If you have a problem and next extra support or help for an item you have ordered, you tell them when you buy the item? Right?
Of course you do, a lot of people do this when they buy a large item, they inform the store of the problem (bad back, elderly parent signing, 300 flights of stairs) and if they are lucky, the shop makes note of this on the order form.
If they are lucky.
When your delivery van arrives, a guy starts to unload and you need help, you told them in the shop you needed help but the thing is – help costs money. You are left blaming the delivery guys for something they have no control over.
Deliveries are an expensive undertaking for many stores and warehouses, their biggest expenditure is staff, then the cost of transportation. In tougher times, staff cut backs are made and so are transportation cutbacks. Sometimes, the additional help request is passed on, more often it is not – it’s an extra cost and hey- they can blame it on the delivery man. It’s not the stores fault, the warehouses fault, it’s the delivery guys fault.
I was trying to explain this on facebook the other day, that as delivery people, we deliver what we are told and if we are asked for a two man team, then we provide that – that’s what will help your elderly parent get the goods in, or you with the bad back, or every person that lives at the top of 300 flights of stairs. Often what we are asked to do is deliver for a fixed price, regardless of the circumstances (square pegs and round holes?) and they rarely include a second person on delivery.
Partly this is the consumers fault, they are used to ‘cheap’ delivery but are not happy with what cheap delivery entails. We’re doing our best to educate everyone in the chain.
We also have the health and safety aspect, it was pointed out to me that delivery a pallet of goods would have been quicker for the delivery company if they had a two man team, well again, it comes down to money. The company booking the job doesn’t want to pay the going rate, they want a deal and that means something has to be cut, it has to be staff or fuel. If two people did the delivery that’s two days wages and double the delivery cost normally charged. It is cheaper for our customer to have one driver unload with their equipment, it may take a little longer but that is one set of wages less to pay.
So the delivery company will give the shop/warehouse several prices –
- Two man team, dedicated delivery
- Two man team, no fixed time
- Delivery on a dedicated vehicle
- Delivery on a specific schedule, a working driver
Guess which one is the cheapest? Did you say the last one? Given the choice of the 4 options, and the store knowing you have disabilities / no parking / no one home until lunch, they always go for the cheapest.
Trust me, in the 9 years we have been doing this, the only option they are interested in is the one that costs them the least, and regardless of what you say, as a customer you do baulk at paying a delivery price that is enough for every person in the chain to make a little money, including the delivery company.
Next time you are in a shop wondering why delivery costs are so high, remember, fuel, 2 men, no problems because when you have free delivery you have nothing but hassle, and everyone trying to cut their costs down. It sure makes it harder to deliver your goods how you would like them to be delivered.
Kevin
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