Problem with Hermes Delivery Services

A question about : Problem with Hermes Delivery Services

Okay long story so sorry if you fall asleep reading this!

on April 8th, my grandmother ordered a nintendo wii and the wii fit game with balance board from Grattan catalogue. Was told it would be here by the 10th.
5 days later, nothing arrives, so we phone the catalogue and ask why it isn't here yet. They look into it and say that both items are coming directly from the supplier so they will have to contact the delivery company and see how much longer it is going to be before it arrives.
Woman at catalogue gets back to us and informs us that the parcel is missing and they have no idea what has happened to it, but they would re order the items which should be with us by the 24th at the very latest. We say okay fair enough, but inform her that there will be no one home on the morning of the 23rd so she says okay will put a note on the system so they know not to deliver on that morning.
Come home Thursday 23rd at lunchtime - lo and behold - a calling card been pushed through the door. All it says is Hermes and theres a mobile number scrawled across it.
Phoned the mobile number straight away incase the delivery truck is still in the area and can redeliver it the same day, but the girl on the phone just mumbles itll be with u tomorrow not in area.
/the next day (24th) wait in all day, nothing comes so phone the mobile number on the calling card again and ask where is my parcel? First of all she mumbles that she gave it to another delivery girl who delivers to my area, then she flat out denies that she ever tried to deliver it in the first place!!!! I say to her so the calling card just appeared on it's own by magic did it? and she goes oh whatever and hung up on me.
So then we proceed to phone the catalogue, and they put us on hold for an hour whilst the phone through to the delivery company. When catalogue adviser finally gets back to me, they say that the depot is saying that when an item cannot be redelivered; it is put into a special numbered cage at the depot so that they know where it is when it is time for it to get redelivered. They have checked all of the cages that it could have possibly been in and it is nowhere to be seen. Next they check the weekend delivery trucks and nothing there either. they then contact the girl on the mobile no from the calling card and she flat out denies ever even trying to deliver stuff in the first place and calls us liars. So now they have launched an investigation seeing as how its the second one to go missing.
It all sounds very very fishy to me!?!
catalogue have ordered the items for the third time now and they should be with us a wk on monday. If they ever actually get here.
I have one very upset wii-less little boy in my house now.
Tried again today to contact the delivery company, catalogue had asked for us to phone again today and let them know if we had recieved parcel or not. I tell them I have not, they put a note onto the file again. I ask them for a phone number for the delivery company and they say they havent got one. So I try 118 and they give me a load of numbers that don't even work, Tried google and found a website but no phone number on there.

Grattan have given my grandmother Ј10 compensation but it's not good enough really. I know it;s the delivery company's fault though and not Grattan themselves, so was wondering how I would go about claiming against them and putting in a complaint. Also, does anyone have a number for Hermes???? I want to contact them directly to see if I can get a bit more luck with them and maybe sort this huge mess out. I would be really greatful if somone could give me some advice please!!!!
Thanks in advance

Best answers:

• You're Grattan's customer. Grattan are the courier's customer. You don't need any contact with the courier other than to sign for the goods and accept them.
  The responsibility is for Grattan to get the good to you, and to chase up the courier if the goods don't get delivered.
  Don't bother phoning Hermes, get back onto Grattan and demand that the items be delivered. Clearly there's something dodgy going on at the local Hermes depot, so they might want to send it out using a different courier, or just refund you and let you buy it elsewhere.
• thanks.
  I have kept on at Grattan, been phoning them each day to try and find out if any progress has been made. They keep saying that it is the depot's fault hence why Grattan themselves gave Ј10 compensation - the woman we spoke to at Grattan said that she thought we would have gotten more, but her manager said no that was all because the fault is infact with the courier company and not them and because eventhough the order was place via Grattan, those good in particular come directly from the supplier who use Hermes.
  I got quite confused as keep being told different things!
  Oh well will give it until next Friday and if my items haven't turned up; I shall go elsewhere - as you can imagine we're pretty cheesed off with it all by now!!!!
  Fingers crossed eh
  Thanks again for the advice hun
• Here's what happens with delivery of Wii's from Grattan:
  1. Grattan buys them from Nintendo
  2. Grattan stores them in secure 'cages' in the warehouse (to stop 'sticky fingered' personnel making them disappear
  3. Grattan employs Hermes (formerly known as Parcelnet - try googling their contact details) to deliver them to the customer
  4. Hermes takes the Wii from the warehouse to a local despatch depot - then a local Hermes courier collects the item from the depot to deliver to the customer. The number you had on your card through the door was the mobile number of the local courier.
  5. If the courier can't deliver they will (in the case of high-value items like a Wii) return it to a secure holding area (probably in their local depot) to then collect and redeliver on another occasion (for lower value items they probably hold onto them overnight)
  It sounds like it's Hermes 'fault' for the non-delivery but Grattan are giving you a 'good faith' compensation while they work out what happened!
  It also sounds like the wii has either innocently gone awol, or you may have a 'dodgy' Hermes delivery person???? It may be possible to talk to Grattan Customer services and ask them if they have any other Hermes couriers your area (to have delivery made by them?)
  I would continue to talk to Grattan only, as your contract is with them and they have the facility to folow through enquiries with Hermes!
  Good luck!
• For an item of this value a signature would have been needed the courier would not have been able to leave it without one. If it has gone missing Grattan would have spoken to Hermes and they will be very aware of the situation and they will know at exactly which point in the delivery prosess it disappeared (that is why parcels have barcodes on). Unfortunatley there are dishonest people in this world and when the culprit is found the company will deal with them as they see fit. keep talking to Grattan and even asking them to deliver using a different courier service maybe an idea in this case.
• after a bit of detective work I got hold of a number for Hermes customer services.
  I had to register with them, as if I wanted to use their services!
  Then I went to contact and it has the elusive contact number
  HERE IT IS:
  0871 246 1583
  The girl I got was really helpful and I only had to wait about 10 seconds to speak to a human.
  You do need your tracking number, which you will get from the original purchase company.
  Hope this helps people
• All i'd say is keep on at Gratton, your contract is with them so they are responsible for getting it sorted for you. Next time they say it's the couriers fault, not theirs, tell them you don't care, your contract isn't with the courier.
  It does sound a bit dodgy to me, two wii's going missing at the same depot...hmm.
  When you do get the wii, I would make an official complaint in writing to Gratton and complain about the service you received from Hermes, put the girls mobile number down so they know who you are talking about, her attitute is disgraceful.
  Good luck, hope it gets delivered soon
• Well you know Hermes was the Winged Messenger. He may simply have found the Wiis too heavy to carry.
• If you want a hit and miss affair go Hermes if not play safe and go elsewhere. I am awaiting a claims form from them for compo. Wish you well Fr Francis
• I ordered a handbag for the OH last week.
  Received an email with a link to the tracking of the ppurchase.
  Orderd Monday - Hermes delivered 0730 Thursday, so not completely bad
• We were asked to deliver a cassock for a ceremony of bells in a lovely Village in Devon. We took it to the Post Office who advised Ј16.50 for just over a kilo. So we decided on a Courier Service. Our Choice of Hermes was where our worst nightmare began. All packed up and ready agent arrived rude, unshaven with child in the van . The type that bangs on the door and rings the bell at the same time "Oh No I can,t take that you need special labels". No one told him that his insurance on the van was invalid on carrying a passenger. Hermes promised his wife would arrive next day by 2 PM by 4 PM he arrived back. I took his registration number which did not please him. Hermes had by now changed the address to a different town .village ,area. Finally package arrived 2nd of August. Ordered on the 21 of July. Promised 3 to 5 days. No apology ,No Phone call. The folk in Devon were magic about it Great British Spirit but Hermes once is enough for my dicky ticker with your company. Fr Anthony
• Haven't posted for a while on this thread as you can see! Been away for internet for a bit.
  Anyhow, we finally recieved the Wii, EIGHT weeks later than the original supposed delivery date. The main thing is that it actually turned up, but still eight weekd is taking the mickey a bit!
  We did lodge a complaint, never heard anything back. We did get that Ј10 as I earlier stated but that was all. Better than a kick in the wotsits but an apology would have been nice!?
  FrAnthony - what you said about the rude unshaven child in the van - we got that too in terms of delivery driver only a female version - when we finally did get the delivery, they literally chucked the box at us! Manners don't cost anything but it seems a lot of people forget it these days....
  I too will be never using Hermes again, and have not ordered from Grattan since.
  Have been told though by another delivery driver from Hermes (she is one of the rare nice, good mannered ones); that the girl with the attitude is actually under investigation as it was not only our Wii that went missing, but other people's items too, all expensive purchases; on days when they were out on her delivery vehicle. But that is only hear-say so who knows. If that is the case, and she has been pilfering stuff, then I hope justice is done!
• HERMES COURIER SERVICE IS A VERY DIFFICULT COMPANY TO CONTACT.
  Their couriers work from home, self employed... They collect parcels from a local depot each morning and each courier has their own area round to deliver to. The majority of items are from online shopping companies such as QVC, Gratton, Freeman, Next, M&M, Daxon, Damart, JD.Williams, Look Again, Etc. also they collect returns from customers and now for Ebay.
  Each courier gets paid a different rate depending upon their area but most get only 45p per item or 65p per item delivered. Town centre and rural rates may vary a bit higher and collections are normally 50p. They also deliver catalogues and get paid 30p each. All couriers have to provide their own transport to deliver with and pay for the petrol. They do not have a telephone or get any telephone or other expences.:confused:
  Any customer who is not in can have their item left in a safe place if they inform the company to leave instructions to the courier. Or if the item is not required to be signed for, the courier may leave it in a garage, shed or similar 'safe' place and put a calling card through the customers door.
  When a customer is not home to receive the item and there is no suitable 'safe place', the courier will leave a card to say when they will call again, up to 3 times (unlike other delivery companies). The calling card will usually have the couriers telephone number on if the customer needs to inform the courier where to leave the item if they are not going to be home.
  The courier only gets paid for a delivery, they do not get paid to leave calling cards. So if a customer has not bothered to make contact after the courier has left 2 cards, it can be expected that the courier will feel that the customer isn't interested. If a courier has to call 3 times to deliver, the 45p payment will work out at only 15p per visit (not enough to cover the petrol costs involved). If a customer leaves a message asking the courier to ring them on a mobile number, the courier would actually be making a loss on that delivery.
  HERMES may think that they are offering a good service to their customers, but it is at the expence of the courier who has to stand all the costs. Maybe then that could be why some parcels go missing from time to time?:rolleyes: Staff would be more inclined to be loyal if the company were loyal to the staff and were supportive.
  With regards to a courier leaving a calling card and then not calling back or denying ever having called to start with, it is very doubtfull as they wouldn't have put a card through at the start. They would not have called unless the package had been manifested to the courier in the morning at the depot. And now all couriers have a hand held scanner to which they scan each parcel in a morning and this tracks where every parcel is at any time to the point of delivery.
  HERMES are very secretive in that even couriers do not have a number to complain to. They have a field manager who works from home just like the courier and they are the go between. The courier cannot speak to the head office (is there one?:confused but there is a couriers helpdesk (maybe someone on a computer working from home? Who knows?) That number is 0800 174 904 ext7.
  Good luck to anyone wanting to work there.. its only any good as a part time job or as extra income as you will be lucky to clear Ј100 a wek for 6 days after your petrol & running costs are taken off. You will certainly not get job satisfaction as Hermes are always introducing new money saving ideas such as lowering the delivery rates.
• I work as a hermes courier with my dad on saturdays as a cover driver. we have problems with various issues regarding the system. The worst one is when the end customer gets stuff delivered to work places when those sending the parcels don't realise that they are shut on Saturdays the worst type are solicitors and accountancy firms. Usually we get regular customers so we know where we can leave things (ie Outhouses, Sheds, Wheelie bins (usually the Green one) etc) and unless all else fails we leave with a neighbour. a couple of the Sending companies are a pain in the Harris as well sending stuff out that customers havn't ordered mainly Reader's Digest and Book Club they don't seem to realise how embarrassing it is to us to turn up with a parcel and get "We havn't ordered anything please take it back". There are some perks to the job too Saturday mornings are fun Young ladies answering the door in Dressing gowns or less usually brings a smile to one's face. But in the main it is rare we get any complaints.
• Yesterday I recieved a card through the door from Hermes stating a parcel had been left at my back door - this is odd for three reasons:
  1) I had not ordered anything
  2) I live in a terraced house and the back door is not accessable unless you climb over the garden fences or go through the garage which was locked.
  3) There was no parcel to be found anywhere.
  I emailed hermes explaining what had happened - they very heplfully appologised and told me to contact the company I orderd from (except I havent ordered anything).
  What could be going on? Its all very strange.
• We ordered two items on two separate occations from the next directory the first item was a ps3 console and the other a ipod the ipod was sent back as no longer wanted it and the ps3 console was sent back because it just kept spinning discs so there for faulty so i arranged returns wit next on both occations and there courier came and lifted them from me.
  Ordered another ps3 and all was fine.
  However two months down the line either of the parcels have arrived back to next and they have asked for my proof of returns so i sent in the originals and kept photo copy's. They finally credited our account with the items but a few days later took our credit limit down from nearly 4,000 to 0.00 I emailed them and asked why and got a reply to say we moniter all credit limits on a monthly basis and credit limits can be increased or decreased at any time to offer you the best credit facility. I thought ok no bother as it did not annoy us we did not order all the time and when we did it was items like a 300 pounds console table paid for sony home theatre kit 275 paid for a condenser dryer 250 pounds paid for standard lamp 80 pounds paid for. So we never really sent any thing back other than these two items.
  I rang the courier and informed them and gave both parcel receipt numbers he told me do not worry both parcles where scanned into our depot and will be dispached to the the company soon and to hang onto my receipts.
  But the parcles never arrived back to next.
  We received a letter from next to say no more items will be dispatched and to contact them right away so we did and where told because of items that had gone missing they were closing the account after balance of 36 pounds was paid i replied this was not our fault and to contact the courier and they said they did and they cannot be found i replied fine ok.
  But it's not our fault we have signed dated receipts for both returns and they were scanned into there depot now all of a sudden there lost.
  I have read up about this courier service and it seems i am not alone with items going missing.
  My real question is can they do anything to us?
  Thx
• hi all i work for hermes as a self enpolyed driver and i mke a profit of 300 pound a week and only do a maxium of 6 hours a day so people saying about they are not good to work for should think twice now to the people about missing parcels every parcel is now scanned from the company to use then scanned again to come to you so they are record all the way if your cataluge company cant tell you were a parcel is then it is them that have not done there job right in the first place as i said earlyer every think is scanned so there is no way parcels can go missing so that i seem to be going on that we get the blame we have been so much bizyer with lots of new clients so personally i think we must be doing are job right thanks
• my Hermes delivery agents are fab... but then again I see them across the road at the pub most weekends!! I live in a small village and everyone knows everyone. They know where to put stuff if I'm not at home and always have a smile. So although I sympathise with those of you who have had problems (and there does seem like a few) they arn't all bad
• It does depend very much on the local courier. Our local courier recently retired and his replacement is a bit of a nightmare.
• I'm glad I'm not the only poor sod having problems with these cowboys!
  Over a week ago I ordered a book from The Book People for my young nephew's birthday (which is today).
  The Book People duly sent the item the next day via Hermes where it has been sitting in their depot for a whole week! Having checked their rather poor online tracking service every day since, it has apparently been 'Out For Delivery' every day for 4 days yet still no sign of it!
  They are very difficult to get hold of and tell me that the problem lies with TBP, even though the parcel is clearly in the hands of Herpes (sorry, Hermes!).
  I am tempted to contact BBC Watchdog about this as with the current Royal Mail problems, private courier companies should be eager for the business.
  Incidentally, this week I ordered a DVD from Amazon, it was delivered by Royal Mail in 2 days!
  Please, please, if you are considering using Hermes, avoid them like a case of Herpes!