Chronopost and DPD

[PatsieFear]

I apparently signed for a package at 10.27 this morning from Chronopost. It clearly says I signed for it. I did not. I was in the garden from 10 am until 12 midday as the email said the delivery would take place between 10.25 and 12.25. There is no notice in my post box to say it is at the post office and I actually saw the postman go past my house twice.

I contacted Chronopost by email this evening as to my horror when using the tracking number I had received the package - it is not an inexpensive item as it is silk for spinning. Now Chronopost cannot provide me with the signature FEAR as I do not have a contract with them. I have contacted DPD by email and the seller but it is late but has anyone else had this problem? What was the outcome.

[Mark]

Had this a few times with DPD. They normally then deliver the next day - bit weird I know.

[Peter_Goble]

Horror bags situation! No possibility a kind l’y neighbour took it in for you? It has happened like that for us a couple of times. These courtier postal services are a slick but rely on gig-economy labour under huge pressure so no surprise if there are hitches. Hope your silk turn up!

[Sandy_Hewlett]

ah Chronopost and DPD … a terror twin combination. I’ve waited in for a delivery of an ultra-large suitcase, to be told it was in my postbox (no) then several days later found it had been signed for at a post office some miles away, not even my own. Recently waiting in for high quality photo paper, within sight of the post box, I got an email to say nobody was in so they’d dropped an avis de passage into my letterbox (nope). I’ve generally found it better to chase with the seller rather than Chronopost/DPD directly … they have more clout. But, overall, the package DOES eventually get delivered by the evil duo … probably not where you expected it … but they’ve never lost a package yet.

[AndyPandy]

Last week I was expecting a delivery from Chronopost, just before 11am the phone rang…

Madame, I cannot deliver your parcel, I have too much to do, I am too busy, I have to go to Bayonne, I will leave your parcel at Carrefour Market.

We actually live en route between the supermarket and Bayonne … no Madame, I do not have time.

I duly collected from Carrouf, no signature required, no evidence of my collection.

[KarenLot]

A tip re Chronopost. I have just made Chronopost accept a change of delivery date. Chronopost, and sometimes other couriers, quite frequently sends an SMS and an email announcing delivery of an expected package the following day.

They include a link so that you can modify the delivery date to another date, if you’re not going to be there the following day to receive it. They give you till midnight to change it.

The trouble is, very often the link doesn’t let you save a new date. Either the link on the SMS, or the email, or both.

Tonight I have found a way around this and made the syatem accept my new delivery date after the links Chronopost sent failed again. Surprisingly, their robot has now developed some form of intelligence. When I googled it I did not believe it would work, but it did.

Go into Chronopost Select the Chat button usially bottom right, or Aide / Help button.

Up comes the robot who is now catchily called Leo.

Type in “donner une instruction”. Clearly this now dumps you into a newly developed module. As you start to see some intelligence, instead of fixed script resistance.

It will flash up 3 choices in boxes. If enough of us do this, the robot will become bright enough to make one of those choices “modifier livraison”. Not yet though, so I had to ignore those boxes amd type in “modifier livraison”.

It will then ask you for the parcel reference. Don’t let”s think Chronopost really wants to help us yet, though. Because at least on Samsung mobile, it won’t let you “Coller” the long parcel number. Strangely that doesn’t work on more than one Chronopost form encountered previously either. So you will have to laboriously type it in.

After that it’s plain sailing. It’ll ask yoi the delivery postcode, then it presents you with a decent choice of new delivery dates to click on. It will even Save youe new Delivery Date, and the email confirmation also arrives instantly.

The same Predict system seems ro be used by most couriers. So who knows, perhaps it’s not just Chronopost that will actually accept the change of delivery date they sent a link inviting you to do, and gave you only till Midnight to change if you needed to.

Vigilance is still essential though, as 2 recent links to change delivery date by midnight were sent at 23h53 and at 23h57 . But the above now works to change a delivery date when the link they sent failed.

A small victory in the nightmare of Chronopost.

[Susannah]

@KarenLot

A small victory in the nightmare of Chronopost.

Brava!

I will try your method with my next Chrono delivery. Usually from M&S for me.

I have had a few times needed to contact M&S when deliveries by DPD have been marked as delivered but have not been, while I was waiting the whole day at home. M&S must have used a tazar because in a couple of cases the deliveries magically appeared within the hour.

I am happier with deliveries by La Poste and Amazon because they pop things into our post box with their own key but it seems that since M&S returned after their hiatus they no longer use La Poste.

Yesterday, Chronopost just chucked my M&S package over the gate. Strange, because I as at home and there’s a cam doorbell at the gate. At least it wasn’t raining

[Susannah]

Nope . Things are not going so well.

I have had cause to pen the following email to M&S today:

Summary of the problem:

Bonjour!

I have now experienced repeat problems with deliveries via Chronopost or DPD.

Each day they notify me they will deliver, I am waiting at home. Shortly before the appointed delivery time I receive a telephone call, which I answer but to no response. Presumably the delivery driver? I return call the number and a recorded message tells me it is not available.

Next thing, I receive a message from yourselves telling me the driver was unable to deliver because no one was at home. What?!?!

Please may we possibly return to having deliveries done by La Poste, who never failed to deliver and always left my parcel in our post box?

The last M&S delivery I received via Chronopost was simply thrown by the delivery driver over our gate without using the bell! Lucky for me, it was not raining that day.

I don’t mind that deliveries I am paying for to be made to my home have repeatedly been necessary for me to collect from a Relay point over 3kms away but although I dearly love buying from M&S, I’m beginning to lose all hope of safe delivery.

Yours sincerely,

Susannah

Possibly a bit wordy but let’s see how they deal. I’m a good customer so here’s hoping!

[KarenLot]

All standard stuff Susannah. Chronopost wrote the training manual for all other couriers on this.

This is from the “How to Cover Your A$$ That You Tried to Deliver When You’re Too Busy” Section.

The Chronopost driver cross-referenced to the Section above, from the “Emergency Action Plan As Soon as School Holidays Begin” pages. These pages are coloured Red in the Manual. So that they can be accessed immediately a member of the team takes a week off as their kid has a school break.

Remember that many F workers are too smart to cover for each other’s absences. Doing this would mean lots of stress as more work, and uncertainty when questions you don’t know the answer to in the other person’s area arise. Lunch will not change and many F workers go home on time. After all, there is nothing to be gained by proving more work could be done even temporarily.

Unfortunately the team mamager rarely has the opportunity to get.someone in for the odd week or two. So as soon as short school breaks start they are a man down.

So something has to give. This is when for up to 5 days (as people tend to take a week Mon-Fri off), each day you will be advised they will deliver. But they won’t. The aim is to get through doing this as far as Friday. As they have no one in that slot that week.

When you call them in the evening having wasted sll day waiting for them they will always say it defaults to being delivered tomorrow now. When you say you already cancelled today to be there for them and you can’t be there tomorrow and request a later date, the agent will say they have no access to change the delivery date until the package returms to depot. They will tell you you should call again tomorrow - knowing that your package will already have been loaded onto another van before their call centre opens. This will go on as far as Friday and hopefully the missing team member will return next week.

As well as the How to Cover Your A$$ That You Tried to Deliver section there is also the Summary Action section. Think yourself lucky if the parcel is not dropped off at a pickup point from where it is no longer retrievable by them even in case of their error, but only by you. In hard core depots the buyer-fetches choice can be made by the driver without attempting to deliver to the private address. Hardened customers (not saying who) have been known to tough it out and let it be automatically returned to sender (for legally obliged refund) if collection from near or far pickup point is impossible.

You were not meant to answer the phone when called. Never mind. If they hang up immediately there will still be a record on their phone, that they tried. If you don’t answer - even if you’re waiting for your delivery at your gate - the most skilled operator will know it’s safe to call you again a couple of times more, to really make it stick that he tried, on the phone record. On 1 of the calls he will make sure to leave a message saying he is 2 minutes away please be ready to accept your parcel. Don’t call them back. They will never answer. Quite likely calls back to it go into a black hole somewhere in their depot’s system anyway.

The destinatee can only go via the sending company with any complaint as that is the client so far as the delivery company is concerned. Since it’s M & S I’d have also put in your letter the embarrassing nature of the business 3km away where Chronopost’s failures are forcing you, a respectable middle-aged lady, to step into to collect your parcels. (ISTR it’s Ann Summers or some S&M shop).

This month things have escalated into total loss claims (settled) with 2 of my vendors.

If M & S is prepared to move away from Chronopost then either La Poste or Colissimo would result in your postman delivering all except very large parcels.

[Susannah]

This is a marvellously complete explanation, for which I thank you . The sad thing is that I expect this is not going to change. I have received the standard reply, exactly the same as replies I’ve had before to “”Where is my parcel??” So, I can imagine no one actually read my email, just a digit, possibly robot, tapped Reply 34 and voila!

I think Mode & Charme must be hoping I’ll relent and become an actual customer soon.

[Mik_Bennett]

You could try emailing the CEO of m & s which In 2022 (Google} was stuart.machin@marks-and-spencer.com

I once used this approach with Amazon with very satisfactory results

[Stella]

Certainly puts me off ever considering buying from M&S !

(mind you, I reckon their quality nowadays is nowhere near as good as their “old” stuff which still has pride of place in my wardrobe )

[Debby_Wade]

You’re right Stella, everything’s made as cheaply as possible and don’t get me started on their bras & knickers not to mention socks!

[Susannah]

I fear @Stella you may be a bit out of touch. Style and quality of M&S today is streaks ahead of other high street offerings. Their commitment toward using sustainable natural materials over synthetics is particularly good. I’m in love with much of the Jaeger range and I buy all my sheets from them too.

An interesting commentary

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/1oaq41x/has_marks_and_spencers_clothing_improved_in/?rdt=61535

I really recommend you check online their France site, which delivers and refunds with prepaid dispatch labels NQA.

[Stella]

@Susannah

I fear @Stella you may be a bit out of touch.

I am doubtless “out of touch”

the label “St Michael, Made in the UK” never let me down.

Yonks ago, I used to wait until M&S had their Sales then I’d pounce and quickly grab whichever outfits I’d been eyeing as I passed on my way to and from work.

Then things changed, M&S gradually sourced a lot of their products abroad and the standard of clothing simply was not the same. The material, the finish.. whatever, many items certainly didn’t “wash and wear” as well as in the past.

Having said that, I’ve some really nice “Per Una” items from M&S, which are still going-strong, and they were made in Turkey 20 or more years ago.

Neighbours roar with laughter when I tell them the age of whichever outfit they’ve complimented me on…

[Susannah]

[billybutcher]

M&S used to be (rightly) proud of two things - that everything was made in the UK and that the quality was so good it spoke for itself and they didn’t need to advertise.

Sadly neither is true these days.

[Stella]

Prompted by this thread, I’ve rechecked my wardrobe and discovered my fabulous, classic St Michael Made in UK trouser suit bought one hundred years ago..

At the time, I’d been headhunted to a top job and needed some “power-dressing” outfits as I was the only woman in that man’s world (aaargh).

Still in impeccable condition (the suit, not me ) but rarely worn here in France. In fact there’s a Communauté de communes document in the jacket pocket which shows the last time I felt the need to impress was “4 juin 2006”

[ChrisMann]

I have to admit a fair amount of my gent’s outfitting comes courtesy of “Tu at Sainsbury’s” these days.

Replenishing sock supplies at the same time as getting groceries = speed and efficiency.

I have zero sense of style, of course, though I do own one Giorgio Armani suit which I can no longer fit into

[SuePJ]

@Stella

“power-dressing” outfits

I brought mine to France and they sat in my wardrobe for years. Power dressing and rural France don’t really go together. In the end I let go of that part of my life (wasn’t easy) and sent them back to the UK in a friend’s van to be delivered to the nearest Oxfam shop. I hope they enabled some young women to “power dress” at an important moment in their lives.