I was expecting from them finally arrived, being delivered to my work address. 

I re-ordered my monitors through another company specifically chosen because they didn't use Yodel and was emailed yesterday (21st of August 2013) advising the order had been dispatched via DPD. DPD emailed me and text me options on the delivery, such as changing the day or delivering it to my neighbour, great service.  

During the evening I got a call from my old house mate, and here it would be worth mentioning that I moved house about 2 weeks ago. He tells me "two monitors or tvs have turned up for you here", I am completely dumbfounded as they can't be the monitors from Amazon as I was told by Yodel that the order had been cancelled and returned back to Amazon, they said exactly this:

"Hey! I've spoken to the depot and your parcel is now being stopped and returned to the sender as per your instruction."

So I simply ask "Who are they from" to which I get the response "Amazon"...

Mega Face Palm

We have now entered the dark side

Apparently the monitor boxes have written on them something to the affect "Wrong deliver address", so they picked my billing address, which shows a little common sense but it not what I was told at any stage during me chasing the parcels with Yodel. However it can't be the wrong delivery address as Yodel delivered a parcel to the address used on both parcels yesterday. 

When I first called them after the initial delivery failure they took my mobile number in case the delivery driver got lost, I never received a call. I was also in communication with them over email and they never advised me via that method of the change of address, or have it listed on their myyodel.co.uk website. I was told multiple times that the address the parcels were being sent to was my work address. 

This morning (22nd of August 2013) DPD emailed and text me to give a one hour slot to expect the delivery and the name of the person making the delivery. Lovely.

So today I will be going to my old house to collect the two Amazon monitors, that have been refunded and was told they wouldn't be delivered to me anymore, and I have DPD delivering the other two monitors... so now I've got four monitors!

I will speak to both Amazon and Yodel about this....

Update to hopefully follow shortly. 

The 2nd Parcel From the Abyss

Following on from my last post about the failure to deliver my monitors I have yet again found out the item I ordered at the same time through an Amazon seller has gone completely awry. 

I got the tracking number from the seller today (August 21st 2013) and promptly checked it on myyodel.co.uk as it has been 9 days since I placed my order and had received no information about it. 

This is what I am presented with:

We're have now entered the danger zone! Kenny Loggins are you there?

When I expand the Tracking Events I get a full list of, what can politely be called "lies". However please see the note below *. 

Delivery Card Left?! 

As you can see the package was delayed and took 3 days to even be put on a delivery van.

The delivery card being left is beyond me, especially as my work address doesn't have a postbox so no idea where they have been sticking those. 

"Customer Moved Address" now this one really has me stumped. I didn't get the tracking number for this parcel until today (August 21st 2013) and I had made no contact with Yodel about this parcel until today. 

*In the interests of fairness and impartiality

The address Yodel have on myyodel.co.uk is not correct, its almost correct but is missing the business name. Checking on Amazon I can see the delivery address against the item is correct so either the seller put the address on wrong or Yodel have made a mistake. However the "Customer Moved Address" may be the seller contacting Yodel about the item to update the address. 

I have contacted both Yodel and the seller for further information. 

UPDATE

So Yodel have replied to my query about the order, not really given any useful information other than:

"Don't worry I'll take a look into this and be in touch shortly.
Your parcel is out for delivery today up until 7pm. I'll keep you updated."

Then quickly followed by:

"Your parcel is out for delivery today up until 5.30pm. I'll keep you updated."

So not sure which delivery time I could expect my parcel by and myyodel.co.uk still shows:

You want your parcel, you have to suffer first.

It is now 15:17 August 21th 2013 and I sit here waiting for my parcel to be delivered by Yodel. If they do manage to deliver it I may have a gamble on the lottery as the moon, stars, planets, and gods have aligned in such glorious fashion that I must be momentarily blessed. 

Further Update

The parcel has finally been delivered, being handed into my claws at 1540 on August 21st 2013. A check of the label show it to be exactly what was on my Amazon order so the seller got it correct and the issue is with Yodel. 

This now raises more questions:

• Why did it take so long to get delivered?
• Where were the attempted delivery cards left?
• What was the "customer moved address" about?

If Yodel provide any answers I'll be sure to post them here. 

The elusive Yodel delivery van, photographed in its natural habitat.

And my parcel looks like it has seen better days, however the items inside appear to be fine so guess it doesnt matter as this outer box is the sacrifice taken by being man handled by delivery drivers and depot handlers. 

The box is gratified with scribbled out numbers, curious.  

This is the parcel you are looking for.

Yodel's total delivery time stands at an impressive:

8 days, 18 hours, and 20 minutes

Thanks timeanddate.com

Yodel - Do they enjoy inflicting pain?

It all starts with the click of a button...

This story begins with a simple order from Amazon, that multinational company used by many to source their wares. 

The order was simple, 2 monitors, both in stock and both dispatched directly by Amazon. 

Order placed on the 12th of August 2013, delivery to be made on the 13th of August 2013. 

Now when I place my orders online I will usually have it delivered to my work address, after all I am there during the week between 8am and 5pm so delivery companies have the best chance of getting my orders to me. 

As this is a business address it receives deliveries all day from multiple companies such as DHL, DPD, UPS, Royal Mail, Parcel Force etc. 

Delivery Day

The delivery day is upon me, and I wait eagerly for my parcels to arrive. Tracking number in hand I click through to myyodel.co.uk, tap in my reference and post code and see the tracking information. 

Fig.1

Excellent its with the courier and on its way......

4:30pm rolls by and still no parcel! Getting a little concerned if it will be delivered now. 

I finish work and head home, however the company I work for is open late and someone is in the building so the parcels can still be accepted. 

5:40pm I am at home and decide to check the tracking information

Fig.2

Er.... that doesn't look right. It says:

We are sorry, but it appears your parcel has been delayed. Please find details below.

So checking the details further:

"Address problem, please contact sender"

I decided to give them a ring to find out what was happening, the person I spoke to (unfortunately didn't take their name) said "the driver couldn't find the address, are there any landmarks around that he could use".... ....

This is a business address, it is the only office block on the street and whilst there isn't any massive sign outside there is a small sign to identify the company next to the door. So I mention the building has a particular coloured fence around it. I still was a little annoyed by this comment though, as mentioned above we get deliveries all day and that very day DPD and Parcel Force had made successful deliveries. 

I ask if it will go out tomorrow and am assured that it will now that I have given information to help the driver. 

Next I speak to Amazon on their live chat service, explain the situation and that I didn't get next day delivery as I paid for. Amazon apologised for the inconvenience and refunded the cost, I asked if they could give me Amazon credit instead as its not really their fault so it would be wrong to blame them. Before leaving the chat I mention that if they don't deliver it tomorrow I will be after a refund as I am not happy with Yodel and their inability to deliver the parcels. They offer to contact Yodel for me, but a quick explanation that I have already contacted them and done everything that can be done leaves it there. 

Delivery Day 2, we are now entering the 2nd circle of hell (but less sexy).

I check their tracking website at 9am (13/08/2013), it still says its in the service centre (see fig.2) so I give them a call as I think "that doesn't seem right". I am again assured it will be going out today and to check the website after 11:30am as it will be updated then, and they can see that I called yesterday evening and gave further information. 

Midday, checking the website my parcel is marked as being at the service centre still. 

I've had enough. 

Contacting Amazon I ask them to contact Yodel to find out what's happening. 3 minutes later they get back to me to say the delivery company is having problems with the address. Unfortunately I am more than a little annoyed by this stage so ask them to cancel the order and refund it. Amazon without even flinching apologies for the issues and refund the money to me. 

I hope this is now the end of it.....

But wait, theres more.

Now its the 16th of August, and out of curiosity I check the tracking information on Yodel. After all I need to wait for the money to come back to my account before I can order my monitors from another company. 

The website shows the following, with my address still on the order:

Parcel out for delivery

Loughborough van

16th Aug 2013

08:48

My brain is exploding.....

I don't understand what is going on now, speaking to Yodel yet again I simply ask what address the parcels are going to and am duly advised "The address you just confirmed at the start" which is my work address....

Fine, let them deliver it, if they somehow manage to get it to me then I will contact Amazon and get them to take the money back. 

August the 16th, a Friday, a quiet day by all accounts.... as in no Yodel delivery van turns up. 

At this stage I am more bemused by the situation as I have my money back and find it slightly amusing that they are still attempting to deliver, and I have advised them that the order has been cancelled. 

I speak to them online on Friday evening, as its still not been delivered (either back to Amazon or to my work address), they mention that they deliver to 5:30pm to businesses and 9pm to residential addresses, mentioning that the building is open late into the night with people in the building he says they will try to deliver still. 

The Yodel tracking gets updated:

Returned to local service centre	Loughborough service centre	16th Aug 2013	21:58
Delivery attempted, unable to gain access	Loughborough van	16th Aug 2013	21:47

Right.... fair enough, the building is open however the people inside may not have heard the door as its a skeleton crew (reason why businesses are delivered to during business hours).

Does it ever end?

As I am not in work during the weekend and I have a life outside of stalking delivery companies I forgot about the parcels. On Monday a quick check of the website reveals:

Delivery / collection attempted, unable to gain access

Loughborough service centre

17th Aug 2013

14:23

Thats a Saturday delivery attempt that they still failed to complete, and someone was in the office that day as a delivery was accepted from another company. However I now think they are trying to deliver back to Amazon and its there that they could not gain entry. So I speak to Yodel again (the pain) and ask them to confirm the address they are trying to deliver to, to which they reply my address!!!!

Monday morning they have the parcels out for delivery again, Yodel guarantee it will be out today and delivered by 5:30. This is exactly what they said to me:

I'm chasing this now for you. Rest assured I will do all I can for you.

I sign off at 5pm, however I have made the depot aware that the parcel MUST be delivered pre 5:30pm.

Tuesday morning I arrive in the office to find no parcels and the Yodel website now states:

Delivery not attempted	Loughborough van	19th Aug 2013	20:49
Parcel out for delivery	Loughborough van	19th Aug 2013	08:18

I think they have given up!

Speaking to them I ask are the parcels trying to come to me or going back to Amazon as it should be?

Next I get a message saying that the order has been cancelled as per my request. No explanation as to why they gave up on the delivery on Monday even after being promised it would be delivered by 5:30pm, before they finally understood the parcels were meant to go back to Amazon. 

Life goes on, and DPD are the way forward it seems. 

I refuse to use a company that uses Yodel now, and a quick look around shows that my new options are going to be rather limited as Amazon and Ebuyer both use Yodel. However I really need my monitors so I check around and find that scan.co.uk use DPD for their deliveries. Order has been placed with a pre 12(noon) delivery option and I await the parcels. 

The bonus slap to the face!

During this whole debacle Yodel delivered a parcel to my work for something ordered by someone else. So they can find the address, just not when it suits them or their driver(s). 

I also have another item from Amazon heading my way I ordered at the same time as the monitors, this was through one of their third-party sellers.  Unfortunately they have used Yodel too, so I wait with bated breath if that will ever turn up, and if it doesn't thats 2 orders Yodel have lost for companies. 

For the sake of completeness

This is a screenshot detailing all the events as seen on myyodel.co.uk for my undelivered parcels. 

Fig.3