A man who successfully sold his guitar to a buyer down south then entered a month-long nightmare world of lost packages, tracking and no explanations from the delivery firms.
Ian Stewart, from Polmont, sold his Hutchins Retro Star guitar for £275 and enlisted the services of Parcel2Go to sent it to the buyer down in Boston, Lincolnshire.
Parcel2Go then tasked Evri with delivering the item.
Ian said: “I posted the guitar at Polmont Post Office on August 28. I think I was concerned as early as August 30 when the tracking said the guitar was out for delivery and then stated it was going back to the depot because it couldn’t be delivered to the address.”
Ian had been chatting to the buyer on Facebook – that was how the guitar sale happened – and was told he had not received it yet.
“I wasn’t really worried until September 6, when the tracking said the parcel was still out for delivery but there had been a number of failed attempts to deliver it.
"The tracking on Parcel2Go and the tracking on Evri were saying different things – there were discrepancies between the two companies. I got really frustrated with Evri because I couldn’t actually get to talk to a real person. I kept requesting a call back and never got one.”
By September 12 Ian realised something was seriously wrong.
“They tracking said the package was now being returned to the sender. And then there was nothing for days.”
Things took another turn on Friday, September 26, when it was revealed the package had been “damaged” and was going to be “disposed of”.
"I managed to get through to someone at Parcel2Go and I said, look I’m not happy with this – it keeps telling me it’s being delivered to me, but when I go into the system it tells me its still going to the locker in Boston.
"They then said the parcel was damaged. I said what? It’s damaged? I hadn’t heard about this. I went onto the tracking for Evri and it said the package had been taken back to the depot to be disposed of.
"I thought, they’re just making this up as they go along.”
Unable to put a claim in for the guitar being lost because he was told by Parcel2Go it was not lost, it was at the Evri depot, Ian now put a claim in for the guitar being damaged.
Bringing things right up to date, Ian had his claim accepted by Parcel2Go and will supposedly receive £275 in his bank account within seven days.
In one final twist, Evri then contacted Ian to tell him his guitar was not damaged, only the label on the package was damaged and they would deliver it to him within 72 hours.
And, lo and behold, on Wednesday, October 1, the undamaged guitar – which was now contained within a rather beaten up case – was delivered back to his house.
An Evri spokesperson said: “Providing excellent service remains our top priority and we’re sorry that Ian has experienced an issue. We’ve located Ian’s guitar and it’s on its way back to him.
"We’d encourage all our customers to read our packaging guidelines and ensure their parcels are properly protected.”