Crappy Customer (Delivery) Services
Today: DPD and Yodel
Following on from Scottish Power, Flora and Etsy …
Is there a decent option for sending parcels in the UK, which has support for both people who are sending parcels, and those (supposedly) receiving them?
Well, the answer certainly isn’t DPD or Yodel. Both have crappy customer help, and illustrate the continued enshittification of services that fail to even provide the basic support required for anyone to have faith in them being able to do anything correctly.
DPD
I’ve used them in the past. Cheap, and okay … when it works. But as soon as I ran into problems, I discovered that there was no support email address, or way to get through to a human in a convenient way.
Today I tried logging into my account in order to send a book parcel to one of my fans. It went through the usual 2FA rigmarole of sending an email with a code, which I entered. But then there was a new step:
Which makes no sense. I’ve already supplied an email address, which they use to “keep me informed about my parcels”.
I don’t like mobile phones, and even if I did, I wouldn’t give my number out to anyone apart from friends and family. Certainly not so I could be bombarded with notifications in a format I don’t want.
But DPD gave no way to proceed and log in to my account without entering a non-existent number.
So I tried to find a help email address to contact. The only option seemed to be a “chat” facility at https://send.dpd.co.uk/help –but there was no way to contact anyone there, only to enter details of parcels or orders, when this isn’t about a parcel or order, it was about logging in.
Likewise, if you were wanting to ask them any question at all about their services, you are blocked. There’s no way to do so.
The customer service is awful and I can’t even log in to the account any more or resolve it with anyone at DPD.
A decent company would have a contact email address on their website. Its absence is a sure sign of a bad approach to customers when things go wrong, making it hard to contact them. Note also that DPD disabled comments on their social media sites such as Facebook, again making it impossible to contact them. Another warning flag.
I can’t even close the account, because there’s no way to contact anyone or log in.
Avoid.
Yodel
I was going to try Yodel as an alternative way to send the parcel, but they were just as shit. The site wouldn’t let me send a parcel or proceed without giving them a mobile phone number:
Even though it has nothing to do with the notifications I want, or how to contact me, it is mandatory and unskippable.
And note that they won’t allow you to include a landline at all. You must own a mobile, and give them permission to spam you with texts or calls.
Yodel also had no email address. They did have a “chat” option, but as is usual with these things, they don’t connect you with anyone who can fix your problems, or – in most cases – comprehend even basic statements about the problem.
Here is part of the transcript from the live chat. I’ll use bold for the Yodel representative. Let’s see how many times they totally misunderstand the situation.
Pankaj at 15:27:10
Thanks for sharing your details. We're just looking into your parcel and will be with you shortly.
You at 15:27:30
There is no parcel to look into.
Pankaj at 15:27:51
Hi K, thank you for contacting Yodel Customer Service. My name is Pankaj.
You at 15:28:31
I'm trying to send a parcel. The form says "Mobile Number:" as a mandatory field. I don't have a mobile phone. [Screenshot]
Pankaj at 15:28:50
Could you please share the parcel ID?
You at 15:29:05
?
There is no parcel ID. It hasn't let me get that far.
?
Pankaj at 15:34:02
You have to provide your mobile number to send the parcel.
You at 15:34:17
But I don't have one. I have a landline phone.
And I can receive confirmations by email. A mobile phone is nothing to do with it.
Pankaj at 15:35:36
You can contact the sender regarding this concern.
You at 15:36:08
What?
I am the sender. I am trying to send a parcel.
Pankaj at 15:42:21
You can contact the retailer, and they will help you with this.
You at 15:42:45
There is no retailer. Can’t you read? I am trying to post a parcel.
They then cut off the conversation.
If you run a business, you should always check the customer experience for any services you use. This post shows what your customers might go through if you use DPD or Yodel to send a parcel, and the lack of help they (or you) will receive in resolving things when they inevitably go wrong.
Once more, these are companies to avoid.
Any other recommendations?
PS I’m also an author. You can buy my books, or subscribe to my newsletter. I would be grateful for either. :-)
That conversation is shocking! Too many companies insist on a mobile number now and won't accept a landline. I have a mobile but only switch it on when I'm out.