Based on what size dataset? They crashed and burned spectacularly for me.
- Collections not done because "nobody at premises" (at a distributor with approximately 50 people on site?!)
- Deliveries not done because "nobody at premises and no answer on phone" although the recipient has been at the premises all day and is happy to share video footage (and then when asking TCG for GPS/call logs, the phone was ALWAYS problematic and reset that very morning)
- Billing issues - the worst was almost R 300 for a mousepad to CPT because there was something stuck to the box which gave incorrect readings for the dimensions with their laser scanner, but they won't credit the difference
- Impossible to get hold of anyone other than the person who answers the phone. This happened so frequently it got to the point that I looked up the directors and grabbed their details from RocketReach to try them directly
- Split deliveries on a single waybill - one part of the delivery goes to the wrong province
- Parcel went with wrong van, will attempt delivery a day late (I had this TODAY with a personal delivery - I didn't choose the courier - where a parcel went with the wrong driver yesterday)
- Parcel missing for a day or two, until you say you want to make an insurance claim and then it's found within 5 minutes
- I have hard evidence ranging from phone calls to video footage at distributors that their drivers lie, but if you're lucky enough to get hold of a area/regional manager, they take the driver's side and make you out to be the liar
- I have several videos of collections being done for multiple distributors (spanning more than one driver), with all parcels being put onto a single pile while the driver fills out waybills and then tries to remember what's what
None of the above are once-off issues, with some being as regular as 1-2x per month.
I was on a cash account with a R-5k limit. It was done because of the volume of deliveries I was doing. 1 Jan 2024, account on hold. Mkay, after being closed two weeks, I'm probably past the 14 days on the oldest invoices. Pay most of it, still on hold.
Call and speak to about a dozen people in the accounts dept who all say "your limit has always been zero." I have them pull up statements for the last year to prove them wrong, they all tell me they can see it but it wasn't possible, I must have been paying and had a positive balance. I tell them LOOK at my balance, it hasn't been better than R -300 for the last year. They disagree...
Finally, several DAYS later, they said they sent emails in November and December 2023. I told them please check the mailing list because I DID NOT RECEIVE ANYTHING. They say I did receive it. I tell them I didn't (I've checked spam, logged into webmail to check that nothing has been discarded/marked as junk along the way, etc). They say they have confirmation I RECEIVED it, not just that they sent it. Keep in mind that mail is done through a ticketing system, so Outlook's "read receipts" are completely ignored.
I ask them to FORWARD the mail to me. They forward one from nearly a year prior (not November/December 2023), which was an internal mail sent to TCG staff only.
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The final straw was a same-day delivery that they failed to collect from a distributor no less than five times (morning and afternoon for two consecutive days, morning only of the third day). The reason given was "not invoiced." Here's the thing - I can't arrange courier collection UNTIL it has been invoiced, as the invoice number is the reference for collection. I had already received the invoice when making the booking. I arranged another courier, who collected just after 3pm and delivered to me before COB that same day.
There are several other issues, such as the train-wreck which was the migration from Parcel Perfect to Ship Logic (which also resulted in all address book entries being removed and irretrievable without warning), or that no amount of begging and pleading will get them to check their accounts other than morning and afternoon, so if you get too close to your limit and top-up you're going to have a problem until the next time they check their accounts.
Over the years they've been quick to say I must keep my 5-figure monthly spend with them when I ask if I should move to another courier, but always radio silent when I ask for a resolution. My favourite reply is "we will escalate to higher management" followed by it being the end of the story.
This is based on 8 years of using them to arrange (I'd estimate) 30,000 deliveries, and service has continued to deteriorate year on year.
I have since moved to another courier with which I have had one major issue in the last 10 months, but was resolved in a single 10 minute phone call (of which more than half was apologizing to me and an offer to call the customer to explain repeated several times).
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