Hassles with Hasslefree - merged issues thread

[Reboot Guillotine]

If they respond to the credit card company's inquiries that would be major progress!

[zemjw]

I ordered some figures during their haloween sale, so fingers crossed they get here. Their last newsletter said they were nearly caught up with the backlog, so I should be okay.

I think one of their newsletters said something about them getting some more help in the warehouse, so hopefully they'll get sorted out.

Not replying to emails, or even to paypal refund requests, however, is still concerning...

[Nordic1980s]

Got email from PayPal about the official complaint, telling me they had made a decision to my benefit. The reason? The company concerned did not respond to PayPal's request for more information! I find that both humorous and sad at the same time...

Now, this closes the final chapter of The Great Hassle Saga of 2018 on my part. With great feeling of solidarity, I wish luck for all folks who still need to receive either the orders or the monies!

[Vampifan]

Calling themselves Hasslefree is a disingenuous giving their appalling customer service. They really ought to get their act sorted out, as I have lost all faith in them. 

[Reboot Guillotine]

I checked with my credit card company, looked silly when they couldn't find the charges; turns out I used Paypal (it's under Black and White Games, not Hasslefree) and their dispute resolution window is apparently 180 days so I have a bit more time.  I still want the goods! But can't afford to blow that much scratch if nothing changes.

[grant]

I changed the title of the main thread to be inclusive of all those still having problems. My recommendation is to proceed, despite me being one of the few, lucky ones who actually got their stuff.

[Dentatus]

There's a number of figs I'd like to order but this thread does not inspire confidence.

[Nordic1980s]

To give more general context, all non-UK people be sure to read this, this and this news. To my knowledge, if in general there are any problems amongst customers or consumers, only a small part of the concerned will dare to make any kind of official complaints. Methinks the real number of lost mail is way above the one reported in the news (like: millions, not just thousands).

Britons may already know those news, but I as foreigner had no idea of any of this when I made the orders. The reason I found these news today is that I just noticed I have a new case of a UK parcel missing (anyone seen Heroquest plastic skeletons lately...?) - yet all the time US, German and even Italian parcels arrive just fine. Which suggests to me the problems to be in the UK end of logistics and not elsewhere.

I wonder if this massive change in logistical trustworthyness is so new situation, that the sellers have not yet realised it or recognised the underlying pattern. When they should simply refuse to ship parcels withouth tracking code and signature requirement, they think incorrectly these all dripping problem cases to be random MIAs or cases of an odd dishonest customers. Thus kinda allowing them in their own minds to weather this all off by just stonewalling the customer complaints. Just compare my case above to this similar case here.

[FramFramson]

Well! That's some bad news which is good to know.

Perhaps the issue isn't Canada Post after all (or at least, not so much), considering how many minis orders come from the UK.

With the increased volume of internet commerce and decreased wages for most folks (and in the UK's case, the plunging Pound), no doubt sticky-fingered or simply lazy posties are becoming an issue in many countries where the post used to be considered inassailably reliable.

[Cubs]

True, MrsCub has now lost three parcels in a row she sent from a single local Post Office. One issue might be that actual Royal Mail Post Offices are pretty rare now and most are run as franchises in other shops. It seems their professionalism may not be all it should be.

[Tactalvanic]

Royal mail are very much no better than any other parcel service in the UK now it seems.

We recently lost our local in shop post office counter - they decided to transfer it to another near-ish shop as the old one refused to run reduced post services from an open counter.

Royal mail said services were not less, they were reducing costs and re-organizing the services so they could be run from ordinary shop counters rather than the "old" dedicated enclosed ones.

When challenged with the shorter list of services, they still insisted it was just the same.

grrr...

Now if i post any packages, down to the village or town centre and queue at real one..and its usually got to be signed for  option

I understand increased volume increase the risk of loss, and traditionally they used to be very good at finding the "rogue" posties, but the losses as such seem to be the system rather than the people -

but that aside I best go look up some of these auctions see what they have available and if they can deliver...

[mcfonz]

I won't comment on HF, as we seem to have moved away from that at the moment.

Postal service wise - and in general this time of year. As you can expect there is normally an upturn in demand on most services for the Christmas period in the UK, and even more so now that you have Black Friday sales which is something that has only really taken off here in recent years.

Traditionally this extra demand results in companies employing temporary staff to meet the demand over this period (this was how I was initially employed for my 2nd ever job aged 16).

In recent years, this has also seen issues with various postal services as the temps made errors or tried to take short cuts, or generally were just not up to the job. I believe there were some reports of theft even. Now, this is not common place.

Much of the issues in regards to international parcels are that it isn't with a single courier. It can involve two or more couriers. And this tends to increase the risk of loss. Tracking services seem to be less reliable doing this and traditionally, there have been more losses in some countries than others.

If you look around, you can tend to spot these as some companies will not ship to Italy for example.

Now, there is an issue here. Not ALL of this is down to postal issues. Some of it is because people are claiming they didn't get their parcel, when they did. And often, the system will fall in their favour. Again, I am not saying this is common place either. But imagine you, as a small business, have not only sent a lot of product but have also paid expensive shipping that you then have to either refund or send out again. Now imagine that this has happened several times a year.

[Andrew Rae]

This article breaks things down a bit better: https://www.consultancy.uk/news/18390/royal-mail-struggles-to-reduce-customer-complaints-post-privatisation

I would like to know if the numbers relate to Uk-only mail or if it includes international too. I don’t think anyone here is making ‘Denial of Receipt’ claims (different from ‘lost’).

Missing parcels are part of running an online business. It’s remarkably rare, but you answer your emails, replace the package and move on.

[Doug ex-em4]

.........but you answer your emails, replace the package and move on.

.......and fill in the Post Office claims form and hopefully, in the fullness of time, you’ll get some of your money back.....I think it’s worth the effort.

Doug

[mcfonz]

Yeah, I would hazard a guess that those are postal items that only use Royal Mail.

Hard to include others when they can go missing in transit before they enter the country, or sometimes never materialise from customs.

Though I guess it could include parcels officially received from external couriers once they have passed customs etc.