[mjm]

i have a question  for you
do you think there is anyway when a customer buys from you an option for who the delivery company  handles the shipment.

say when i buy something   i can tick boxes       choice of delivery company     for  TNT    . FED EX  .YODEL  UKMAIL .  etc   and the delivery charge next to it .

Hi mjm (and KS Cleaning)

The whole courier choice question is another issue entirely 

I have commented on this previously on various threads so apologies if this sounds familiar. Due to the high volume and percentage of pole boxes that we send out our freight class is classed as 'ugly freight' - due to their length most of our parcels do not fit on the conveyor belt sorting systems of all modern courier companies. Therefore, unless you send out less than 5% ‘ugly freight’ you cannot get a contract with a courier company to collect your goods. As we send out about 50% ugly freight each day we are restricted to a choice of just two companies who will do business with us and that choice is:

1. FedEx or
2. Parcel Force

Looking at Parcel Force – they do have better Apps and tracking notifications; however the downside is that they do not offer a next day service (which we always use) the fastest is 48 hours, their service is more expensive and their insurance offering is very poor and not really suitable for high value items. Despite knowing this we did trial them about 3 years ago as we desperately wanted to be able to offer our customers better order tacking and delivery options. However, in a two-week trial Parcelforce managed to lose over 25% of our pole parcels and it took weeks to sort out. Whilst they had assured us they could cope with our type of freight it would appear that once in the system the oversized nature of the parcels caused issues and led to chaos for us and the few hundred customers we trialled this on. The decision was to not switch to Parcelforce 

So we have just FedEx left as an option – we are aware of the limitations of FedEx and these limitations also spread to our back office working with them. One member of our Customer Service Team spends an average of 4 hours every day purely in liaising and communicating with FedEx – so we are well aware of their network shortcomings.

However in their favour they are still happy to collect and deliver as many of our ‘ugly freight’ parcels as we can send them, they even have a lorry collection arranged daily for us and the driver is extremely helpful and patient. They also successfully transit about 98% of these parcels through their network first time, with no issues. Although frustrating when their communication lets them down in reality this is only a small percentage of the thousands of parcels they handle for us each month.

In contrast many years ago, before FedEx bought out TNT, we decided to switch away from FedEx to TNT as they were promising better service – after a year of even worse service we were relieved to get back to FedEx who, although not perfect, were a class above TNT at the time.

We do regularly reach out to all the other major courier services though to see if their policies/contracts have changed – at this current point FedEx are still the best we have available to us. We also regularly communicate with FedEx giving them feedback about the need for better tracking and delivery options – I think the takeover of TNT within the UK stretched their resources to the limit and as such any other IT & infrastructure investments are on a back-burner. In the US FedEx have far superior and modern delivery interactions and customer options.

For smaller items we send out there is always the option of switching to a Royal Mail service – for this to be arranged the order will need to be set up over the phone – if you ever require this then please drop us an email on sales@gardinerpolesystems.co.uk requesting a callback to place an order. The Customer Service Team can then set the order up for you and switch from a FedEx standard option to Royal Mail, Signed For option.

ok thanks  i have no issues with fedex   but parcelforce  wooooof            i know what you mean by TNT      i pay other  suppliers next day delivery i get a text from TNT saying   the date of delivery   and its 2 days late  i complain to them there answer is  we kept you informed  what day would you like the delivery again as no one was in   
terrible company  i dont have time 

anyway i got my answer   cheers

[tlwcs]

If you’re still about Alex, my new extreme 22 I choose the your neck valve and paid delivery. After a couple of days I’m going back to the univalve. I struggled to remove the top section and when I did it appeared to be thicker than the rest, is this to stop the bung being fitted? Tony

[Alex Gardiner]

If you’re still about Alex, my new extreme 22 I choose the your neck valve and paid delivery. After a couple of days I’m going back to the univalve. I struggled to remove the top section and when I did it appeared to be thicker than the rest, is this to stop the bung being fitted? Tony

Hi tlwcs

Probably easier to answer this 'off thread' - feel free to drop me an email 

[֍Winp®oClean֍]

I agree that you need to streamline your offerings, particularly regarding brush choice. I feel you've lost your way a little in this area and are possibly guilty of trying to satisfy a minority of end users not experienced enough to provide the quality of feedback required to meet the requirements of the majority.

[robbo333]

Nice one Alex.

I'm having a 'Cull' too; time wasters, pain in the bum custys, custys where there's not a lot of profit!

Similar to yourself but on a different scale! 

[Bungle]

It's not the delivery charge that bugs me about Gardiner's it's their couriers Fed Ex.
I was expecting a pole delivery today before 6 pm.
No sign of it and the tracking is now saying before end of the day 😉
Wife has been in all day so have not missed them.
I have had problems with them before and have had to drive to the back of beyond to pick up deliveries from their depot.
I have had a good few deliveries from DPD over the last year and they have been spot on including a delivery window of an hour or so.

DPD are fantastic. Download the app and you can virtually follow your package right to your door in real time.

Have to agree. DPD are the best out there. FedEx are pants.

[Bungle]

If you’re still about Alex, my new extreme 22 I choose the your neck valve and paid delivery. After a couple of days I’m going back to the univalve. I struggled to remove the top section and when I did it appeared to be thicker than the rest, is this to stop the bung being fitted? Tony

I think you're one of the customers he probably wants rid of 😂