LITTLE BOXES
Page 34
Page 36
Page 37
Page 38
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
This year we gave 12 parcels companies the challenge of picking up in a remote farm in west Wales, and delivering next day to Skegness, north of The Wash. We found many parcels companies that could have expressed it better.
• This year we marked the fifth anniversary of our annual express-parcels survey by sending parcels from the most obscure spot we could find in west Wales across country to Skegness.
As in previous years, the purpose of the survey was to find the parcels company which offered the best service at the best price. We took 12 identical parcels (each containing a GRN oil filter) and rang all the national parcels carriers operating in the Cardigan area. Each was asked to collect a parcel for delivery as early as possible the following day.
Although the survey is not strictly representative statistically, it does set each carrier the same task. As in previous years, this year's survey reveals some glaring failures among some of the "stars" of the parcels industry, with alarming variations in services and a vast range of charges.
THE PICK-UP POINT Just over a year ago Commercial Motor staff-member, Paul Newman and his wife Jane decided to up-root from their semidetached in commuter-belt Surrey and buy a farm in west Wales. They now live at a place called Brideckh, eight or nine kilometres from Cardigan.
Brideckh is little more than a hamlet, and the Newmans' farm is some two or three kilometres from the main settlement, hidden in a gloriously-peaceful valley. To reach the farm you need to follow detailed directions along high-banked hedged lanes. To add to the problems, there is a tricky hairpin bend on the property's drive, with the hazard of a nine drop for the unwary. A most suitable location, we thought, for the 1988 parcels survey pick-up point.
FIRST CALLS
At 9.25am on 9 June we turned to the Yellow Pages and made the first call.
TNT answered the freephone number almost immediately. The woman was very helpful and took all the details, including the directions. She confirmed that we could make a payment by cheque to the driver, but said she would get her sales department to call us with the price. Within ten minutes another TNT employee called back, and he too had a good telephone manner. He quoted £30 plus VAT for delivery before 9am the following morning. He too took down our detailed directions.
Our next call was to Red Star at 9.35am. After several rings the phone was answered by an irascible voice which took the details, pausing only to insist we shout because of the poor line. On hearing the directions the Red Star employee said he might send a motorcycle for the job but would not quote a price, saying that cost depended on the parcel's weight.
At 9.50am we called Interlink. The pleasant man who answered the phone was based locally and so knew the area, which helped when giving directions. He quoted a price of £9 plus VAT, and warned that his driver would not be able to collect the parcel until the afternoon, but confirmed that we could pay the driver by cheque.
Ten minutes later we called DHL in Bristol. The man who answered the phone was pleasant, but a little slow. We had to insist on giving the directions when he claimed that the driver would telephone if he had any problems in finding the place. As with all of our calls, we also warned of the difficult access to the farm. We were told somebody would phone back with the price and at 11.25am DHL rang to say the parcel would cost 228.75 and the driver would arrive "soon" (he actually turned up at 3.45pm). Fifth on our list of calls was Amtrak, a relatively-new parcels company established nationwide through a series of franchises. The Bristol number listed in the Yellow Pages was unobtainable, but a Swansea number elicited a response from a man with a hesitant telephone manner. He explained that it would cost 213.45 plus VAT to send the parcel, plus 28.45 plus VAT for delivery before 9am: a total of 225.19. He did not take any details other than our telephone number, saying he would phone back to confirm he could make the pick-up. He did not call back.
At 10.20am we tried Freefone Federal Express. The woman who answered the phone said she would transfer us to the right department. For 20 seconds there was silence, then two pips and we were cut-off. We tried again, through the operator, asking again for Freefone Federal Express. Eventually we reached a young woman who said Federal Express "would not do private one-offs" and "wouldn't take our business unless we opened an account". We must have sounded crestfallen at this news because she added: "You could try calling our Cardiff depot (some 120km away) and taking the parcel there." Hiding our astonishment at this suggestion we asked for the Cardiff number. The number she gave us was unobtainable.
We turned our attention to ANC. A woman answered, who was helpful but very unsure about pricing and services, leaving the phone on several occasions to check details. She also refused to take down directions. She eventually quoted a price of 28.95 plus 36p per kilo and warned there would be a 225 surcharge for delivery before 9arn. All figures quoted included VAT. At 1.20pm she called back for directions.
At 10.40am it was Farceline's turn. A pessimistic man answered the phone. Amid much tut-tutting he said: "I don't know if we can pick the parcel up today, our vehicle is already near Cardigan." Suddenly the phone was grabbed from his hand and an altogether-more-helpful woman took control.
She took some details, though she didn't want directions, or the exact delivery address. She quoted a price of 214 plus VAT and said the invoice would be sent to the home address of the sender in Horsham, West Sussex (19 days later the invoice arrived at Newman's farm).
Securicor was next. The company's representative was very efficient. She explained that the parcel would travel on Securicor's Swifty service for delivery before 9am, and quoted a price of 217 plus 22.55 VAT. She took all the details and said that the driver would call if he had any problems.
Our tenth parcels operator was the NFC subsidiary Lynx. We called the Swansea number and were put through to the correct department. So far so good. We told the woman our location; she recognised the word Cwmffrwd and left the phone to see if a collection could be made. When she returned, she warned that she could not arrange a collection before 5pm but the cost would be 217.25 for guaranteed delivery before 10am.
Further discussion, however, showed that we had been talking at crosspurposes. She had confused the name of the farm with that of a small village near Swansea. When told we were near Cardigan, she was less optimistic. "We can't get in touch with our driver," she said. "He hasn't got a radio in his truck, or a bleeper and he doesn't make any regular calls or anything." Do you mean, we asked, that in order to get a next-day service with your company we have to call you two nights before? "Yes, I'm afraid so," she replied. "Sorry."
Seabourne Transport was next. At 11.05am we rang the number advertised in the Yellow Pages for national parcels services. The telephone rang for 90 seconds with no reply.
Finally, at 11.15am, we made our last call, to Freephone Datapost. The man who answered had a strong Brununie accent, and an acute shortage of geographical knowledge, asking how to spell Skeg ness. He quoted 216.00 including VAT with payment to be made on collection. He took the details and at 12.25pm the local post office phoned to say the driver would be with us in 30 minutes. He was.
Out of a total of 12 parcels companies, one did not answer the phone, one could not contact the driver in time, one would not carry a private parcel and one failed to call back. That left eight.
THE COLLECTION
At 11.15am, one hour and 40 minutes after our call to Red Star, a pleasant woman driving a Renault 5 taxi arrived at Cwmffrwd Farm. She clearly knew the area well and had no trouble negotiating the drive with its hairpin bend. She said she would take the parcel to Carmarthen railway station where it would be put on a train. She did not know the price and would not take any form of payment, nor provide a receipt. She did, however, take the address of the sender, though 21 days later the invoice had not arrived.
There was a wait of over an hour before the next collection vehicle arrived. It was Datapost, which we had called an hour and 35 minutes previously.
The collection vehicle was a familiar bright red Royal Mail Escort van: the driver took payment by cheque for 216.00 and gave a receipt.
As the Royal Mail driver returned to his vehicle a Transit in TNT colours hove into view at the Cwmffrwd hairpin. We hurriedly explained to the Royal Mail driver that we were expecting a delivery.
We used the same story in reverse to satisfy the TNT driver's curiosity. He was pleasant but complained of roadworks on the lanes approaching Cwmffrwd. He had been asked by the workmen to make a detour, adding further problems to locating the farm, and arrived three hours and 35 minutes after our initial call.
We wrote out a cheque for 234.50 and he presented us with two receipts. He stuck TNT stickers all over the parcel, and climbed back into his cab after giving us a TNT pen — a good piece of public relations, we felt.
Fifty minutes later a bright green Parceline Mercedes 307D gingerly negotiated the Cwmffrwd hairpin. It had taken the company three hours and ten minutes to make the pick-up. The driver did not have a receipt but agreed to sign a handwritten one, adding the code number of his van for easier identification. No payment was made.
Next came Wadow Express, one of the ANC franchisees. The driver managed to find the farm in his long-wheelbase Transit and asked how much we had been asked to pay. We told him the quoted prices and then had to add them together for him. We were scrupulously honest about this but, at 234.31, there was some temptation to adjust the price downwards. We did not get a receipt: he had taken three hours and 38 minutes to reach us.
We had warned the parcels operators that we might have to leave the parcels with the Newmans during the afternoon. We had to leave by 2.45pm to cross the country for the deliveries the following morning. By 2.25pm, when the Interlink Mercedes 307D arrived, we were preparing to leave.
Interlink took four hours and 35 minutes to make the collection: the company had warned us that it would be afternoon before they could get to Cwmffrwd. The driver was very efficient, taking our cheque for £10.35 including VAT and presenting us with a receipt. He also asked if we would need insurance cover, but we declined.
Five hours and 45 minutes after our call to DHL, at 3.45pm, a 7.5-tonne Ford Cargo truck in sister company Elan's colours arrived at Cwmffrwd. By then we had departed to catch a flight across to the East Coast, but Newman reports that the Elan Cargo needed three attempts to negotiate the hairpin. The Elan/DHL driver did not know what method of payment was being used, so took no money. In stead he gave a receipt and said an invoice would follow (it arrived four days later on 13 June).
Securicor was the eighth and final parcels company to make the pick-up. The driver telephoned at 3pm for directions and arrived in an Escort van at 4.10pm, five hours and 25 minutes after our call. He accepted a cheque for £19.55 and provided a receipt. Like most of the drivers we encountered during the survey, he was friendly and polite.
THE DROP
A small Portakabin to the rear of Peter Cosby's garage premises in Skegness forms the headquarters of the Road Rescue Recovery Association. It was to this site that our parcels were headed.
The first parcels company to arrive on the morning of 10 June was TNT in a Roadrunner, closely followed by ANC in a Renault 18 belonging to the local franchisee. It was 8.15am. The TNT parcel was in a perfect state; the ANC parcel looked slightly ragged with a plastic bag apparently stuck to one side. We filled in a receipt for each driver and, despite the clear similarities between the parcels, they left without question.
We later heard that TNT had telephoned Cvvmffivd at 9.15arn to say the parcel had been delivered at 8.15am, and had been signed for by a Mr Scrase. The caller also asked if the Newmans would like to take out a regular account. Impressive service by anyone's standards.
Next on the scene was Securicor, at 8.25arn. It should be remembered that the Securicor service cost 219.55, some 215 less than the TNT and ANC services, yet it arrived in good condition within ten minutes of their deliveries.
Cheaper still was the service from Interlink. The Interlink parcel arrived fourth at 9.12am and, at a cost of 210.35, this represents very good value. The parcel arrived in good condition, but the driver would not provide a delivery note.
Forty minutes later Dataposes parcel arrived in a Royal Mail Sherpa van. The package was tucked neatly in a protective plastic bag and the postman presented us with a receipt. Peter Cosby was dumbfounded when the Datapost parcel arrived because he was still awaiting his own mail, which didn't arrive until after 1 lam.
LATECOMERS
When we first made our telephone calls to the parcels companies we specified that we wanted the parcels delivered as early as possible the next day. Only TNT, ANC, Securicor, Interlink and Datapost arrived before 12 noon on 10 June, which we set as our cut-off point.
Three parcels remained in transit, those from Parceline, Red Star and DHL. The Parceline parcel arrived at 12.47pm in a van marked "Dispatch Rider Services". The package was in good condition, but by then it was too late. Over an hour later the Red Star parcel arrived, as it was collected, in a taxi.
Finally, five days later, the DHL parcel arrived. Intriguingly, the invoice arrived two days before the parcel. We telephoned to discover what had gone wrong. A friendly man took all the details of the parcel. When it came to listing the destination address he had some difficulty in identifying and spelling Skegness: "Is that in Scotland?" he asked. Perhaps this gives some clue to the tardiness of the DHL service. He told us he would call us back as soon as possible. Some 53 hours later we called back.
The woman who answered told us we were calling the wrong office; queries about parcels from Skegness went through the Bristol office and she gave us a phone number. We explained that our parcel took five days to arrive. "We have been looking at our accounts," we were told, "aRd we find you haven't paid yet, so shall we forget it?"
We explained that we hadn't paid because the parcel arrived two days after the invoice. "Did it?" she exclaimed. It was at this point we revealed our identity, explaining that we needed to know what went wrong for the survey, and were told: "The Cardigan area we don't service direct — its a long way out from Bristol. It would normally be collected and we . would receive it on the morning of the following day and we would send it to Humberside. It shouldn't have been delivered till the 13th, I don't know why it took tin the 15th."
DHL told us: "We've looked into it, and there were two problems. With the booking it was a very new employee who'd only been with us a month and it takes a long time to get to know all the areas. On the matter of why it took so long our Nottingham office deals with that area; they can't say why it was delivered on the 15th rather than the 14th."
CONCLUSIONS
This year's 12 parcels operators can be split into four groups.
Firstly, there are the companies who failed to pick up the parcel. These are: Seabourne Transport, which wouldn't answer the phone; Amtrak, which never rang back; Lynx, with its unobtainable driver; and Federal Express, which asked us to take the parcel to Cardiff.
Secondly, and in a class of its own this year, is DHL and sister company Elan, which failed to provide an overnight service and failed to discover the cause of the problem in an acceptable time. All parcels companies experience problems with parcels which go astray, but DHL's service on this route is not overnight. We should have been warned. The third category applies to Parceline and Red Star, as both failed to deliver the parcel before noon on the delivery date. We did not specify a particular time, but we did emphasise in all our telephone calls to the parcels companies the need tor the parcel to be delivered as early as possible on 10 June.
We are still awaiting confirmation of the cost of the Red Star delivery.
The fourth category belongs to those parcels companies which delivered the parcels on time, in good condition and with the minimum of fuss. TNT, ANC, Securicor, Interlink and Datapost all fared well this year.
TNT stands out for the sheer style of its service. Not only was the TNT parcel first to arrive (just), but the company followed the delivery with a phone call to the sender, confirming that the parcel had been delivered on time, and to whom. We were also asked if we wanted to start an account. We didn't, but we were certainly impressed by the follow-up, if not by the price. At 234.50, the TNT 9am service was outstanding, but at a price.
ANC's service was also fast and efficient. Like TNT, however, it was fairly expensive with a 225 surcharge for delivery before 9am.
Our experiences with Securicor, Interlink and Datapost serve to highlight the cost of the TNT and ANC services. The Securicor parcel arrived within ten minutes of TNT, yet cost 215 less.
Interlink's parcel service was cheaper still. It cost exactly one third of the TNT price and the Interlink parcel arrived within an hour of TNT. At 210.35 (including VAT), Interlink must take this year's award for the best value service.
As in previous years, Datapost's service was efficient, reliable and good value, at less than half the price of TNT and ANC although it was not outstanding in any respect.
WINNERS
This year, therefore, the parcels survey has produced two winners; TNT for the excellence of the service, and Interlink for outstanding value. TNT and Interlink have performed consistently well in our parcels surveys over the years (Interlink had a mishap last year, but won in the previous two years).
Only five of the 12 parcels companies we contacted this year performed acceptably. Parcels companies are relied upon to provide high standards at premium prices, and they all spend a huge amount of money promoting their own excellence. Our survey underlines the gulf in standards between those companies who have got things right and those which are just plain disorganised.
by Richard Scrase Our thanks to Paul and Jane Newman, and to Peter Cosby and Ken Hough at the Road Rescue Recover, Association.