Feb 2010 Suckfest
After previously being done over by parcel2go, like some kind of romantically obsessed looser, in Feb 2010 I thought:
"they must have got better, and these prices are too cheap to ignore, I'll give them another go"
And that, is where I failed. Failed at life. That's where things got poo again, and like Ashley Cole to my Cheryl, my trust was once again rammed right up my bottom and they cheated me again. Not with some tarty hairdresser though, it was with my trust. And everyone knows that's sacred.
It was a simple requirement - to pick up and deliver a guitar that I sold on ebay. Not really hard at all for a courier service, hell I even packed the thing like it was made from glass so that nothing untoward could happen, it's not like I balanced it atop a Faberge egg and asked them to ride over the cobbled streets of pre war France (and modern day France still in some places) with it.
Early Feb I placed my order via the parcel2go website and the courier duly arrived to pick up the parcel. All was good. Few days later a message via ebay from my buyer - guitar had arrived with some nasty damage on it. How they managed to bork it so badly I have no idea as it was encased in a retail guitar shipping case, bubble wrap inside and then an outer heavy duty box. But nonetheless there was significant damage to the guitar, and the buyer quite rightly wanted it sorting out one way or another. Perhaps I should have packed it inside a gigantic pillow or perhaps strapped it to the back of an angry Tiger - I doubt they would have chosen to fling that around with such gusto.
Now I had at least planned for some disaster and ensured that insurance to cover the value of the guitar (roughly £150) was on the parcel. So when I found out damage had happened it was not great, but I knew that at least it could be sorted.
WRONG. YOU'RE WRONG IN THINKING IT'LL ALL BE ALRIGHT JUST LIKE I DID - PLAIN WRONG.
I contacted parcel2go - very helpful. They asked me to fill out a claim form and provide photos of the damage and the packing. My buyer obliged and off it all went. Nothing for a while, but they another request for more detailed photos of the outer box and packing. This was to reach them by 24th Feb at the latest. I checked with them and yes, photos could be emailed in so I did this. They even got them a day ealier than the cut off date, just to show how organised I was. Very happy with myself at this point, and constantly re-assuring my buyer all would be ok.
Chased it up a few days later and advised that the claim was underway and that it could take up to 8 weeks worse case scenario, but that it would probably be sorted sooner.
Tuesday 9th March - a phone call from parcel2go! excellent - this will be them calling to find out how they can pay me - cash or straight into my bank account. Missed the call on my mobile but a message there to call Natalie about my claim. Duly called her back and was told that she was unavailable but not to worry - she would call me straight back. Weirdly she didn't. Maybe she just wanted to prolong the excitement of giving me that refund. Such a tease.
Chased again on Thursday - Natalie would definitely be caling me back so not to worry, and even if she couldn't get through to me she would email instead. Natalie now becoming an enigma rather than a tease.
Saturday - nothing yet. This is weird isn't it? a company like parcel2go not calling back on 2 occasions when they were supposed to. Better get in contact. Use the Live Chat service because then everything is in writing - you then have something to fall back on don't you?
Glad I did use the Live Chat service, as the chat I recieved was verging on hilarious. Nice enough chap on the other end, but the content will make you want to squirt concentrated lemon juice into your retinas to ensure that you are seeing correctly.
If you dare, click on the next page above and read the transcript.......
