How long!?

[John]

I've emailed Hermes and will let you know what hey have to say.

I must say I've not had any problems with Hermes, looking at tracking info most things are delivered within 2-4 days, some are even next day and apart from a damaged bottle of airbrush cleaner for Barry the other day I've had no other damaged or missing items.

The reason why I had to start partially using Hermes was because I got a warning from Royal Mail for sending hazardous goods and I wasn't willing to get a fine, I only use them as a last resort.

I just checked as there should be an express delivery option available if Royal Mail isn't but it wasn't there, I've fixed that now. Express will go by other next day carrier.

[stona]

Just had a thought !How long.

Used to take 6 weeks for the England Cricket Team to sail and reach Australia.

Grandma's parcel from Hull to Surrey. A fortnight.

A Christmas Card a good week.

Even bills were at least a month behind.

News from the other side of the world probably a week.

Pathe news at the cinema, the only visual news around most a month old.

Laurie

Yes, but when the uniform penny post was introduced in the mid 1800s one could despatch a letter in the morning inviting someone to tea and they would receive it in time, just so long as you both lived in London

Here's another sign of progress. Due to 'padding' of airline schedules to make sure they keep their punctuality ratings, a flight to Amsterdam from London now officially takes ten minutes LONGER than when your aeroplane would have had propellers

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Yes, but when the uniform penny post was introduced in the mid 1800s one could despatch a letter in the morning inviting someone to tea and they would receive it in time, just so long as you both lived in London Steve

Yes I remember that well Steve.

Laurie

[stona]

We shouldn't moan too loud. Letters usually still make good time within the UK. Daughter number 1 sent a series of post cards from S.E Asia last year (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand) and some of them took a couple of months to arrive here in Birmingham!

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

And for John and the shop 99% of my stuff arrives within 36 hours which includes a 100mile journey aver sea.

Some stuff ordered say 4:00 in the afternoon arrives 10:00 next morning.

The delivery business is a streamlined effort.

Adrian you will soon have your own drone landing with the paint on your work top before you have time to raise a brush.

Laurie

[Guest]

As John rightly points out though he needs your feedback for things that are not going right. My own frustration is with vendors who use cheap carriers then are not interested in resolving any issues. John has immediately stepped up to the mark and got involved, you will very rarely get that from a vendor nowadays. Whereas it may seem like the thing to do to vent your frustrations if this was the first John knew of the situation you really didn't give him the chance to help. I'm sure a PM or an e-mail would have been appreciated by John as soon as you were concerned.

As an example I recently bought a large tool box from an eBay seller. I stated in the comments that there would be no-one there to assist and that two guys would be needed to unload. One guy arrived and told my wife that his instructions were to leave packages on the kerb!! For us that is in the middle of the road and around a hundred yards from getting it under cover. Luckily this driver was very accomodating and very cleverly backed his truck right into our drive and dropped the box in the garage. When I told the vendor he said he didn't see my note and did give me a refund on the carriage, but apart from that my real concern is why would you use a vendor who instructs his drivers to drop deliverys on the kerb!

Then another a year or so ago, I ordered a dog gate for the car in time to pick up two rescue dogs on a Saturday. The delivery van couldn't find our address on the Friday so gave up and took it back to the depot. They didn't bother to contact me so when I contacted them they instructed me that the gate would be delivered the next Tuesday as it was a Bank Hoiliday Monday. I paid full whack for overnight delivery but they were not prepared to do a thing about it. That vendor simply wasn't interested in the problem as it had left his premises in time the previous day.

My point is that vendors choose thier carriers and therefore should be responsible for holding them accountable for the service they give. Most do not bother but John does and is prepared to step in to help but he needs to know about these things as soon as they are a concern.

[eddiesolo]

Must admit, never had anything gone missing or late when I have ordered from John, things happen I suppose, but always found the SMF shop, efficient and John very approachable.

Si

[Guest]

Very well reasoned piece Richard.

One conclusion I have come to with ordering on line is you just have to take the rough with the smooth.

Ordering on line you are going to get, in the majority of case, your goods at a very reasonable rate. Local cost of a dehumidifier in Jersey £140. On line £100.

The majority of orders I have made have worked out perfectly a few I have sent back as the goods were damaged or not of the quality required. All were replaced very quickly or money refunded again very quickly.

A couple a complete loss. About £70. China. Getting any reply is luck let alone anything replaced or money back and that was on Amazon. Amazing told, after good service to get a result, that time was up and the case had been closed. The guy at Amazon even expressed his opinion that it was not right.

So I came to the conclusion that I saved a high percentage by on line buying but every now and then I loose a little of what I have gained.

I would say that delivery has never been a problem and it is rare for goods to be delivered after the forecast date.

Laurie

[Adrian "Marvel" Reynolds]

Like I originally said I wasn't having a go at John, I too have used the shop previously and never had an issue, as to reporting it, how can you report something you don't know is over due as you are only given a vague time for delivery and to answer the point about selecting which mailing service there were no options.

I constantly order and sell over the internet myself so I'm aware of savings and services etc, I ordered my Apollo 11 saved £20 online it arrived 3 days later, the badges for it, arrived the next day, my point is if I had known it was going to be so long I would have chosen a different suppler or if I had the option to pay extra I may well have done so to avoid Hermes.

Adrian

[John]

to answer the point about selecting which mailing service there were no options.

That is now fixed, you can choose express delivery which will be another carrier