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Ordering online and delivery times

(33 Posts)
Slimswim Thu 23-Jul-26 11:12:39

Why is it that some companies manage to deliver what they say with regards to delivery times and other companies fail? Twice recently I’ve ordered things online and the delivery times have been longer than stated. So annoying when you place an order knowing that you will be around when they are due then they are later than expected and you’re away.

grannyjan2 Thu 23-Jul-26 11:28:18

The exact same thing has just happened to me .. and annoyingly they ignored my documented request to deliver to my neighbour next door, so I now have to try to contact her to ask her to pick it up from our porch.

dalrymple23 Thu 23-Jul-26 15:02:50

Unless they are owned and managed by the c ompanies from whom you are ordering (e.g. Tesco, Waitrose) they are generally atrocious.

Packages thrown over gates, deliveries left beside the road in the rain (mine), 6 Amazon packages dumped under a hedge (not by Amazon but by their contractors); yesterday my fresh meat delivery was dumped by my drive gate - not brought to the back door as instructed, nor was I telephoned when he arrived at said gate.

Also, the delivery drivers from one particular company are consummate liars. "Handed to customer". "Left in porch" (with a photograph of someone else's front door). And so it goes on.

If you have ever tried to contact the courier concerned, there is no email address and no telephone number. Funny that!

watermeadow Thu 23-Jul-26 18:25:54

I have to order a lot on line as there are very few shops left in our little town. I’m at number 6.
My parcels are then delivered to number 6 over the road, number 6 in the next road, number 6 behind me, number 6 up the road or in a nearby village.
It takes some time to find a missing delivery, whether it was dispatched the same day or a week later.

valdali Thu 23-Jul-26 18:33:13

We've had problems with house numbers, as they are duplicated on our road (although postcodes different).

I've found that it's happened a lot less as delivery drivers deliver more & it's probably been 12 months since its happened to me.

I was most disappointed, having opened an online wine box & eaten the snacks with it, to find out it wasn't mine & have to surrender the wine to the rightful owners.

Redrobin51 Thu 23-Jul-26 21:51:22

I actually had 2 separate items delivered before the stated delivery dates so of course I wasn't in. It caused me as much trouble as a late delivery.

JenniRen Thu 23-Jul-26 21:55:16

I ordered several items from Amazon yesterday morning and most of them them were delivered in the early evening.
The box was dumped on the doorstep but he did ring the bell!

Fallingstar Thu 23-Jul-26 22:10:43

I order a lot online, am stuck at home a lot with my DH who I care for, I don’t drive and he can’t. Is really irritating. Have had two deliveries that were no shows in the past two months, got refunded but then had to order again.
Ordered from M&S, a cotton dress for the heatwave - I never wear dresses but thought it might help keep me cool - and they sent a completely different dress, again was refunded but then told I would need to take the other dress back to a store which is a bus ride away.
Had Evri deliver a parcel, they didn’t ring the doorbell I just got a notification on my phone saying it was in my safe place. I don’t have a safe place. But they photographed it inside my wheelie bin on top of my recycling.
Amazon are usually much better despite the bad rep they have.

MissAdventure Thu 23-Jul-26 22:18:33

I've been on amazons case for the last few weeks.
Constantly contacting them "it it says handed to customer then why are you asking me to check outbuildings and with neighbours?"
Was or wasn't it handed to me?
Where is a photo of me taking the parcel?

Madmeg Fri 24-Jul-26 01:16:09

I use online buying a great deal as we have few shops near us and have hardly ever had a poor delivery. Most are via Amazon and I don't think they've ever put a foot wrong. I wish we had more shops around here but we simply don't.

nexus63 Fri 24-Jul-26 01:34:04

i do not use any company that uses evri for deliveries, i contact the company online website and ask if royal mail is an option, if they say no, i go to another company, some of my orders from places are using amazon even though i have not purchased using amazon.

NotSpaghetti Fri 24-Jul-26 06:57:02

Just had a delivery from Lush to be a birthday gift.
It said on the website free standard delivery in (I think) 3-5 days.
OK I thought... I have 11 days so even if five working days I won't pay for an expedited delivery.

Well after 3 or 4 days I regretted that decision- i had a tracking number but the parcel was still with Lush. 🤷‍♂️
I rang and was told the delivery company had it. They said they did not.
Lush said "they have obviously lost it" but there was no evidence that it had been handed over.

The person at Lush sent me a new "next day" delivery.

Both parcels came on the same day!
One had been dropped a lot and several of the bath bombs were looking not so good. The other box (obviously stored somewhere really hot) had one melt all over several others.

I managed to make one good gift from the two boxes though one bath bomb was spoiled in both boxes.

After the birthday I asked for a label to return the damaged ones and told them I had combined the boxes and only had one item (out of 10) that was poor in both boxes.
They said "just keep the rest" and to my surprise they sent me the one that was damaged.

Yes. It was damaged again!

It is such a waste to deliver things twice!
And a waste to not pack/deliver carefully.

And the websites should say if the delivery time includes the picking and packing time. If they don't pack the next day after order when will the parcel actually be on the way?

Telling me a label has been automatically generated is no help at all!!!

Olderthanidlike Fri 24-Jul-26 13:38:45

A lot of smaller businesses sell items when they aren't actually in stock. They then order the item when they've been paid for it so it causes a delay . That's why they put the tracking details on when they haven't actually sent the item so it appears like the item has been sent . This happens a lot with ebay I've found. Also if a buyer wants to cancel the order because it's not been sent the seller can refuse saying the items been sent out.

Astitchintime Fri 24-Jul-26 13:45:57

I bought a bathroom shelf that I saw on FB……..wished I hadn’t bothered because it’s been despatched from China and I’ve waited over two weeks already. Lesson learned 🙄

Jojo1950 Fri 24-Jul-26 14:01:13

I know the feeling! You think it’s a uk site when in fact it’s not! Journey times and delivery are extremely long!

RillaofIngleside Fri 24-Jul-26 14:15:29

I have a weekly Ocado or Waitrose order, and they have been excellent for years. Rare substitutions, on time and good shelf lives.
I have Amazon deliveries every other day and they have been excellent too. Can't fault either of them. Wish I had bought shares when they first came out!

dalrymple23 Fri 24-Jul-26 14:16:45

I am with you on that one Nexus. But I discovered today that most of these delivery companies belong to trade organisations (Evri is AICES) and that is the route which should be used. Just Google trade organisations for delivery companies and it will come up with which company belongs to what organisation plus s ome very useful info. The next chore on my list, as it is unacceptable.

DianneAngel Fri 24-Jul-26 14:22:56

My cheese box which should have been delivered today has gone on a short trip to Runcorn. Hopefully, it will be delivered by Royal Mail tomorrow. Looking forward to eating cheese for the next few weeks. hugs

Plevey08 Fri 24-Jul-26 14:37:18

I live in a ground floor 3 storey flat, there are 3 other 3 storey blocks around me. My block can be accessed from the side road but the other blocks are accessed through a security gate as there main entrance is on the main road. Amazon are terrible for dumping all the parcels for all blocks in ours. Xmas is terrible and I have spent a lot of time ringing on bells in other blocks to let them know. They are grateful but last Xmas I told someone in each block to put a note up in there block to tell them this is happening. Amazon are losing out as most of the residents tell them they haven't received their parcel, so they just send another one out to the correct block. Ridiculous! But the poor drivers are paid very little and their delivery timetable is huge so that is what they do.

TillyTrotter Fri 24-Jul-26 22:05:41

It’s a postcode Lottery but I can only say I’m very lucky with deliveries - Royal Mail Post Lady, eVRI courier, Amazon couriers, DHL and DPD couriers.
I would struggle to shop locally for clothes, gifts and other items and these drivers are my heroes (2 of them - ladies - have become like friends).

NotSpaghetti Fri 24-Jul-26 22:18:44

RillaofIngleside
I agree, Ocado and Waitrose and Amazon - all excellent (though I do look elsewhere before buying from Amazon).

Milest0ne Fri 24-Jul-26 23:26:08

I had a delivery left up the drive, several hundred yards away and out of sight of the house.
This week, we have had two pizza delivery drivers trying to deliver to a house that have passed on their way to our house. They need a new sat nav that directs to specific address rather than the first one alphabetically in our post code area, which is in the middle of a mile radius of isolated houses non of which have a house number. I have had patio flags broken by delivery vehicles coming into our yard and turning round doing a 20 point turn. I need a camera for evidence so that I can make a claim against them.
We haven't had a postal delivery for three weeks. Unless we have a parcel ,I have to get my DD to send an empty envelope as a tracked letter in order to get post. I don't get up early enough to go and collect mail from the sorting office.I get important parcels delivered to DDs 30 miles away.
I do get deliveries of flowers on time , ordered by GD in Australia

NotSpaghetti Fri 24-Jul-26 23:43:36

TillyTrotter - our postie is terrific.
Thank you Royal Mail.

Trisha99 Sat 25-Jul-26 06:09:53

Olderthanidlike

A lot of smaller businesses sell items when they aren't actually in stock. They then order the item when they've been paid for it so it causes a delay . That's why they put the tracking details on when they haven't actually sent the item so it appears like the item has been sent . This happens a lot with ebay I've found. Also if a buyer wants to cancel the order because it's not been sent the seller can refuse saying the items been sent out.

We sell on eBay quite often- items are automatically marked as ‘despatched’ by the eBay system as soon as the postage label is printed, not when the parcel is posted, which can cause confusion.
If sellers did as you describe surely they risk the postage label being out of date by the time they come to use it, as they can only get a tracking number by buying postage.

Skyblue2 Sat 25-Jul-26 08:30:35

I often get an email from Royal Mail saying my parcel has been delivered when I have been in all day and it obviously has not been! It is a hassle tracking it down and getting redelivery.