Hermes delivery problem

[vodkafan]

Bought a lot of stuff from ebay lately. A lot of it has been delivered by Hermes. They always come when I am not there and leave the parcel outside the house around the side and leave a card through the door. They have no instructions to do this.
Well the inevitable has happened. A parcel has been stolen.
I went on the Hermes website but according to their tracking it has of course been "successfully delivered."
In any case the delivery contract was not with me but with the ebay seller.
I have contacted him but am waiting for a reply.
I don't know where to go from here.  It's not his fault and it's not my fault either, but I have paid for something (including the postage, which adds insult to injury) and not got it.

[Cubs]

Yeah, with Hermes the sender sets the instructions as to what to do with a parcel if the receiver is not home and it is purely with them that Hermes has the contract with, so they can't answer any queries from the buyer. If the sender has not left instructions that the parcel be left outside, then the Hermes agent is at fault and it is the sender's responsibility to chase that up. If you can get a refund somehow (maybe quite tricky if the records show it has been delivered, but if it's not tracked then Paypal will probably refund), that would be my recommendation, because then the sender will have a pressing reason for pursuing the claim - obviously as things stand the sender has your money, My Hermes has their money and you're the only one losing out.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to fix problems because Hermes agents are all self-employed and Hermes cannot give out their details (!) and they seem quite laid back about chasing up issues. I use My Hermes occasionally when the weight and proportions of the parcel make it much cheaper than Royal Mail, but it's a case of it works until it doesn't, and then it's a bit of a shit pie.

[stone-cold-lead]

Not a fan of Hermes but haven't had any recent problems with them around here. They were bloody awful a few years back. Parcels would be left several doors down the street (which they're not supposed to do). Had one left with a neighbour but wasn't left a calling card. Thankfully they were an honest sort and passed the package onto me. Most annoying was finding a parcel sitting outside the front door on the pavement in the rain. I'd been in all afternoon and the courier hadn't even knocked. Like I say they've been better recently but you're at the mercy of the individual driver with them.

[Cubs]

Like I say they've been better recently but you're at the mercy of the individual driver with them.

Yup, that's the long and short really. If you've got a decent agent in your area you'll be fine. If they're a git you're not so lucky.

[fastolfrus]

Not sure if I have ever had a trouble-free delivery from Hermes.
Had parcels outside in the rain, including obvious books, had a parcel drop-kicked into the back garden pond, had a large fragile parcel (clearly labelled) dropped over a six-foot high gate, had a parcel left in the wheelie-bin (on bin day).
Had a parcel left out on the road under a parked car (luckily was in the house when the "you were out" card for that one came through the letterbox. By the time I got to the door the courier had gone). Had a problem with a kickstarter parcelthat went astray. All I had was the card, but it took three months to find out what the missing parcel was, Hermes didn't know who had sent it (even with a tracking number) and suggested I contact anyone who I had ever bought from. I did as they suggested and emailed every company I had bought from in the previous three years, explaining that Hermes had lost a parcel but were not sure who from. When Hermes saw my emails going through they tried to find the sender, but gave me the contact details for someone who had sent a parcel six months previous. Possibly the most entertaining was a card that said the parcel was in my porch. The house doesn't have a porch. When I contacted Hermes, they gave me the postcode of the porch (Dorset) 300 miles away from me in North Yorkshire.
 

[fastolfrus]

About a year ago won an ebay item and the seller contacted me to say he was sending via Hermes, so I told him thank you, but he could keep my cash and just set fire to the parcel rather than bothering with Hermes. He generously sent it via Royal Mail instead

[vodkafan]

About a year ago won an ebay item and the seller contacted me to say he was sending via Hermes, so I told him thank you, but he could keep my cash and just set fire to the parcel rather than bothering with Hermes. He generously sent it via Royal Mail instead

That's funny!
The seller replied and took the time to contact Hermes himself. But I should be covered by the Ebay money back guarantee in any case.

[Annie]

I avoid Hermes something rotten! DPD or go home!

[Cait Sidhe]

DPD or go home!

My office is up the road from an Amazon warehouse, DPD dumped a limited edition mini I ordered into Amazon's master IN pile never to be seen again... Alternatively never had an issue with the Hermes drivers around here.

[Daeothar]

Delivery services often stand or fall with the people doing the actual deliveries, regardless of the label on the van.

Most have such well oiled systems for handling packages in their warehouses by now, that very little goes wrong there. So the eventual delivery is where things most often go wrong.

There is a plethora of reasons, and the ridiculous work pressure, low wages and lack of job security (often delivery people are self employed and hired by the big companies) of delivery guys (and gals) all play a part, but in the end it all hinges on the professionalism of said delivery people.

I regularly receive deliveries by many companies; DPD, DHL, TNT, FedEx, UPS, PostNL, you name it, and most do a pretty good job. Still; most packages are delivered through TNT, and for at least six months this year, I've seen a huge drop off of service level from them.

Packages going missing, returned because of address unknown (even though I got pictures from the sender proving the opposite once they received it back), left out in the paper waste container on my driveway, packages left at the post office without leaving a notice, watching the van drive by, and then a couple of minutes later seeing online that nobody was home, etc, etc.

It became almost a weekly event; there was always one or two packages with issues and I've had to request a refund from sellers three times in that period, with absolutely zero in the nearly two decades of having packages delivered to y doorstep before that.

And then about a month ago, a new guy started doing the route, and it appears that everything has gone back to normal. At least; I hope so. For now, things are good, so fingers crossed.

So yeah; in the end, most of the time it's the guy ringing your doorbell (or not ) who is responsible for delivery problems. Mostly due to difficult working conditions, let's not forget that, but we, as the receivers, are often the ones  left to deal with the problems...

[fastolfrus]

That's funny!
The seller replied and took the time to contact Hermes himself. But I should be covered by the Ebay money back guarantee in any case.

Thank you. Glad you liked.

Oddly enough, friends who know me occasionally wind me up on facebook where I might sometimes rant at Hermes.
I did copy and paste some of my communications with the Hermes Customer Service team at one point. The ones that they liked the best were my suggestions that: since Hermes was a messenger for Greek gods perhaps I could not receive any parcels because I was a) a mere mortal and b) not Greek? Or should I burn some votive offering in a roadside shrine to try and appease the delivery driver? I also suggested they might have more success with delivery if they did not base their business on an old chap running around wearing nothing but a pair of sandals and a hat with wings on it.

[vodkafan]

Things have got worse. I spent 40 minutes on an online chat to Hermes this morning. They have now changed their story and say (despite the drivers card saying it was left in the alley)that the parcel was delivered to number 30. I checked physically while I was still online. 30 is not a house it is a storage for the undertakers on the corner. The undertaker confirmed that they received no parcel and are not in the business of taking parcels.
Then the Hermes guy refused to give me the procedure to make a compensation claim despite me asking twice point blank. In the end I ran out of time.
Because the tracking information says the parcel was "delivered" Ebay will not support me and the seller does not want to know.
He is going to get some MotherCuddler of a bad feedback , I can tell you that.....

[Ragsta]

Sorry to hear about your Hermes problems, sounds like a major downer. For parcels I have frequently had them delivered to local collection points instead - there are several corner shops in my area that do this. It has minimised parcel chais for me anyway, and there are stores and mailbox businesses in town that do similar things.

It won’t help everyone (particularly if you’re in suburbia or further) but wanted to mention it in case it might help someone.

OP, good luck with your case!

[Cubs]

That's a good point actually. I didn't know you could use these collection and delivery points until I had issues when their online collection system went down and I had to take some parcels to a local shop for sending. But again, if you're receiving the parcel, you have to get the seller to send it to the right place in the first place.

[FionaWhite]

Neeeevermind.