PARCEL'S 48-HOUR DELIVERY TOOK FIVE WEEKS

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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A WOMAN who paid for a 48-hour delivery service waited five weeks for her parcel to arrive.

Janine Dodd, 53, paid £12 for the Parcelforce 48-Hour Express Service to post a Christmas present to her family in County Down, Northern Ireland.

But the parcel was delayed for five weeks – almost 800 hours after it should have been delivered.

Mrs Dodd, of Vicarage Mount, Walney, contacted the Action Desk after she read one of our articles about a man who had paid for the same delivery service and had waited 19 days.

Mike Paley was offered a 25 per cent discount but he argued, successfully, that under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 the service had not been carried out within “a reasonable time”.

Mrs Dodd felt the same.

She said: “I went into the Post Office and said I wanted to send it first class, and then the woman offered me this 48-hour service, saying it was really reliable and it was only a little bit dearer.

“At 10pm that night the parcel arrived at the depot in Preston, and then it just seemed to vanish. What was most upsetting was that every time I rang up all they said was ‘fill in a compensation form’ but how do you explain to children that Father Christmas couldn’t bring their presents because it had got lost in the post?”

The Action Desk contacted Royal Mail, who own Parcelforce.

A spokeswoman said that a cheque for a full refund of the amount Mrs Dodd had paid had already been issued by the time Action Desk got involved.

The spokeswoman added: “We apologise that the customer was unhappy with the service provided by Parcelforce. Our customer services team has investigated her complaint fully and will be refunding the amount of the postage paid for this service.

“Any customer with a complaint or query about Parcelforce Worldwide services should contact customer services directly on 0844 800 4466 who will be able to investigate fully.”

Mrs Dodd has vowed to stick to first class from now on. She said: “I’d never used it before and I’ll never use it again.

“After this problem with the Christmas presents, I actually sent another parcel first class, and it arrived the very next day.”

The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 requires a supplier of a service acting in the course of business in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to carry out that service with reasonable care and skill and, unless agreed to the contrary, within a reasonable time and make no more than a reasonable charge.

[clashcityrocker]

almost 800 hours after it should have been delivered.

And that's almost 48 000 minutes.