TICTH FedEx - again. This time I checked on some search engines, and their customer service ratings of FedEx are all abysmal.
FedUpEx!
I agree, We lived on a well-marked ordinary street with large house numbers. Tracking a FedEx delivery that never showed up. Customer service said, " That they could not find the address"
I told them they should have asked a UPS driver, as they never had any trouble.
What Graven Image and Piglet say. The story continues. At midday on Friday, I check the FedEx website again, it says, parcel on vehicle out for delivery. Riiight. I wait. Shortly after 2pm on Friday, I check again, it says, Could not be delivered, Business Closed or Customer Absent.
Nope. I was there. You never showed up. You didn't even leave a calling card this time.
I call customer service again, it's the same lady as on Friday morning; before she answers the call, I hear some Arabic spoken in the background - I wonder where FedEx have exported customer service to... ! Lady doesn't know what has happened except that it says I wasn't there (which is not true), says, she will arrange delivery for Monday... but still no change on their website, delivery pending, no set date, it says...
I have sent a strongly worded complaint to their local customer service, including screenshots and timeline. I've even added a map screenshot of where I am - don't their drivers have maps or sat nat? I am also, again, going to write to the UK business I ordered from to tell them of my woes...
Update on Monday morning. Still no delivery. I've called them twice again, which makes SIX times now for the one parcel. They are supposed to deliver in the afternoon, Monday, and the customer service rep, who cut me off, said that I should affix a big sign at the house, saying FedEx here...! They appear to use Google Maps, which is not extremely precise really.
Oh, and they had a totally wrong phone number for me - which interestingly, they themselves never checked back with me, and it was me who had to ask them what number they got. So I gave them the right one. They still insist on the big sign...
Thank you, Firenze. It did work! - I actually decided to go and sit outside, in front of the house on a bench, warmly wrapped to catch him in the act, and the (young) FedEx man soon showed up... in an unmarked white van!
They had indeed given him a wrong phone number - once more, this was never checked with me by them! The driver seems to be aware of the rubbish customer service, and does what he can.
Good luck for the Agros dishwasher delivery slot, Firenze! Fingers crossed!
I, too, have noticed quite a few unmarked vans being used by delivery firms, and I wonder if the Covid-inspired increase in online shopping is the reason - not enough vans with Proper Markings on 'em.
I, too, have noticed quite a few unmarked vans being used by delivery firms, and I wonder if the Covid-inspired increase in online shopping is the reason - not enough vans with Proper Markings on 'em.
It may also be the drivers being (sort-of) self-employed contractors who have to provide their own van.
I, too, have noticed quite a few unmarked vans being used by delivery firms, and I wonder if the Covid-inspired increase in online shopping is the reason - not enough vans with Proper Markings on 'em.
It may also be the drivers being (sort-of) self-employed contractors who have to provide their own van.
It may also be the drivers being (sort-of) self-employed contractors who have to provide their own van.
And taking work from whoever provides it, perhaps doing deliveries for more than one business at the time - a dishwasher from company A, a new bed from company B, and a load of groceries from a local store, all in the back of the van.
Certainly the increase in online parcels traffic has led to a flock of white vans. In our little town Australia Post used to have one van devoted to parcels. Since the pandemic they seem to have three, all operated by subcontractors. Then you have the various courier companies. Our neighbour is a nurse, who works long shifts so has little time for shopping in person. On some days, there will be two or three separate deliveries of online purchases to her house.
Good luck for the Agros dishwasher delivery slot, Firenze! Fingers crossed!
Mixed result. Yes it did come punctually, but the item was damaged, so deferred until 19/01. But otoh it appears disconnecting old one/fitting new requires access to piping back of the sink. Which is behind what appears to be immovable hardboard. Hum.
I had an interesting issue with a new oven delivered from another company a few years ago. When the old one was removed a gas pipe was revealed behind it, preventing the new one fitting into the space. Fortunately the company was prepared to change it.
I had an interesting issue with a new oven delivered from another company a few years ago. When the old one was removed a gas pipe was revealed behind it, preventing the new one fitting into the space. Fortunately the company was prepared to change it.
Huh. I once bought a small house, which had been refurbished by a builder, but on the cheap - so there were no kitchen units, apart from the sink and its attendant cabinet.
I duly went to B & Q (& Q & Q & Q), and bought some of their basic units and worktops (I had very little money to spare).
I fitted up the kitchen quite successfully, though I say it as shouldn't. The area was long and narrow, and when They came with the new electric cooker (the house had no gas), there was insufficient space to personhandle the thing between the units on either side...though I had left enough room in the space where it was supposed to go, IYSWIM.
Having used up all my Sweary Words, I sent it back, and made do with a microwave, a kettle, and a toaster for the best part of a year...fortunately, My Old Mum lived some way down the same street...
You're looking for an office chair. You see a website with loads of pretty pictures of said chairs. It has a street address, a telephone number, opening hours and a page on deliveries. Clearly a shop.
No it isn't. It's the office of a group of which it is a component. The phone number is a conference call. Online only, and business to business. Does it say this anywhere? Of course not.
Can I add the person in the local council who paid my homecare bill into the wrong account and so has landed me with a larger council tax bill than expected? ☹️😡
The wee small hours of the morning. I woke up around 3 am feeling totally overwhelmed and depressed by Life, the Universe and Everything for about an hour before I dragged myself out of bed and made a cup of tea.
Now it's about four and a half hours later and I'm OK. I think I know some of the contributing factors, but it was horrible while it lasted.
3am should be made illegal, along with 4am and 5am...the spark of Life is indeed at its lowest round about then.
I know whereof I speak, as I see most of those wee (let the Reader understand) small hours these days. 6am is not too bad, as that is the time at which I take my morning Pills, and clear ash from the stove before stoking it up...
I get very cross if I see 3 or 4 a.m. - I lie awake knowing I need the sleep, but worrying that if I get it, I'll miss 6 a.m., which on most days would be a Very Bad Thing.
Sometimes there are advantages to being hard of hearing. Not often, admittedly, but it does make it harder for our little feathered friends to wake you up.
Sometimes there are advantages to being hard of hearing. Not often, admittedly, but it does make it harder for our little feathered friends to wake you up.
True - though some of my little feathered friends are large Seagulls (or possibly Albatrosses), and therefore fairly LOUD SQUAWKERS...
Fair point - some of my feathered neighbours are the seagulls who live on the loch (plus ducks and swans), although most seem to be of the blackbird/crow/raven type, along with the occasional magpie (to whom I always bid good-day if I see him).
TICTH automated checkout scanners at the grocery store AGAIN, for making my morning that little bit more hellish. Because of course this would be the day when I decide to buy a metric fuckton of vegetables, none of which are UPC-marked and all of which require faffing about (step 1: squint at the bloody vegetable to see if it has a tiny sticker code somewhere for me to type in. If not, proceed to step 2: look up the thing on the revolving chart, only to enter step 3: supervisor gets annoyed at how long I'm taking and directs me to find it through a series of electronic steps (also in small type!) on the screen, which is only faster for someone who already has the sequence memorized, as she does. Pick up next vegetable, rinse, repeat...
I normally go through the human-staffed checkouts, but of course everybody decided to do their pre-storm shopping today (2 inches of snow! How will we ever cope???) and the lines stretched out... And I had a coffee order to pick up (which of course was cold(er) when I got there in the end. No worries, I was steaming myself.
The only thing that will induce me to use a self-checkout is the complete absence of any staffed by humans (Marks and Sparks at Haymarket Station, I'm looking at you).
We are also expecting snow. Tomorrow is booster day and my first time to go indoors in public since before Christmas. The snow is going to be quite a big deal.
TICTH anxiety. Trying to contact the bank by phone all day today which I've now decided is impossible. I may need to buy in to the idea that an approaching weather bomb can cause anxiety. Isolation is hard.
The self-service checkouts at my local Tess Coe are usually staffed by a Very Nice Lady (disguised as a Cat by her colourful face-mask), who always comes swiftly to my help if I need her. I only use the self-service thingy if the regular checkouts are really busy...
Cat Lady really deserves the *Employee of the Day* award (or whatever), as she seems to have the patience of Job, but rather more than his share of cheerfulness...
Boy #1 is dairy intolerant. But hoorah! Dominos has jumped on the Vegan bandwagon and has vegan cheese available.
Q. 1 - "Can you make up a meat pizza but using the Vegan cheese?" - "No. We're not allowed to do that."
Q. 2 - "Can we add meat items to a Vegan magherita pizza?" - "No. We're not allowed to do that."
I very rarely use the self service checkouts, but used one earlier this week. They have problems with detecting light objects, like bags of herbs or salad. After waiting for the attendant for the third time I hastily watched and memorized the two codes she was typing in (one was a 4 digit error code and the other was her ID) and used those for the rest of the checkout to save us both some time. I think she may have realised this as the red light above my checkout point kept going on and off, but she didn’t tell me not to do it.
At one point the lady who tended the self-service checkout at our local Sanebunnies automatically walked over to me whenever I got to a till. My shopping bag at the time was my bike pannier, which always has repair kit and waterproofs in, and since I was shopping on the way home from work it also had my lunchbox, lunchtime reading, and 'handbag' (actually a runner's waistpack) in. That weight was enough to mean the system didn't believe I hadn't put shopping in there before putting the bag down, so a staff member needed to check it.
The wee small hours of the morning. I woke up around 3 am feeling totally overwhelmed and depressed by Life, the Universe and Everything for about an hour before I dragged myself out of bed and made a cup of tea.
Now it's about four and a half hours later and I'm OK. I think I know some of the contributing factors, but it was horrible while it lasted.
The self-service checkouts at my local Tess Coe are usually staffed by a Very Nice Lady (disguised as a Cat by her colourful face-mask)....
Cat Lady really deserves the *Employee of the Day* award (or whatever), as she seems to have the patience of Job, but rather more than his share of cheerfulness...
Have you thought of going to customer services or writing a note to the manager of the store to say such a thing? I used to do this in the UK whenever I felt I'd had excellent service...I'd complain if it was poor service, so I feel better service should be acknowledged too. Sadly, in France, it appears customer service is an unknown concept.
The self-service checkouts at my local Tess Coe are usually staffed by a Very Nice Lady (disguised as a Cat by her colourful face-mask)....
Cat Lady really deserves the *Employee of the Day* award (or whatever), as she seems to have the patience of Job, but rather more than his share of cheerfulness...
Have you thought of going to customer services or writing a note to the manager of the store to say such a thing? I used to do this in the UK whenever I felt I'd had excellent service...I'd complain if it was poor service, so I feel better service should be acknowledged too. Sadly, in France, it appears customer service is an unknown concept.
TICTH my local branch of Boots the Chemist, who make getting a prescription an incredibly stressful experience.
For many years I have had a repeat prescription for items that have to be specially ordered. I used to collect the (paper) prescription from my GP surgery, take it along to Boots and return 2-3 days later to collect my stuff. Now I'm not allowed to go to the surgery; the GP sends the form direct to Boots. This would be fine except that I then have to go along, wait in a queue for up to 15 minutes and tell the pharmacy assistant, 'Yes, I do actually want these items, please will you order them for me' because unless I do that they don't do anything. And if you're wondering why I don't just phone them - I try that every time, but they NEVER, EVER answer the phone.
O dear. Our local system is a bit different, and involves no queuing (which I couldn't do, anyway).
I pop my prescription renewal through the letterbox at the GP in the village, and wait for a week before going to the Pharmacy (also in the village) to collect my sack bag of pills.
If the Pharmacy is out of one or the other pills, they tell me, put a note in the bag to remind me, and I go back a few days later to collect the missing item(s).
I was forced back over to electronic renewal of my prescription items as my surgery refused to do paper versions from March 2020. I was told it would make my life easier both for ordering and collecting.
I pointed out I'd tried it before and spent more time trotting between GP/Pharmacy to sort it all out than was good for my otherwise excellent blood pressure. So, I reverted to the paper version and things improved...
I have been proved correct yet again. The last few months have seen me waiting for 2 or 3 weeks for something or other almost every time and this is after giving a full week for collecting and getting told off for not going sooner... I have perfected the art of politely replying that regular missing items and their computer systems are the issues, not my apparent tardiness in collecting. Especially during the time when there was a large notice saying all prescriptions were taking a week to process...
@Nuthatch in my case it's a different pharmacy chain currently condemned to hell on a monthly basis, but Boots have been on my CTH list regularly in the past. Not least for telling lies about the availability of common items.
Boots are in the habit of ignoring doctors' prescriptions? Think they just write them for fun?
Pharmacy attached to our Health Centre has recently changed hands, but the new system not too bad: email them for repeats, wait 3 days, go and collect. They do deliver, but that can take longer.
Comments
I agree, We lived on a well-marked ordinary street with large house numbers. Tracking a FedEx delivery that never showed up. Customer service said, " That they could not find the address"
I told them they should have asked a UPS driver, as they never had any trouble.
Nope. I was there. You never showed up. You didn't even leave a calling card this time.
I call customer service again, it's the same lady as on Friday morning; before she answers the call, I hear some Arabic spoken in the background - I wonder where FedEx have exported customer service to... ! Lady doesn't know what has happened except that it says I wasn't there (which is not true), says, she will arrange delivery for Monday... but still no change on their website, delivery pending, no set date, it says...
I have sent a strongly worded complaint to their local customer service, including screenshots and timeline. I've even added a map screenshot of where I am - don't their drivers have maps or sat nat? I am also, again, going to write to the UK business I ordered from to tell them of my woes...
Good grief!
Oh, and they had a totally wrong phone number for me - which interestingly, they themselves never checked back with me, and it was me who had to ask them what number they got. So I gave them the right one. They still insist on the big sign...
Wish me luck...
Text this morning from Argos to say dishwasher delivery tomorrow, will get 1 hour notice of exact slot.
They had indeed given him a wrong phone number - once more, this was never checked with me by them! The driver seems to be aware of the rubbish customer service, and does what he can.
Good luck for the Agros dishwasher delivery slot, Firenze! Fingers crossed!
I, too, have noticed quite a few unmarked vans being used by delivery firms, and I wonder if the Covid-inspired increase in online shopping is the reason - not enough vans with Proper Markings on 'em.
It may also be the drivers being (sort-of) self-employed contractors who have to provide their own van.
Yes, that too, maybe.
However the Winged-footMessenger seems to use private vehicles and, I think, works on a contractual basis with the drivers.
And taking work from whoever provides it, perhaps doing deliveries for more than one business at the time - a dishwasher from company A, a new bed from company B, and a load of groceries from a local store, all in the back of the van.
Mixed result. Yes it did come punctually, but the item was damaged, so deferred until 19/01. But otoh it appears disconnecting old one/fitting new requires access to piping back of the sink. Which is behind what appears to be immovable hardboard. Hum.
Huh. I once bought a small house, which had been refurbished by a builder, but on the cheap - so there were no kitchen units, apart from the sink and its attendant cabinet.
I duly went to B & Q (& Q & Q & Q), and bought some of their basic units and worktops (I had very little money to spare).
I fitted up the kitchen quite successfully, though I say it as shouldn't. The area was long and narrow, and when They came with the new electric cooker (the house had no gas), there was insufficient space to personhandle the thing between the units on either side...though I had left enough room in the space where it was supposed to go, IYSWIM.
Having used up all my Sweary Words, I sent it back, and made do with a microwave, a kettle, and a toaster for the best part of a year...fortunately, My Old Mum lived some way down the same street...
No it isn't. It's the office of a group of which it is a component. The phone number is a conference call. Online only, and business to business. Does it say this anywhere? Of course not.
Nuff said.
Yes, but...they may have had a nasty situation to deal with at their previous client's address...
Vote for a government that doesn't let them be paid peanuts and treated like shit.
Now it's about four and a half hours later and I'm OK. I think I know some of the contributing factors, but it was horrible while it lasted.
I know whereof I speak, as I see most of those wee (let the Reader understand) small hours these days. 6am is not too bad, as that is the time at which I take my morning Pills, and clear ash from the stove before stoking it up...
Well, in Winter, anyway - in Summer the bl**dy local birds see to it that I don't...
Mind you, unlike those of you who have to go to w*rk, I have nowhere special to go to, and nothing special to do when I get there...
True - though some of my little feathered friends are large Seagulls (or possibly Albatrosses), and therefore fairly LOUD SQUAWKERS...
TICTH automated checkout scanners at the grocery store AGAIN, for making my morning that little bit more hellish. Because of course this would be the day when I decide to buy a metric fuckton of vegetables, none of which are UPC-marked and all of which require faffing about (step 1: squint at the bloody vegetable to see if it has a tiny sticker code somewhere for me to type in. If not, proceed to step 2: look up the thing on the revolving chart, only to enter step 3: supervisor gets annoyed at how long I'm taking and directs me to find it through a series of electronic steps (also in small type!) on the screen, which is only faster for someone who already has the sequence memorized, as she does. Pick up next vegetable, rinse, repeat...
I normally go through the human-staffed checkouts, but of course everybody decided to do their pre-storm shopping today (2 inches of snow! How will we ever cope???) and the lines stretched out... And I had a coffee order to pick up (which of course was cold(er) when I got there in the end. No worries, I was steaming myself.
TICTH anxiety. Trying to contact the bank by phone all day today which I've now decided is impossible. I may need to buy in to the idea that an approaching weather bomb can cause anxiety. Isolation is hard.
Cat Lady really deserves the *Employee of the Day* award (or whatever), as she seems to have the patience of Job, but rather more than his share of cheerfulness...
Boy #1 is dairy intolerant. But hoorah! Dominos has jumped on the Vegan bandwagon and has vegan cheese available.
Q. 1 - "Can you make up a meat pizza but using the Vegan cheese?" - "No. We're not allowed to do that."
Q. 2 - "Can we add meat items to a Vegan magherita pizza?" - "No. We're not allowed to do that."
Stupid twats.
Indeed not. I doubt it was a significant factor, but I observe that BHS are indeed out of business.
Made to order. They just didn't think about it.
Oh, Huia! Our thoughts and prayers for you.
B F I would be allowed to be asleep at 6a.m. The furry member of the household expects to be fed about then.😺
Have you thought of going to customer services or writing a note to the manager of the store to say such a thing? I used to do this in the UK whenever I felt I'd had excellent service...I'd complain if it was poor service, so I feel better service should be acknowledged too. Sadly, in France, it appears customer service is an unknown concept.
Good idea @Dormouse!
I usually go to Tess Coe on a Monday, so on my next visit will seek out the Manager or Supervisor.
For many years I have had a repeat prescription for items that have to be specially ordered. I used to collect the (paper) prescription from my GP surgery, take it along to Boots and return 2-3 days later to collect my stuff. Now I'm not allowed to go to the surgery; the GP sends the form direct to Boots. This would be fine except that I then have to go along, wait in a queue for up to 15 minutes and tell the pharmacy assistant, 'Yes, I do actually want these items, please will you order them for me' because unless I do that they don't do anything. And if you're wondering why I don't just phone them - I try that every time, but they NEVER, EVER answer the phone.
I pop my prescription renewal through the letterbox at the GP in the village, and wait for a week before going to the Pharmacy (also in the village) to collect my sack bag of pills.
If the Pharmacy is out of one or the other pills, they tell me, put a note in the bag to remind me, and I go back a few days later to collect the missing item(s).
I pointed out I'd tried it before and spent more time trotting between GP/Pharmacy to sort it all out than was good for my otherwise excellent blood pressure. So, I reverted to the paper version and things improved...
I have been proved correct yet again. The last few months have seen me waiting for 2 or 3 weeks for something or other almost every time and this is after giving a full week for collecting and getting told off for not going sooner... I have perfected the art of politely replying that regular missing items and their computer systems are the issues, not my apparent tardiness in collecting. Especially during the time when there was a large notice saying all prescriptions were taking a week to process...
@Nuthatch in my case it's a different pharmacy chain currently condemned to hell on a monthly basis, but Boots have been on my CTH list regularly in the past. Not least for telling lies about the availability of common items.
Pharmacy attached to our Health Centre has recently changed hands, but the new system not too bad: email them for repeats, wait 3 days, go and collect. They do deliver, but that can take longer.