Botched Christmas
The latest development must be either just my luck or an illustration of the way this country functions in general. I tend to be pretty opinionated and find this happening absolutely outrageous in particular so do not take my word for it - it might be strictly the former and have little to do with the world order :)
Please welcome - Exhibit A, DHL tracking log
Times given are local to the service area in which the shipment checkpoint is recorded.
The company was hardly in a hurry sending the documents last week. They could have sent the papers at least a day earlier but somehow they did not. They asked my opinion about freight companies and I mentioned FedEx. They believed DHL would be faster. To cut a long story short, on Sunday I knew the envelope was within miles from me but I did not really expect it delivered on the weekend.
In the morning I checked the status and was excited to see that the envelope was on the way. Last year I received a similar package with FedEx and I anticipated a similar experience - a couple of hours lost in the morning and having my hands on the parcel by noon. I prepared to kill a couple of hours and let my manager know about my being late. I did not really have a premonition even at noon. After all, it was snowy and icy outside. And even in this godless country Christmas increases the number of items being sent, right?
Then I called DHL, had to listen for a few minutes to their unabashed self-advertisement played in two languages and was kindly read aloud the status info I had been peering at the whole morning - 'with delivery courier'. Rather informative. A few hours later I was boiling. My work day was ruined and I still had no idea about real delivery progress. I called again. The same tasteless ads. Almost the same girl completely unaware of anything I did not know. I directly asked her if she was sure that the courier had my number, was not lost or something. She was superbly confident in her company and let me know that it was too early to worry - just 3 PM while they would work until 6 PM.
Evidently, freaking morons from DHL Russia believe that nobody has to work or simply do anything except for keeping his phone line free and waiting for a magic call all day long. I assume you have already guessed that nowhere at their site one can find any info on conditions of such a delivery. Not even working hours or how to get my goods without help of their 'couriers'. I suspected I would not make an appointment today. I was sad. I decided I would survive one more day lost even if it was the first day of the rest of my life. As dusk fell I relaxed. I dutifully waited. I checked the status online.
Crash. Boom. Bang.
The last record in the table above does not convey the message one can see at their localized page - 'The delivery has been failed by courier'. Had I had DHL personnel nearby I would have gone ballistic. Unfortunately I could only call for the third time, enjoy the ads and ask politely WTF. You won't believe.
THEY LOADED MY PACKAGE INTO A WRONG VEHICLE.
Well, I certainly can understand that six sigma or eight but sooner or later someone's item will be processed imperfectly. I am not even surprised that it happened in the capital of business correspondence while in fringe desolate areas such as the US or Belgium with their mere zillions of pre-Christmas parcels mine was loaded properly nevertheless. I survived Communists and their customer care, I can live with it. But why nobody called me to say sorry immediately upon their discovery? Why on Earth they assured me twice in inevitable happy end while things were falling apart? Was it that difficult to call the courier and make a check? I mean I literally spent a working day at home waiting for a call. In vain. And no, they are not going to do anything about it until tomorrow.
A curious aspect here is that I was sure they were Americans (I am sorry, I must have known better). Later I checked it and they turned out to be a European company, formerly a state German outfit. Probably this explains their relaxed attitude.
Obviously I will never be their customer again in my life. If you have a choice - opt for better customer care and stay clear of DHL (or at least DHL Russia). They will royally screw you up with a smile - Russian business as usual. At your expense.
And finally, Merry Christmas everyone :)
Please welcome - Exhibit A, DHL tracking log
Times given are local to the service area in which the shipment checkpoint is recorded.
The company was hardly in a hurry sending the documents last week. They could have sent the papers at least a day earlier but somehow they did not. They asked my opinion about freight companies and I mentioned FedEx. They believed DHL would be faster. To cut a long story short, on Sunday I knew the envelope was within miles from me but I did not really expect it delivered on the weekend.
In the morning I checked the status and was excited to see that the envelope was on the way. Last year I received a similar package with FedEx and I anticipated a similar experience - a couple of hours lost in the morning and having my hands on the parcel by noon. I prepared to kill a couple of hours and let my manager know about my being late. I did not really have a premonition even at noon. After all, it was snowy and icy outside. And even in this godless country Christmas increases the number of items being sent, right?
Then I called DHL, had to listen for a few minutes to their unabashed self-advertisement played in two languages and was kindly read aloud the status info I had been peering at the whole morning - 'with delivery courier'. Rather informative. A few hours later I was boiling. My work day was ruined and I still had no idea about real delivery progress. I called again. The same tasteless ads. Almost the same girl completely unaware of anything I did not know. I directly asked her if she was sure that the courier had my number, was not lost or something. She was superbly confident in her company and let me know that it was too early to worry - just 3 PM while they would work until 6 PM.
Evidently, freaking morons from DHL Russia believe that nobody has to work or simply do anything except for keeping his phone line free and waiting for a magic call all day long. I assume you have already guessed that nowhere at their site one can find any info on conditions of such a delivery. Not even working hours or how to get my goods without help of their 'couriers'. I suspected I would not make an appointment today. I was sad. I decided I would survive one more day lost even if it was the first day of the rest of my life. As dusk fell I relaxed. I dutifully waited. I checked the status online.
Crash. Boom. Bang.
The last record in the table above does not convey the message one can see at their localized page - 'The delivery has been failed by courier'. Had I had DHL personnel nearby I would have gone ballistic. Unfortunately I could only call for the third time, enjoy the ads and ask politely WTF. You won't believe.
THEY LOADED MY PACKAGE INTO A WRONG VEHICLE.
Well, I certainly can understand that six sigma or eight but sooner or later someone's item will be processed imperfectly. I am not even surprised that it happened in the capital of business correspondence while in fringe desolate areas such as the US or Belgium with their mere zillions of pre-Christmas parcels mine was loaded properly nevertheless. I survived Communists and their customer care, I can live with it. But why nobody called me to say sorry immediately upon their discovery? Why on Earth they assured me twice in inevitable happy end while things were falling apart? Was it that difficult to call the courier and make a check? I mean I literally spent a working day at home waiting for a call. In vain. And no, they are not going to do anything about it until tomorrow.
A curious aspect here is that I was sure they were Americans (I am sorry, I must have known better). Later I checked it and they turned out to be a European company, formerly a state German outfit. Probably this explains their relaxed attitude.
Obviously I will never be their customer again in my life. If you have a choice - opt for better customer care and stay clear of DHL (or at least DHL Russia). They will royally screw you up with a smile - Russian business as usual. At your expense.
And finally, Merry Christmas everyone :)
posted by Nick at 8:27 AM
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