Now they have not done next day (would be Friday). They handed to local courier in Athens on Friday at 14:09. They insist will be here by 17:30 Monday. Well at one point they say 24 hours (which would be 14:09 Saturday, so another lie). It is not until after they fail to deliver next day that they claim Lindos is a "+1" location, so not in fact next day at all.
Now (Monday) they say that local courier has it on a ship and might be Tuesday.
They are telling outright fucking lies and lies and lies. Up with which I will not put.
Just do not ever ever deal with these people. No not use DHL. They LIE to you.
I am now claiming that if my camera is not here by 17:30 then it is lost and I want my full insurance claim on it so I can get a new one.
Basically, it is looking like it may not even arrive before I leave Greece now.
LIERS DHL LIERS - CRIMINALLY FRAUDULENT LIERS... There is no other way to put it. They lied to get my business.
Update: We have explained that the contract is void as was based on a lie. I said that at this point we are seeking compensation for simple criminal fraud. They got business based on lies and now are continuing to lie. If they get to me by 17:30 today we will settle for simple refund. If not, I file a CC claim for compensation for their criminal activities including all consequential losses. This is just not acceptable. I am not sure the message is getting through somehow. Lets see.
FYI: DHL tracking express 4046630663 if you want to see.
Update: Fucking cheek. They (DHL) called, and said it was in Rhodos (an hour drive away) and missed for today, but if I call the local courier I could make a special for today. I explained to DHL that I paid for today (actually I paid for Friday) so if it is possible for today then they can call and arrange a special at their expense as I have already paid for today! I then hung up before they could argue. We will see. Best outcome is 17:31 delivery so we claim money back.
http://www.me.uk/2012-08-06T13-50-44+445555400007.wav
http://www.me.uk/2012-08-06T14-20-16+445555400007.wav
Update: Basically, DHL Athens are saying Lindos is a "+3" destination, i.e. their "Express" next day service is 4 working days. How the hell is that ever next day. Their web site talks of next possible business day. Well I can prove next day is possible, give me a package in London and I can get it to Lindos next day, and I don't even have a fleet of DHL planes, I would just fly Gatwick to Rhodes direct and taxi from Rhodes to Lindos. Could be done in about 6 hours if you are lucky.
Tuesday: We'll see if it arrives today. I fly back tomorrow. I need to review all the call recordings once more before we issue a county court claim. At the very least we should be contacting trading standards over this as they simply should not describe the service as "Next day" if it is not. They do not even have a asterisk with "* Some locations may be up to 4 working days" or some such! It is misleading advertising.
Update: ETA 12:30 Tuesday, 5 days after it was shipped next day from London.
Update: Just before 11:00 local time Tuesday, I have my camera and lens and memory card, it is all well packaged still, no dents, and works a treat. More on 1Dx when I have had a play with it.
And yes, DHL handed to SpeedEx who drove up in a FedEx van...
No signature, just handed to a bloke in the street (which happened to be me).
Odd how DHL claim it was signed for. I may ask for a copy, as just yet more fraud.
Update: DHL refunding charges.
Next on revk's blog: "arrived in time but smashed" ?
ReplyDelete...and smeared in olive oil, feta cheese and human reproductive fluids.
DeleteTypical big business, it's like their bullshit extra charges to send anything north of Perth.
Lawyer up, I'll buy the popcorn. :)
Some friends of mine have a similar view of DHL Express over here: http://britishexpat.com/editors-blog/dhl-express-international-couriers-not-recommended
ReplyDeleteI am so tempted to CC claim them at 17:31 anyway. This is not about contract, it is about lies. They lied, over and over again. They got business based on a lie. This needs to go to court, and if I don't win it is a lesson and training course for me and fuck all loss.
ReplyDeleteThis won't help your mood but have a read of
ReplyDeletehttp://why-i-would-never-use-dhl.com/index.htm
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/dhl-ashton-depot-england-lancashire-c97226.html
Annoyingly they have some wording in the agreement you "signed" indemnifying them from any responsibility beyond a refund!
ReplyDeleteLocal courier, beyond our control blah blah!
Oh yes, indeed. The local courier is subcontractor and they say they DHL meet terms to us, as you would expect. There is a beyond reasonable control clause, but this is normal circumstances not a force majeure. Also, my argument is that the contract was based on a fraudulent claim and so the contract (and its limitations) are not applicable - this is compensation for criminal fraud and so not limited. That is a complicated one to pursue, obviously and not very viable, but a sensible threat none the less. I suspect all will happen is we claim a refund under terms and write to trading standards suggesting they are trading fraudulently. They should not accept a parcel for "next possible business day" if they know that it is not going to do that under their normal shipping process. I fully accept there will be unusual circumstances and so on, but this is how they normally ship to this location, not a special case.
DeleteMy pet hate is not the delivery comapany as such but online companies that offer "next day" delivery for extra money and then don't dispatch the item for two or three days. Yes, the delivery part is next day but that's not exactly the point. I've had amazon do this more than once but to be fair they always apologised and refunded me the delivery cost when I complained unlike some other companies.
ReplyDeleteOh, I agree. I hate that. TBH I am not fundamentally unhappy that they don't do a next day service to here at that price. But they have to be honest about it. It is the dishonestly that is the real issue.
DeleteI live in Oxfordshire country side and the worst offender is CityLink:
ReplyDeleteNumerous time I track my parcel online and "No one present - Card left - White door".
Obviously this translated to "We couldn't find the place, couldn't be arsed to ask and guess the door would be white", which is not the case.
So it's the usual wait 30 minutes on the phone, no idea what happened, can't reach the driver, will come tomorrow... and the usual argument "I was home", buy your driver a GPS (yes they don't believe that SatNav are a useful tool for a delivery company), the phone/mobile number is on the address so no excuse for the driver not calling. My parcel is critical so I don't give a damn, get my parcel here today.
50% of the time I get an other driver more aware of the area dropping it after work, the other 50% I have to drive to the depot after 6pm. Where the manager is always already gone, doesn't return phone call, email, complain form or snail mail.
So for me they really are the worst courier ever and it's now to the point that I don't buy from any company not able to confirm they won't use them for my order.
CityLink......Don't get me started on that shower of ****!
DeleteWhen asked why they don't operate like UPS (friendly staff, actually want to help and actually answer the phone!) the reply was "we're not UPS sir"!
I don't think "No clearly you are not" went down too well!
Glad it finally arrived!
I remember paying British airways to courier some critical documents to Milan "sameday service" about 20 years ago. I drove to lhr. Gave the package to their freight dept and paid on my card. 3 days later they found it still going round and round on the baggage carousel. I was livid. But clearly not as livid as revk!
ReplyDeleteOn a more positive note I RMA'd a dead SSD to OCZ (Netherlands) on Tuesday, They shipped a replacement Wednesday using DHL express and It arrived today.
ReplyDeleteNot sure what courier was used on the outbound leg as someone else arranged that for me but given the faulty unit was only picked up from here Tuesday afternoon for them to receive and then turn around a replacement within 2 days was pretty impressive of OCZ.