HDNL Are Not Useful To Me

Part of a Continuing Series.

’tis the season for waiting for home delivery companies. There are a couple of presents this year which I would rather not lug home on the bus, so I woke darling girlfriend up as I was going to work, and explained that an Amazon parcel might turn up. Ideally, two.

Both parcels were going to be delivered by a company either called HDNL or Yodel. I assume the Yodel rebrand is because you are no longer allowed to call yourself the Home Delivery Network Ltd if you are incapable of… well…

I got home about 6, laden with bottles of beer and other ingredients of the evening, to discover one of the parcels had arrived. This was odd, as the website clearly stated that both had been delivered, although at different times. There was a very light parcel, and a very heavy parcel, and the light one was on my desk, and the heavy one…

Wasn’t.

So I phoned the support number, which demanded the number on my failed delivery card three times, then said “Sorry we couldn’t help this time” and closed the call. Thanks.

So I found another support number and phoned it, which rang (normal phone ringing) for ages and so I gave up. Fortunately my phone didn’t get the message about giving up, and a little while later as I was attempting to use their live chat – which also span on a “Waiting for an operator” for a while – I heard a voice from my phone and scrambled to pick it up. I explained that the delivery hadn’t arrived, which they characterized as a “dispute”, which I agreed with. They explained their system said they’d delivered it to a neighbour, although not which one. Also my neighbours don’t sign for parcels. And there was someone here all day. And there was no failed delivery card.  Or parcel.

They recommended I contacted Amazon.

I contacted Amazon. They were somewhat surprised that the carrier recommended this course of action, and launched an investigation, which might take a couple of days. A couple of hours later, I replied to Amazon. It should be noted that the block of flats we live in does not have a name that is in any way similar to “The Hollies”, though we do live at Flat 5. I sent:

Hi there,

So, it turns out that HDNL delivered the weights to the wrong block of flats, a couple of roads away, at Flat 5, The Hollies.

Flat 5 The Hollies were not in, so they posted them a “Delivery Failed” notification, and then instead gave them to their neighbor at flat 9 The Hollies.

The guy at Flat 9 The Hollies actually read the dispatch note, and lugged the weights all the way here.

Of the two items that HDNL were due to deliver today – I am vastly amused that it’s the one that’s *really heavy* that got lost in the shuffle.

So, a happy ending. For me, at least, since the person who got the things by accident was honest, otherwise I never would have known.

Please register this as a formal complaint about HDNL and their inablity to perform their single most basic function, and identify houses. I’ve got no problems at all with Amazon’s treatment of the matter, and remain a happy customer.

Happy holidays,

Aquarion.