The Home Delivery Network delivers between 300,000 and 500,000 items every day in the UK. Big name companies including Littlewoods, Homebase, Amazon and Tesco Direct send out your shopping via the Home Delivery Network, also known as HDNL.
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However, some Watchdog viewers have told us they wish they had gone out to the shops themselves...
(Do you have something to say about this story? Tell us what you think by emailing us here. Don't forget to include 'HDNL' in the subject line. Watchdog will publish a selection of viewers' comments underneath each story, both throughout and after the programme is on air. Please remember to include your name as you would like to see it published).
We all know that traipsing the streets shopping can be stressful, frustrating and time-consuming, so shopping online or ordering via telephone might seem like a great alternative. But whilst it's true that ordering might take minutes, delivery, for some customers, can take a whole lot longer. In the case of Michelle Treacy, that delivery took nearly 30 hours. Her boyfriend ordered a laptop for her as a present from Tesco Direct. The Home Delivery Network was meant to bring it between 7am and 7pm on the first arranged delivery date. Michelle told Watchdog:
"To make sure we covered this, my partner took the time off work so that one of us would always be in to make sure we received it".
At 9.30pm the couple were still waiting, so Michelle called HDNL who said they'd tried to deliver, but had turned back because no one was in. But according to Michelle:
"Neither me or my partner heard the buzzer or saw a van outside. They claim they left a delivery note through the letterbox but when my partner checked there was nothing there".
Michelle asked them to try again two days later, but the same thing happened, HDNL claimed they called at the house but no-one was there. So Michelle arranged a third delivery, but by late morning the package hadn't left the depot. Michelle added:
"In the end it was so much hassle we ended up just cancelling the order and ordering to collect it from the store ourselves. It would have been so much easier if we had just done that in the first place".
We also caught up with Simon Hill, who bought a vacuum cleaner from Amazon. It was due to be delivered on the 20 September, so Simon booked time off to wait for it to be delivered. But it turned out to be a very long day. Simon told us:
"I phoned up at five to seven that evening. They told me that they couldn't find me because the house is out in the sticks, even though it's a main housing estate just off the city centre. They said there was no parking. Even though there's a main car park outside my front door."
Bob and Pam Healey told us about the disruption HDNL had caused them after ordering a chest of drawers from Littlewoods. The drawers didn't turn up the first day, a Tuesday so it was rearranged for Friday, but it didn't turn up then either. It finally arrived the following Tuesday. Bob told us:
"We had to make changes to our appointments, which were doctors, hospital and an important one, we run children's clubs and we had to even get someone to cover them for us. Which not only put us out, it put other people out as well".
But what about the uncertainty of not knowing when or where your goods might turn up? Wendy Hodgkinson ordered a bed from Homebase Online. HDNL delivered it, but not in the way she'd expected:
"I got home one evening, it was about half past nine at night, it was dark outside, my garden is completely open, and I saw a parcel, a rather battered parcel propped up on the wall in my garden. There was no card, nothing in the letterbox. I looked at the neighbours and thought they might come out and say 'oh they dropped this off for you' but none of the neighbours knew anything about it so it was just a box abandoned in my garden really. A rather battered box".
James Brown knows all about the waiting, the disruption and the uncertainty. Last month, his daughter Martha prepared to celebrate her third birthday. He and his wife ordered a toy pram from the Early Learning Centre and bought Martha a Christmas present at the same time. After missing the first delivery, James rebooked it for October 14th. This was the day before her birthday and James and his wife Gillian made sure they were both home so there was no chance of them missing the delivery.
A driver turned up but with only one parcel which was the Christmas present. With the clock ticking, HDNL told James not to worry, the missing pram would be delivered in time for Martha's birthday. James told us:
"However, we checked online and about half past one it showed that the parcel was still at the depot. So another phone call was made, and they again reassured us that it would definitely be coming. We actually offered to drive to Ipswich, which is about a 50 mile round journey from us, to collect the parcel. But they said no, no, no problem at all. I then phoned them again, at 8 o'clock to be told that no, the parcel wasn't coming. I was so angry, I was absolutely livid".
James then insisted that he collect it himself the following day from the depot which he had thought was a fool-proof plan:
"Just as we were about to leave to go off swimming in the morning they turned up to deliver it. If we'd left five minutes earlier, we would have ended up on a different side of the county to the parcel. So they very nearly spoiled her birthday".
Fortunately they didn't and it was a happy ending for Martha, and for the others, eventually. But with all that stress, all that worry, and all that waiting... Perhaps they'd have been better doing their shopping the old fashioned way?
The Home Delivery Network told Watchdog:
We provide a professional service and have extremely high levels of customer satisfaction. We deliver between 300,000 to 500,000 parcels a day on behalf of our clients and when dealing with such high volumes of deliveries there are inevitably problems that arise. Serious customer service issues are very rare and are very much the exception to the high levels of successful deliveries that are carried out throughout the UK on a daily basis.
Wherever issues are brought to our attention, we seek to resolve them with our clients and consumers. Nevertheless, we acknowledge that it can be frustrating when any difficulty is experienced with a delivery and we are committed to working with all of our partners to ensure issues are swiftly dealt with and that we continue to offer the best customer service possible.
Littlewoods told Watchdog:
Good customer service is a priority for Littlewoods and we would like to apologise to Mr Healey for the poor experience he had on this occasion. The service he received did not meet our usual high standards.
Each year HDNL collect and deliver over 27 million parcels on our behalf and the vast majority of our customers are pleased with the service they receive. Although instances of complaints are extremely rare and represent just 0.01% of parcels delivered, we treat each complaint seriously and use the feedback to continually improve our processes.
Amazon told Watchdog:
Around this time of the year, millions of Amazon packages are delivered to UK customers every week using a wide variety of carriers. We are always grateful for customer feedback regarding delivery of our products which helps us to improve and enhance our overall service for the benefit of all our customers.
The Early Learning Centre told Watchdog:
At this time of the year HDNL delivers nearly 40,000 parcels every week for the Early Learning Centre and in the majority of cases this runs very smoothly for our customers. Unfortunately in this instance there was a delay and inconvenience for a customer and we are very sorry about this. We apologised to Mr Brown as soon as we were aware of the situation and sent a small gift for his daughter as a gesture of our goodwill. Customer service is a high priority for us and we will continue to work closely with HDNL and continue to improve the service our customers expect and deserve from us.
Homebase told Watchdog:
Homebase always strives to ensure its customers receive the best service possible. As a result, we were disappointed to hear of Ms Hodgkinson's initial delivery problems. We are pleased to confirm that following the successful redelivery of the product components, Ms Hodgkinson has accepted a gesture of goodwill on behalf of Homebase for the inconvenience caused. Homebase is working with Home Delivery Network to ensure they continue to provide satisfactory service for the allocation of Homebase home delivery orders they manage on our behalf.
Tesco told Watchdog:
Tesco customers rightly expect the very best service. We deliver to millions of happy customers every week so we were very sorry to hear about Ms Treacy's experience and inconvenience. We sent the laptop out just a few hours after she ordered it so we are investigating with YODEL why it wasn't delivered.
HDNL - Signed, sealed, not delivered?
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.
However, some Watchdog viewers have told us they wish they had gone out to the shops themselves...
(Do you have something to say about this story? Tell us what you think by emailing us here. Don't forget to include 'HDNL' in the subject line. Watchdog will publish a selection of viewers' comments underneath each story, both throughout and after the programme is on air. Please remember to include your name as you would like to see it published).
We all know that traipsing the streets shopping can be stressful, frustrating and time-consuming, so shopping online or ordering via telephone might seem like a great alternative. But whilst it's true that ordering might take minutes, delivery, for some customers, can take a whole lot longer. In the case of Michelle Treacy, that delivery took nearly 30 hours. Her boyfriend ordered a laptop for her as a present from Tesco Direct. The Home Delivery Network was meant to bring it between 7am and 7pm on the first arranged delivery date. Michelle told Watchdog:
"To make sure we covered this, my partner took the time off work so that one of us would always be in to make sure we received it".
At 9.30pm the couple were still waiting, so Michelle called HDNL who said they'd tried to deliver, but had turned back because no one was in. But according to Michelle:
"Neither me or my partner heard the buzzer or saw a van outside. They claim they left a delivery note through the letterbox but when my partner checked there was nothing there".
Michelle asked them to try again two days later, but the same thing happened, HDNL claimed they called at the house but no-one was there. So Michelle arranged a third delivery, but by late morning the package hadn't left the depot. Michelle added:
"In the end it was so much hassle we ended up just cancelling the order and ordering to collect it from the store ourselves. It would have been so much easier if we had just done that in the first place".
We also caught up with Simon Hill, who bought a vacuum cleaner from Amazon. It was due to be delivered on the 20 September, so Simon booked time off to wait for it to be delivered. But it turned out to be a very long day. Simon told us:
"I phoned up at five to seven that evening. They told me that they couldn't find me because the house is out in the sticks, even though it's a main housing estate just off the city centre. They said there was no parking. Even though there's a main car park outside my front door."
Bob and Pam Healey told us about the disruption HDNL had caused them after ordering a chest of drawers from Littlewoods. The drawers didn't turn up the first day, a Tuesday so it was rearranged for Friday, but it didn't turn up then either. It finally arrived the following Tuesday. Bob told us:
"We had to make changes to our appointments, which were doctors, hospital and an important one, we run children's clubs and we had to even get someone to cover them for us. Which not only put us out, it put other people out as well".
But what about the uncertainty of not knowing when or where your goods might turn up? Wendy Hodgkinson ordered a bed from Homebase Online. HDNL delivered it, but not in the way she'd expected:
"I got home one evening, it was about half past nine at night, it was dark outside, my garden is completely open, and I saw a parcel, a rather battered parcel propped up on the wall in my garden. There was no card, nothing in the letterbox. I looked at the neighbours and thought they might come out and say 'oh they dropped this off for you' but none of the neighbours knew anything about it so it was just a box abandoned in my garden really. A rather battered box".
James Brown knows all about the waiting, the disruption and the uncertainty. Last month, his daughter Martha prepared to celebrate her third birthday. He and his wife ordered a toy pram from the Early Learning Centre and bought Martha a Christmas present at the same time. After missing the first delivery, James rebooked it for October 14th. This was the day before her birthday and James and his wife Gillian made sure they were both home so there was no chance of them missing the delivery.
A driver turned up but with only one parcel which was the Christmas present. With the clock ticking, HDNL told James not to worry, the missing pram would be delivered in time for Martha's birthday. James told us:
"However, we checked online and about half past one it showed that the parcel was still at the depot. So another phone call was made, and they again reassured us that it would definitely be coming. We actually offered to drive to Ipswich, which is about a 50 mile round journey from us, to collect the parcel. But they said no, no, no problem at all. I then phoned them again, at 8 o'clock to be told that no, the parcel wasn't coming. I was so angry, I was absolutely livid".
James then insisted that he collect it himself the following day from the depot which he had thought was a fool-proof plan:
"Just as we were about to leave to go off swimming in the morning they turned up to deliver it. If we'd left five minutes earlier, we would have ended up on a different side of the county to the parcel. So they very nearly spoiled her birthday".
Fortunately they didn't and it was a happy ending for Martha, and for the others, eventually. But with all that stress, all that worry, and all that waiting... Perhaps they'd have been better doing their shopping the old fashioned way?
The Home Delivery Network told Watchdog:
We provide a professional service and have extremely high levels of customer satisfaction. We deliver between 300,000 to 500,000 parcels a day on behalf of our clients and when dealing with such high volumes of deliveries there are inevitably problems that arise. Serious customer service issues are very rare and are very much the exception to the high levels of successful deliveries that are carried out throughout the UK on a daily basis.
Wherever issues are brought to our attention, we seek to resolve them with our clients and consumers. Nevertheless, we acknowledge that it can be frustrating when any difficulty is experienced with a delivery and we are committed to working with all of our partners to ensure issues are swiftly dealt with and that we continue to offer the best customer service possible.
Littlewoods told Watchdog:
Good customer service is a priority for Littlewoods and we would like to apologise to Mr Healey for the poor experience he had on this occasion. The service he received did not meet our usual high standards.
Each year HDNL collect and deliver over 27 million parcels on our behalf and the vast majority of our customers are pleased with the service they receive. Although instances of complaints are extremely rare and represent just 0.01% of parcels delivered, we treat each complaint seriously and use the feedback to continually improve our processes.
Amazon told Watchdog:
Around this time of the year, millions of Amazon packages are delivered to UK customers every week using a wide variety of carriers. We are always grateful for customer feedback regarding delivery of our products which helps us to improve and enhance our overall service for the benefit of all our customers.
The Early Learning Centre told Watchdog:
At this time of the year HDNL delivers nearly 40,000 parcels every week for the Early Learning Centre and in the majority of cases this runs very smoothly for our customers. Unfortunately in this instance there was a delay and inconvenience for a customer and we are very sorry about this. We apologised to Mr Brown as soon as we were aware of the situation and sent a small gift for his daughter as a gesture of our goodwill. Customer service is a high priority for us and we will continue to work closely with HDNL and continue to improve the service our customers expect and deserve from us.
Homebase told Watchdog:
Homebase always strives to ensure its customers receive the best service possible. As a result, we were disappointed to hear of Ms Hodgkinson's initial delivery problems. We are pleased to confirm that following the successful redelivery of the product components, Ms Hodgkinson has accepted a gesture of goodwill on behalf of Homebase for the inconvenience caused. Homebase is working with Home Delivery Network to ensure they continue to provide satisfactory service for the allocation of Homebase home delivery orders they manage on our behalf.
Tesco told Watchdog:
Tesco customers rightly expect the very best service. We deliver to millions of happy customers every week so we were very sorry to hear about Ms Treacy's experience and inconvenience. We sent the laptop out just a few hours after she ordered it so we are investigating with YODEL why it wasn't delivered.
HDNL - Signed, sealed, not delivered?