Couriers and signing for deliveries

[revbobuk]

[splitting off another thread about Maplin speakers...]

 

...How do you mark the courier's sheet 'Not yet inspected' when all there is is a small electronic gadget and a stylus? Paper is increasingly uncommon, and it's hard enough to sign in the box, let alone write a comment.

[Dave22]

make him wait whilst you inspect it after all you have paid for there services, so your the customer.

[Stuart91]

How do you mark the courier's sheet 'Not yet inspected' when all there is is a small electronic gadget and a stylus?

 

I have occasionally written "unchecked" as the signature on the gadget, so far nobody has noticed.

[paulears]

I scratch "UNOP" then my sig - seems to work ok.

[revbobuk]

That's pure genius - I'll start doing that immediately.

[Rob_Beech]

Agreed. I do alot of work with both UPS and DHL and whilst I do have the odd issue here and there with DHL it's always been admin / people sat at desks at fault the drivers.

 

To be fair, I don't want to turn the topic into a which is the best/worst courier. They're all as bad as one another, just like mobile phone companies, energy suppliers, banks, credit card suppliers, insurance companies. Let's face it, they're all rubbish.

 

However I always like to point out that a certain courier company that likes its green and yellow livery did once bring me 2 pallets of stuff with a combined weight of 1.6tonnes on a medium wheelbase sprinter. The pub landlord across the road (and his cctv) will confirm that the van was empty (or running on 7.5tonne springs), and the driver got out and put a card through the door and drove off spinning the back wheels as he went. Now, I'm a sprinter driver, a 316CDi to be precise and I can't do that with 1.6tonnes on the back let alone a smaller model.

Needless to say it was delivered the following day in a 7.5tonne with tail lift. I've had things go missing, things dropped and smashed. I always sign where possible unchecked unless I DO check it which is rare. If there is no way to sign it unchecked, I don't sign it. The drivers understand, and if they don't, tough.

 

Rob

[MrBoomal]

I know that it can make you feel uncomfortable but you either check the delivery or scrawl "unchecked on delivery" across the waybill.

 

Believe me , it is a lot easier in the long run.

 

Trouble can start when you're not in , and so a receptionist or similar will be asked "sign this love" and then after,

you find all of your new lamps have been used as a goalpost in the courier warehouse.

 

Not fun.

[dan slv-tech]

for the record,

 

a box must be signed for either clear with your name or "damaged"- unchecked does not stand up to insurance companies underwriting the couriers.

Trust me on this, I you think its broken explain to the driver you have to check it, if he dont want to wait then refuse the box (this will go against him as if he takes boxes back they get a red mark or if they are freelance they get fined)

 

If its damaged or you suspect damage you must state the said damage on the POD or handheld (drivers normally have a seperate sheet to note down damage)

 

If you sign for it "unchecked" and then find it buggered you wont have a leg to stand on- scenario

 

 

box arrives, you sign "unchecked" driver goes, you open box and the item is broken, now whos to prove you didnt break it taking it from the box, or u dropped it. as far as the courier is concerned you didnt state any noticable damage.

 

equally, I you sign for it all ok, and you open the box, well you never stated otherwise.

 

Having worked or a major logistics company, unchecked, does not stand, the only way you will get goods replaced if they are damaged is as a good will gesture from the company you bought it from (some will have extended insurance not courier related)

 

So remember, if your unsure, open it and check it in front of the driver, if he dont want to wait, refuse it on the grounds that you dont know without opening it whether its ok or not, though by opening it your technically accepting it anyhow all short of a signature.

 

and I you open it, and its damaged you must state DAMAGED on the POD dont just say its damaged, write it, ask for a damage form, without it you do not have a leg to stand on come claiming for damage time.

 

hope this helps you before u get caught out

 

dan

[lightsource]

for the record,

hope this helps you before u get caught out

 

Well, not wanting to quote the entire post by Dan slv-tech above, but have to totally agree with him here. Signing a document as uninspected means pretty much nothing in a legal sense.

 

How many have signed a delivery document as 'uninspected' or whatever, then gone on to make a successful claim against either the courier or the supplier for damages or loss?

 

When you recieve a package, weather 1kg or 20 tonnes, YOU are the customer of the driver at that moment in time. If he isn't prepared to wait while you inspect the packages, then quite simply tell him to put it all back in the van, and re-deliver when he does have the time...

 

It works wonders.

 

You should only ever sign a delivery note if you're totally confident there is no transit damage, and the only way to do that is at very least, by a simple inspection of the goods in any damaged boxes.

 

Remember, that from a courier point of view, it's only the condition of the exterior packaging that is important, any issues inside the boxes are the responsibility of the goods supplier, providing the outer packaging is not damaged.

[Modge]

To be fair, I don't want to turn the topic into a which is the best/worst courier.

 

....However I always like to point out that a certain courier company that likes its green and yellow livery ...

I whole heartily agree that indeed couriers are all as bad as each other, however the put a card through the door and run away with out ever disturbing anyone there is a particular favourite of that courier company.

[Rob_Beech]

The way it works is.

 

They have to deliver an item on that day, or they don't get paid by the sender, and get in more trouble if it's happening regularly. So, if they send a van around to those places and sneakily put cards through without even knocking on the door (what's the point they don't even HAVE your parcel) then they get paid as they claim nobody was in. They can then deliver it properly the next day.

 

The supplier in question was sent the CCTV footage explaining what happened. They don't use our yellow and green friends anymore though I suspect where will be more than just that issue that has caused them to change.

 

Had 4 300 series G2's go missing 18 months ago from them too. And a mobile phone about 5 years back. Great aren't they.

[richardtank]

I've had this happen to me in the past also Rob, not just as a private customer expecting a package at home, but also at work.

One time I was actually in my living room when they posted the slip, (I was literally 2 meters away from the door). There was no knocking, and by the time I'd got to the door he'd sped off. It's a strange practice, I wasn't aware that they didn't get paid if they didn't deliver on time.

I've experienced the service of quite a few different courier companies and I've not had this from anyone apart from our friends in green and yellow.

 

As for the signing of 'Not expected' next to the signature this has actually saved me once as we didn't get all the packages we were meant to- We had asked the receptionist to sign this next to her signature when taking delivery of items. And because of this we managed to get our missing parcel. I'm not so sure it would have been as easy if she hadn't signed that. Obviously I'm no legal professional, and agree it's best practice to make the driver wait for you to check it.

[revbobuk]

Green 'n' yellow are superb just here - but I know the driver well, so I would say that. The really awful outfit are more lime green / dark green, let's call them 'Not the Office Delivery Network Limited' - they did on one occasion deliver some radio mics by leaving them in a wheelie bin, with a card through the door saying 'left in wheeled bin' - would have been fine had that not been collection day! So there's a landfill sire somewhere with two brand new shrinkwrapped Audio Technica radio mic sets on it!

[smalljoshua]

Ah yes, our little Yellow and Green Friends.

 

Had a couple of drums of cable left with a neighbour yesterday. I didn't even know they had attempted a Delivery until the neighbour brought them over today.

 

On checking the CCTV, they never even knocked on the door or left a note.

 

Josh

[richardtank]

et's call them 'Not the Office Delivery Network Limited' - they did on one occasion deliver some radio mics by leaving them in a wheelie bin, with a card through the door saying 'left in wheeled bin'

 

Haha, I hope you got some new ones! They left a package for my housemate in our recycle bin. We all thought it was lucky that they came after the bin collection. The next time they gave it to the neighbours to look after until one of us got back from work.