This is just great. I got a message on the phone a month back, phone this number, so I did, and I got this message that they had a packet, gabble gabble gabble as they went into top gear. I said in Spanish, "Can you slow down a bit please, as I'm not fluent."

There was a click and the line went dead.

Tho I tried more than 100 times that week, all I ever got was a busy line, or a dead one. Whe I tried the other phone, I got someone for a split second, and then the line went dead.

We complained to Evans, from whom the OH had ordered the package, and eventually we got a refund, but the refund was 25 quid short.

When, after a week's trying we got thru to them and complained that the refund was short, they replied that when it came back there was a pair of shoes missing. We pointed out that if that were the case, it wasn't us, and they should go sue the incompetent firm that they had used as couriers.

Sorry, don't know who they were, so can't warn people.

did u get the £25 back??

Yeah, thanks, finally got that confirmed today, but there had to be a degree of shouting and thumping on the table to get it.

but u did it !

many would have written it off as a bad experience or just plain couldnt be bothered.

problem is IMHO Espana is seen as a soft touch for carriers, the better known will charge extra for Iberia and add a couple of days, the others will cut corners.

a uk carrier i knew and used to use had a policy of full refund if they didnt deliver. a pkg was delivered as an additional item in a multi-pkg delivery to co in another town. (11 delverd but 10 on docs). no one noticed for 4 days. my customer jumping up and down and carrier kept saying its stuck between 2 depots, will sort it.
when we eventually found out where it was carrier insisted on sending in a driver at the next time due for collections, take it back to a depot and deliver the following day. I demanded they paid for a taxi to take it the 10 miles and was rebuffed. So they took over 10 days to deliver a next day by 1200 pkg and refunded the £6.50. We were left with a customer, spending over £200k pa with us, having to pay weekend overtime to complete the process.

the next time their rep came in on a "courtesy call" I met her in reception and just laughed and laughed and laughed. Still don't think she understands why. and they never got another delivery job from us.

I was just damned if I'd have such a shit service and then pay extra!

These people are terrifyingly incompetent. I know I keep saying it, but how, in times of such crisis, with people losing jobs left right and centre can ANYONE be so cavalier with their job?

Sad, isn't it that our experiences aren't more uncommon?

there used to be a time when learning by experience had emphasis on the learning
nowadays with draconian employmen laws, HR people dishing out fluffy bunnies to all those who have a problem with their scumbag manager\employer what can we expect.?

was a time when it was seen as a pinnacle in one's life to work as a telegram boy with Royal Mail. special uniform, pill box hat etc. Deliver when received at the depot, night or day.
to be a postman was to be looked on as having made it in life
3 deliveries per day, in the local area same day if posted by 1200
That was service.
now we just shrug and accept poor or worse service - because it is all we have. BUT (isnt there always) this was all in lviing memory so what went wrong must have been the rush into automation to make our lives better, giving us more time to spend with our families.

ISTR Initial City Link hasn't made a profit for the past 3-5yrs, so dragging down the rest of the (non-related) group profits.

Well, at least when the postman came in the UK, and here, he's pleasant, efficient and cheerful, which is a damn sight more than I can say for most couriers.

It took me a few years to sort out problems with postmen and couriers, and my address is easy to find.

The answer is simple, you've got to bung them. I bung the postman every Christmas and the couriers every time they deliver.

Come to think of it, I bung the gasman too, and telefonica tecnicos, and the pool cleaner. In the pool cleaner's case it's just a box of chocolates at Christmas, you want to see the size of her.

Come to think of it, I can't think of anyone in the service industry I don't bung. I don't have any more problems with any of them.

in Granada all post(wo)men wear their uniforms, and appear to be proud to do so. They drive round the city making deliveries on their liveried motor scooters throughout the day.
perhaps its because the Spaniards enjoy dressing up, but then they have that pride we started to giv up 50yrs ago. The English used to be proud like that but its all gone now

The only flaw with that is that a) I would have to regularly bung an army of drivers, and b) if the buggers can't be arsed to drive here in the first place, how the hell can I bung them?

You may well be right. Or is it that the postal delivery boys value their jobs more?

Hearing this tale, our Spanish friend was telling us the many horror stories she has had to endure with courier drivers, so you can't even say it's down to xenophobia!