Cuffy/Skill - Stafford customer service thread - Stafford retailers reports.

The Hawk

Well-Known Forumite
I seem to be about the only person who hasn't had a bad experience with Yodel (yet). Nevertheless, I try, as much as possible, to use suppliers that use DPD; the one hour time slots are really useful.

On a related note, Royal Mail seem to be getting worse and worse with package/parcel deliveries.
 

Sir BoD

Well-Known Forumite
I have a monthly 'prescription' of beer sent (via my parents as I'm at work when it's usually sent), which is delivered by Yodel. Today,

Today, courtesy of their website, I was able to track where their driver was, right up until the point where they were just a couple of streets away from my folk's house.

I came away from my screen to have a life for a couple of hours, only to return to see that my parcel was back at Yodel's depot and would be attempted to be delivered tomorrow. Now my parents live in a very modest semi detached house, where you can hear a knock at the front door no mater where you are in the house. Neither of my parents are elderly / hard of hearing and, in fact, my mum's low frequency hearing is extremely acute. 1) She can hear when a car enters the street before anybody else, 2) tell whether it's my dad's car just by the 'tone' of the engine, so a knock at the door is akin to standing next to Big Ben ringing to her.

This is not the first time this has happened with Yodel and I'm sure it won't be the last. In fact, the most recent time this happened, I complained to the beer company, who agreed that Yodel 'weren't that good' but they were cheap.

I think it's time I re-evaluate in the new year.

Yodel. Don't Do It.
 

Cue

Well-Known Forumite
DPD are excellent, I can arrange to have it delivered close by.

I once wrote about one of the many experiences I had with Yodel on Facebook. This was 2014, they were poor before then and they are worse now.

"There is no other thing that strikes fear into my heart than clicking on a link in an email labelled "Click here to track your parcel" and being took to the Yodel website. Or to give it its full name, the farking unhelpful piece of shit Yodel website.

You see I have never had a good experience with Yodel, the courier and parcel delivery firm. The bad experience ranges from not delivering and not putting a card through the door, not knocking and putting a card through the door, delivering to the wrong address, damaged goods. All of this. To the point if a seller on ebay or an online shop use Yodel, I wont use them, I will spend more elsewhere just so I don't have to use them. I farking hate Yodel.
I bought something off ebay this week, a relatively expensive item, £60, and it happened, click here to track your parcel, Yodel, farking yodel. I immediately wrote it off. Yodel are a bunch of inept bastards that can't do anything right. I tweeted this and yodel picked up on it. They made assurances, and said they would also leave it with a neighbour if no answer, oh did I mention its a 42 mile round trip if I miss the delivery. Yeah feck you Yodel.
So anyway, I use the tracking tool to keep up to date on the delivery and at midday yesterday they delivered my parcel. Fantastic. Except at midday no one is home so lets have a look at the detail. "Left under disused door at rear of property, card left".

OK, well that's good of them and at least I don't have that trip up the M6 on a Saturday morning, but lets look at those delivery instructions. First alarming point is that we don't have a disused door at the rear of the property, we have a used door, its called our back door. Also the rear of the property isn't accessible, we live in a mid terraced house, we don't have a key for the alley door, so unless Yodel man is an expert cat burglar he ain't got to the rear of our property. That's all a bit alarming but I will check the card they left when I get home.

Well I think you know what the card said, it said feck all as the card wasn't there. So driver had left my item under a random disused door, and then told a random person that they had got some free shit. Awesome. Yodel you did a great job. So this is where it gets difficult. Look on the Yodel website under their help and there isn't anything remotely close to "we are chuckleheads and messed up your delivery here is how we resolve that...." No, they don't acknowledge that they might mess up. So I call the number, I call the number 4 times as there are 4 options, 4 times Yodel ends the call as they believe I have had my item delivered and its automated and they can not comprehend that they have loved up a delivery. I get on Twitter and take it up on twitter, they literally ignore me, they ignore my multiple messages. Great.

So the internet tells me how to speak to a human at Yodel, not their website, apparently if I press 5, an option they don't mention on their list of options, this puts me through a human. Sweet baby jesus and all of his disciples, it works, I am through to a human!!!!!

Human didn't show the same enthusiasm for speaking to me and sounded as if she was a bit pissed off I had found the secret option. Well feck you human, sort out my shit. Human bluntly gave me the drivers number, good work human, get rid of me as soon as possible. So I called the driver. Turns out that the driver, had put my package under a disused door, in a different street. Well done Yodel, you truly are kings of the road. However he realised part way through his shift and retrieved my package, and today, this glorious Saturday morning he promises that he will place the package in my hands, at my address and not under a random strangers disused farking door."


I've surprised they let you get that far, a failed delivery is usually for their customer to sort out (note: you aren't their customer, your seller is)
 

Thehooperman

Well-Known Forumite
I used a new Stafford taxi firm last night called Sky taxis 01785 526000. It's a hard working, family run business based on the Lichfield road (if I remember correctly what the driver told me).

Arrived spot on time, text to advise arrival so I didn't have to wait in the cold, friendly driver and reasonable fare.
 

peggy

Well-Known Forumite
Great big thumbs down to Phil of W.T Hagen and sons of Stafford. Incompetent, unreliable and untidy. Desite being paid, left us without heating for 3 months and with far more plumbing issues than we started with after agreeing to hang a couple of radiators and balance the system.
Massive thumbs up to Mark Bailey for managing to sort our heating within just a couple of hours at a reasonable price. Professional, knowledgeable, tidy and reliable.
 

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staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
@peggy we used W.T.Hagan for the simple job of fixing a leaking tap after seeing his card in the local post office years ago.

Worst decision ever!

Broke the bathroom sink, I had to claim for it off my own house insurance ( with me forking out for the excess and then a bump up in premiums). Then the cheek of it, he spoke to my insurance company and got them to add him to their list of approved tradesmen!

A simple dripping tap cost me £££'s .
 
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peggy

Well-Known Forumite
@peggy we used W.T.Hagan for the simple job of fixing a leaking tap after seeing his card in the local post office years ago.

Worst decision ever!

Broke the bathroom sink, I had to claim for it off my own house insurance ( with me forking out for the excess and then a bump up in premiums). Then the cheek of it, he spoke to my insurance company and got them to add him to their list of approved tradesmen!

A simple dripping tap cost me £££'s .
We’ve had a nightmare, he cost us £1500 and left us in a right mess.
 

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
We’ve had a nightmare, he cost us £1500 and left us in a right mess.
Makes me laugh when I see his adverts splattered across the free Stafford magazine that gets pushed through the letter box. He advertises in there as (something like) 'Your local expert' . Only expertise he has is having the gift of the gab!
 

peggy

Well-Known Forumite
Makes me laugh when I see his adverts splattered across the free Stafford magazine that gets pushed through the letter box. He advertises in there as (something like) 'Your local expert' . Only expertise he has is having the gift of the gab!
He kept saying he had 30+ years experience, the next minute he is googling the problems and watching YouTube clips. I pity anyone who is unfortunate enough to find his adverts and invite him in their home. Shameful.
 

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
Must have been about 15 or so years ago when he wrecked our bathroom. (Only needed a new washer on the tap!) . Looks like he hasn't improved over time.
 

Thehooperman

Well-Known Forumite
Not Stafford customer service but an interesting response from Booking.com about my hotel booking in Manchester last night.

I went for a few beers and a meal with my son before watching Kelly Jones at the Apollo and booked an executive twin room at the MacDonald near Piccadilly.

Upon arrival I was informed that I'd booked an executive double which I politely advised the receptionist that I hadn't and corrected her error.

Ended up with a classic twin room where they brought us a coffee machine but no apology or offer of. recompense.

Anyway here is the outcome of the feedback I gave to Booking.com

Screenshot_20190703-143132.png


And here is the reply I got from Booking.com

Screenshot_20190703-143123.png



Needless to say I have sent a thoroughly deserved rant back to how much we really enjoyed our stay and how it will deter me from using them again unless they sort this to my satisfaction -)
 
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