Delivery mystery - any theories

The Tetrarch

I ordered three books from A on 14/10/2019, and one book from B on 16/10/2019, both UK publishers.

Thursday 24/10/2019 I was out of the house in the morning and a delivery was attempted. I saw that on the DHL website.
Friday 25/10/2019 I called to the local An Post sorting office (no missed delivery docket as I live in a gated community behind security gates).
An Post handed me a parcel and their hand-held device to sign. I signed.
When I got home I opened the package and found it was the three books from publisher A.

Today, Friday 01/11/2019 I thought the book from publisher B was a little late arriving so I used the DHL tracking number in the e-mail and found it had been delivered on Friday 25/10/2019 and I had signed. Very surprising as I did not have that book. Delivery was DHL through German Post to An Post.

I called to the local An Post sorting office today, explained, had the An Post tracking number. They printed out my signature showing I had signed for it.
My first thought was that An Post had mixed up tracking numbers for delivery A and B.
When I contacted publisher A they said they sent the three books by Royal Mail and they have no tracing number for an Irish delivery.
My guess was the An Post local sorting office had two packages on a shelf, scanned package B (DHL >German Post >An Post), picked up package A, handed me package A, and I signed for package B.
The only other possibility is the (DHL >German Post >An Post) tracking numbers/barcodes were put on the Royal Mail package A by An Post.

Anyway no sign of package B, the package I signed for but did not get, and now two weeks missing/being delivered.
Customer Service no help. Local sorting office no help "you signed for it, we don't make errors, our systems are perfect."
Any theories?

Whiplashy

Have you contacted place B? They are the ones with a contract to get it delivered so they are the ones who should be dealing with it.

ED E

Why are you saying DHL > German Post. Its just DHL. One and the same.



The scenario you describe would be very difficult to imagine happening. The AP lads in the DU find the package by your name, grab it and bring it back to the counter to scan and get a signature for. To then mix it with the one still on the shelf...


What might have happened is:
Package A in with 3rd party serial
Package B in with 3rd party serial

Both relabeled but Bs AP tracking was linked back to A's 3rd party serial. If they used S10 serials then this wouldnt be possible.

Car99

Call again and ask for packet A, if you onl6 signed for B they must still have A (even though you have it) . Ask them where is A, no A someone has to pay.

The Tetrarch

Whiplashy wrote: »

Have you contacted place B? They are the ones with a contract to get it delivered so they are the ones who should be dealing with it.

I spoke to them on the phone, and then sent an e-mail as they had difficulty understanding. My guess when they reply they will say I signed for it, therefore end of story.

The Tetrarch

Car99 wrote: »

Call again and ask for packet A, if you onl6 signed for B they must still have A (even though you have it) . Ask them where is A, no A someone has to pay.

I called to the local sorting office four times. The supervisor told me I signed for it, printed out my signature on an A4 page, said an error by An Post was not possible. He told me to not visit again.
He gave me the customer services phone number. I phoned them and immediately they told me they were transferring the call. I found myself talking to the supervisor at the local sorting office, the unhelpful man I had just left. I said I had not asked to speak to him. I telephoned customer services again. I stayed on the phone for a full 30 minutes before they replied (getting automated messages "we are experiencing an unusually high level of calls").
Again it came down to I signed for it and that was proof of delivery. I was also told they had done a "wall to wall" search of the sorting office, although when I was there in the supervisor's office he never left his desk. The shelves where they keep the undelivered parcels are in a couple of rooms nearby. No move to even look as he was told the staff had looked earlier.

Sleeper12

Whiplashy wrote:

Have you contacted place B? They are the ones with a contract to get it delivered so they are the ones who should be dealing with it.

Very difficult situation for place B. They have proof of delivery (OPs signature). They may post again as a good will gesture but outside of that I don't see how OP can prove none delivery when he's /she's signed for it.

It's a real head scratcher of a situation

The Tetrarch

Tonight I went through the e-mail from DHL and followed the links to the DHL website that links me to the An Post website.

Recently I ordered three things
(1) three books (from UK)
(2) one manual (from UK, but they say they are shipped from Germany)
(3) battery charger (from Germany)

(1) and (3) I received, (2) is missing.

The DHL e-mail header says
Current status of the shipment Haynes manual with the shipment number CP017113077DE
When I follow the link to the DHL website it says "Motorradzubehor Hornig GMBH" and links to the An Post website and my signature for delivery.

Hornig is the company that supplied the battery charger (that I received).

The mystery is DHL seem to have confused e-mail / links between the Haynes manual from Germany (not received) with the battery charger from Germany (received).

SteelyDanJalapeno

Just ask for A

The Tetrarch

The DHL German website is difficuly to navigate, many parts do not have an option for English translation.

This might help
Why can an investigation only be requested by the sender?
The sender concludes a contract of carriage with DHL by sending a shipment. They are therefore our contractual partner, not the recipient, even if the recipient may have paid for the contents and shipment.
If you are the recipient, please contact the sender so that they can request an investigation.

I will contact the sender again to let them know the mix-up by DHL of the Hornig and Haynes shipments.

Car99

If you signed for B. Did you sign for A also?

The Tetrarch

The confusion is afair the three books did not require a signature.
I received in the last week or so two items in separate packages: three books; a battery charger.
I did sign for something, probably the battery charger.

The problem is the Haynes manual and the battery charger were both coming from Germany, the manual from an English publisher who appears to have a distribution centre in Germany (from my phone call to the UK office), the batter charger from a German motorcycle accessories company.

My e-mail from DHL telling me about a delivery had "Haynes manual" in the e-mail title.
Tonight as I used that e-mail to click through to the DHL shipping website and then through that to the An Post website I noticed the work Hornig in a text line and a few other German words.
Hornig is the name of the company who supplied the battery charger (received).

In simple terms one DHL e-mail references both the Haynes manual (not received) and the Horning battery charger (received).

Either DHL shipped two different things in the same shipment to An Post and I signed the hand-held device and received one item.
Or the Haynes manual is still in DHL.

I will let Haynes Publishing deal with DHL as DHL do not deal with package recipients, only with the senders.

Away With The Fairies

Why don't you go looking for parcel A instead and then parcel B might show up... Or get a refund for the 3 books that you already have and then just order book B again.

The Tetrarch

Three books received.
Battery charger received
Manual not received.

I did sign for a delivery.
DHL have the Haynes manual on their e-mail header, and then when you click the link in the DHL e-mail they have the name of the battery charger company in a header in the intermediate link that links to the An Post delivery website.
Did An Post get two packages with one DHL delivery reference? I do not know.
I sent an e-mail to Haynes Publishing and with luck next week they will find out what happened.
The customer is not allowed to question DHL, only the sender.

I think the three books received was a Royal Mail delivery and I did sign for it.
It is difficult to remember what arrived in normal post, what was signed delivery, over the last few weeks.
I also had a delivery of velcro, and probably other deliveries.

The Tetrarch

The Haynes manual arrived this afternoon at 12:15, delivered by An Post.
From the packaging it was posted on 29/10/2019 by Grantham Book Services Ltd. Grantham, Lincolnshire. It also says Swiss Post United Kingdom.

I still have no idea how DHL had "Haynes manual" as the heading on their e-mail to me about delivery of a motorcycle battery charger from Honing, Germany.

You could say it is a satisfactory conclusion -

• after four visits to Blackrock An Post sorting office
• phone call to Veloce Publishing
• two e-mails (now three to say it arrived) to Haynes Publishing
• phone call to DHL Germany

The order was 16th October 2019
The manual arrived 7th November 2019 which is 22 days after order.

The Tetrarch

The manual is 210mm x 275mm, 775 pages, 1.865 kg

Sleeper12

The Tetrarch wrote: »

The Haynes manual arrived this afternoon at 12:15, delivered by An Post.
From the packaging it was posted on 29/10/2019 by Grantham Book Services Ltd. Grantham, Lincolnshire. It also says Swiss Post United Kingdom.

I still have no idea how DHL had "Haynes manual" as the heading on their e-mail to me about delivery of a motorcycle battery charger from Honing, Germany.

You could say it is a satisfactory conclusion -

• after four visits to Blackrock An Post sorting office
• phone call to Veloce Publishing
• two e-mails (now three to say it arrived) to Haynes Publishing
• phone call to DHL Germany

The order was 16th October 2019
The manual arrived 7th November 2019 which is 22 days after order.

8 Days delivery from the UK isn't too bad. I've posted parcels in Dublin to Irish address take 2 weeks only recently & two parcels sit in Dublin parcel hub for over 30 days each last christmas.

The Tetrarch

Sleeper12 wrote: »

8 Days delivery from the UK isn't too bad. I've posted parcels in Dublin to Irish address take 2 weeks only recently & two parcels sit in Dublin parcel hub for over 30 days each last christmas.

I got an order conformation on 16th October.
I was never advised of a shipment date.
You could say shipping on 29/10/19 and delivery to me on 7/11/19 is ok.
But why did they take 13 days from 16/10/19 to 29/10/19 to ship the manual?

If the shipping date on today's package was 6/11/19 and receipt was today 7/11/19 you would say that was brilliant service ... but not so good for an order confirmed 16/10/19 and no advice on shipping date.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

The Tetrarch wrote: »

I got an order conformation on 16th October.
I was never advised of a shipment date.
You could say shipping on 29/10/19 and delivery to me on 7/11/19 is ok.
But why did they take 13 days from 16/10/19 to 29/10/19 to ship the manual?

If the shipping date on today's package was 6/11/19 and receipt was today 7/11/19 you would say that was brilliant service ... but not so good for an order confirmed 16/10/19 and no advice on shipping date.

Why are you mixing order confirmation dates and delivery dates? All that matters from the delivery/DHL/An Post angle is shipping date.
The delay between order and shipping is solely as issue with the supplier. The 13 days have nothing to do with delivery per se.

The Tetrarch

There was no way of knowing when it was shipped, no e-mail to say when it was shipped, no tracking number, no tracking website.

The Tetrarch

Just to round out the details:

the package received today 07/11/2019
order confirmation received by e-mail 16/10/19
package cardboard received today says - Coll Date 29/10/19
sent by Grantham Book Services, Grantham, Lincolnshire. (Overseas Priori)
package cardboard received today says - PRIORITY Swiss Post United Kingdom, if undeliverable please return to ASENDIA LHR060 (ASENDIA by La Poste and Swiss Post. community goods, gemeinschaftsware ). Is LHR060 London Heathrow?

I do notice my address on the package received ends with BLACKROCK.
There is no mention of CO DUBLIN, IRELAND

L1011

That could easily cause huge delivery delays

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

The Tetrarch wrote: »

Just to round out the details:

the package received today 07/11/2019
order confirmation received by e-mail 16/10/19
package cardboard received today says - Coll Date 29/10/19
sent by Grantham Book Services, Grantham, Lincolnshire. (Overseas Priori)
package cardboard received today says - PRIORITY Swiss Post United Kingdom, if undeliverable please return to ASENDIA LHR060 (ASENDIA by La Poste and Swiss Post. community goods, gemeinschaftsware ). Is LHR060 London Heathrow?

I do notice my address on the package received ends with BLACKROCK.
There is no mention of CO DUBLIN, IRELAND

Two or three Blackrocks in England, at least four in Ireland, three in Australia, and close to a dozen in the US. A lot of potential for delay there.

The Tetrarch

I notice on the package and on their Despatch Note there is a blank line in the address under my name and another blank line under the street and above Blackrock.
Those two blank lines must have shunted, Co Dublin, Ireland into oblivion.

Yeah, but what the hell. 100% delivery success.

Sleeper12

The Tetrarch wrote:

I do notice my address on the package received ends with BLACKROCK. There is no mention of CO DUBLIN, IRELAND

Plenty of Blackrocks around Ireland.

Considering they had neither the Country or County, they did well to get it to you at all. I'm surprised. A well travelled book!


Pity about the An Post manager being rude though.

s7ryf3925pivug

Did they ask you to sign for it when it arrived?

Is there anything on the packaging that should have been on the other package?

NewbridgeIR

Address formatting is often unreliable on online forms as certain lines can be omitted from the delivery sticker - often address line 2.

I recommend putting as much information on each line as possible

i.e
if address is

20 The Oaks
Highfield Estate
Naas
Co Kildare
EIRCODE

Then put
20 The Oaks, Highfield Estate in the "Street" or "Address line 1" section
and
Naas, Co Kildare, EIRCODE in the "Town" section.

And if there is a free format box for comments / message to seller, always put in the following:
"Just to confirm - my address should be written as.........."