Other sites carrying the same story, so presumably reasonably accurate.
My experience of DPD as a customer has been that they’re better than other couriers I’ve received deliveries from over last few years (not solely Huel btw). One exception a pre christmas delivery that failed multiple times - that i put down to christmas workload.
Thing is, when I read stories like that one, I don’t want to support that kind of corporate behaviour - irrespective of the good service I receive personally.
What to do - on the odd occasion when I ship something outbound, then using google to choose the ‘best’ company is one obvious way.
Letting businesses like Huel know how I feel and hoping that they’re sensitive to the views of their customers and they in turn letting their DPD contact know what they think.
Reading back, that feels a bit tenuous, but apart from using your vote in future elections, what else is there?
I heard about this on Jeremy Vine today…that and cabbage picking…shocking tho…trouble is a lot of courier type jobs are stressful for those doing them.
I’d tend to agree. Unfortunately treatment of staff doesn’t improve under conditions like that unless a companies profits are going to be affected.
It would be wonderful if Huel (and other companies using DPD) would contact them asking for reassurances that this is not a common factor for DPD drivers.
Huel - If all of the above is taken into consideration can we please at least get a choice regarding the courier who delivers our orders? Then all of the more concerned people above can experience the pleasure of dealing with Yodel/Myhermes.
I’m fairly friendly with my actual DPD driver (not DPD local) and he’s said DPD are fantastic to work for on multiple occasions. They’re the only courier who give me on the fly delivery options which is essential for me working most days of the week.
Every company will get bad press here and there and I’d be less inclined to order without DPD’s services included.
Hi all, just to let you know this isn’t being ignored and I am merely collecting information from our fulfilment and DPD so I can adequately respond to the points raised.
I have received this from DPD, a statement from their CEO.
Statement from DPD UK’s CEO Dwain McDonald
DPD announces review following the death of franchisee Don Lane
“We are all devastated by the news of Don Lane’s passing and our thoughts and condolences go out to his family and friends at this extremely difficult time. Don Lane was incorrectly charged £150 for not providing services, when in fact he was attending a hospital appointment. This was a mistake and we are profoundly sorry. No one should ever be made to feel like they are unable to attend appointments relating to their health. Like all companies, we need to learn from our mistakes. As a result, we are carrying out an extensive consultation with our depots and drivers as part of a strategic review of our arrangements. When we have completed the consultation and collected all the feedback, we will be making further announcements. In the meantime, I can confirm that no franchisee driver will be charged for attending healthcare appointments and I will be ensuring that this is the case."
Judging by the reports in this thread and reviews in the link from @rtrt, combined with the statement above it seems that this terrible report and experience could be an anomaly - and hopefully is. I have articulated our collective concern for the well being of our drivers and believe DPD’s announcement of a review, followed by corrective action is an adequate response.
Tim, please do post back in this thread if & when DPD take “corrective” action with a description of this action. As you imply, the statement alone is inadequate, to put it mildly. It reeks of spin. Thanks for taking your customers’ concerns to DPD over this issue.
On the occasion I respond by email I usually edit the sig out after. Thanks for prompting me to stop AVG adding it in the first place.
BTW I didn’t previously edit out the sig in this thread as I lost web access despite passwotd resets. I finally figured out Chrome was insisting on using old passwords despite it accepting & storing the new one. Some odd sync issue; I recently had to do a repair install to fix damage done by a bsod, Anyway, sorry for the inconvenience (*).
(*) This in no way constitutes an acceptance of legal liability for forefinger RSI caused by excessive scrolling
This is great idea - and one that many other companies already adopt. When ordering my cat’s food in bulk for example, I can choose Yodel, Hermes, DPD or Royal Mail. The minimum order requirements, cost of delivery, and time-scale for delivery varies depending on which you choose. I really like having the choice. I personally never choose DPD if I have an option, as the couriers in my area (despite living in one of the largest cities in the UK) do not carry hand-held trackers / scanners, so I never get a time-slot or tracking info on the app, despite their premium charge. I also find the drivers rude and careless with my parcels (a.k.a. stressed?) and my parcels very frequently end up on the wrong van and at the other end of the country, get lost on the way back again, never to be seen again… and DPD never answer their phones so resolving the issues is a nightmare.
So - yes I think this is a great idea - to give the customer the choice. Everyone will have their own preference as the different companies are more or less reliable in different areas.
Wow, I’d love the amount of choice. Having said that in my area DPD are great, las week I asked them to stick my box of Huel through the window as I had to go out at short notice, and it was done. The guy was back today with a parcel (not Huel related) and I told him I was grateful, he said he wasn’t sure he should have done it but knew it would be safe, as it was and we were all happy. Hermes are quite good like that now, but as I said they were awful before.
Surely if you can get a box through the window, you could get a small person through the window…?
Or do you live somewhere where people don’t climb through your windows if you leave them open?
They could, but I leave my windows open for my cats. I don’t have a cat flap. I never left window open, but 7 years ago my life was invaded by 2 beautiful rescued boy cats and they use the window.
Awwwwww
I used to leave the little window in my downstairs hall open for my cat years ago when she was spritely and agile.
Now at 22yrs old she struggles to even ‘jump’ up a step let alone up onto a ledge and through a window, so she gets carried outside, plonked in the fresh air for her ‘daily constitutional around the block’ as my gran would call it, before being carried back upstairs again to sleep next to the radiator purring loudly.
