carlsson
Veteran Member
I'm not sure if this fits best in Rants or Humor, but since it currently makes me laugh, I post it here.
Anyway, two (three?) weeks ago I won an eBay auction for a BBC Micro in untested condition. I still don't even know what is included, other than the bare computer and a tape recorder. For that reason it went relatively cheap, but of course there is always the issue of expensive shipping from the UK. Using regular post, it would cost at least £52 to Sweden, which I find a bit heavy for a £5 item that I don't even know if it works.
As means of alternative couriers, I've heard of Parcel2Go, who most of the time act as DHL resellers, probably filling up spare cargo space on the more expensive business freights. Those couriers will collect the package at a given address, you can not post it to their central.
A few days passed before the seller accepted this kind of shipping, under the condition that I booked and paid directly for the service, so he could get paid for the item only. I acquired his home address, phone number and details about the package (dimensions, weight) and booked a collection last Friday, June 8th.
Unfortunately, the seller was not at home when the DHL guy arrived, so we had to try to reschedule the collection. For some reason, despite that it was me who had booked the shipping, the order was recorded in the name and email address of the sender which I figured out when I need to fill out an online form for failed collection. Finally I got a message that they would make a new attempt on Monday, June 11th during those hours I had written that the seller was at home.
Since then, I have heard nothing. The online service has no indication of whether the package had been collected, and thus no identification number that I could use to trace the parcel. The seller also didn't contact me.
Parcel2Go has a live chat function that I've tried to get in touch with for the past few days. Today I got in touch with a girl working at customer services. I described the problem and gave her my order number. She was away for a few minutes, apologized for any inconvenience and asked if I would like the package to be collected tomorrow? I almost went "WTF" but calmed down and again told her the hours the sender is in and they could schedule a new collection attempt tomorrow, Friday June 15. I also notified the sender about this.
Now, until this point this sounds more like a rant than something to laugh about. You see, I worked overtime until 9 PM, went to the food store and then home. What awaits me in my mail? Well, a delivery note from DHL, who have attempted to deliver my parcel today at lunch time, and now I can pick it up from their depot. The name of the sender tells me this is the same package that I asked about a few hours earlier, and appeared to not have been sent at all. :shock: :lol:
Oh well, I'll get to pick it up tomorrow, see what's inside, if the computer is functional or not. It'll be fun to hear from the sender about his confusion, in particular if a DHL guy will arrive at his place to pick up a parcel that was collected already on Monday...
Anyway, two (three?) weeks ago I won an eBay auction for a BBC Micro in untested condition. I still don't even know what is included, other than the bare computer and a tape recorder. For that reason it went relatively cheap, but of course there is always the issue of expensive shipping from the UK. Using regular post, it would cost at least £52 to Sweden, which I find a bit heavy for a £5 item that I don't even know if it works.
As means of alternative couriers, I've heard of Parcel2Go, who most of the time act as DHL resellers, probably filling up spare cargo space on the more expensive business freights. Those couriers will collect the package at a given address, you can not post it to their central.
A few days passed before the seller accepted this kind of shipping, under the condition that I booked and paid directly for the service, so he could get paid for the item only. I acquired his home address, phone number and details about the package (dimensions, weight) and booked a collection last Friday, June 8th.
Unfortunately, the seller was not at home when the DHL guy arrived, so we had to try to reschedule the collection. For some reason, despite that it was me who had booked the shipping, the order was recorded in the name and email address of the sender which I figured out when I need to fill out an online form for failed collection. Finally I got a message that they would make a new attempt on Monday, June 11th during those hours I had written that the seller was at home.
Since then, I have heard nothing. The online service has no indication of whether the package had been collected, and thus no identification number that I could use to trace the parcel. The seller also didn't contact me.
Parcel2Go has a live chat function that I've tried to get in touch with for the past few days. Today I got in touch with a girl working at customer services. I described the problem and gave her my order number. She was away for a few minutes, apologized for any inconvenience and asked if I would like the package to be collected tomorrow? I almost went "WTF" but calmed down and again told her the hours the sender is in and they could schedule a new collection attempt tomorrow, Friday June 15. I also notified the sender about this.
Now, until this point this sounds more like a rant than something to laugh about. You see, I worked overtime until 9 PM, went to the food store and then home. What awaits me in my mail? Well, a delivery note from DHL, who have attempted to deliver my parcel today at lunch time, and now I can pick it up from their depot. The name of the sender tells me this is the same package that I asked about a few hours earlier, and appeared to not have been sent at all. :shock: :lol:
Oh well, I'll get to pick it up tomorrow, see what's inside, if the computer is functional or not. It'll be fun to hear from the sender about his confusion, in particular if a DHL guy will arrive at his place to pick up a parcel that was collected already on Monday...
