There’s an online store that I buy jewellery and cosmetics from, and I’m very loyal to them, despite them being based interstate. Not long ago they changed the courier they use for breakable products, which has caused a real headache for me.
When the package from my most recent order was late, I called the online store for an update on the status of the delivery. They told me that my order had shipped out, and was now with the courier.
So I called the courier for the whereabouts of my order. This is where the “fun” began.
The courier company gave no explanation for the delay, other than to say the package was “on its way,” and gave no clear indication of when it would arrive.
After another handful of days waiting around with no delivery, I called the courier company again. They told me that the package had arrived into my state – but was sitting at their warehouse for dispatch. I asked them why I wasn’t told about this when I first called, and they said that they had no way of knowing its location until now. Riiiiiiight.
Then there was the hassle of getting the delivery from the courier’s warehouse to my home address. They were vague and unhelpful about not only delivery times, but also delivery dates. I explained that I needed to know when to be home to receive the package because the contents were expensive. I even asked if they could safely store the package at a pick-up point nearby if I couldn’t be home to receive the delivery. They never gave me a straight answer.
The jewellery store was helpful throughout, but they didn’t directly cause the issue and couldn’t directly fix it. When I complained to the store about the courier service, they sent me a new product while the first delivery was lost in limbo, based on a promise that I would return whichever delivery arrived second.
Eventually the first delivery arrived at my front door, while I was not home, with no advance notification. All I got was an abrupt automated text message notifying me that the package had already been left unattended at my home address. The package then sat on my doorstep, unsecured, until I could get away from work.
As much as I love my favourite online store, I now have second thoughts every time I think about ordering from them, just because I don’t trust the courier service they have chosen to use.
