Heh!! Still here. No delivery at 1630 hrs Thursday 6th Oct 2005. I notice no further blogs but, just in case, type in Consignment No. DPL26244 and see what happens! Package has beeen on 'a' van since 0936 hrs Wed Oct 5th 2005. Note.. not 'our van' but 'a van'!! I suppose I could just drive in, bung a few quid to whoever, load up and drive out!! After all, the sender has paid for collection so delivery is really not an issue!! Phoning 01233-622221 or 622220 about half a million times (I confess, I lie, it wasn't quite that many) is useless as no-one answers. Then.. joy of joys.. an old answerphone tape with loud muzac from 1975 lets me know all the advantages of using sh*tty link!! No chance of asking about a delivery then!!
This 'Public Relations' harking way back when the parent company won an NHS hospital cleaning contract and their staff arrived on the critical illness wards wearing overalls with RENTOKIL emblazoned on front & back!!
I note that they 'forgot' to pay their staff on Friday 30th September 2005 due to 'a computer error' but that they offer this total 'service' on a global basis.
Mayhaps thats why my package has failed to appear.. who knows.. I will add to this, if only for personal satisfaction. If anyone from ICT management replies here, I will need to know why they are not spending their time ensuring that deliveries are being made!!

Hello All,
Am enjoying two days off at the moment , one of them because i've had to go to physio at the hospital, due to carrying 30 kg printer up 4 flights of stairs to an office, because there were no strong men available in an office full of women. Womens Equality does not extend to lifting in that office ( unless it's nail varnish )lol.
FAO Still Waiting Blogger; I think yuo'll find that was the cleaning div' of ICL, I got paid ok.A lot of CL depots are run as franchises, so do not depend on one payment from head office for the payment of their staff.
Carlo old boy, when do you expect us to do the deliveries, tell you what i'll ring your bell at 3am in the morning,oooohhhhh missssssuuuuuuuuus! no stop it.
Peter A. I'll think you'll find your comments true of a lot of delivery companies.Remember the 2 dispatches tv programmes about the P.o sorting office, think it was in London.My post comes through the door at around 14:00 hrs every day.Final thought for today; Anybody seen the Samsung tv advert, thats why i don't leave parcels with the neighbours.
Regards
Allan ( ICL driver for Barnsley town ctr and beyond )

There are so many reasons as to why your consignment has not been delivered.Before i was a co-ordinator i used to work in the sorting hall and there were labels without towns and postcodes or some of the hand written labels were so badly written its was just a guessing game.With a network as big as ours you havnt the time to waste on one package that has either been damaged by our contract customers or badly labeled.
Then you have to understand there are traffic problems on the roads.Some of the comments on here make me laugh because they say "we used a-z and had no problems" because they dont have a network big enough to have failed consignments.I take my hat off to the drivers of Lynx etc because they work damn hard.Keep it up boys.

Consignment Number DPL26244 is still loaded onto 'a van' at 0936 Wed Oct 5th 2005 as of now and according to the constantedly updated ICL 'track your parcel' web site!! Still no-one answers the phone at sh*tty link in Ashford. I am still unable to discover who sent the package and so request re-delivery by a competent company. Every day I see other deliveries being made along my road within sight of my residence (none by ICL though) so perhaps ICL makes only one feeble attempt then abandons the effort, possibly concentrating on mutiple deliveries to single business addresses which has got to be easier than a single drop at a house. In the meantime, the Post Office, Lynx and DHL have all delivered without problems. I have most of my surprise birthday presents.. dunno who sent via ICL.. Does that stand for 'I see hell'???

Guess what?? The item IS a present and the sender forwarded an eMail from the supplier (not named here 'cos it's unfair) saying that ICL had eMailed them asking for a new delivery address or confirming a date I would be waiting all day for them to call once more or ICL would return the item as undeliverable!! This is the best that ICL customer service can offer. ICL also claimed to have failed to 'obtain a signature' twice during attempted deliveries which is a total fabrication (or lie) as their own 'tracking' website shows!! It also demonstrates that ICL have an eMail address but the last thing they will do is post this on their website do that people awaiting an item can actually make contact regarding delivery!!
As of now, the buyer of the present, that supplier, and I, are now in mutual contact. Lets see what happens next with ICL. It would help if they answered the phone!!
Stay tuned for more exiting developments in the saga. Meanwhile, if there is anyone out there considering using ICT to deliver their goods.. think again.. you may lose customers!!

After having problems with ICL I thought I would look them up on the web and found this page! Well said to everyone who has slated them and their own responses on this page show just how rude they all really are (so well done to you too for showing your true colours!)
The website I ordered from didn't tell me the courier was ICL. The first I knew of ICL was when the YELLOW CARD OF DEATH appeared on my door mat over a week ago. I was in at the time stated on the cards but no knock or doorbell (the first time I had even left the front door open). I know a driver mentioned on this page that no driver would leave a note and not knock but IT HAS HAPPENED TO ME, TWICE! After talking to somebody at the Scunthorpe branch today I was told I could NOT specify a time that?s convenient for me (even though the previous times were arranged, just not met.) When I asked if the parcel could be delivered after 4 o?clock I was told that it was unfair to ask the driver to wait around for me until that time. Can they not deliver other parcels and then come back to me at 4 or does he have to wait around somewhere else instead? If the time of the delivery or even the day was known people WOULD definitely be in to receive but what?s the point of arranging a time if you?re not going to listen. You can?t expect people not to go to work, especially if they have already arranged a time for delivery that isn?t met, I was also told that they tried to leave it with a neighbour but they weren?t in ? are we all supposed to take time off work?
My parcels can only be delivered to the address on the credit card (not place of work!
The depot is a long way and if I paid for a delivery service why should I go and pick it up myself? And to answer the comment about going to buy things from shops instead - my item is not in the shops - and - who the f@?k are you to tell me where and what to do anyway, I've paid for delivery! I noticed a driver said that if we don?t give our details how can they deliver ? they re not mind readers ? no but I presume that they can read ? and in response - the couriers phone number is not even on the slip, the only phone number is for an automated message which is no help to anybody! Why don?t you give us your details? I?m more annoyed with the way I have been spoken to than the fact I still haven?t got my parcel.
Last week I was expecting a parcel through Parcel Force. In the car park at work the Parcel Force van rolls in. I asked the driver (off the cuff) if he had my parcel (even though it was going to my home address, not work.) He said that the company had split into two recently (Red and Purple, I think) and gave me the number of the correct depot. I rang them; parcel was delivered on time the next day! This is the first time I have used ICL and if you compare my two examples ? there?s a galaxy of difference. I would also like to note I'm not ranting about the drivers (maybe I am after reading their comments though); I'm ranting about the entire PATHETIC COMPANY!

Last comment - ?6 an hour is more than I earn (and I?m supposed to stay home? I don?t think so!)

I am a postman, why don't you use Royal Mail or Parcelforce. Ask the people you are buying goods from to send them via us. We go to every address in the country. We know which front door belongs to which house. Remember these guys are paid a bnous per drop and if they drop it with a neighbour they get their bonus, also they get more salary than we do for less hours. We have to attempt delivery and fill out a card completely. I always make sure the telephone number is on the back of the card, I never leave packets/parcels with neighbours, I never leave packets where they can get damaged or stolen. I always write to leave at least 24 hours on the back of the card to make sure it's back at the office if the customer wants to collect it. We even redeliver with no extra charge on the day you request. Sadly however because we are bottom of the "delivery food chain" we are treated like Man U fans or "scum" as they are better known. Also forget about programmes you see on TV about us they're only trying to stitch us up before we're completely privatised and all the big boys get their mega bonuses and we get "F****D Off". Plus they don't train any new staff so in a few years it's going to be an absolute fiasco!!!

Ah.. but waiting no longer!! Item delivered at 1340 yesterday.. after 8 days!! I have read Canterbury Tales.. you know.. Pilgrims Progress.. and in those days people would crawl along hedgerows between Ashford and Canterbury and still beat an ICL man in a van today!! ICL took 8 days even though they were paid for next day delivery!!
So, Letterbox Boy, I KNOW!! But I didn't order my parcel, it was a gift. Only this morning our regular 'postie' banged on the door and I went out to sign for a package. No problem. As Usual.. when I send parcels, I go to my local Post Office, swipe my Debit Card, get a receipt, and go home happy. If I'm not at home and a parcel delivery is attempted, I get a nice informative card from postie to contact the sorting office. All I do is ring them, arrange delivery to my local Post Office and for the huge sum of 50p I can collect in the early afternoon next day.
I have discovered that the supplier of my present actually states they will deliver by Royal Mail or courier. Well, I bet after this debancle, they will use the Post Office. The person who bought the present has contacted the supplier to say that although they love the items on offer, they will not order any more unless the Post Office is the carrier AND NOT ICL!!! How about that!!

Hey, I just noticed, Cowboys-from-Hull actually spoke to ICL on the phone!!
I am not worthy.. I bow to thee.. no one else has managed that!! Perhaps it was a wrong number and someone was having a laugh!!
Did they speak from Mars.. tinny voice and all that??
ICL really exists.. has an office.. a phone..WOW!

Sorry Coofercat..
This is your site and I never thanked you for the service. Very remiss of me.
And to think I complain about ICL!!
Grovel... etc etc!!

I have had 2 deliveries made by Initial City Link in the past and they have both been good. One was in really bad snow conditions so I was really chuffed when they still delivered my parcel. The other occasion was on a normal day and my parcel arrived at 10:00am. That's early enough for me! I can't give a negative comment on ICL as I have never had a bad experience with them. I was going to start using ICL to deliver my own parcels that I despatch to others but after reading your comments, I may reconsider. Liam.

Last Saturday, a week ago today, I ordered a Nokia mobile phone from Carphone Warehouse on the Internet. Delivery was scheduled for the following Tuesday. Unfortunately we had already arranged to be out, so the Initial City Link van driver was unable to deliver. The card through the door said delivery would be the next day.
Next day we waited, not daring to lose sight or sound of the front door. No delivery! A call to City Link at 5.45pm got the answer,'the driver couldn't find the address'. [The road in south London, where I live, has been in existance for at least 150 years]. Delivery was promised for the next day [Thursday]. Again, no delivery. A call to City Link,after a long wait on the line,got the answer 'no delivery was attempted today'. It was suggested I ring them next morning [Friday] to see if my parcel had been put on a van. Next morning I managed to speak to someone at 8.30 and was told it was too early as vans were still being loaded. A callback was promised which I received at 10.30 confiming that the parcel was 'on the van'.
Yesterday we waited all day until 5.20pm when the City Link driver came to the door with my parcel. Hooray! On cutting open the sealed City Link bag I found all the contents floating around loose inside. First, out came the empty Nokia box then some loose packaging followed by the charger,a T-Mobile CD and various paperwork, but NO PHONE. The only sign that it had ever been in there was the removable back, tucked away in a corner of the bag. For the next forty minutes I tried to contact City Link. All I got was their recorded message. I then rang Carphone Warehouse. They were much more helpful. After checking my details and quickly contacting City Link [they must have a hot line] I was promised delivery of a replacement mobile to arrive by Monday 17th. I am not holding my breath but hoping that Initial City Link can deliver the goods properly next time. I shall be checking the contents of the parcel at the door,of course.

Hello All,
Hey there Letterbox boy, you are an asset to your employers, what a man.Don't know how you do it for the money.I bet you even go out in the rain. I'm starting a campaign "Letterbox boy for prime minister" at least he can deliver.
Let's polish our halo's together.lol.
Let me assure you i don't get paid per delivery.As far as i know the first redelivery by CL is at no cost to the customer, might be wrong i don't know,if any one knows different, i stand corrected .
Is this the P.O's new secret weapon in gathering new customers ?.Low key message board advertising.
Oh i know this is just pathetic whingeing,I know it's what i get paid for, should be grateful i've even got a job,blah,blah,blah..............Get ready here it comes. Friday 14.10.05. 60 seperate delivery addresses.
6 of which carded 13.10.05
75 consignments
3 ad hoc collections(2 of which
not at home) nice one !!
first delivery 08.20 last one
15.00 then
7 carded dels, 5 reattempted
3 successfully.
Oh woe is me. I'm so hard done to.lol.
FAO ERIC At our depot the drivers have to sign for any phones they are to deliver.I maybe reading it wrong, am so paranoid after all the evil little people on the board doing us down, where's my prozac ?.no nurse please i'll behave, anything but the soft walled room. nnnnnnnnnooooooooo.............
Was the original CL label on the bag, was the bag sealed with the adhesive strip or was it taped up ,because if the seal was intact as it should be,me thinks you may be inferring some crafty shennanigans had gone on at CL.On a personal level i would be very offended if someone were to question my integrity.

sound of shuffling feet,backing out of room and doffing cap.

Regards Allan (ICL driver Barnsley town centre and beyond)

PS Thanks for the board Coofer, it's so therapuetic
and much cheaper than a lobotomy.

Still Waiting... commented that I actually got through to them on the phone
- After leaving a couple of snotty messages on their automated machine I found the branch telephone number on their website. I talked to a very rude woman who basically said that she couldn't help (erm, well who can then?), when I asked for her name she said "Becky in the office! I said that INTHEOFFICE was a very strange surname and eventually hung up out of frustration. About ten minutes later some guy from ICL actually phoned me at home and gave me the usual "blah blah" but at least he was polite and I finally felt that something was happening.

Luckily one of my neighbours intercepted the package two days later so I eventually got it!

But unfortunately ...... I got another yellow card through the door this afternoon, Guess what, I WAS IN! I haven't been anywhere which is why I?m (still) at home complaining about them again to you guys. I work in a school, I'm on half term, and I?m in all bloody week!

We'll see if they can manage to knock tomorrow!

Just to add my tuppence worth. We do try our best. I certainly want all my parcels delivered that day as to take them out a second day just adds to the load. I will not leave them 'safe' without instructions as it would mean me having to forge a signature on the POD, and if this parcel then went missing, i would be sacked. I will however try and leave with a neighbour but wont spend all day looking as i just don't have the time, time is the issue, a big issue. We also get a fair few parcels with duff addresses, no contact number, incorrect postcode etc which make it difficult to find addresses and require time consuming calls to the depot to try and sort it out. If it still can't be resolved then we 'AQ' it (address query) and leave it for CSO to sort out.

Mr Postman, It can take months, even years for a driver to know his route and has nothing to do with him being not very good at his job. He can only really learn it by driving it day in and day out. Postcodes are fairly important. We can call the depot with the postcode and they'll look it up on the internet and try and zero us in. I've also lost count of the number of people who just do not put names or numbers on their houses cos they...well why?, i don't know.

I also use my own mobile to contact customers as trying to do it through the depot can take time and have had some large bills in the past with no allowance from City Link. City Link are a large, successful company and the complaints on here are far outweighed by the people that are happy with the service. I do think though that because of the franchise system there is no uniformity within the company and it's down to the individual owners of the franchise how they train and vet their staff. I believe Initial City Link are about to buy back all the franchises though and this may eventually result in a more positive experience for those of you that need to contact the customer services.

Can i also just say that it's my experience (4 years) that customers will lie to the CSO staff in order to get their package re-delivered that day. It's ridiculous to say that a driver would put a card through the door without knocking first. The driver has nothing to gain by doing this, nothing.

Well there we have it campers - we customers are all liars.

Look drivers, I know you're all on the shitty end of this deal, but we (the end users) are paying for all this. Put yourselves in our position: if you buy a Big Mac, and get some squished up thing, are you happy? The lad at the counter isn't to blame, but you bollock him anyway, right?

As for carding addresses, in my particular case, the driver went to the wrong place and carded that. How am I to blame for that?

So drivers, customers and users, can we agree that ICL might be fine, except the drivers are pushed harder than they ought to be, and so work less well that they might otherwise do?

I didn't say ALL customers were liars and each case is different. Like i said, i know from experience. However i can agree with you that drivers are pushed harder than they ought to be, a look at the points on their licences will tell you that.

Hello All,

I have been given the same info regarding the prospect of all franchises been brought under the control of head office. Whether this means that the owner of each individual franchise as it is at the moment, will still have any interest in the co in time to come, or will simply leave with a nice little wedge in his pocket and a thank you for your services, remains to be seen. Whatever the result, the outcome will be akin to as some may say, trying to turn a super tanker round, it is going to take time.

Another change that I for one am looking forward to; is the prospect of being able to leave deliveries with neighbours. As you may be aware at the moment this is not company policy, due to the obvious implications regarding loss, due to nefarious types trying it on, by claiming their neighbour has not got their parcel, or its disappeared from the safe place it was to be left in. This does not by the way, give the driver permission to leave safe without prior authorisation from the sender of the goods. If there is no instruction as to leave safe on the delivery manifest, it is not to be done. Simple as that.
So if your happy for your goodies to be left with a neighbour, please state this to the supplier of the goods when ordering. Of course, whether the supplier is happy for their product to be left at another address is another matter !.

The above change in policy means that delivery to private addresses are to be attempted only once, and not two days running as is the norm at the present time. This means also that you are not going to be inconvenienced by having to stay in the day after the original delivery was attempted. This is going to put the onus on the consignee to get in touch with the delivering depot to arrange for a further attempt to be made when you ARE available to receive the delivery. You will also be given the option to pick up your goods from the depot on the day of the original attempt.

I hope the above info will be of help to those of you experiencing problems with your deliveries.

On a personal note, as the other contributors have said, it does happen that consignees make some story up to get their goods delivered, not received a card, was in and driver did not knock on the door ,ring the bell etc. I know this from personal experience with my previous employer; when the office phoned me and told me to go back to a carded delivery, because they were phoned by the supplier who has had their ear bent by a disgruntled consignee wondering where their goods are. Supplier tells them when they were carded, consignee still claimed not to have had a card. It got as far as having control phone me to inform me that I have not left a card, and the consignee was on the phone complaining, I told them to let me speak to them, as I was quite prepared to call someone a blatant liar to their face. I have not needed to take this action as yet whilst employed with ICL, although with my previous employer I did this twice. I NEVER fail a delivery without at least leaving a card.
I take it as a personal affront on my character if someone lies about me and I?m not afraid to tell them, if control had to tell the consignee of my intention, I would bet my attendance bonus that the dog would have suddenly chewed up the card or the kids must have picked up the card instead

Regards
Allan (delivering to Barnsley town centre and beyond for ICL).

The official line is that we're not allowed to leave with neighbours but unofficially we have to or we'd be unable to cope with the next days load so this change in policy is very welcome.

I try and tell all customers that have had problems getting their delivery cos they're not in or whatever to try and get a 'leave safe' instruction from whoever they're buying from. A lot of websites have a space that you can leave instructions like this.

Regarding the franchise, after it's been bought back i believe the previous owners will have no input whatsover and will no longer be employed by ICL. Hopefully things will get better for the drivers and staff as well, as the people who run the franchises are only after profit at the expense of their staff and it will only get worse as the time draws nearer to the franchise for each individual branch being bought back.

Getting 'shafted' is a term we often use up here, too often.

By the way, i went back to edit something after previewing and the box was blank. That's a wee bit annoying.

We have used various couriers in the past. Parcel Force in particular had a habbit of leaving parcels nearby (neighbours, porch, etc)but not at the delivery address, which led to no end of problems with "undelivered" goods. To save losses and hassle we went with City Link a few months ago because they only deliver exactly as we request and have a good tracking service. We also only deliver to the address the credit card is registered to, again due to past experiences. It costs us more than double our P&P charge to send goods out. We could use CLs before 8am or 9am service, but it would not be worth it for us and, from experience, customers would not pay ?25 to ?30 extra (I havn't got the exact prices or times at home) for this premium service. Perhaps we should still offer the choice, it would at least stop some of the above comments. Overall we have had far less complaints since switching to City Link.

I also work at Initial City Link and the procedure is if you are not in to recieve your parcel then we can not leave the goods safe if your senders haven't said so and obviously drivers cant think 'Hmm i'll be on some certain road at 11.05' its common sence, i know you may have to pop out for a few mins and if you get carded how difficult is it to go and collect the parcel from the depot???

You have to get in touch with your senders if you want it leaving safe or with a neighbour as we cant do anything at the office if the senders hold their account with another depot, the best we can do is put a message onto the system and why would a driver go to a house and just put a yellow card through the door it is much easier to knock at the door cuz these parcels only get held at the depot then. And if you don't collect them it isn't our fault as they automatically get returned at 1 in the morning and we cant stop this.

City Link - RUBBISH. No customer service - No Clue.

Simple Solution. When buying goods, ask your supplier who wil deliver. If they tell you City Link will deliver, tell your supplier you would like to change your mind, cancel the order and go elsewhere. Make sure your supplier knows why you're refusing to buy from them by asking them to let you know when they've switched to a more reliable delivery company.

I fully appreciate the problems faced by drivers but the backup / admin / customer service are a sick joke !

Yeah, because ringing them up and sounding like a complete arse down the phone from the moment they pick it up, and bombarding them with unhelpful comments, sighs and threats sure goes to building up the sort of customer relationship where the will go out their way to help you...

Sick Joke? stupid mofo more like.

Hello All

Here are a few words of wisdom for anyone thinking of taking Pete Herefords advice as to threatening suppliers with regard to taking your custom elsewhere because they despatch their goods via ICL. Unless you spend hundreds or even thousands of pounds sterling with said supplier; DON?T BOTHER.

The world unfortunately is driven by money , not goodwill and promises, for every one person or company that does not use a particular supplier, because they in turn do, or do not, use a particular delivery company, there will be ten that do, and it will be the ten that hold sway with the suppliers interests with regard to their prospering in the cut throat world of business.

It?s a free world. You don?t have to give your money to one preferred supplier. You have a choice.

Further to Longmans point, getting heavy with anyone down the phone is not going to do you much good, it is more likely to end up with both parties getting aggravated and solving nothing. I?ve seen girls in the customer relations dept, reduced to tears because some Neanderthal knuckle dragging fool has been really brave down the phone, threatening this and that, because they were out when the delivery man got to their cave.
I?ve had people on the phone to me, giving it the big ?I am? routine demanding that I go back at stupid o clock with their parcel because on the card it states ?Next Day delivery?. My reply has always been the same ?Yes sir I know its next day delivery , I?ve posted a card through your door, you were out if I can get back I will?. This polite approach throws their egg sized brains into turmoil, and if I get back to them with the parcel , nine out of ten times it will be the wife or son or daughter that answers the door and signs , because they?re too shame faced to answer the door themselves due to the attitude they took in the original phone call to me. Lol

Anyway am having two weeks off work to prepare for the Crimbo pressie avalanche due in December.
Santa?s sleigh isn?t pulled by reindeer, its 2.8 diesel injected and liveried in yellow and green.

Don?t forget the mince pies and a nice cup of tea ( no alcohol please I?m driving )

Regards
Allan ( ICL driver for Barnsley town ctr and beyond )

Tell me, do any of you drivers from other depots pay for your own screen wash and de-icer in the winter time? Also maps, do you pay for them and get refunded by your franchise owner or do you buy them out of your own pockets?

Okay kids, play nicely.

ICL drivers and customers, users and observers, please correct me if I'm wrong, when I state that (at the present time, before franchises are reclaimed etc):

"ICL manage their customer support and drivers badly, thus leading to bad customer service from the consinee's point of view".

Clearly, we consignees are people too. Some of us are disposed to act like arses when we get frustrated, or feel like we're not getting what we deserve. It seems those that work at the sharp end of ICL are the same: They get frustrated, they feel they're giving it all and getting nothing. Clearly this will lead to a difference of opinion.

I would maintain (and I'm sorry if this wasn't evident in my original post) that ICL is crap, but not because of the poor sap who does what they're told, but by those who do the telling. That's not to say all drivers/CSOs are perfect, but they're clearly not 'empowered' by their respective managements to do anything beyond a mediocre job.

Remember: If a CSO or a driver is less diligent that you might want (or than they might want) then this is a management issue.

From the consignee's point of view, I'd say Pete Hereford is right: If you have a choice, use another vendor/courier (or of course, if you like ICL, use vendors that use them). Every individual that does so contributes to the whole. Take responsibility for your own actions.

On a slightly different note, I saw an ICL van today that had a picture of an open box on the side, and said "Your reputation in a box? We deliver every time - guaranteed!".

You decide... Let market forces dictate...

Hello All,

Well Coofer, me thinks you have a fair point regarding the livery of the vans, even the rather famous lager brand that sounds like Starling , only claims its probably the best lager in the world.
There are a number of delivery companies that use rather optimistic promises on their vehicles, but then again lets face it ? We deliver, well maybe, then maybe not? isn?t going to have the phones ringing off the hooks is it ?
It has to be said that I also agree with your comments as to the management style of ICL, although you have to remember that every manager has someone higher to answer to, if I question some of the procedures at ICL, that in my oho make life a lot more difficult than it needs to be, the Cso?s tell me that they have to follow procedure, and that they may agree with me but they are simply covering themselves from the heat from above. These statements are commonly followed by the well worn phrase ?if you don?t like it -------?,
(fill in the blanks as you see fit). Answers on a postcard please. 1ST prize : a day delivering with me.
2nd prize : a week delivering with me.
This is empowerment ICL style, unfortunately. The mediocre level of performance as you say, I believe comes about through the fact that a lot of people who come into this line of work, have never done it before and think you simply drive about delivering three or four parcels in between long spells asleep in lay-bys.
Indeed the only qaulification that some believe you need is that you can read an a-z and have a driving licence. Fortunately the ones that simply try to blag their way through are usually found out within a month or so as driver performance is very closely monitored. The drivers I know are far from mediocre and I believe for the money we earn, we offer fantastic value for money, as do nurses, doctors, ( ahem) prem footballers etc.
You just have to try and rise above the apathy on a daily basis, I do this by leaving my brain at the door when I clock in.

Regards
Allan (ICL driver in Barnsley town ctr and beyoooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnd )

Thought it was only me who has problems with ICL.
I ordered a PC over the internet who advised delivery within 5 working days and failed to tell me which day they sent it out on, concequently we were not in when ICL tried to deliver on the Friday. Automatic re-delivery on the Monday was not an option as we both work, so I rang up on Saturday morning and arranged delivery on Thursday 24th. Got home on Monday, you got it yellow failed delivery card behind door. Rang up first thing Tuesday and re-arranged again for delivery on the Thursday 24th. Rang my better half on the Thursday afternoon, still no delivery. Contacted ICL with the question where is my parcel? Delivery as arranged on Friday the 25th !!!!!! was the reply. After a few words, arranged for delivery Monday the 28th, I am off work this day decorating.. It gets even better now......Looked on the ICL web site, delivery attempted Friday the 25th, rang them up again, more words exchanged delivery arranged again for Monday the 28th...... Just rang them again, and asked the question what day are you delivering my parcel ( answer should be Monday ) Reply Oh we tried to deliver today Friday, what day would you like it to be delivered.......Even stronger words exchanged ..........Is this incompetence or what ???? I do have some sympathy with the delivery drivers as it is not easy some times finding addresses etc, especially when this sort of thing is hapening.. So still waiting delivery on monday from ICL...will let you know ....

P.S. I have ordered a new TV over the net with a delivery date of Monday the 28th .. delivery with Amtrak ... are they any better ???

Amtrak are deceased are they not?

In reply to branch 42, dont think it will get better when HO take over - we dont get screenwash either. Although you could try for it under Health & Safety legislation - RMT might help there.

And to everyone who phones up when you have been carded - dont think you have a god given right to have the driver sent back to you - if your out thats your problem. If we can go back we will, but dont say "he was hear 2 minutes ago" if it was really 20 minutes. And even if you can see the van at the end of the road, the driver has still fulfilled his obligation to attempt delivery. At this time of year we are just too busy to be running back to houses we have been to already that day.

BTW, dont lie and say the driver didnt ring the bell - personally I ring the bell and knock - and still people say I didnt. If you have a dog and it is going mental, perhaps someone is at the door, and your doorbell is broken. I generally find that being able to tell the girl in the office that the woman on the phone saying I didnt ring the bell / knock on the door that the house has a big hairy alsatian that was trying to get through the window at me and they have a cream leather setee, blue walls and a green carpet pretty quickly ends any dispute about whether I was at the door or not.

Finally, just because you were carded at a specific time yesterday does not make it certain you will be attempted at exactly the same time next day. We can deliver ANY time between 0800 and 1730 (or in some cases 2000). If you must order motorbikes / large televisions etc please be prepared to help the driver lift it off the van. Its amazing how many women answer the door to me and I ask if someone can help me, they say no, I explain I cant get the goods off the van and will come back tommorrow and someone else is magically in the house who can help me. We dont ask for help to be annoying, we ask for help so we dont damaage ourselves or the goods.

Sorry, didnt really explain myself properly just now. By all means phone up and complain if the driver did not ring your bell or knock on the door - which is highly unlikely, but I wont say it cant happen, but it shouldnt. If it does the driver deserves to get hauled over the coasl, because he is not doing his job. Small tip - check the dorrbell is DEFINITELY working. I have been back to a few houses who didnt hear me the second time either, then they come to the door and I press the button to show then the door bell isnt working. So I pressed the button, the fact nothing happened is not down to me.

Don't try to ring City Link, they have no Idea how to use the telephone. They must be getting too many complaints and are scared of that strange device that people keep shouting down "Where is my parcel"

I use eBuyer.com a lot so I've had to suffer Initial City Link on many occassions. A few times I've suffered from no-one trying to deliver a parcel (yes, my door bell was working and there were several people in the house every second of the day) -- according to their web site I was "carded" because no one was in. After doing some reasearch on the uk.comp.vendors group on Usenet (which is utterly full of complaints about City Link) it seems that this is a tactic used when the drivers are given too many parcels to deliver but Ctiy Link don't want to pay the sender compensation. This is clerly the manager's fault. I don't blame the drivers for this.

City Link have also managed to loose a friend's laptop which was going away for repair. Not all bad since he got a new one on the insurance.

Recently I had my experience of a parcel being collected. I had a delivery on the same day. I signed for the parcel being delivered, and the driver asked for the parcel being collected. The driver didn't give me a receipt or anything and just drove off. The people I was sending it back to (it was a faulty item) did not receive it. That was two weeks ago. I thought that it was lost, which put me in a difficult position considering I had no proof, since thd driver had given me nothing before driving off. I today had the package re-delivered to me with a "Collection without authorisation" sticker attached.

Ah well, at least it's back, and god knows what it's been doing for the last two weeks -- either at the bottom of a van or a dusty corner of the warehouse, so I imagine it will be completely broken by now.

So now I have to get it collected again. *sigh*.

We don't do receipts unless a customers asks for one, then we'll write you out one of our cards. You would have had to sign for the parcel being collected and also the driver has to scan it onto his van so there is a record. The package is then scanned out the depot and then scanned into another depot and then scanned onto the drivers van. It's accounted for at every stage. There's no real need for receipts.

You should be able to track it and see where it goes or doesn't go. We don't often lose stuff mate. It wasd probably nicked.

I didn't see him scan the parcel. He just took it and drove off. There is a need for receipts -- to prove that it was actually collected. It put me into a very difficult position since eBuyer had not received the parcel, and I had no proof whatsoever that the parcel had ever been collected. eBuyer wanted me to give them the consignment number but all I was able to tell them was "driver didn't give me anything".

For two weeks the parcel was lost until it got delivered to me again today.

I don't know whose fault it is. But _something_ went wrong.

Regarding lost versus nicked, who knows. Friend sent off laptop using City Link and it couldn't be found. It probably was stolen, but you'd hope the tracking would stop that. Ah well, sure they had fun with a broken laptop.

The procedure is that the driver must obtain a sig for packages collected as well as delivered. Your sig proves that the package has been collected. He's then supposed to put a bar code label on package and scan it as further proof that it's been collected. A lot of drivers don't bother putting bar codes on but instead keep a load of them stuck to the sun visor and scan them off like that. I have to say that some drivers i've noticed don't obtain sigs.

Hi

I thought I would just drop a line to say I have had many deliverys from City Link and only once have I been let down and that was due to bad snow fall and parcel was delivered next day no problems. I am expecting a delivery tomorrow - a Saturday - so we will see how that goes.

I think my deliverys go OK as it tends to be the same driver and he is very good at his job and very polite. I also found the staff at my local depot-Inverkeithing to be very polite and helpful.

I have found ICL to be better than DHL who didn't deliver as they couldn't find my house?? One thing I would say to the ICL staff how have given opinions - I have never had a phonecall from any courier EVER if they are having problems and yes they had all my contact numbers.

Hello All,

Firstly fao Branch 42. I buy my own maps, clipboards etc, its just a lot easier, I take them home when I go on holiday so nobody borrows them and (ahem) forgets to give them back.
On the AMTRAK point, I regularly see a 55 plate merc sprinter emblazoned with their livery in Rotherham, although funnily enough I cant remember the last time saw one in Barnsley where my delivery route is, maybe trading under a different name.
Once again on the collection procedure. I don?t always obtain sigs for collected goods although for high value goods such as laptops etc I usually offer the receipt for peace of mind. At the end of the day , I know whether I?ve picked up a parcel or not and if there?s any query regarding a subsequent loss, control will ask me As regards to ebuyer, I had a del/col just over a year ago now, where the lady didn?t appear to be at home, so wrote a card out and posted through the door , then the lady next door came out as I was leaving, and I asked her if she had seen her neighbour, she hadn?t, but all this took 7 minutes, then the consignee came to the door. I did the delivery and then she asked for a receipt for the goods she was returning. She handed me the card I had just posted and I took it from her and ticked the collect box, , I pointed out to her that the card she had just given me served as both a receipt and a failed delivery card and I had ticked the collect box. Without another word she slammed the door in my face and her husband had the nerve to phone the control office and accuse me of being abusive to his wife. She was obviously a little peeved at having the obvious pointed out to her. Never mind ???.
Fao of Chinchilla, I doubt you will find a single company where losses of parcels don?t occur, if there was there would be no need for goods in transit insurance.
Another point on deliveries and collections, if someone?s not in, sometimes there may be a car in the drive, I put down the reg no of the car on my manifest sheet as further proof of me attending the address. If I card a delivery that falls along the route of my nightly regular collections I will put my own mobile no on the card so that the consignee can phone me directly if they can, much easier than having to cart the latest tv or whatever they have ordered back to the depot.
One last point and this is for Coofer, I?ve noticed that a lot of people post once regarding complaints, for example Eric, because as I read it , the gentleman?s post inferred that his mobile phone may have been stolen by ICL employees, and that is a very serious matter. How about changing the format and asking people to let us know the final outcome of their problems and how it was resolved. It would also be useful if people were required to post the actual depot they were having problems with and the area it covered.

Regards
Allan ( ICL driver for Barnsley town ctr and beyond.)

Thanks for the ideas, Allan. Whilst this is far from anything like a formal feedback facility, it's always good to hear how things turn out, so if you're reading this and thinking about posting something - check back when ever your situation is resolved and tell us how it went. We want good news as well as bad.

Actually, this is a very good point. After all, we all accept that every so often mistakes or problems will occur. ICL let themselves down in the handling of these problems. Personal experience (mirrored by others here) is that whomever answers the number on the card is less able to help than our friend Allan, for example.

So for those folks who've been carded (for whatever reason, right or wrong) let's hear how you got on with arranging redelivery.

Just to add my pennyworth--I've had big problems with ICL in the past year--Bromley, Kent area-- getting items delivered for a kitchen--I've ordered from different companies and only ICL have been dreadful.

I've been called a liar when I have been told a yellow card was dropped (several times!) when it wasn't. Surely that is the drivers easiest option when they can't get through all the deliveries is to say they have dropped a yellow card when they haven't and call us the customers the liars when we never received it. They don't have to even try a delivery then.

I've been told the van needed to be bigger than the one it was supposed to be on--durrr!!

I have even been on the phone to a girl in the office and heard some-one in the background say OK and then do the complete opposite--just to get me off the phone.

And today, having not received an order that I made over the internet after a week I contacted the company to find out that the order is being delivered by ICL--update, just heard from the company to say ICL tried to deliver yesterday--well there's a surprise, where's my yellow card?--and will try again tomorrow.
I'm not holding my breath!!

I have asked the company to look at this site and see the problems involved--perhaps that is the way forward to get ICL to improve their customer service

I will take the advice above and try and find out who the delivery service is in future.
Thanks for letting me moan!!

Coofercat, is it just my computer or are the words falling off the page progressively?

i have been waiting for my post from initial-city to come this is the 3rd time it has been put on a van and they say they left a card at my door everytime but no card i phone up and one of them say's they dont know how to open a damn door (u can use a bell) and the next try they say they went to the wrong adress its jus a crazy company

i am a supervisor driver and can tell you all we have the same problems as you..we ring depot for directions as we are sometimes unable to find an address and we get no answer from our controllers.so what are we supposed to do.they don't ring back and senior managers are no help.they just bully you into believing that you are at fault and lie to the customer...they have set delivery proceedures but will not let you have a dinner break.. the rounds are to big ..health and safety is a joke....they treat you like second class citizens so is it any wonder why we have very little interest in giving you a decent service...if they treated us better then things would improve....99% of drivers want to do a first class job but we are given scanners that don't work the training for new drivers is a joke...the driver control centre is undermanned because big profits come before customer service.......then they rob your xmas bonus you have waited 2 years for....

We were persuaded to use City Link, with much emphasis on "great customer service". Six parcels sent out with them- 2 seriously damaged. Trying to claim compensation is a nightmare. Took more than 2 months for them to send us claim forms and then, unbelievably, they are taking us to court for non payment of the carriage costs!!!! Forget customer service. Drivers do their best but this is not a happy company!!!

this does not surprise me of city link.for instance recently a woman's dad died and following her return to work a week later she was disciplined because the company only allows 2 days off for compassionate leave. also a woman who had a miscarriage and following this an hysterectomy was also disciplined on her return to work. quite frankly this makes me sick to the stomach. I would be most interested in your opinion of this.

Time after time I have had problems with ICL and why suppliers still use them god only knows. I certainly think twice about ordering from a site who use them.

Problems we have had include several occasions of failed delivery notes being pushed through the dorr when I have watched the driver walk up to me front door and push it through without ringing the bell, a delivery driver admitting to me that the second parcel I had been chasing for weeks had been sitting in their delivery office for the whole time etc etc.

Today I was expecting a package, when I used the tracker it said that it was on the van for delivery today - hmmm it is nearly tomorrow (23.59pm)) and I dont think it's coming!

I cant believe the majority of replies from ICL staff on this site, it sums up the lack of customer service skills that ICL have - for gods sake quit moaning that you have 70+ deliveries a day to make... THATS YOUR JOB - YOU GET PAID FOR IT.. no matter how badly.

You don't hear surgeons saying "ooo it's my 6th operation today and I really can't be arsed so I'll just do half of it and if I make a mistake - ah well"

To the poster above who says "gods sake quit moaning that you have 70+ deliveries a day to make... THATS YOUR JOB - YOU GET PAID FOR IT.. " can't see his name cos it's off the page. You've no idea what doing 70+ deliveries PLUS collections entails mate. It means breaking speed limits and going without a break for 12 hours. Would you do that? Probably not so stop ragging on the drivers.

"several occasions of failed delivery notes being pushed through the dorr when I have watched the driver walk up to me front door and push it through without ringing the bell"

Several occasions eh? Well i hope you chased after him if you were watching all this. I'm interested to know what his excuse was. Do tell.

99.999% do try and deliver all our parcels on time every time but company policy dictates that you must pay more attention to your collections as these are where the money is...if as a driver you are having a bad day(few hold ups bit of heavy traffic) then its card off the deliveys and get on with making the company money and go collecting....incompetent management is to blame,staff morale at our depot has never been lower..we want to give a good service and deliver every parcel and can honestly say that no driver would walk up your path to put a card through when its quicker and easier to deliver the parcel....i do think that if you order a parcel it should only be attempted once...what idiot orders a parcel for delivery and is then not at home to receive it....if you have to go to work arrange delivery with the sender for a day you are in...dont leave it upto us to sort it out....if you have to go out for a minute,pop to the loo and we call and leave a card thats your fault not ours...we dont possess esp...if you want us to leave it safe or with a neighbour tell the sender...we can only act on the senders instructions not yours...they are our customer not you as you are theres...so you should all take a weeks leave go to any city link depot get a job for a couple of days and see what we have to contend with....city link management think they know it all but they dont....we as drivers do...we understand all of your problems but will they stop and listen to us...no......that would be to easy and why would city link management want to make life easy for anyone but themselves..top managers have never done the job..most controlers are failed drivers......all delivery rounds are not the same on a round with built up areas you could probably average 70+ a day but in rural areas 35+ is sometimes a problem....if the address is rose cottge in say tremerchion and thats the address on the parcel how are you meant to find it..we have no form of sat nav...incompetent control staff who very rarely answer our calls for assistance...yes we have mobile phones fitted but can on ring control...so waste of space really...savig money and profit come way ahead of customer service for city link management....ask the people you buy your goods off to request city link to sit down with the driver representatives to sort this out...each depot has got different problems....our vehicle repairs at chester are done at a garage 30 mintes away whe we have a garage 75 yards away....just so they can save 50p....these are the idiots we are working for....they never listen so please please will you all stop blaming the driver and look at the real culprits for all of the mess.................INCOMPETENT MANAGERS......

city link are a joke , next day lol you mean may be next week if lucky

Update on my parcel, after ringing and demanding in a pleasant way that this be looked in to I was told that my parcel had been put out on route 720 which did not exist - but it probably meant it was an agency driver. The guy said he would ring me on Monday when he had established where the parcel was.

I did ring back on saturday and said that if it was lost I just wanted to know but as it had been checked on to the van and the driver had not been able to find it, it pointed the finger at him. The guy then scurried off under sufference and checked the paperwork. He found a scribbled note from the driver saying parcel not on van.

So, after deceiding my parcel had gone missing at their end he told me to contact the supplier on Monday, which I did and they told me they would look in to it.

I called the courier back on Monday morning (he had promised to ring me back by 10am but suprise, no call).

He went and had a look and amazingly my package had turned up - battered, bruished and smashed up (no chance for my bottles of strega!). Ah, he said, this explains it - they are damaged.

So, the goods were damamged but rather than ICL doing anything about it they sat on someones desk for 4 days!

The supplier is sending out replacements today which I should receive tomorrow...

and, to you who asked fro the drivers reaction when I caught him going away from the door after pusging a note through without ringing - he simply mumbled and went red faced - no exlanation.

"So, the goods were damamged but rather than ICL doing anything about it they sat on someones desk for 4 days!"

They sat on someones desk whilst awaiting instructions from the sender who would have been contacted about the damaged package. We can't do anything until we get further instructions.

City Link driver Chester...Our control team and operations manager are fairly good and do care but their hands are frequently tied by the MD. He was a failed driver who married the owner of the franchise.

As ever, ICL have an answer, but no solution (sorry, Branch 42, you're now representing the whole of ICL).

As end-users, we don't care about your internal problems/procedures/management/etc. All we want is our parcels delivered as they ought to be. Other couriers manage this (with variable quality), so we assume ICL should be able to do at least as well.

Whilst I can sympathise with working for rubbish managers, at the end of the day, if you and your career don't want to be associated with it, then you have to jump ship (or get your management changed/fixed).

Harsh? Maybe.

PS. For all of you who use the worst browser in the world (Internet Explorer) who had issues reading this page, you'll be glad to hear I've just spent 2 hours fixing it (to save you having to fix IE). This page is now NOT "accessible", does not conform to web standards, and is not "future proof". Thanks IE, you suck.

Hi, I've been waiting for 22 days for one parcel and 14 days for another parcel which City Link were supposed to be delivering- in that time City Link did deliver one parcel successfully (neither of the two that I am still waiting for) and have not managed to get to my address since!

One parcel they changed the address (inexplicable) which was amended once the second parcel didn't arrive and we realised it had gone awol. Today they reckon one parcel is on it's way (not arrived yet 16:26).

My supplier had me on speaker phone whilst he spoke to an ICL representative, he's really tried hard to get this package to me, spent many an hour ringing phones that weren't picked up or engaged, speaking to people who couldn't help him. He's emailed me all the information he could to try and sort this out. We have had confirmed that we should have a delivery on Friday, Monday, Today and Tomorrow; my supplier was even told by the manager that I could have a taxi delivery of the parcels last Friday.

To make things worse, it turns out the second package which was supposed to be on it's way to me didn't go out today because it was in the managers office!!! No one knew where it was and was suspected lost for a while.

They've had my telephone number and there have been at least 3 people on site at all times, this place has numerous delivery vehicles visiting, they really don't have an excuse for not making it here.

Really, waiting so long for a next day delivery is unexceptable.

The delivery in question is billboard paper and banner material to print a shop and road sign, I still have to do the printing once the material arrives.

It is completely unfair that the only people who seem to be concerned about this are me, my supplier and my client. City Link certainly couldn't care less and couldn't even follow through on a promise of a taxi.

If anyone has any experience on taking this issue to another level please let me know.

First time I have used City Link & never again. Waited in all day today and tracked the package on the internet. Package was loaded on van at 0802. Rang the Ashford office at 1800 to be told they deliver until 2000. Waited until this time rechecked the tracking system to find a message saying office was closed for delivery but a card was left. How strange, I was in all day as I had taken the day off to receive this package and there is no card in the door. I've been ringing the Ashford depot for the past hour and no reply. Guess I will have to try tomorrow.

all of these faults are not the fault of any driver...remember we have to work for these idiots....just think how you would fell having to go into work for a cowboy outfit like them......
things will get better they trying to sell it off.....
lets hope they do before managers run it down to nothing......
they good at lieing to you as well as us....
we want to give you a good service but we stick to there proceedure and that is why tou all on here....you'd have nowt to moan about if they listened to the people who know the job

THE DRIVERS

I know this isn't quite the place, but ICL have actually done very well for me over the last few months.

There's a bit of me that wonders if "they" know about this page and do a 'special' job for me, but I suspect not.

I've recently had a handful of deliveries, all dealt with perfectly. To be fair, I have been in all of the time, forsaking showers and trips to the corner shop (during working hours!), but I've not been 'incorrectly' dealt with at all.

Honestly, ICL are doing as well as anyone else for me right now. That doesn't absolve the failings of the past, but credit where it's due: they're doing well right now.

ICL: I'm a cynic, and don't believe you can keep this up. Certainly, I don't think you can do this for the general populous. However, it's clear you CAN do it, so keep doing it.

we hope all our managers have a miserable xmas and a nasty new year to make up for all of the aggrevation they have caused you and us.

if your parcel says it was attempted after 3pm then this is most probably a lie.99% of drivers are getting ready/doing there collections.
delivering your parcel comes a long way down there list of prorities.
so is customer service.
and staff relations.
we hate them and that then recricates in the service you receive.
try another company tell your supplier to use other companys.
doint buy from companys that use city link and cancel orders if they do.
think coofer cat is going soft praising this shower of b*******.

Hello All,

Here is Albi?s Christmas message to the masses.

I?ll wager my ICL Christmas Bonus ( 4 cans of Fosters lager ), that many a Christmas has been saved by ICL ( and the other firms such as Parcel force, TNT, Apc, Dhl, Anc Lynx et al ) turning up on Christmas Eve with the latest gadgets etc , no doubt ordered at the last minute off the internet. So well done lads and lasses, that?s a job well done. Hope you all have a Great New Year. Although from experience it?s the same sh*t, different year !.

This is for Becca. Listen Dear heart, read your comments as to replies from ICL staff representing the attitude to customer service, if you read the comments from posters you will see comments such as Sh*tty Link, accusations of drivers being in-competent, and that ICL is a Crappy little co, it doesn?t exactly make the case for constructive replies does it ?. There are also comments as to the grammar used by ICL employees reflecting the level of expertise with which the way the company operates. Personally I know people who can?t spell for toffee but are fantastically talented at their job. I also know people who are fantastic orators but who couldn?t wire a plug. A persons ability to spell correctly does not always have a bearing on other aspects of their ability to carry out other duties. I can spell correctly most of the time, but I?d have no idea how to go about re-wiring my house, point made.

Your comment as to drivers should quit moaning about the number of deliveries they get to do, there is an old well worn phrase ? don?t knock it till you?ve tried it?, in the week preceding Christmas, I attended over 300 separate delivery addresses , split 60/40 in favour of business versus private addresses, out of those I failed ( although this is perhaps the wrong word because they were all carded ) 4 deliveries over the week, add onto that over 20 ad-hoc collections plus my regular business collections and that?s quite a work load.
With particular regard to the ad-hoc collections, these can be given to a driver any time up to 3 pm, can be at the other end of your delivery route and must be attempted otherwise a fine is imposed by head office. I start my regular collections at 3 pm, so a collection in say Worsborough Dale at the bottom end of Barnsley can be a frustrating request to deal with.
The comparison as to the attitude of a surgeon vs. ICL is particularly unfortunate. A mistake made by even the most diligent and highly skilled surgeon can lead to death in the worst case, and even sometimes in the least years of suffering for the unfortunate patient. A delay in your parcel delivery for whatever reason , whether its down to ICL or other things beyond our control maybe means you get your delivery a day late, although I accept that this is of no compensation if you have a deadline to meet in business. The two consequences are not even in the same league. You should be ashamed of making such a comparison , hypothetical though it may be.

Anyway that is the end of my rant, as you can probably tell this is one poster who has particularly got my normally ice cold attitude rising up to boiling point. This is why the ` Cats ` board is so useful. Becca has got the satisfaction of knowing that she has got her point out into the ether to be read by other people who have experienced problems with ICL, and no doubt will feel better for it, and I have the got the right of reply. I just wish people would stop away from the derogatory insults, this goes for both sides of the fence.

Lets hope you all have a trouble free year regarding ICL deliveries and if not I?m sure you?ll al let us know

I bet you never thought your thoughts would provoke such a response Coofer, but then again if there were no problems there would be no need complain.

Wishing you all a great New Year , even Becca lol

Regards Allan ( working to make life easier for all in Barnsley and beyond )

Initial City Link are without a doubt the WORST delivery service out there.
My most recent nightmare with them (one of MANY) is pretty horrific - over ?200 worth of goods undelivered - why? First day they were supposed to deliver they "didnt have time". The second day they "couldnt find the place" (after detailed and precise instructions of how to find my place, no one else has any problems...) The third day - same story, just never came.
After talking to one of their "customer service staff" he admitted to me that 600 packages that were supposed to be delivered that day had not even left the warehouse. With their already TERRIBLE track record I think we can all agree that these boys are out to con you. Literally, they are con artists and it wouldnt surprise me if a large number of undelivered packages or "signed" are simply stolen by crooked staff. What a f***ing nightmare.

Having worked in the courier industry, behind a desk and on the road, i do believe that ICL do fall short in a multitude of ways.However I would imagine that thay are very competitive in terms of price.A culture of Well paid execs\sales team and poorly paid grunts who dont really give a fuck, and at the end of the day who can blame them,whenever i am unfortunate enough to be dealing with a company that uses there services.I presume i wont be recieving anything and if thay come through great if not i will imediately schedule a visit to the depot.You pay for what you get and with city link that will usually come in the form of headaches for customers and Drivers/depot grunts.Whilst the slick sales execs propound the advantages of using their CHEAP service.
At my local depot the first thing you see when you walk into reception is a notice on the gents door basically saying our drivers steal things and stuff the remants down the bog.
Shitty arse or what?

We cannot realistically judge how good the company is on a percentage ratio as obviously the customers who get there packages on time do not report/record this (if there are any), so we can only go on personal experience. The reason i am writing this is beacuse over the past 3 years i have had 3 deliveries and 2 collection from ICL and none of them ontime, i made an order for next day delivery from ebuyer which should be delivered today 29/12 (paid ?12.14 exc of tax) and then realised they used ICL so i am no longer expecting my package, more just guessing which excuse they are going to use, BUT maybe just maybe they can get 1/6 packages delived on time to me
The way i look at it is that the ICL employees who have commented on this page state that it is not their fault and alot of the things are out of their hands but if you where to turn up for work late 6 times in a row or more they do not judge you on whether or not it is your fault you are simply judged on being consistantly late, good worker or not?!?!
As for the grammar and spelling that people are complaining about that is stupid... i do not spell well and i don't have great grammar.... but i have an IQ of 129, went to a grammar school, and i do my job very well
... anyway i'll keep you posted as to whether my package gets delivered on time

I ordered an expensive watch and paid for deliveryThe watch did not arrive so I called the companywho then said they had tried to contact CiotyKink in Scunthorpe but could get no reply
I got a further letter from the supplier saying that they had at last managed to contact CityLink who told them they had called on 23rd Dec but could not get an answer I had stayed in all day on thet day as the watch was a Christmas present The supplying company asked them why a note was not left to which he was told they had forgotten I called Citylink today 29th and was told the manager lived in my village and was dropping it off on his way home No watch as arrived and I have been in all day and evening
The CityLink service is disgustingI have waited 10 days for a next day so called delivery there is no co operation at all its a good job they do not run an ambulance sevice they would still be removing World war 1 casualties

"its a good job they do not run an ambulance sevice they would still be removing World war 1 casualties"

PMSL, that's good, i like that Bob.

christmas gone and so have another year of dreams.what do you as customers and us as employees have to look forward to.another year of failed deliverys for you and another year of hell for us.
both caused by an inability to manage properly.
at our depot we used to be a franchised depot and it was run on a bully,bully and bully some more and they'll knuckle under.the owner of the franchise was running another firm on a fraudulent basis along the same lines as city link with a team of managers who thought they were in the gestapo.they helped to set up and cover up this fraud.then they set up a firm within a firm to deliver perfume on a same day service.they are now running our depot and others within the area.
the head of our groups i.t dept set up the programme to run it.the current controllers covered it up and we are now meant to have respect and work for these people.
surely city link senior managers can see these people for what they really are and remove them.
we can see it, our customers can see it and then it maybe sorted and you will not have to see it.
but the senior managers will bury there head in the sand and hope that lightening does not strike twice.
good luck to city link senior managers and customers and lets hope they take the necessary action to sort out this problem.

this is the 3rd time the stupid ass driver hasnt bothered to even come to my door, from where i was sitting i can see the road. i refreshed the page on ICL's tracking service "We called today but you wernt home, the driver left a card" PURE BS i can see the road from my desk and i was in all day. SHITTY LINK INDEED

if any1 works in shittylink bristol can u go kick yr managers ass please, thanks

i've been reading some of these posts and seem to agree with most of the points. it cant be so hard to deliver a parcel to the right address. all u have to do is ring the doorbell then wait for a answer! NO one is superfast at answering. give them the parcel and they sign for it. NOT sign for it them selves! if there not in. leave the card and do it the nextday !!!
the drivers that say it's not there fault. and complane about too many parcels. still all that matters to us is we want our BLOODY PARCELS!!

you pay for 'NEXTDAY delivary' get 2 week delivary, they loose the parcel. they find parcel. they ask you to collect the parcel. it would have been bloddy easier to collect it in the first place

if each parcel gets scanned every stage of its journey. why are so many people upset with lost parsels ! branch 42 must be special. maby the moons depot where there are no parcels !

My parcel, bought on e-bay, lies somewhere in limbo signed "left safe" by the driver, certainly not at my address. Effectively they have stolen it! Who's got it? Nobody knows, nobody cares! - certainly not ICL depot at Carlisle who claim this is "proof of delivery" - end of story for them, "refer to your supplier" - he referred me to them! I have lost a few quid, my supplier has lost a lot more - a bad review on e-bay, loss of my custom and if he continues to use ICL, much, much more.

just got up and now face an 11 hour shift for the worst employers in the country.
its alright for you lot to come on here moaning but when your treated like dirt and are managed by incompetents,what do you expect.
remember if management are so disinterested why should we be.
its got to start fron the top.and filter down.then maybe someone may give a toss about your parcel.
city link senior managers must be at our depot at least be seriously be considering the usefulness of our managers.they are useless.
no one has any respect for them.remove them and most of the problem goes away.
so heres hoping??????????????????????????

"City Link handle thousands of parcels daily, about 97% are delivered on time."

Why not 100%? Thats what customers pay for.

I have just been informed I missed my delivery from City Link (I couldn't help it, I'm at work) but I left a note saying put it in my open garage....which they have ignored. I can't complain, this is procedure. However, I bet when I drive all the way to the collection depot tonight, nackered after working all day, they

a) Won't have my parcel
b) Will tell me I have to wait 24hours for my parel
c) They are already coming round tomorrow with it (to an empty house) and there is nothing they can do about it.

What WON'T happen is that I give them my missed delivery card, they find the parcel in less than 10 mins, and I go happily on my way. All these delivery companies are the same as far as I've experienced.

The only reason I am using this service is that the goods I ordered on the Net are only available from the Net.

I don't know why Internet shopping is so popular. Its ultimately worse than going into town to buy goods. You have to wait ages for delivery (usually), you pay extra for it, you always have the stress and expense of getting hold of your already paid for goods when you miss the delivery (if you work 8:30 till 5 like me.) Why does it have to be like this?!

Oh and to just say to the City Link couriers who wonder why people don't get things delivered to their place of work.

a) Some people are away from their "place of work" all day, like yourselves!!
b) Some people have paid for and are expecting a Saturday delivery. When ICL fail to deliver the parcel on the specified day how can people help being at work?!

"Stressed City Link Driver:

6. WE DO NOT I repeat NOT accept notes on doors asking for the parcel to be left without a signature ON OUR SHEETS. Only the sender can give us permission to leave goods without a signature."

Maybe you should inform somebody to put this information on your web site, as I searched the entire thing looking for this information, before giving up and ringing the depot....which was all very time consuming for some BASIC INFORMATION. I couldn't even find something on the site saying "you will have to sign for a parcel in person"!!

The worst "delivery" service I have ever encountered. I would never use them as a consignor. They came to my house on 29 Dec 2005 with a parcel for my son. Despite there being two people at home, they could not make contact. (I assume they rang the bell once for about half a second.) They then left a card, with a number to call. However, it was for the wrong depot and the wrong number. (Professional!) When I eventually contacted the right depot, I arranged delivery for the following Wednesday. Wednesday came. No delivery. Rang up. Promised for Thursday. Thursday came. No delivery. Rang up. Promised for Friday. No delivery. Promised for Saturday. No delivery. Rang on Monday. "We were told to hold it". (Not even a clever lie, as I knew what had been said.) Promised for Monday p.m. No delivery. At this point, incandescent, I phoned the depot and asked to speak to the most senior person on duty."They're not answering their phone. Can I get them to call you back?" I'm still waiting. An absolute disgrace. Unprofessional, incompetent, dishonest. Don't ever use them.

currently off sick.......not getting paid, but at least able to smile reading all these complaints.........gotta laugh ! Guess you either love em or hate em just like marmite.

Its a fact that only members of the public complain when they have a bad experience. They never praise any service no matter how good it is. Companies rarely complain about a poor service from ICL.

The fact that ICL delivery to a lot of private customers is a considerable factor in the high amount of complaints. The likes of TNT/DHL businesss post etc tend to deal mainly with business's cos they cause less aggrevation.

If cosignees have ordereed a parcel for delivery then make arrangements for someone to accept the parcel. Why order stuff and not be home to receive it ?? Do every courier company a favour and use your common sense to have someone at home. If you cant make arrangements then dont complain about not having it delivered.

Just because you write a little note saying deliver next door or leave in garage doesnt give the driver the right to do so. Our contract is with the senders and not consignee. So without their permission your request will not take place.

I have worked for ICL for approx 3 years on sales, I have worked for competitors, and believe me we are certainly one of the better options...try searching on TNT,Business Post,ANC and yes you will find pages and pages of petty grumbles.
We handle 1000's of parcels through our hub every night, just because 1 or two parcels may experience an unsatisfactory route, no one mentions the 1000's that are delivered in perfect condition and on time.
Unfort some hairy arsed buffons that work in despatch areas cant stir a cup of tea, let alone complete a manifest correctly...but again it's our fault.

ICL do not BOTHER to even attempt delivery in my area (BARKING BRANCH). THEY LIE on the tracking system and say no one was in to accept delivery. THE ONLY WAY to get your package, is to collect it from the depot.

RUBBISH service

Sods law, they turned up with my delivery today now :)

Maybe my letter of complaint was heard

Wait till you see this one.
The company I work for have lost over ?19,000 (yes Nineteen thousand pounds) in 2004 and close to ?22,000 (Twenty Two thousand pounds) last year through parcels lost by Initial City Link.
In 2004 they claimed from their insurers, the premium rocketed as a result. In 2004 they claimed against City Link who kept on asking for more and more documents but did not pay. They then used clause 14 (I think) to refuse all claims over 9 months old ! then used every other trick under the sun to refuse the rest of the claims. So far not a penny has been paid, I believe the case is going to court !
I know that many companies have experienced the same, including some on this forum. As to their attitude, from M.D down, it is atrocious, to put it mildly.
To all companies out there, check out their record before using them (again), you may be shocked.

TO WHOM IT MIGHT CONCERN SEEKING A REPUTABLE COURIER COMPANY

On the 16/Jan/2006, I purchased online from the ?The Navigation Company?, an In Car Navaigation device costing ?516.74. inc next day delivery. Quite a reasonable saving compared to High Street Prices, but paid extra for Next Day as I was working from home, the next day.

I ordered this item as a gift for my spouse, to give to her on her day off (19/01/06), as she is travelling from East London, over to West London to visit our newly born niece. I could not drive her, as I scheduled to be working.

Unfortunelty, the Item was not delivered as tasked by Initial City Link ( Consignment: TOJ57682 ).

At 6.30pm on the evening (18/01/06), I checked at www.city-link.co.uk to track the consignment and to my surprise, as I had ensured that I was here all day, eagerly never losing sight or sound of the front door to receive this item, to see on-line that they had ?carded? this delivery at 17.20.

I immediately called City Link, whom not so politely informed me that they tried to deliver the item at 17.20 but there was no answer from the intercom!

I have no intercom! I live in a house, with a single door bell. A doorbell you press once, and chimes for 30 seconds. Clearly they could not find my location to deliver this item, so then they ?carded? the item, elsewhere, maybe.

I requested when they could guarentee delivery, but was told they could not, but it maybe be better for me to collect the item from them, in Beckenham.

So why did I pay for "next day delivery"?

I further asked what method they used to find my location, and to my amazement their drivers just use an London A-Z!

Should a company that sells naviagation devices be using a delivery company that has it's drivers use a London A-Z? Why does the words "isn't it ironic" immediately comes to mind.

They then proceeded to have the item re-scheduled for a second attempted delivery today, 19/01/06 sometime between 9am - 6pm, but this isn't guarenteed as they had proven, that they cannot find the correct house and no way is this acceptable! Every other courier comapny can find this address.

Now, I can't present this gift to my wife, she can't drive over to see our new-born niece and now has resort to using public transport. I have to work from home and cancel two client appointments, as to then I if receive the item, if the City Link can read a map, correctly, if they have been trained!

So this morning, 19/01/06, I check again Initial City Link?s website to ensure that the item had been loaded onto a van. No it had not!
My wife then proceeded to call the local depot, to be updated with the situation. They had no record of my call yesterday evening, nor where attempting to deliver today. After a few minutes on hold, she was told it will be given to a driver to drop off on his way home!

I am now finacially worse off, as not receiving a service that was paid for, including to re-schedule at my expense (There goes the savings buying online)!

So as I will be sitting possibly for a further 9 hours waiting for delivery today, I shall be using my time constructively posting an edited copy off an email I sent to the Navigation Company of this situation and onto the website forums and bloggs.

After reading this page, it is quite obvious;

Intial City Link has many problems, that can be easily addressed, if they intend to remain in this competive business.
They use technology to book items through a so called real time tracking system but fail still to deliver.

Why, can?t a large PLC Company invest in end-to-end technology to provide it?s drivers with a pre-scheduled pickup and delivery route, loaded into a Naviagtion device with real time tracking, in direct commincation with the control centre. These vehicles, I?m sure are costly, so why not invest a few ponds more in it?s cost. This would clearly help the driver to find the correct location, prove that they where at the location, create a ecomical route for the driver, use computer inteligence to add ad-hoc pickups and second attempt delivery, if the scheduled time allows. Clearly the list of benifets is endless and positive.

This of course would be seen by middle management, as costly (bonuses are more important), but really the savings would be seen in the amount of profits being lost, by repaying back to the consignor lost and failed next day deliveries.

Also, South London Branch has a major management problem especially with their clients ?customers? relations. Maybe this problem should be highlighted at a national level using all media methods as possible. Methods like ?Watchdog? and the ?5 O?Clock Show? (Many other please suggest), as I would be very happy to speak with them to hightlight this problem to Businesses and the Public, alike.

Enlightening Rentokil Initial PLC shareholders and the Stock Market aware of the dire situation Initial?s City Link management and services are in. This is only where we can start to see City Links service improve, or also watch the share price drop! A company that takes money tasked to deliver and doesn?t, is called theft and they are getting away with it!

Finally, I would suggest that any Business looking for a courier company, that they check that it uses a END_TO_END REAL TIME DELIVERY system that manages and runs from pickup to drop off, effectively, efficiently and managed in a professional manner which INITIAL CITY LINK IS NOT!

From a very sincerely dissatisfied clients ?customer?.

Hello All,

Having just read Mr Jardines comments on ICL, here are a few of my own.
The system giving total communication between depot and driver already exists?..
It?s called a mobile phone, nothing complicated there then.
I already possess an all singing and all dancing navigation system, its called a brain.
My brain thinks on the fly and can work out the most economical route round my delivery area in both terms of time and as I?m saving time, this of course means I?m saving the company money in expenditure on diesel.
Your average sat nav system will not tell me that there are certain times that I should avoid certain roads, only I can know that from much experience out on the road. We also have a system whereby collections are sent over the airwaves to an electronic scanner, upon receipt the driver has to accept or decline the collection , as the equipment cannot be overridden. The scanner I mention also serves as a real time tracking device for proof of delivery requests, the idea being that the driver inputs the name of the receiver of the delivery as soon as delivery is made. The only trouble being that, frequently due to the number of deliveries we are expected to do, it is impossible to do the pods as you should., I frequently have to batch input pods, this can sometimes be up to two hours after I?ve delivered the parcel, the exceptions being timed dels and carded deliveries. There have been a number of occasions when control have phoned me for an e.t.a. on a delivery, only for me to inform them that I have already delivered 20 mins ago , I then read out the name and time down the total communication device.

I should think that share holders in Rentokil Initial are already aware of the value of shares and performance etc, and I am sure that directors et al will be only too aware of the challenges the company face in such a cut throat market place.

Anyway enough already????.

Regards
Allan ( Delivering for ICL in Barnsley town ctr and it seems everywhere else at times ! )

allen must be the only person who has faith in how the company is run.no other employee has this blind faith in an already shambolic operation.
if you had a pet as poorly as city link management you'd have it put to sleep.
at our depot we have got an inadequate number of control staff for an already busy depot and all we get from management is we are sorting other things out first.
we have a vacany for a morning controller that has not been filled and the closing date for applications was 14/10/05.
if they take this long to sort out something so simple no wonder it takes so long for your parcel to be delivered.
you ring in with an address we are unable to locate and due to our control centre being under staffed and busy they can't answer every call so we have to utl (unable to locate) the delivery. otherwise we'd be sitting on a road all day.waiting.
just like you do for your parcels.
if city link head office were made aware of these management failings then maybe they could address it.
but that is why you receive messages saying carded at 17.20 and no attempt has been made to deliver your parcel.a carded delivery is not a failed delivery which each depot gets fined for.thus resulting in senior managers finding out how useless there managers are.
remember drivers finish at 18.00 and 99% of drivers are back at depot unloading collections or just getting there last collection at 17.20.remember this for future reference if its not there by 15.30 your probably not going to receive it.
fully staffed depots and control offices would reduce this problem but profit comes before service in the mind set of city link.
we want to give you 100% customer satisfaction but penny pinching prevents us.we work an 11 hour shift often with no rest break due to there incompetence.
we get paid nmw and an attendance bonus that they take off you when your on holiday but have not had a day off sick.
no joy being a city link customer or employee...

Hello All

Just to clarify things .I was just pointing out that the systems are there but not implemented as they should be.
I certainly do not have a blind faith regarding the management style of ICL, being totally honest , the only people I have faith in are myself and fellow drivers and office staff such as controllers and office girls such as customer service staff, who put up with far more flack than they should be expected to for the money they earn.
I am constantly pointing out the inadequacies of company procedure to my superiors otherwise known as controllers. I have mentioned in earlier posts that many times they will be in agreement with me, but they cannot do anything, as other drivers point out, they are hamstrung by the wishes of senior management.

Once again at the moment many depots are run as franchises, by their very nature a person who buys into a franchise is someone who wants to be self employed and to turn a profit. The employment of staff and the provision of systems within the company to enable it to move forward and grow, thus making more money for the franchisee, are done out of necessity, not an innate sense of benevolence on the part of the owner of said business. It is done purely so that the businessman/ woman can lead the way of life they aspire to and who can blame them ?
Unfortunately this train of thought will frequently mean that money is not made available to employ the growing number of staff ie extra drivers, and buy the new equipment needed to run the company so that its full potential can be reached. I once saw on a wall in an office, the following : ? If you need a new machine but do not buy it, you will soon find you have paid for that machine , but do not own it?

As I point out in my last post , the fact that we are given so many deliveries to do means that we can not implement the procedures regarding on line pods , if we did it to the book we would not get anything done and deliveries would suffer even further, so in the interests of the consignee I go against company procedure on a regular basis and just keep delivering/ collecting till all my deliveries are at least attempted and yes, this means often going without my unpaid hr for lunch, every time I/we do this, me and my fellow drivers are in effect having an hours pay stolen from our wages.
Maybe I should present an invoice to the accounts payable dept of ICL for the free work they get from me.

I am going over old ground when I tell you that I regularly leave messages on consignees answer phones, or phone contact nos that are sometimes provided on the manifest, theses numbers are often in Leeds etc, not much use when I?m in Barnsley though are they.
The above actions are taken at my own expense, I don?t have a phone with free minutes etc, it is a pay as you go affair. I should declare myself a charity lol.

As other ICL workers have commented if any consignee is so exorcised by the treatment they receive from their local ICL, take a day off and go and have a look at the resources provided at the depots then you may understand why the problems arise.
Of course if any one would like to send Alice Beer or anyone similar from a consumer programme I would happily take them round my route and show them the ropes, as long as they provided the sandwiches and tea, although funnily enough company policy on passengers in the vans would obviously prevent this . Convenient don?t you think .

One last thing for you all to digest This week I?ve visited 274 delivery addresses , carding 6 over the week and redelivering 5 of those , one consignment has been refused meaning 272 consignees have their goods, certainly don?t consider that a dire service.

Regards

Allan ( a grunt who certainly does give a f**k and is no management lap dog )

Rob, If you are an ICL Customer (that means you have an account with us and send parcels through us, and give us money), ask the depot you hold your account with about goods being left safe. If, however, you are a consignee (we are delivering you a parcel), ask the people you order from to tell us to leave the goods safe. Reading what you say, I think you are a consignee. (Apologies if I am wrong.) In which case the senders decide whether we leave things with neighbours, in sheds etc. Some senders want this done with every delivery, some allow it with some deliveries, some allow it after we leave a card the first time and some just wont entertain the idea at all. Ask when you order.

If you know you wont be in, ask the senders when you order something if they will instruct us to leave it with a neighbour (and check the neighbour is going to be in, please). I would much rather deliver a parcel the first attempt, it keeps the consignee happy and it keeps me happy.

With regards to cards not being left, and I know it should not happen, but just occasionally a driver might make a human error and go to the wrong door in a street, or possibly the wrong street. I have done it myself. (I can count on the fingers of one hand how often its happened in two years) But we drivers are human, and all humans make errors. And sometimes senders put the wrong address on the parcel. Thats their fault, not ours. Drivers dont like taking parcels back to the depot, they create extra work.

Finally, if you have a dog which has a liking for shredding the post, check it hasnt shredded the card. I have seen a few cards destroyed by dogs in seconds. And one or two have had a go at my fingers in the letterbox (and succeeded). And some cats are not too trustworthy either.

"Now, I can't present this gift to my wife, she can't drive over to see our new-born niece and now has resort to using public transport"

Perhaps if she could read an A-Z.........

Hello All

Just to even things up a bit, here's a problem i've had today 23.01 06.On my collection manifest was a collection from a residential address, this was to be attempted between the hrs of 13.00 and 16.00.I'm in the area delivering at 12.20 pm, ah- ha ! me thinks will try the collection as someone's bound to be at home, or else they're cutting it really fine.Up shot is, consignor not at home, never mind me thinks and i duly leave a card with my personal mobile no on and carry on delivering,although i don't pod it as a failed delivery because technically i'm a little early. At 12.45 go back and knock on door once more,still no answer, so back to van and sit outside his front door till 13.00 hrs, back to door,no answer.Right ! card collection and enter in scanner as carded.One hour later collection comes through once more so i phone control and tell them i've attempted and carded, told to go back as collection has been rebooked,now heres the rub. Any collection that is failed due to no one at home is charged anyway as we've made the effort to collect. Effectively this job should be charged twice but won't be,no apologies on the behalf of the consignor for wasting my time though.Oh well!!!
Regards
Allan ( barnsley town ctr and beyond with nowt to do but waste time sitting on my hands )

A slight variation of one of those dodgy emails that go around:

Murderers: Got a body to dispose of? No problem, wrap it up and send it by Initial City Link - no one will ever see it again!

just had my tea after another stressed out day, loads of deliverys and collections coming out of my ears.arrive back at base to find out city link are forcing our am controller to resign.so god help anyone who sends parcels via our depot.

his wife is supposed to be our depot manager and they have been told that they can't have holidays off together.what a firm to work for.

they treat someone with all his years service like this.

city link have no morals,they have now stooped to even lower than we could ever have immagined.

fancy stopping a man and woman with a young Family from having time off together.

they are scum.

he knows more about this job and the running of our depot than anyone else.maybe its time we went public about this cowboy outfit.

write to the papers,e:mail all people you buy stuff off.lets hit them where it hurts and that ain't isn't there morals,they ain't got none.

city link are scum

"city link are forcing our am controller to resign"

Is it ICL itself or the franchise owners? There is a small distinction to be made here.

city link themselves.we used to have a franchisee but got taken over when they discovered he was running another company in direct competition to icl.

you will all be taken over soon and this is how you will be treated.

they are scum.rotten to the core.

everyone beware.use another courier firm.
hit them where it hurts.
scum should not win.

City link chester driver - I hope head office dont hear about this site or your out on your backside. Read your handbook - under "Gross Misconduct"!! I suggest you look for another job - plenty people would be glad of yours. And I work in a Head Office run branch too.

I work for citylink as a sorter. Dont blame the drivers, its the supervisors that dont have to lift a finger that are at fault.

If there were any chance of the Reading branch answering the phone it would help. They have put a phone number on to contact to re-arrange delivery, I have been trying for two hours, getting past the engaged tone about four times, only to have the line drop out after five minutes soild ringing with no answer each time.
What a bloody useless company, long live the Post Office.

WITH REPLY TO

"Stephen Jardine

TO WHOM IT MIGHT CONCERN SEEKING A REPUTABLE COURIER COMPANY

On the 16/Jan/2006, I purchased online from the ?The Navigation Company?, an In Car Navaigation device costing ?516.74. inc next day delivery. Quite a reasonable saving compared to High Street Prices, but paid extra for Next Day as I was working from home, the next day."

IN FUTURE, DON'T BE SO DAMN LAZY AND GO TO THE SHOP AND PURCHASE THE BLOODY THING IN PERSON.

Incredible!

I seriously hope you're not really a human, let alone a manager at a courier company. The thought that you might have influence over anything besides your own douvet is really quite worrying.

Hello All,
I seriously hope that the comments puporting to be from a City Link Manager, are in fact the comments of someone who is simply trying to cause mischief.
If indeed they are from a so called manager then i hope he is not a customer relations dept manager as if this is his view of customers then no wonder there are so many complaints.I thought that this was the whole idea of internet shopping ie to save money !!.
This is for the driver who thinks ICL are scum. Get another job.I have many negative views of ICL,but at the end of the day , most people will find something to moan about in whatever job they are in, i do it regularly to the people that count ie those within the company,makes me feel better then i get on with it, and go about the job i'm paid to do, to the best of my ability and my efforts will always be biased in favour of the consignee, not the company.
I am more than happy to put my name to any comments i post and will not hide by simply putting " A Driver " etc.

Regards
Allan ( delivering for ICL in Barnsley town ctr and beyond).

Without predudice
Well I used to work for ICL london west as a cso about eight years ago. Firstly I agree with some of the comments regarding the consignor and the consignee. Some consignors were notorious for lieing to their customers advising them that their pacel was our for deliver when it had not even left there warehouse, thus passing the blame on to ICL. Im not saying this was always the case, but it did happen quite frequenly. Also consignees need to understand that ICL cannot deliver to any other address or to leave the parcel safe WITHOUT THE CONSCENT OF THE CONSIGNOR. Its the consignor that pays ICL for the delivery and ICL is liable for any losses of a package if not delivered as per the contract between ICL and the consignor. Therefore the consignor will need to put any special consignee requests in writing before ICL will act on it.
Also ICL depots were hopelessly understaffed, with a constand flow of short term incompetent staff who did not give a fuck, thus putting a lot of pressure on staff that actually want to help. Yes they are there , problem is that because they care all the customers want/will only talk to them wich makes them difficult to contact.

On the other hand, the depot I work for which was at the time the most profitable depot in London, conditions where awful. The pay was real bad in respect with what we had to deal with. Conditions and the branch were awful. Cleaners were a joke and you could never where a white longsleave shirt to work because it would be black by lunch time. The desks were falling apart the management were totally unprofessional and the poor sales team were forever trying to clean up their mess. We were as times advised by supervisors to bend the truth. The city link network was a joke. we had the same telephone numbers to contact depots for information as the rest of you,and I can vouch for all you people who say it can take a very long time to conact ICL becuase it took us as long too.

So I have sympathy with you when you do not receive your parcel I really do, but please give a thought to the people who work in this industry to, itd not easy, And do not always beleive what your supplier tells you, they tell porkies too...

This i think is indicative of the franchise system.

my husband works for city link, he leaves home at 6.15am then returns at 6-7 pm. at least 3 times per week he then has to go back out to do more deliveries. most days days he misses lunch (has chocolate bar or crisp in between drops) just to make sure he gets as many of his 90+ parcels delivered as he can. it takes a time to do paperwork with each failed delivery so all drivers will try their best to get your parcels to you. however how can parcels with no postcode or full address or no one home to receive and sign for be delivered.

Amtrak certainly aren't deceased. They bought Nightspeed back in August

Respect to the drivers, a tough job. Ok that said I quote a ICL operative from this thread above "When a card has been left on the first attempt and the consignee is not in, it does state on the card not to call the depot as 2nd delivery will automatically be re-attempted the following day. " My card says no such thing. In fact I have two now as I phoned to arrange collection as stated on the card to be told it was in the van, nowhere did it tell me about automatic second delivery. Due to the senders useless comms ( did not tell me it was dispatched when it had been sent therefore no-one in) and ICL wrong instructions on the card I will need to drive 40 mile round trip.. on a day that I did not intend to do so.....thanks a bunch. I send lots of parcels myself ( ebay!) I would NEVER consider using ICL.

i work in customer services. i deal only with consignees. im not allowed to to help you in anyway that would cause a loss to the company. i am suppost to get you to collect from the depot. and get you off the phone asap. i hate doing it. i always thought being a CSO was so you could help people. ive looked for anther job, the company is badly run. when a consignee has asked to complain i have been given the instruction to tell them everyone is busy. or only customers can complain not consignees. ive also been told to give a false address for complaints. anyway for anyone who would like to complain. i have the dirrect numbers for all the branchs. including l control numbers. i also have the numbers for head office, and buisness support. please ask for which ones you require

over the last month the Edinburgh have stolen 8 laptops i have sent. dont use them

just a bit of general informatil, initial citylink is current being re-immaged and from now on will be known only as CityLink rumer has is rentakil initial are pulling out

CUSTOMER SERVICE FOR EXAMPLE :

Tesco.com who are not in the delivery business primarily, do a better job than city link, who fail to make use of modern technology. FOR INSTANCE :

1. For ?3.95 to ?5.95 Tesco will deliver as much shopping as you want.

2. Tesco will ring a phone contact, to tell you they've arrived,

3. They offer you a 2 hour delivery slot of your choosing and really deliver within in it.

4. They treat the person being delivered too with the same care as the person they are delivering on behalf off.

5. they will deliver on saturday, a time when people arent generally working.

Now that is what I call a delivery service, which satisfys the customer and by that engender's well being all round. positive vibes for the company and the recipient of its services. citylink need stop thinking of the customer negatively as shown in the responses, we are not the enemy, are belief in your service is you future financial security.

SUGGESTED DELIVERYS TO WORK :

As for getting the deliverys made to work, which a city link employee suggested, it is a good idea, but he forgets that very often it is difficult to get a delivery made to any address other than the cardholders address especially for first orders with an online shop you havent used before. I dont know of any private individual who's credit card address happens to be at the same place as their employment.

RESPONSE TO WHY AREN'T WE IN :

A city link employee suggested we were stupid for not being in ? most people have to work 9 to 5.30 generally , and it seems these old fashioned business, banks, the post office etc to open at times that are most inconvenient for the people they are trying to serve ? ie have you seen the queus at banks at lunchtime ?

OLD FASHIONED BUSINESS HOURS ORIENTATED MODEL :

why the hell dont allot of businesses realise they also need to be operating for the service of private individuals out of business hours ? those individuals have no choice but to work during business hours and therefore have know time to interact with such businees for private services who only function between 9 to 5 ? The lack of logic behind societys organisationl thinking is sometimes astounding. In the end delivery businesses that cant understand this, may well serve businees customers well from their perspective of dispatch, but will be unable to serve private individuals well in terms of delivery.

DONT THINK A DOORBELL IS A DIRECT LINE TO ANYONE :

Do not just ring a doorbell once, drop a card and leave, that doorbell maybe shared, in an inner city house or too quiet/ disfunctional. Think about it , theyre are more types of phone in your average house than doorbells ! theyrefore you are more likely to get hold of someone or better the right person when delivering something, if you call them.

In city links they defense, they attempt re-delivery automatically on the next working days ? I beleive this is correct ?

which if you know this, means if hang around your doorbell and front door the whole next working day , lurching into action at the slightest sound of every diesel van that trundles by your house, you might just get your parcel. which is often what the experience of waiting for a parcel can be like from a customers perspective.

THEYRE ARE ALWAYS TWO CUSTOMERS THAT NEED SATISFYING IN ANY DELIVERY PROCEDURE. THE SENDER AND THE RECIPIENT.

citylink obviously serve the sender well with cheap delivery services but are often as shown in this forum coming up short for the person being delivered too. One of these customers pays in citylinks eyes and the other doesn't. so you get service commensurate with this relationship, The point it is in fact the person receiving the parcel that pays for delivery that they dont appreciate, because all theyre fussed about is losing the contract from the company that sends delivery's via them, all you can do to make a company who operates like this, to take you seriously as the recipient of a parcel, is to talk the the business using them and recommend them not to use city link, the loss of large contracts will eventually hurt them !

comments above like "branch 42 edinburgh" should be taken seriously.

and "why wont they let us help you' , show some citylink employees who know the real deal from the opposing perspective.

NOT THAT I HAVE THE TIME IN MY LIFE TO WASTE, OFFERING FOR FREE THE OBVIOUS KIND OF ADVICE, A BUSINESS CONSULTANT WILL FAIL TO SUGGEST TO YOU, BECAUSE HES NOT ACTUALLY A CUSTOMER, BUT STILL CHARGE YOU THOUSANDS OF POUNDS FOR . . . BUT HERE ARE FOUR REALLY POSITIVE SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE THE CITYLINK BUSINESS MODEL : to make things work better all round and invalidate the necessity of the complaints in this forum. in order immediate need :

1. Require a contact number for the person being delivered to in your shipping process, so that you can gurantee to ring at least once the person being delivered too. before departing from their doorstep, and provide the cost/technology infrastructure to enable franchisee's to offer this one element of service, or at least insist it is part of the franchisee agreement that they will do this.

2. Built into the shipping process an estimation delivered to the parcel recipients email address informing them from previous experience the most likely time of delivery at their address, which is revised and updated automatically as you computer tracking system has more information, you have this information already its on your website. Or at least if not this an email sent from the dispatcher or yourself, with a direct link to the item in your websites tracking page. make this part easy for the customer and they are more likely to be in when you deliver.

3. make delivery to alternate address especially after the first attempt, such as a place of employment, an easier to request and more viable option.

4. offer alternate delivery days, weekends, evening's etc , that are of convenience firstly for your customers being delivered too, such as Tesco already DO ! at a cost equivalence to them as well ?

I would also suggest that sometimes certain franchise business models if not organised properly, can be prone to this kind of customer failure, where long term large scale infrastructure costs are not invested in, due to short termist profiteering, induced on both sides of the franchise fence.

The truth is, only when debates as illustrated in this forum, get this aggressive between the service provider and the customer. Has the relationship broken down badly, it shouldnt get to this stage of slanging each other off.

hopefully my positive suggestions above will be heard, if not I might end up referring to citylink as shittylink if they come up in general conversation, the time for a business improvement is always NOW. and genuinely wish citylink all the best in making these kinf of complaints illustrated in this forum a thing of the past.

A citylink customer

I also wanted to add to the post above, that I do appreciate that an ICL drivers job aint exactly easy, getting squeezed between all parties concerned, a mate of mine does ocado delivery, and some companies have their infrstructure better sorted than others, making the job for their drivers less arduous, which is why the infrastructure improvements ive suggested above are to make these easier and smoother for all parties. I Once had a driver saying he wasn't allowed or couldnt make a call to inform a customer he was there at the doorstep. In this day and age and ubiquity of phone technology, this is ridiculous, certainly the driver should not have to pay this cost himself, which was the implication I got, a call cost like that is part of the companys operational infrastructure costs. and should be born by the company not the driver in the field.

a citylink customer

Well let me tell you, I used to know a few people who worked for ICl in my area and they used to steal peoples parcels and sell the goods, they was all at it, and I was even offered them, so don't give it the old bull about customers not being in and giving the wrong deatils, yea sure it might happen sometimes, no ones perfect, but atleast admit your mistakes.

I ordered recently from an internet supplier and I made two orders within a week, they use ICL so I had no choice, they was delivered on time and the goods wernt worth alot.

Then a few weeks later I ordered from the same supplier, this time the goods were worth alot, and guess what only 3 of the items turned up and they were the most invaluable ones, the rest have gone missing, M.I.A.

ICL, you need to employ trusting staff not any old joe bloggs.

Also, there are some good drivers and bad drivers, regardless of what you say. There is also a fair amount of theft, as you would expect from companies using large volumes of temporary and agency staff. You don't hear about them because they very rarely prosecute except in the absolute worst cases. The bad publicity is seen as far worse than doing the right thing for the customer. When your parcel disappears, I would venture that in 9 out of 10 cases it?s been robbed by an employee of the firm you paid to deliver it.

From my experience ICL have deteriorated badly over the last two years. That is down to managerial incompetence, increased competition and a total disregard of the need for training.

Quoted for TRUTH:

Hello All

Having read the comments of the above poster who is a great fan of Tesco , here are my responses.

ICL do deliver on Saturdays , the problem being that as with most carrier companies, they charge a premium for this service, at my last place of work which was NCN, a courier/ carrier company which has now sadly passed into the annals of history , these charges were typically in the region of ?30 plus just for carriage. I do not know the current charges that apply to ICL but can only imagine that they are of a similar scale. T he average person in the street is simply not prepared to pay this. People are not interested that these charges will be necessary to cover the attendant rise in the hourly rate of the drivers, for working on Saturdays, and the admin costs of having girls in the office on a Saturday. ICL even offer a before 07 30 service. Unfortunately we now live in a world where everybody expects to get something for virtually nothing . I include myself in the last statement .lol. Here is something else to think about I will cover more miles on a Saturday delivering maybe 15 consignments, than I would cover on any given week day delivering 60-70 separate delivery addresses, and those 15 or so will frequently include deliveries that were carded during the week. As far as I am aware these consignments will be delivered at no extra cost to the consigner either . If I?m wrong I stand corrected.

Deliveries to work addresses.

I frequently deliver consignments that are carded by other drivers in different areas that our depot covers, and yes ,you may not be surprised to learn that these are deliveries to peoples work addresses.
Another point on this is that I also get a lot of people who order goods from the same companies time and time again and also pay by credit card. I know from experience these individuals aren?t going to be home but I know where they work, so will deliver to their work address , not company policy, but you cannot argue with the fact that the recipient named on the delivery manifest , is the person who has signed for the goods, the fact that they were at a different address when they signed is of no consequence. That?s the way I look at it anyway. Consignee has their goods , I?ve got the correct signature and ICL and the consignee have another satisfied customer. As quoted ? Good vibes all round .? Peace man !.

The 9-5 work ethic.

Sadly my friends this is the way of the world, nothing much can be done about this.
You can do your banking at a time to suit you on line, its an electronic transaction, sadly no one has yet perfected the art of teleportation and so cannot simply beam your average mobile phone, etc, into your home.
To operate a delivery system that took into account that most people who work 9-5 are probably home by 6 pm would require carrier companies to operate a two tier system , whereas business could be served by day and the private individual delivered to say between 6-10 pm. This would require an attendant rise in the wages of staff across the whole of the carrier operation in respect of unsociable hours pay. This added expense would need to be passed onto the companies sending goods and in turn passed onto the customer.
From personal experience on my delivery route, my workload is split probably 80% business addresses 20% private addresses. I believe it would simply not be commercially viable for the carriers to operate this type of service, remember my point as to everybody wanting something for nothing .

The doorbell argument.

You will often find instances where doorbells don?t even work , card delivery and get to end of path , consignee gets to door just as your getting into van. Do the delivery then your informed the bell hasn?t worked for years, simple take the damn thing down , put new batteries in if needed or as a last resort small note stating doorbell not working.
The average time I spend attempting private deliveries is around 5-7 minutes, knock on door wait 2 minutes , back to van and write card, try phone no if supplied ( at my own expense usually ), try round back of house, finally put card through door .Unless your disabled etc and you can?t manage to get to door in this time, it?s safe to assume you?re not in.
Bed-sits and flats etc.
Try doorbell and if possible gain entry by unlocked door, although due to security concerns, many of these type of premises require person to buzz you in. If all else fails I leave a card with the flat no and consignees name so as to avoid all possible confusion as to who the goods are for. I also will once again try the contact no if supplied. I spend far more phoning people I?ve never met before than I do phoning my own family. I do not see what more I can do . Once again I stress this is done at my own expense I don?t get a call allowance. I believe most drivers would do this rather than take the delivery back to the depot.

Franchise system.

I have addressed this point in my earlier posts.

As to the points regarding both parties slanging each other off. Comments from posters calling ICL Bastards and Shitty link don?t do anything but wind people up. If you want reasonable debate , please stay away from such remarks.

T he workers at the depot where I work in Rotherham give 110% to achieve a successful delivery , unfortunately they are hamstrung by company procedures .The management are obsessed with what % of goods are out for delivery. If consignments are not attempted , there is a double money back gaurantee that has to paid to the consigner.

This whole argument boils down to the fact that we all want a gold plated service but aren?t prepared to pay gold plated prices, me included.

As other ICL staff have alluded to , most of us perform far above the level our wages deserve, and go far beyond the call of duty to get your goods to you.

What more do you want . Jam on it ?

Regards

Allan ( delivering in Barnsley town ctr and beyond.)

I have a parcel that I ordered online on 15/02/2006 and was told it would be deliveder within 2-5 working days. I was also givena tracking number to track down my parcel. So I tracked it very had, but every time the message comes 'your order is still being processed' till now 22/02/2006. No problem. But on 20/02/2006, i had a note from ICL befhind my door. When I rang to check if it was the same parcel I was tracking, the lady tried to bully me, told me 'stop shouting at me else you won't get anywhere with this conversation'. I was not shouting, just trying to verify if it was the same thing that my tracking number gave 'your order is still being processed'. Was told it was their 2nd time, first on 17/02/2006- Lies. I never saw anything. Told them but they insisted hence cannot deliver. I rang the initail supplier and was told that when I made the order, they ran out of stock and are still waiting. When I explained that ICL was attempting to deliver somthing which I thought was my order, they in turn said ICL has tried 3 times and have returned the goods to them. I told them that I just spoke to ICL and they still have my item. My supplier is thenavigatorcompany'. From out of stock to deliver 3 times to return to supplier to still with ICL. A bunch confused idiots.

They still have my money and no good yet. They think i stole the money. They have a choice, my money or my goods because i will be contacting watchdog. I am sure you all agree me me. ICL is arogant, intimidate customers, never says sorry, never offer an apology, name it. I do not know why people still use them.

whilst i appreciate most of what has been said here about the difficulties of deliveries, nothing in my book excuses courtesy when dealing with customers. i believe the actual delivery guys are doing an ok job, but your teammates you leave at the depot to answer your calls are letting down so much.

i was told that citylink had tried to deliver to my flat last week (w/c 13/2/06), they never left a card but i gave them benefit of the doubt. i arranged to stay at home 2 days ago (12/2/06) without getting paid because the package was urgent. at 1.30pm i called the BARKING (east london) control centre and was told that my package would still be arriving, but as its an all day delivery they cant specify time, but my good were definitely on that day. by 4.30 i hadn't got my package so i called again, after waiting for about 2 mins someone finally picks up and says there were only 7 packages to be delivered so within a hour i should get my package.

at 6.30pm i call and am offered no apology for the fact that no one has come, or even a check up to find out where the driver is. the attitude of the guy at the end of the phone was disgusting. when i tell them i need to reschedule, i am told it cant be delivered to my work address unless the original company contact them. obviously at 6.30pm that company has gone home, so i have to wait till the next day to contact that company for the goods to come the day after that.

i think that the service i received on the phone was appalling! citylink you need to seriously train your customer service staff, if i ever have a choice i will never ever use s**tty link, sorry i mean citylink again. i believe in karma, so all i'll say is what goes around comes around citylink customer service employees!

Oh Dear..
I've got an interview for a sorter/driver job with Citylink soon, and this thread isn't giving me much confidence !

Having been at the receiving end of Citylink as a customer (business customer) I did hear negative things regarding the company. The driver who did our round left and wasn't that gongratulary of ICL. Also when he was on holiday, collections where missed and deliveries late. Yes I did complain ! (and I want to work for them?!)

Anyway, I suppose if I do get the Job, I'd like to think I can make a difference and improve the Service !. It can't seem to get any worse !

scum, scum, scum!
This is the letter I have just sent to ICL head office,
Dear Manager
I am writing to inform you of the disgraceful treatment I received at the hands of two of your employees at the Ilkeston Depot, Tudor House 8-10 Belfield Street Ilkeston Derbyshire DE7 8DU.
On the morning of Friday 24th February 2006, we checked the status of a parcel we were expecting from Ebuyer. The tracking status on their website showed the item had been dispatched and was on route to us.
About ten minutes after we had brought in our mail from our letter box, I went out to put something in the dustbin and noticed a card in the post box. The card was from your company, City Link saying they had a parcel for us (please see the attached scan of the card received). The driver had not knocked on our door in an attempt to deliver the parcel, we have two German shepherd dogs that bark if anyone knocks - this barking is so load it can be heard by our neighbors. My neighbors have also confirmed they saw the driver walk down our drive, didn't knock and put the card in the box. I immediately telephoned the City Link number on the card and asked if they could contact their driver and see if he was still in our area and re-deliver the parcel and explained he hadn't knocked. The lady who answered the phone said she would call his personal phone to find out where he was and to see if he could come back, she said someone would call us back. I waited in all afternoon; I had to take the time off from work unpaid. The card said the item could be collected from the depot in Ilkeston after 3pm. As I hadn't had a phone call from City Link or received the parcel I decided to take the journey to Ilkeston to collect the parcel, as we wouldn?t be home next week during the day to accept delivery.
I arrived at City Link and gave the card to the lady on the desk. She said she couldn't give me the parcel without some identification. I said I didn't realise I needed to bring some, and what was it that I could show her. She threw the card back across the desk at me and said "It tells ya on the card" I picked the card up and it mentions either of the following are suitable forms of ID, passport, driving license or cheque guarantee card. I said I'll go back to the car and see what I have. I came back in with my purse containing a number of cheque guarantee cards, my ID swipe card for work which also has my photograph on it, as well as library cards for myself, my partner and our Son. I also had a letter which had my name and address on it. The person on the desk said they were not good enough and that I would have to come back tomorrow with more ID. I said you have got to be kidding, the woman said no. I then telephoned my partner to inform him of what had happened. We agreed that it was ridiculous as I had the ID that the card said was acceptable. I went back into the office and said to the person on the desk that my ID was acceptable according to the information on the card. I also told her about the events that had happened in the morning that I had waited in for the phone call or the driver and had to take the afternoon off from work unpaid. She shrugged her shoulders and said tough, you'll have to come back tomorrow. I asked to speak to the supervisor. Twenty minutes later a supervisor came out and I went through everything with her. She asked the person on the desk if she had brought the job up on the computer, and the answer was yes. The supervisor asked who it was addressed to and the reply was "a gentleman" I said It is for my partner, gave our address and who it wad from. The woman said because the parcel was not addressed to me she wouldn't release it. My reply was " How are we supposed to know that the only person who could collect it is the person that it is addressed to and how do we know who the item is addressed when a card is pushed through the letter box, when there are three different surnames at our address" The supervisor said it would say who the parcel is for on the card" - I asked her to show me where on the card it would have the persons name and that this is the only person who can collect items -and it didn't. She said "was you not told this on the phone this morning" and I said "no". Her final reply was "tough you aint gettin it" She then told me to leave and come back tomorrow. I said I wasn't leaving without the parcel, she then grabbed my arm and started to push me out the door saying you will leave or I'll make you leave and then I'll come out there and sort you out. It was at this point that I decided enough was enough and that being man handled was utterly disgraceful and unacceptable, and that I would report her behavior and that of her colleague to the City Link depot manager, head office and the company that had used you as the courier. I feel that you needed to be informed of this to stop anymore of your customers experiencing a situation like this and not giving you further business and for action to be taken against these two individuals. The girl on the reception desk was quite short in height and had a tubby build with blond hair; the supervisor was also short in height and slightly tubbier, with dirty blond coloured hair shabbily tied up in a banana clip. She also wore glasses.
I am still very much shaken and upset by the events of yesterday, never in my life have I been subjected to such poor customer service, abuse and threatening behaviors. I will never use a company again that uses City Link as a courier. I request your personal attention in investigating and disciplining these individuals along with an explanation of why I was not allowed to take the parcel after providing the appropriate ID and what steps are going to be put in place to stop this happening again to anyone else, and that the correct information is given at all times by staff handling phone queries or drivers filling in cards.

As an ICL employee is makes no sense that we sould lie to consignees as it only makes our life difficult!!! we deliver 95% of parcels on time without any problems. when you think that around 200,000 parcels a night go through our sorting hub, 5% late can seem like a big number, but we do our best. we cannot control traffic, weather etc... human error happens, when it does it's a pain in the ass! I ask all you "customers" to think - have you ever stuffed up at work? anyone who says no - WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP!!! if there are any problems with any delivery we are obliged to contact our client not the consignee. it is up to our client to inform you. it's simple people! start telling the truth!!! it makes life a lot easier! I love dealing with consignee's! they're usually more down to earth than our clients and you can have a good laugh with them! Professionalism isn't just about being a suited-and-booted stuck up git1 it's about relating to peoples situation and personalities. I am truly sorry about your bad experiences. but if you look how many bad comments there are, i ask you once again to review the number of parcels we deal with nation wide a night! Thanks! Love you all!

to all consignees - i wouldn't put your consignment numbers on here just in case we get an upset employee who can use it to find out where you live!!!

boo, that cant happen easily - only collecting and delvery branch can view each job.

Oh, there's a way!!!

im a courier with 15 years experience. temping with parcelforce at the moment but need the stability of a full time job. citylink nottingham advertising in tonights paper for couriers and tried to apply on line but found this site instead. dont think ill bother now as empoyers sound sh*te. unless city link drivers know better?

In my experience, the drivers at City Link are good as gold. The managers, supervisors and office staff, however, are totally, utterly, hopelessly incompetent, and bloody rude too.

i work for the national hub and i'm quite sure that stealing is rife, mobile phones going mising etc, city link manager anthony harrison, alan westley are the most incompetant managers/supervisors i have ever encountered, workers at city link got a pay rise of 7.16 but we dont really care about the company its just a means to an end for us really. parcels get damaged an we dont care we would still put it in cages

Allan you are dead right. The thing that gets up my snout most tho is when the consignee leaves that note on the door....you know the one... driver please leave my parcel in the garage.
So they knew we were coming and still could not be bothered to stay in.
I have tried to collect today from a non existent address and I am fed up with being treated like a piece of crap by these people and my area is one of the more wealthy parts of the county i deliver in. Oh and by the way, I do at least a 130 mile round trip every day with over 50 consignments.
I am also fed up with using my own fone to call people who don't actually even know sometimes the correct name of their particular street and just put "the street" when the bloody road has a different name.
You whingeing people should try this bastard job and see the thanks you get for it.
Most of you couldn't do it as you can't even sign print and time the sheet correctly without having to ask where to do what.
I hope all your rabbits die and you can't sell the hutches.
Ignorant is what a lot of you are and when you look down your nose at me I despise you.
Having said that thanks to the lovely austrian old lady who gives me 50 pence every time I visit.
Name signs and house numbers should be compulsory but mind you I wouldn't care if the fire, police or ambulance couldn't get to one or two of you.
You couldn't do this job,as it requires skill, knowledge, and integrity which you ain't got.
Oh. and just to close... notes on your doors are just an open invitation for the local toerags to come round and burgle you but I suppose the poor old ICL driver would get the blame for that as well....

Yet again--I am waiting for a delivery from ICL--now there's a surprise!!

I was carded--OK I wasn't in--but the phone number on the card is a recorded message telling me, after entering my consignment number, that it was the 2nd attempted delivery--where was my 1st card then? and the parcel was only sent on Fri and delivery attempted on Monday--so how does that work? (I don't think saturdays count down at ICL)

Even if I had deemed to go to my depot at Maidstone, the map on the card was impossible to work out--it shows a tiny bit of the M20 with no idea of how it links to the industrial estate where ICL is based
The address on it is Aylesbury, Kent but I think it should be Aylesford but I stand to be corrected on that one!!

So how are we supposed to find you ICL if your address card is SO useless!!

I've been told they are going to redeliver today--I'm not holding my breath!

I've found this blogg while searching for City Link's website on google as I've had a card left for me today. After reading some posts it seems a bit of a coinsidence that every driver is called 'Dave'. Oddly my driver was also called 'Dave' too! Are all City Link drivers instructed to call themselves 'Dave' so we are unable to trace them if they make a mistake?

i dunno,...
!!!! kerching !!!! i had a good idea...when I go in to work tomorrow I'll ask Dave. Oh if only all cons were called LEAVE SAFE.
And, tomorrow every card I write will be signed DAVE !! har har har ha hah ha ha ha ha ha ha
EXIT escorted by the men in white coats

cat170774,
as an ICL drv i feel i should apologise for that behaviour. Bang out of order and you should take that right to the top.Those kind of peeps do not deserve to be in that job.
Absolutely disgusting and pls rest assured that I or any drv at my depot would not tolerate that from any of our so called colleagues. Pls take this further if you can.

i Know exactly how you feel. a package was delivered to me on 6/03/06 which i was not at home. i then rang back and left my details for someone to ring me back which they didnt. the following day i took unpaid time off work to go to their office and collect my package only to find out that they incorrectly thought that I had arranged re delivery for that day.as they agreed it was their fault they promised me someone will deliver my package at 6.00pm when i get home. I arrived home at 05.50 and by 6.23 no one had come so i rang only to be told no one knew what i was talking about.I then asked to speak to a manager whom was busy so my details was left again. still no return call. the follo0wing day i ring back to speak to the person who promised my delivery. after the phone being put down on me on several occasions i finally spoke to a Mr Martin cole who was very rude and basically said there nothing we can do and he has to go as there is another customer waiting. i asked to speak to his manager and i was left on hold for 1/2 hour. after conceding that he wasnt going to ring back i re dialled and finally spoke to his manager Brian stockly. he basically told me that its ok for customers to complain and there happy with the level of service they give. after a whole load of waffle he has agreed to re deliver on saturday. today is wednresday so I shall keep you posted. i do intend to complain to head office so i will keep you posted on that too

For that complaint to head office, here's the address:

Initial City Link Ltd
Wellington House
61/73 Staines Road West
Sunbury on Thames
Middlesex
TW16 7AH

Tel: 01932 822622
Fax: 01932 785560

(from http://www.city-link.co.uk/contact_us/head_office.php)

I'd be interested to know the name of the CEO/MD, should anyone happen to find it out!

all the cons were nice to me today even tho i was struggling.
thanx cons
did you know that in deutschland it is compulsory for all property to have a number at the same position on the wall
and that you can buy solar powered signs that light up for your houses
and a big sign easily visible from the road will make your drv love you
we want to get your gear out to you... you could make it all so much easier
please help us to help you
oh and no more notes on doors as they just get up our noses when YOU can't be bothered to stay in for your pkg
and don't fone and ask for us to come back to you as we simply don't have the time most days
if we could we would....simple as that
enjoy

go to city-link.co.uk and order a copy of the free mag
i think the name is michael cook or something but the info should be in there
i always try my best

Hello All,

The magazine is called City Life, in fact i have a copy in front of me right now.It is a prime example of everything that is wrong with ICL.There are lots of adverts for posh hotels and an advert for BMW, a piece on Champneys health resort and reports on holiday destinations such as Riga.These are articles that are of very little interest to your average ICL employee, although i wouldn't mind a trip to the health resort to sort out my creaking bones.It just goes to further illustrate that management interests are entirely divorced from the reality on the "shop floor." , so to speak.

Regards
Allan ( Delivering for ICL in Barnsley ctr and beyond )

Yes Yes I work for the National Hub in Wednesbury, were most of YOUR PARCELS Get LOST, STOLEN OR JUST DAMAGED, Over the last two quarters we have suffered about ?500,000 in damages per week, this is due to the fcat that workers pourposely open packages to investigate what they can take home. Most of the time we have some workers kicking parcels around the HUB. As stated before NO ONE REALLY CARES ABOUT HOW OR WHEN PARCELS ARRIVE, THE MANAGER 'ANTHONY HARRISON' IS AN ABSOLUTE CUNT, SO TOO IS 'ALAN WESTLEY' AKA 'FAT CONTROLLER' WOOOO WOOOOO (PERSONAL JOKE). No one cares, we just go their for four hours and go home we are not payed enough to care. Sorry

Courtesy of an employer from Initial Shitty Link

I'm a leading hand at the NATIONAL HUB, you have got to remember that it is not always the drivers fault, sometimes we workers cant be bothered to work for such a shit company, who treat us like dogs, thats why they need agency staff, if their was ever a mass strike (cannot happen due to not being part of a trade union) anyway we dont care about your parcels really, we bare the 4 hours to go home to bed and do it all over agin. Another thing, you should see how management kiss ass with ne w business when they come to view the workings off the hub. Its the only time we see civilised people, we call them 'visitors' because the wear green florescnet jckets, for anyone of YOU to really know the owrking of ICL, speka to me or an ACTAUL WORKER IN THE DEPOTS.

AGAIN HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH
SORRY
BUT HAHAHAHAHHAAHAH TO ALL LOST,STOLEN,DAMAGED PARCELS

I must be the millionthhhhhh fuming customer of initial 'shitty' link, i have to pay a next day delivery for a very urgent parcel. The delivery man knocked at the door and didn't even bother gave my old ailing husband a chance to walk to the door because by the time he got to the door the driver has already disappeared. So we booked for the following delivery, I have to take a day off work so I can be at the window all day to keep an eye of the van, at about 3:44 p.m. I saw the van flying by, how on earth one can find the location I have no idea unless he is a bionic man!! Well, I chased him 'round the village and 'wella.... I got him dropping off a parcel! Not mine though, I asked him, by the way his name is Chris route no. is L21, asked him about my parcel, and all he said is "Ihaven't got them' it wasn't booked!!!! After all the phone calls I have done all day tracking down my parcel and spoke to useless people in the customer line and telling me that I should wait and there's nothing I can do for you, bla,bla,bla.,,, I think if you can't deliver your promises, you should have the decency to shut-down to about causing highblood pressure and stroke.

aah,
today i reversed my van into the cons driveway and rang the bell and knocked on the door as usual.
no reply so i knock and ring again. still no reply so i write the card and foxtrot oscar.
about 2 hours later I get a call from the cso who state that the "LADY" at the prem was kicking off because the house was full of people at the time.could i please go back later.
Answer ...NO.
Not cos I'm mean but because I'm now 25 miles away with 45 drops and a 12 o clock delivery to do. A little less trisha at a lower volume might help dahlin. You'll get your pkg tomorrow if you can be bothered to stay in for me.

you make me sick. has anyone here actually addressed the management rather than blog your discontent? ooooh the pain of having to bear the national hub for 4 hours and do it all again! what do you do for the other 20 hours?
you make me sick; all of you who seem to suffer from so much self-loathing that you feel the world owes you a free ride. get off your asses and make something of yourselves. you are less than nothing. go to iraq ahd see what being treated like a dog is really like and get yourselves shot!

deargdoom
and you do what exactly...and as a matter of fact the world does owe me a free ride as I am sooo unbelievably kind and honest and truthful and good and thoughtful and full of my lord buddha's karma hare hare krishna and I bet you can't cook!

CITYLINK CHESTER DRIVER, JOBCENTRE OPEN IN THE PORT OPEN 09.30 TILL 17.00 5 DAYS A WEEK

SECURITY HAS BEEN IMPROVED AT THE HUB, DUE TO PACKAGES GOISN ASTRAY THROUGH SECURITY DOORS, REST ASSURED THINGS STILL GO MISSING. BLOOMIN AGENCY

I would like to start this message by apologising to all consignees who have received, in their eyes, a poor service. As for some of the issues that have gone on in certain Branches of ICL, judging by the above messages, you have the right to be annoyed and felt let down. As for some of the so called "staff", judging by your comments, you should consider your options. To brag about losing a customers parcel and not caring about anything is certainly not the image that should be potrayed about any organisation, let alone the one you work for.

As someone has stated in this thread that there are thousands of customers that deal with ICL who are more than happy with the service that is offered and I feel that people would rather "go on" about bad experiences that praise someone for offering an outstanding service.

All Staff within the Company work extremely hard, as I am sure other people do in their own careers and that, I think, should also be acknowledged.

Again, interpret this as you will, but one of the problem courier drivers are faced with is that certain recipients think that the Driver has only got their parcel on the van when in fact there are more than 60 deliveries. However, saying that, I cannot condone lying to customers and I certainly would not tolerate it from my staff at any level.

So again, I am happy enough to offer you my apology on behalf of the company if you felt that you have been poorly dealt with. And I will boldly ask that if any of the thousands of people who have read this thread receive an excellent service, which we strive for at all times, to post a comment.

Good Words, A load of Bollox, but good words.