"Next day delivery" - up to 9pm?!

[Haggisman]

Ordered some trainers yesterday, and paid for next day delivery.

I've just had an email with the following:

"Your parcel from SD.com is on its way and is out for delivery today. It will be delivered by 9.00pm."

This is potentially going to be a problem, since I ordered them to work, and the office will be closing at 5.30.

Nowhere on the site does it mention 9pm delivery, so I figured it would be like any normal delivery service and be within office hours.

If they do turn up at 9pm and no-one is here, do I stand much chance of getting a refund on my postage? Even a partial one to cover the difference between normal and next day? If I'd known the delivery window was that late, I would have ordered from somewhere else

 

[Haggisman]

No because as far as i'm aware 9pm is still next day. Did they not do a by 1pm service?
Is there an option to have them leave it in a safe place.

so is 11.59:59, but I don't think anyone would think that was reasonable

No 1pm service, only "Next Day" or Saturday

They won't even be able to get onto the business park if they turn up after ~6pm, so no safe place.

If they don't turn up before the office closes then they'll just be going back as I need them tomorrow

 

[Haggisman]

Chances are you receive your package before 5:30. Worry about it if you don't.

It's Yodel, so, we'll see (they'll probably manage to somehow smash a pair of trainers )

 

[Haggisman]

If it doesn't arrive by 5 you're out of luck unfortunately, though any reputable retailer should refund the delivery cost.

I've had this a few times, deliveries to a business address being attempted at 6 or 7pm - I don't understand how difficult it can be to check whether an address is business or not! Mine is particularly obvious, too...

Yeah, the address does start with "<company name> Ltd."

Wouldn't be so bad if it gave the times on the delivery options page, at least then I could make an educated decision

First world problem this

Last time I checked, the UK was the first world, so it stands to reason a problem in the UK would be a first world problem, confused as to why you're mentioning this?

 

[Haggisman]

Seems a trite point to complain that there is a stated possibility that they will deliver as you have paid for (next day), but at a time that may not be super convenient to you - that's the point.

My point is that up to 9pm is (IMO) an unusually late delivery window.

Up to 7pm seems to be the standard, in which case I'd just stay late at the office for an hour to wait.

In my opinion, this should have been made clearer at the point of order so I could make the decision to take my business elsewhere (which is most likely why it's not made clearer )

Anyway, their returns policy states: "You may cancel your order any time within seven (7) working days, beginning on the day after you received the goods. We will refund the price of the goods in full and will reimburse you for the delivery costs you paid "

So at least it's only going to cost me a couple of £ if they don't turn up today.

 

[Haggisman]

Unsurprisingly it's not here.

could you not collect from the the local Yodel depot if delivery is missed?

It's apparently a 5hr walk, I'd rather not do that (in broken shoes ).

I could do it in 2 hours using 3 buses and a tram, but again a 4 hour round trip isn't exactly practical

That's ignoring the fact I'm going away for the weekend this evening, so I won't be able to go and collect them until Monday. Besides, if I wanted to go and get them I would have just gone into town and bought them from a shop rather than ordering to them to my work

 

[Haggisman]

Can you get a contact number for the courier and a reference and give them a call to get an eta?

Going to do this now, ty

 

[Haggisman]

Well, that was a waste of time & money, certainly won't be ordering from that site again.

Looks like a trip into town tomorrow =(

Can't stay too late as I have a coach to catch

 

[Haggisman]

Still nothing...

 

[Haggisman]

Hah, apparently they've just tried to deliver it... I haven't seen anyone. They're going to try again tomorrow... yeah, good luck with that XD

 

[Haggisman]

They don't have direct contact with the driver... I told them if they fail delivery to return to sender, will probably ignore that though =P

 

[Haggisman]

If you think that delivering past 1800 is unacceptable then try doing the job. Not one person I have ever delivered to past that time has been anything other than grateful that you made the extra effort to get their delivery to them. Impractical from a business point of view and denies anyone who works a chance at receiving their orders.

I think the opposite, potential post 18.00 orders are far more inconvenient for people who work, at least if you know the delivery is going to be made in office hours, it's a safe bet to order to work, if you get a delivery window of 7 am - 9pm then you're basically forced to take a day off work. At least inform the customer what it's going to be before they place the order, or even give them a choice of delivery windows

 

[Haggisman]

Pretty simple then, either request the company use a better courier or use a timed service to ensure that it arrives before a set time.

Exactly, so as I said, I wont be buying anything more from that site

If there had been a pre-13.00 option then i would have gone for that, but there wasn't

 

[Haggisman]

Well, it has been returned to Sports Direct, and I've had a full refund, so nothing lost other than a bit of inconvenience having to make a special trip into town (in fact I actually saved a couple of £ through not having to pay postage)

 

[Haggisman]

I actually ordered from thisispulp.Co.uk, the message above was a direct copy from the email I was sent. Thisispulp is a subsidiary of sports direct

 

[Haggisman]

And here was me thinking ordering online was supposed to be easy and convenient!

 

[Haggisman]

I don't mind the 9pm deliveries.

What I find "old-fashioned" is the lack of delivery slots.

DPD have spoiled me.

Now the thought of waiting around from 8am to 9pm too scared to go and do a poo incase the doorbell rings is a massive pain. Dedicated 1hour time slots should be common place now.

Or even just a GPS based text notification "Your parcel is X miles away, and will be with you within the next hour".