Good service should be part and parcel of this business
I’M on my way home from a spot of in-store Christmas shopping when my phone pings, heralding the fruitful conclusion of an online purchase. “So, the parcel’s arrived?” I say to the missus.
She looks puzzled. Hardly surprising after a lifetime with me.
“No,” she says. “Nothing’s come while I’ve been here and I’d have heard the door.”
“But it says here on the email, look: your parcel has been delivered. Even gives the time, Oh, and there’s photographic evidence. See…”
Then, as the picture attachment opens, I realise that my Santa Claus has caught herpes. Er, sorry, I mean Hermes. There’s a picture, all right, of a parcel. But it’s inside someone’s vehicle, presumably the delivery driver’s.
“What the….!”
I look up Hermes online. Phone the helpline. The number’s changed. Try the new one. It’s a robot. Just give me a human voice!
I send an email to the address given on Hermes’ website. It comes back undeliverable.
Now, I know the law states that my contract is with the supplier of the goods, not with the courier, but you might think that a multimillion-pound organisation like Hermes would welcome feedback, not obstruct it.
I realise, too, that this is an exceptionally busy time for delivery companies. Online shopping has boomed during the pandemic and it’s said there are 200 million more parcels than usual in the postal and courier system. Hermes has taken on 13,000 extra staff to cope with the Christmas rush.
Well, the firm might be named after a Greek god but there are many who think its service is far from heavenly. Last month, one of its couriers was sacked on suspicion of theft after being filmed placing a parcel on a customer’s doorstep, photographing it as proof of delivery, then picking it up and taking it back to his van.
A website has been set up purely to record complaints about Hermes. Its 600-plus disgruntled customers make me sound like a paragon of mercy.
My own ordeal ends two days after the delivery-that-wasn’t. I complained to the supplier and Hermes has given me a new fourhour delivery slot – for both the missing parcel and another that I’ve ordered.
I spend the time sitting by my window, not daring to dash upstairs for a wee in case I miss them. At one stage, I call the Hermes robot, enter my 16-digit tracking number for the second order and am told it will be delivered half an hour ago. Finally, with 15 minutes to deadline, both parcels turn up.
All of which underlines something that I hope companies large and small will one day grow to understand – that a little investment in an actual person to answer the phones could save so many damaged reputations.
PS: I gave Hermes’ press office the opportunity to comment. They did not reply.