eBay

zee-chan · ‎08-30-2018

Just had something arrived at the door (not bought on eBay) this morning, delivered by DHL (only shipping option from the retailer I bought from).

I got a phone notification at around 9am saying that my parcel is out for delivery. Checked tracking at noon and saw that it was "delivered and signed by FRONT DOOR" at 11am. Went to check front door and indeed, it's sitting there. No door bell, no knocking on the door. Checked online delivery notification to view signature, and the signature is a photo of my front door with unit number...... You'd think it's faster to ring the door bell than to take a photo of my front door, but I guess not!

Last time I had a package from DHL from the same retailer, it was also left and "signed by FRONT DOOR" but I wasn't home so I wasn't sure if they bothered ringing the door bell. This time I was home so now I know they didn't even bother ringing. I didn't check to see if there was a signature image last time (and now it's too late to dig up old info). The thing is, with the previous shipment I did request for a later delivery date with their online form (a day-off), except it was ignored and I found it on my pouch when I got home from work, a day after the request was submitted.

Just wondering if anyone had similar situation with DHL, and how would eBay handle this. If a buyer files INR, and DHL indeed shows "delivered", would the buyer lose the case automatically? I'm just glad my neighbours were honest people. My parcel was sitting just right in front of the door in the most obvious way possible. My friend suggested that I should file a complaint, but I'm worried that the DHL driver would hold grudges and trash my future shipments from this retailer...

Last time Canada Post left me a no-tracking parcel, at least they hid it on the side so it wasn't obvious, and they always ring + knock on my door a couple times lol. Canada Post does 10x better job than DHL with my shopping.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎08-30-2018

Seems the more eBay "suggests" all packages include tracking and proof of delivery, the more it's becoming a difficult/unaffordable option to include. With the volume of packages that the Couriers are currently handling due to Internet Commerce (CanPost/USPS/DHL/Purolator etc) and them not being able to properly keep up with that volume, some drivers are taking shortcuts with delivering packages safely, and NOT actually Safe Dropping packages where it is truly safe and the greater odds packages are going to walk away by themselves. A good percentage of the driver's ring/knock once, then drop off your package on the step in plain sight. Not all. But its happening more and more. And the constant horror stories about package scan details not being as reported or "manually entered". This problem is only going to get worse as time goes on. It keeps getting increasingly difficult for one to submit a claim for a late/damaged/missing parcel with all the reasons a claim will NOT be approved. You can have all the cookie jar insurance you want. Right now the cookie jar has a crack it and it's only getting bigger.

-CM

PS. A number of years ago had 6 packages dropped off while I was at work between my front doors valued at 1100.00 I had made arrangements to purchase for a friend. From the shipper the waybills and packages were all clearly marked "Do not safe drop". Knew they were about to arrive so was monitoring delivery status. When I got home 3 hours later they were gone. Total paid by UPS for claim: $40.00 = 20 x $2.00 per lb. Later was able to get $100.00 in free shipments. They said that as the best they could do!! From that point on I cringe whenever I see packages being left on a doorstep in full view. So Zee-Chan, I hear your frustration!!!

reallynicestamps · ‎08-31-2018

You'd think it's faster to ring the door bell than to take a photo of my front door, but I guess not!

Ask a millennial for the time. She digs into her purse, finds her phone, turns it on, tells you the time.

Ask a boomer, she looks at her wrist, tells you the time.

I am old and cranky.

My sisters have one answer to the parcel on the doorstep problem.

All of them have postboxes about 24x20x6 attached either to the wall or to the door itself. These are wooden with a lid and they bought them at craft fairs. (It's possible Pat made hers because she is crafty.)

Their boxes are almost entirely unlike these:

being wooden and not on posts.

Although you can buy cast iron mailboxes like these fairly easily. All you need is money.

zee-chan · ‎08-31-2018

<--- millennial

I lost the habit of wearing watches not because of my age but because my occupation involves washing my hands a lot, so it didn't make sense to wear a watch. Because I don't wear it at work, so I stopped wearing it for other occasions as well...

I still think it's super amusing to see a photo of my front door on the signature image of the delivery confirmation e-mail. I thought people sign for deliveries on their handheld device, so I never realized that it had the option of uploading a photo. Wouldn't it be obvious to the system that no real signature was acquired? I wonder if that's an acceptable practice at DHL... did no one find it strange that they had many recipient named "FRONT DOOR"?

momcqueen · ‎08-31-2018

I've had a lot of parcels delivered by Dynamex lately.

If my front door is ajar, the courier driver guy will open the screen door and leave the box on my mat inside the house at the door, ring the doorbell and leave. Also odd is that Dynamex drivers wear a vest or lanyard that identifies them as such but drive regular passenger cars, almost like they're subcontractors. So it's a guy in a rusty Astro or antiquated Sunfire delivering my stuff to all-the-way inside my house.

Unless you want to call DHL and talk to them about the habit of your local delivery guy, I think you're stuck calling your retailer and asking if there might be another shipping option. (There probably isn't unless or until they switch companies and contracts.) And it's probably the same guy doing the same route every time, so it's not likely to change.

I don't envy delivery drivers, to be honest. Driving all day: traffic snarls and impolite, snarly drivers all with a route to follow and schedule to keep.

zee-chan · ‎08-31-2018

I tried to look for a "contact us" form with the retailer, but my Japanese isn't up to par with something as complicated as a complaint about the shipper... I remember they used to use Fedex a few years ago and shipping back then was more expensive, and now DHL but with a cheaper international shipping. I guess I'll just have to suck it up for the savings lol. I was buying a 2019 calendar (and a few other bulky things to make shipping worthwhile) and they are oversized, so their contracted DHL prices was cheaper than using EMS from Japan Post.

I pretty much posted here to rant and was curious if anyone had dealt with such situation with eBay. If my parcel was actually stolen, I wouldn't know how to communicate with that Japanese retailer about the loss either as tracking does show "delivered and signed" by my inanimate front door...

I have a friend who said her UPS deliveries from places like Amazon often get stolen, apparently by people who followed delivery trucks as seen on her security camera. I guess I should be glad that the DHL truck that delivered my parcel didn't get followed.

joseph_scallywag · ‎09-29-2018

I have a friend that worked for DHL. When asked how it was ,all he said was Destroy ,Hide and Lose.Which seems to be accurate when you consider an item I bought from China arrived at Toronto but was sent to Germany then back to Montreal finally arriving to me in Alberta. Bizarre. .