Yodel delivery driver stole my parcel

A question about : Yodel delivery driver stole my parcel

I paid Ј60 in excess fees to Carphone Warehouse for my IPhone 4S to be sent out to me on an insurance claim I had. I paid on Thursday and they said the phone would reach me by Monday because I reached the cut off line for next day delivery so on Friday (the next day) nobody was home as we wasn't expecting anything. In actual fact Yodel attempted to deliver the phone on Friday, I know this because I received a txt with my tracking number. When I tracked the parcel online, it said 'delivered'. I wasn't worried because I just thought a neighbour would have signed for it. But when I got back home there was no calling card to say it had been left with a neighbour and none of my neighbours had it. I called yodel instantly they said the driver delivered it to my address and there was a signature too.
It's only myself and my grandmother who live at home, my grandmother was at a funeral and I was in Birmingham on a business trip which we both have proof for. Also the signature was just a scribble, NOT my signature or my grandmothers signature. So I have been making numerous calls to both Geek Squad, Carohone Warehouse and Yodel and every time I was told a lady was dealing with the complaint and she would get back to me within 72 hours... Well this NEVER happened. I had to keep calling, I was passed around to different people and told all different kinds of things but I was never able to speak with this lady who was 'handling the complaint' she was always busy, or not working or would call back but never did.
Then on Sunday 2 people turned up randomly at my grandmothers address claiming to be from Yodel. One presented himself as the driver and another lady who didn't introduce herself but she said she is there to investigate a missin parcel. Neither of them showed ID. Can they even do this? My nan was home alone and indeed very scared as the man appeared quite intimidating. She asked him who signed for the parcel and the man said I left the parcel outside your front door ontop of a ledge now firstly there was NO parcel on that ledge because we pass that ledge everyday to get ima me out of our home, secondly IF u left it on a ledge, WHY was there a signature!
Now these two people started talking in their language in front of my nan, and she quite rightly asked them to speak English as this is England. Now that in itself is not professional. The driver was unable to tell my nan what date he left it and he looked very nervous.
After chasing this up profusely Yodel have decided to close the status as 'parcel not found' and Carphone Waregouse can claim against them and re-issue me another phone. I am still awaiting yodel to deliver my phone second time round...
This has caused my grandmother great stress, it's caused me loss in business for 10 days without a phone and I am STILL without a phone and I had to make numerous premium rate calls killing my phone bill and borrowing other phones.
I would like to know is there nothing I can do to get compensation? Or who is Yodels governing body?
It is quite clear the driver, signed for the phone himself and I think he turned up at my grandmothers front door when he realised his job may be at risk. Also who was that lady he was with, why did they not show ID.
Can someone advise me as I'm really angry at this mess and I want something done and compensation.

Best answers:

• I have never used Yodel, but everything I read about them tells me not to.
  You are making some assumptions, though. Maybe the driver did leave it on the step, and someone else stole it? Doesn't account for the signature though. We sent something to a customer once using another courier (I forget which one, not Yodel) and because the customer wasn't in, they left it in the wheelie bin. Yes, the wheelie bin because "it was handily left at the end of the drive". Luckily a neighbour saw it and retrieved the parcel before it was emptied, of course that was the reason it was at the end of the drive.
  Surley, though, you are sorted? Yodel have agreed the parcel is lost, CW can claim from them and send you a new phone, job done. I know you're annoyed but I doubt you'll get anything for loss of business through having no phone (how do you quantify it, Ts & Cs usually have a clause indemnifying them from consequential loss), you might be able to kick off and get them to refund your phone calls.
  Can I ask, though, having gone through this and given the delivery issues, why don't you get CW to deliver it to the nearest store and go and get it from there? Or don't you have one in a reasonable distance?
• Thanks for your reply. Two things strike me. There was a signature which was just a scribble. If you leave something outside a door there should not be no signature. Also the time it says it was delivered was 5.38pm I came home that evening at 6pm so if it was left there it would had to have been stolen between 5.38pm and 6pm. I live in a basement the ledge is not visible from ground level you have to physically come downstairs to see the ledge. Also this STILl does not explain the signature.
  Something else I find quite peculiar is te fact the man turned up on my grandmothers doorstep with a strange lady unannounced and no ID shown and proceeded to speak in their own language in front of my grandmother. This woman was not a translator lol.
  I have asked Carphone Warehouse NOT to send it with Yodel they said they have to and now believe it or not, I was due to receive my parcel on Tuesday this week and I am STILL waiting on it. I'm at my wits end. Yodel will not let me collect it from the depot unless it has had a failed attempt so I'm just here waiting like a lemon. It's been at the service centre for 2 days and hasn't been sent out on a van for 2 days according to Yodels online tracking. In fact yesterday morning it was out on a van for delivery, then 2 hours later it was back at the service centre. I am so angry and upset. I wish there was something that could be done about this to punish Yodel.
• Note to self: Never use Yodel.
  Thanks for the heads up, I'll not use this service, and I'll look to see what service businesses use from now on.
• I have used Yodel a few times as the online retailers I bought from uses them. Three times they have apparently delivered the parcel and I signed for it. Once I was not in the country and the other two times I was at work 20 miles away. I contacted the retailer and explained this and said the driver has signed in my name and this is fraud. I got a full refund all three times.
  Another time the driver left it on my front doorstep/side bush and it was there for three days before I happened to notice it. No card through the door.
  And last week they threw my parcel over the back gate and it was a hard drive! Luckily not damaged.
  They are awful and I am waiting for something else now that is being delivered by Yodel. You never know they may do things properly this time.
• A few more cases like this could be a cause for concern. In the back of my mind one complaint was still enough to put me off but not enough for me to definitely start worrying. However Yellow_One this has started pouring cement into the foundations of what potentially be something of great concern.
  I'm going to be researching this now
• unfortunaly my cataloge uses Yodel...omg, the stories I could tell you!
• I feel like the Yodel driver stole our item too, but this is slightly different. It was a free gift from mobiles.co.uk, a 32" flat screen Smart tv. It was delivered before christmas fine. However, it was faulty and didnt work. We called Mobiles.co.uk (part of carphone warehouse) who arranged collection of the TV on Monday 7th January. They said they would get the TV back the next day and our replacement would be delivered on Wednesday 9th.
  On Monday no one showed up. So we called and they apologised and arranged for another collection on Wednesday. I waited in myself and the same driver who delivered the TV collected it. From me personally.
  I actually asked him, do you need me to sign anything or have you got any paper work for me? To which he replied " No, I have all the info I need in my hand held and I was the one who delivered it!" And I did recognise him.
  Roll on a week later and still no delivery of the TV, we call up to chase only to be told they dont have the TV and Yodel have confirmed they have not collected it and we need to contact the police to investigate it becasue it has obviously been stolen from us.
  We try and explain that we know for sure Yodel collected it as it was the same driver and we are told we have to investigate this ourselves.
  We contact Yodel, which is very difficult as you wait for ages to get through only to have the phone slammed down once someone does finally answer. To be told that the collection is classed as complete which means it has been collected. But after a few more days of investigating Yodels end they confirm that the drive has signed the paper work to say the collection has been completed but for some unknown reason the driver has not assigned a number to it which he should have done and given me the paper work when he took the telly.
  mobiles.co.uk are still being a pain and again it takes over an hour to get through to someone and then have to explain the whole situation again as no one wants to take responsibility for this issue and we still dont have out TV !
  To top it all off, we said to Carphone warehouse/mobiles.co.uk, if the item has not been collected like you say, then why has no one been out to try collecting again as surely if it was still on someones outstanding list, you should still be trying to collect.
  Low and behold, on Friday while my Mother in Law was looking after the children due to the snow, the same driver banged the door (he didnt knock) my MiL even ran to the door thinking something was wrong and she asked him why he was knocking so loud and he stated he tried calling the day before but no answered, yes becasue we work. He told my MiL he was there to collect something but he didnt know what was to be collected. My MiL informed him he had already collected the item and he walked off.
  So now he is saying he didnt actually collect the item? Is it going to be our word against his? Should we contact the police? Our street had cameras fitted by the local council last year which would show him collecting and taking the item.
  Just not sure what to do now
• I had a parcel left in my bin once by Yodel.
  Luckily they left a card saying they had left it in my "safe place". Hunted around for ages trying to find my "safe place", funnily enough the last place I would have ever looked - the bin!
  They use a lot of contract and self employed staff so don't seem to have much quality control.
  I would never use them again if i didn't have to. I think they are related to the failed Home Delivery Network - exactly the same level of service....
• Mand_X simple, call the police, and tell them the story, they can get the camera recordings from the council which you wouldn't be able to get.
  Ask the police to send a copy of the recording showing yodels driver picking up the TV from you. which will prove yodel did, and then get them to deal with yodel, and whilst waiting contact C.a.b so they can advice on a solicitor incase you decide you want to take legal action against Yodel.
  personally it sounds like a game between mobiles.co.uk and yodel and your going to be the fallguy/gal. Just wait for a bill to arrive for the FREE tv.
• THE YODEL SCANNER IS THE PITS AND TAKES YOU IN TO CORNERS WITH NO WAY OUT OTHER THAN TO SIGN OFF THE JOB, AS IT WONT LET YOU BACK TO THE HOME SCREEN
  THERE ARE SO MANY YES/ NO QUESTIONS TAKING UP PROCESSING TIME THE DELIVERY GUY HAS TO SPEND UP TO AN HOUR A DAY WAITING FOR IT TO CATCH UP.
  THEN THERE ARE THOSE WHO ORDER ON LINE AND ONLY PART FILL THERE ADDRESS
  eg
  FLAT 2
  ?? SOUTH FIELD ROAD
  RAMBLE TOWN
  np 44qq
  names of streets removed by theft or obscured by parked cars
  no visible house numbers on 4 + houses in a row
  business names of secondly bushiness at address but not marked on the sign out side
  sprinter drivers get the first pics of parcels then send the rest out to the locle home couriers, this often results in both delivering to the same address with the same order if packed in more than 1 parcel
  Then finally you loudly knock on the door and customer or kids carys on watching telly as though your not there
• A couple of things.. Your contract is with carphone warehouse and not yodel. Basically its down to CW to sort this out and they can then bring it up with Yodel if they wish.
  Yodel have a bad rep, but there is a reason,.. they are cheap. In theory they are meant to get permission to leave goods unattended. So basically they say "we will deliver it even cheaper if CW agree to this." So in a way this is also CW fault. Whether they did this time or not we dont know. This is also why there is a signature as the driver can sign himself in this circumstance.
  Also this might be better posted in the consumer rights forum, them guys know their stuff. Not sure why you put it in here
• After complaining numerous times of yodel not delivering parcels that they said they had delivered, the last time they came we were in the house, the door was on the latch and the delivery guy opened the door, walked into my hall and left the parcel and the card with my front door left wide open. We have a LOUD doorbell that wasn't rung. The door is hard to open even when on the latch. And it was dark (early evening) and snowing.
  I wish companies tell you which delivery service they are going to use so that you know not to bother ordering.
• Yodel is basically a bunch of freelance delivery drivers. We got notification electronically that a parcel had been taken in by a neighbour and went round to discover they were a yodel worker. They don't get paid well as its all a pyramid scheme, and you know what they say about paying peanuts?
• Do you remember this one?
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKUDTPbDhnA
  Nuff sed!
• When our Royal Mail Post man has a "signed for" packet /parcel for ur house always knocks on the door to deliver but says "I have signed for it in the van" We have never had a problem with this, if we aren't in the parcel is always availble at the sorting office.
  I suppose he does it this way so he doesn't need wait for us to answer the door, but at least he takes it to the sorting office, other carriers don't have the option of using a local sorting office to leave parcels.
• Big companies use yodel which is a shame. We ordered a nexus 7 3G from Argos it was due to be delivered on 7th feb. we waited and waited and nothing arrive. That night we checked our Argos order tracker and it said had been delivered at 9.30 that morning! (which it clearly hadn't! Both me n my husband had been in st that time). First thing the next morning I rang Argos and they told me they use yodel and their tracker say it was delivered My first response was its not here and I never signed anything. And Argos then told me that no signature had actually been taken when i asked how they can claim its been delivered when theres no signiture they told me that Sometimes their mobile signiture machines don't work! Whats wrong with pen and paper. Argos won't dispatch me a new one or refund me as its now a dispute that needs investigating. Very annoying. Will be writing a strong worded letter of complaint to Argos suggesting they deal with a more trust worthy company than yodel for their delieveries.
• "What's wrong with pen and paper" - people want to be able to track their parcels these days, and doing it by traditional methods means that someone has to sit and type up the information when the driver gets back to the depot. So no real-time tracking, possibility of error during data entry, and cost of people to sit and type it all in.
  There's no excuse, though, for the delivery drives effectively lying about whether they've made a delivery. I sympathise to a degree - the traffic today is terrible, so having to make a delivery round on time and reliably must be a nightmare. The delivery sequence will be worked out in advance for best optimised route so it's not as if they can "pop back" later on, and I guess there's no paid overtime so they will be under pressure to get things done as quickly as they can. So once they're 30 minutes behind, something has to give.
  For balance, I bought a product from Halfords which they agreed to delivery as it won't fit in my car. I never thought to ask who would deliver it, turns out it was Yodel, turned up as expected, no damage, no problem at all.
  Goose2, I'd get on to your credit card people straight away if you haven't already.
• Unfair to say that the driver stole it wouldn't you say?
  Unprofessional, certainly, shoddy, without a doubt but theft is hardly proven.
  FWIW I hate Yodel and actively look for sellers that don't use them, that an fed-ex, they suck balls too, but have got better in recent years