Anyone had problems with Hattons?

[kernowtim]

I reported a parcel missing from Hawkins bazaar once, the uk mail parcel tracking said it was delayed in transit, I had another one sent out after a week. 2 weeks later the original turned up, considering it only had my name and the industrial estate I worked in they done well!!

[jonny777]

I think Royal Mail won't initiate refunds for 20 days if items go missing, so it doesn't seem unreasonable if Hattons wait for a similar period when using DPD, who I've always found to be excellent. 

 

 

Yes, and the 20 days given by Royal Mail is 20 *working days* in my experience which is going to be a month, give or take. After that, they allow compensation proceedings to start. 

 

I don't know if those rules are followed by DPD, but it would always be the sender who initiates proceedings; therefore Hattons will be able to fill in the forms after the required amount of time set by DPD. 

 

Presumably, they do not want to go thorough the procedure, only to find the package is delivered a couple of days later. In these situations, extreme patience by all parties will be the best policy. 

 

Edited, to add that the RM website says 10 working days, but that is not my experience when items have not turned up. 20 working days is the limit I have always been quoted, so someone in RM has it wrong somewhere. 

 

(As an extra tangent, I once had some Ebay auction slides go missing and after mentioning this to the seller, they refunded my money - less postage - after a couple of months; which was very decent of them; although I was a regular customer. Another 15 weeks passed and suddenly the postman delivered this strange item from Belfast in a plastic bag marked with all manner of Royal Mail stickers. It was my long lost slides which seemed to have been on a lengthy tour of the UK judging by the comments written on the opened package, so never give up all hope. I paid the seller his money and everyone was happy).  

Edited April 22, 2018 by jonny777

[TheSignalEngineer]

Just before Christmas we bought an item from John Lewis which was delivered by DPD. It was faulty so JL were contacted and they arranged to send out a replacement immediately on 24 hour delivery. When it hadn't turned up after three working days we contacted JL again and they contacted DPD who couldn't find the parcel. They sent out another replacement which arrived next day. The missing parcel turned up three weeks later after a nationwide tour.

[LBRJ]

Whatever happened to

Please allow 28 days for delivery?

[gordon s]

I've used Hattons for 90% of my purchases (probably over a 100 orders) since 2005 and cannot ever recall a problem with next day delivery.  We also have dozens of deliveries from DPD during the year and they are probably the best courier service with online parcel tracking.  I guess you were just unlucky this time round, but I would every confidence it will be resolved quickly and without fuss.

 

I'm always amazed that Amazon credit us for a return just as soon as it is dropped off at our return point less than a mile away.  At that point it is entrusted to their local pick up point/delivery provider and the product has yet to even be checked by Amazon.  I guess when you're the size of Amazon that can be done, but I wouldn't expect that level of service from smaller companies.

Edited April 22, 2018 by gordon s

[PaulCheffus]

Whatever happened to

Please allow 28 days for delivery?

Hi

 

We seem to live in times of must have everything now. I blame the Internet and companies like Amazon.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

[royaloak]

Yes, and the 20 days given by Royal Mail is 20 *working days* in my experience which is going to be a month, give or take. After that, they allow compensation proceedings to start. 

 

I don't know if those rules are followed by DPD, but it would always be the sender who initiates proceedings; therefore Hattons will be able to fill in the forms after the required amount of time set by DPD. 

 

Presumably, they do not want to go thorough the procedure, only to find the package is delivered a couple of days later. In these situations, extreme patience by all parties will be the best policy. 

 

Edited, to add that the RM website says 10 working days, but that is not my experience when items have not turned up. 20 working days is the limit I have always been quoted, so someone in RM has it wrong somewhere. 

 

(As an extra tangent, I once had some Ebay auction slides go missing and after mentioning this to the seller, they refunded my money - less postage - after a couple of months; which was very decent of them; although I was a regular customer. Another 15 weeks passed and suddenly the postman delivered this strange item from Belfast in a plastic bag marked with all manner of Royal Mail stickers. It was my long lost slides which seemed to have been on a lengthy tour of the UK judging by the comments written on the opened package, so never give up all hope. I paid the seller his money and everyone was happy).  

Which is very decent of you!

 

How many others would have accepted the parcel with a 'ta very much' and made no contact with the seller?

[woodenhead]

Sorry but this is wrong in every way. Firstly CAB is funded not just by donations but by local authorities with the intention of protecting the citizen. Secondly these are not toys, thirdly Hattons, although my experience of the firm has always been positive, seems to have dropped the ball here.

The carrier is Hatton’s contractor not Hatton’s customer’s contractor. Hatton’s should have sent out the order a second time and then demanded that the carrier sends the order back to them when it is found. What it shouldn’t have done is what it seems to have done.

The OP has paid his money and agreed a delivery time period; he is entitled to the goods. I would have thought that was a contract and Hatton’s are breaking it.

Had Hattons washed their hands of this matter I would agree, but all they have said is the customer needs to wait (up to) 20 days for investigations to complete, they haven't refused a refund or to resend the items. The CAB and the law would apply a reasonableness test which at the moment would fall in Hattons favour, they need to establish the goods are indeed lost.

 

The urgency is on the part of the customer who wants to do some modelling whilst on holiday which is not a reason to circumvent company policy.

[TheSignalEngineer]

Whatever happened to

Please allow 28 days for delivery?

Edited April 22, 2018 by TheSignalEngineer

[Butler Henderson]

The original query is contradictory - how can it be known where it is (Liverpool) and yet be lost. Could be as simple as its been booked in by DPD not as a 24 hour delivery.

[royaloak]

The urgency is on the part of the customer who wants to do some modelling whilst on holiday which is not a reason to circumvent company policy.

Maybe the OP should have ordered the stuff earlier?

 

I am also guilty of leaving things a bit late, although I did start my Christmas shopping early last year, I started on the 23rd of December instead of the 24th.

[Jonboy]

The original query is contradictory - how can it be known where it is (Liverpool) and yet be lost.

Scanned into a depot but not onto the next trailer/van in the chain.

[Colin_McLeod]

Placed a substantial order with Hattons. Despatched by 24 Dpd tracked. Never arrived. Contacted Hattons who say the tracking says it’s still in Liverpool but it’s lost. Asked Hattons for a replacement or a refund. Won’t give me either until 20 days have passed. Seems unfair to me. I’ve got neither the money or the goods. Used Hattons for years will think twice about using them again.

Anyone had similar problems and how was it resolved?

Patience is a virtue.

[adb968008]

Scanned into a depot but not onto the next trailer/van in the chain.

In a delivery chain where everything is scanned into a bin, out of the bin, into a truck, out of a truck I find it odd how things get “lost”. Missing, wrong bin/truck and delayed I understand.. but permanently lost ?

Edited April 22, 2018 by adb968008

[YesTor]

Running my own mail order business and unfortunately I am all too familiar with this kind of situation, ie. package hasn't arrived with the customer within 24 hours, swiftly followed by customer hurling toys from pram in a childish rage and demanding an instant replacement be despatched.  But okay, let's assume that the retailer acts according to the customer's demands and despatches a replacement immediately.  And, let us assume that this second package is delivered on time and without any further issue.  A happy ending one might say?  Well, almost... 

 

...the problem however is that there is still every chance that the first package will still be delivered to the customer, after maybe simply being delayed for whatever logistical reason.  You then have a situation whereby the customer has then in fact received TWO deliveries.  Then of course, surprise, the customer fails to contact the retailer to inform them of a multiple delivery.  Furthermore, all attempts to contact said customer by the retailer are curiously ignored; and finally of course the retailer cannot claim any compensation from the courier as the courier at that point has fulfilled its duty by delivering all packages as promised.  The only loser in this situation is the retailer, having then delivered the same order twice and with no means of recovering the duplicate package that by then actually belongs to them.  As someone above pointed out, operate a policy such as this and you will be out of business in no time at all.

 

Although it is indeed frustrating I'm afraid that we simply have to accept that delays, mishaps etc are always a potential occurrence with any mail order system.  Hattons will have a contract of service with Royal Mail and all of the couriers that it employs.  In all instances all contracts will state their own specific amount of time that must elapse before the postal/courier company will class any package as 'lost'.  And, for reasons explained above, sadly most companies cannot afford to simply throw out replacement packages at every customer's whim, as desirable/idealistic as that approach may be.

Edited April 22, 2018 by YesTor

[Andy Hayter]

In a delivery chain where everything is scanned into a bin, out of the bin, into a truck, out of a truck I find it odd how things get “lost”. Missing, wrong bin/truck and delayed I understand.. but permanently lost ?

 

Perhaps you would like to share your expertise with Sh1tty bowels - sorry Pitney Bowles, Ebay's wonder worldwide lose your package system.

[Clearwater]

Also strikes me as a statistics game. If you think how many parcels are being delivered annually by a firm like DPD (I have no idea but I'd guess they're delivering tens of millions in a year..), then a success rate of 99.9% still implies that for every million parcels dispatched 1000 go astray. Or call it 80 odd per month. Sadly that means someone must be on the other end. Doesn't make it any less unpleasant if its you in that position and my sympathy to the OP!

 

From a railway perspective, I believe in the days of wagons being dispatched and shunting of trains, it wasn't unheard of for wagons to go astray... this sort of thing is just the modern equivalent.

 

David

Edited April 22, 2018 by Clearwater

[truffy]

...the problem however is that there is still every chance that the first package will still be delivered to the customer, after maybe simply being delayed for whatever logistical reason.  You then have a situation whereby the customer has then in fact received TWO deliveries.  Then of course, surprise, the customer fails to contact the retailer to inform them of a multiple delivery.  Furthermore, all attempts to contact said customer by the retailer are curiously ignored; and finally of course the retailer cannot claim any compensation from the courier as the courier at that point has fulfilled its duty by delivering all packages as promised.  The only loser in this situation is the retailer, having then delivered the same order twice and with no means of recovering the duplicate package that by then actually belongs to them.  As someone above pointed out, operate a policy such as this and you will be out of business in no time at all.

 

 

I can't help but think that there's an opportunity for some insurance salesman here.

[Tim Hall]

Also strikes me as a statistics game. If you think how many parcels are being delivered annually by a firm like DPD (I have no idea but I'd guess they're delivering tens of millions in a year..), then a success rate of 99.9% still implies that for every million parcels dispatched 1000 go astray. Or call it 80 odd per month. Sadly that means someone must be on the other end. Doesn't make it any less unpleasant if its you in that position and my sympathy to the OP!

 

From a railway perspective, I believe in the days of wagons being dispatched and shunting of trains, it wasn't unheard of for wagons to go astray... this sort of thing is just the modern equivalent.

 

David

 

Indeed, wagons did go missing, and my mother-in-laws father was employed by the Great Eastern and then the LNER to travel the system tracking down strays and arranging for their return to use.

[Mike Bellamy]

I have been personally involved with two missing parcels - both sent by DHL to Israel.

 

One was collected and delivered to East Midlands, sent to Heathrow and a couple of days later the partner asked us to track it as the rest of the consignment had arrived - tracking showed that after Heathrow, it went to Johannesburg, then Cape Town, back to Heathrow and eventually to Tel Aviv.

 

The other went missing when the DHL van was subjected to an armed hijack to steal high value parcels . . . . . . .

 

.

[royaloak]

From a railway perspective, I believe in the days of wagons being dispatched and shunting of trains, it wasn't unheard of for wagons to go astray... this sort of thing is just the modern equivalent.

 

David

It isnt that uncommon now for trains to go missing, when I was a guard at SWT, during disruption we used to regularly get pager messages (pre company issue mobile phones) asking us to look out for 450xxx etc because units were turned around onto other services without anyone noting what was being sent where.

[stock_2007]

It's odd really only days ago everyone loved Hatton's for posting out Barclay's and P class loco's all over the place

[Colin_McLeod]

I think everyone still does. Well apart from some with no patience who "will never shop there again".. well not until the next time they spot a bargain at Hattons.

[LBRJ]

It isnt that uncommon now for trains to go missing, when I was a guard at SWT, during disruption we used to regularly get pager messages (pre company issue mobile phones) asking us to look out for 450xxx etc because units were turned around onto other services without anyone noting what was being sent where.

 

Or the status of the unit - Like being sent on a 80 mile return trip with just enough diesel to get to the next station, and then block the line for an hour

[MartinTrucks]

It's odd really only days ago everyone loved Hatton's for posting out Barclay's and P class loco's all over the place

 

I am confident that, given a few hours when DPD start this Monday morning (they do not deliver on Saturdays, I understand, so are probably thin or non-existent in the customer service department then) and Hattons are able to contact DPD again and Andy Y gees up Hattons (in the unlikely event that they have forgotten!), that it will all be amicably resolved and the love affair can continue!

 

BTW, I got up specially early this morning as DPD are due to deliver a box of toys to me from Kernow. I hope everything works out and that I do not have to shriek down the telephone at Kernow and post a new thread on RMWeb!

 

Cheers,

Martin