Parcel deliveries getting them right...

The big courier and parcel companies may get it delivered cheap for you, but look what your parcel goes through in order to get delivered...

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Items like parcels, that get trans-shipped will get thrown around, and if you have something that is fragile, even marking it as fragile will make little difference - it's a guideline only.

When you book your courier ask about their systems, how their drivers operate and what their policy on breakages is.

Sarah
West Thurrock Same day and Parcel couriers

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Delivering to pregnant women.

Tailoring your service to fit your customers needs is something you would think quite natural for Mothercare. The chances are if you are having a cot, pram etc delivered that the person signing for the goods will be pregant, quite healiy pregnant in some cases.

This is not the situation to abide by the rules, this is a situation for common sense. Here's what one disgruntled Mothercare customer has to say...

They were delivered on time, but in an appalling state. Some of the boxes and goods (things like a bouncer chair and the blankets) were delivered to me wet and in damaged packaging. The man dumped a heavy box in my hand to carry up the stairs. Im 33 weeks pregnant, and this was totally inapproprite. He refused to let me have the cot, and said the whole order had to be returned.

When I called up to complain the customer service manager was very rude with me, she said I was lucky they were delivered so quickly and was short, unsympathetic and totally unhelpful. she refused to put me through to a manager, or let me know when my goods would be redelivered.

I was made to feel like I was lucky there were there at all, and that my complaints were not taken seriously at all. I was spoken to very ruidely.

Mumsnet Discussions - mothercare are awful (Pregnancy)

Whatever problems there are at the depot, the customer shouldn't be getting wet and damaged deliveries, this is unnecessary damage to the Mothercare brand, it doesn't show any care at all. When choosing your courier, you need to brief them, and the courier driver needs to be aware that they may need extra lifting equipment or a two man team to deliver to pregnant women (this also counts for delivering to the elderly, and the physically disabled).

Mothercare are not the only company to neglect the needs of their customers. A birthing pool company have done the same in the past, refused to help a 38 week pregnant woman take the wooden pool upstairs as it "wasn't his job". When the mum-to-be waddled down, he was overcome with remorse and struggled with it and delivered it safely up two flights of stairs, in this instance a two man team should have been used. If the common had thought about it, they would know the likely recipent of a birthing pool is a heavily pregnant woman.

So if you are a company looking to deliver items to women who are heavily pregnant...

• Do you brief your drivers?
  

• Do you send out two man teams?


• Are you busy trying to save money?


• How much money would you save if you injured a pregnant woman through inconsideration?


• Can you afford the negative publicity?


• Can you sleep at night knowing a few quid off the bottom line, a few more quid in the shareholders pocket is actually causing pain and suffering to the customer base you are targetting?

Sarah

Couriers and delivery, for when your customers welfare actually matters to your business.

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5 things that go wrong with other couriers

I was thinking about the major players in the courier industry today. How they do the little niggling things like ring the doorbell for 1 minute on a Saturday morning delivery. That made me wonder what else they do wrong

1. They don’t re-deliver. You go out, miss delivery and they leave a card to collect from the depot thats 30 miles away and you cannot get it for another week…


2. They tell you any time between 9 and 5pm for delivery, and you wait and wait and wait… you call the depot at 5pm and ask about the delivery only to be told, they couldn’t find you.


3. The courier arrives three hours late for the collection, offers no reason or apology for wasting your time


4. The courier decides it’s acceptable to throw items in and out of the van


5. The courier doesn’t use safer, greening driving techniques and pulls away in a cloud of black exhaust fumes..

Top 5 things other parcel couriers do wrong…

Here at Arrow Light Haulage your local Essex and Kent courier, we take excellent care of your goods that we deliver, we treat them like the’re our own.

We give you fast, accurate collection times. When you use our dedicated / epress same day services you will get an accurate time for delivery. We don’t leave your goods on the doorstep if you are unable to bring it in yourself (although we are not obligated to). For an all round better, faster, greener,  effective courier service just give us a call on 0844 884 3331.

Sarah

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Delivering your dining table using a Kent courier

Couriers are often seen to be the most expensive options when it comes to deliveries, a dining table and chairs can be quite awkward and heavy to move. When you start to weigh up the cost of actually doing the job yourself, fuel, van hire, you begind to realise how a courier can actually save you.

These are generally too heavy to be delivered by parcel services. Depending on what they are made from, I would check with your courier company first. If it’s possible, the furture should be dismantled and packaged securely before collection, this reduces the cubic weight and makes it more likely your items can be delivered. Remember to package them carefully to prevent damage.Collecting and Delivering a Dining Table and Chairs by Same Day Courier

Pallet Networks - You dining is palletised and collected with other items and sent to the hub (usually in the Midlands) then put on a vehicle that will deliver to a depot and then on to you, the end destination. Your pallet may be ‘ugly freight‘ or oversized and this would be more expensive. There is high risk of damage using these services and it’s very difficult to establish where in the chain it happened.

Overnight / Economy courier - Your dining table is collected and loaded onto the vehicle, with other goods and delivered at some point in the next few days. The routes are as fuel efficient as possible, less chance of damage than a pallet network, but your item could risk some damage if the courier company does not secure their loads or protect your dining table and chairs correctly. We always secure our items and wrap them for added protection.

Same day or express courier -  you item is the only item on the vehicle, it is secured and delivered in one piece, the only method likely to result in the least amount of damage.

When you decide which type of courier you need, you also need to ask some other questions about timings and help unloading. You will also need to advise on parking restrictions etc.

If you need any advice, please don't hesitate to call us on 0844 884 3331 or 07816 528421

Sarah

Kent couriers collecting and delivering on your time

 

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