Submit Response is a weblog by Jack Mottram, a City Link
City Link are the worst couriers in the world. Here’s why:
What should have happened:
- City Link deliver package to me at some point between 9am and 5.30pm on Wednesday.
What did happen:
I stay in all day on Wednesday, waiting for a delivery. No package arrives.
On Thursday, I obtain the tracking number from the sender of the package. According to the City Link website, an attempt to deliver the package was made (this is untrue), and the package has since returned to the City Link depot.
On Thursday morning, I attempt to telephone City Link, but give up after 45 minutes on hold. The hold music consists of an eight bar Eurorave loop with a chirpy voiceover informing me of the unparalleled brilliance of the City Link delivery experience, in terms not dissimilar to the unreliable delivery company’s motto, which is ‘To be the Carrier of Choice through operational excellence and customer focus - delivering success through our people.’. This does not endear me to the inept carriers City Link. Later that afternoon, after another half hour on hold, I am told to call back again, as City Link are suffering an ‘IT failure’. Later still that afternoon, after a relatively reasonable 20 minutes on hold, I am informed that I can either a) wait in all day on Friday for a re-delivery, or b) collect the package from the City Link depot in sunny Cambuslang, bringing my missed delivery card with me (which I do not have, because City Link made no attempt to deliver the package in the first place). I choose b), and am told to call on Friday morning to verify that the package is at the depot.
I call this morning. After 30 minutes on hold, I am told that City Link are suffering an ‘IT failure’, that they do not know where my package is, and that I should call back at 2pm. I do, and, after a thrillingly brief ten minutes on hold, City Link confirm that my package is available.
I travel by low level train to Cambuslang, and make my way across a footbridge covered in the monograms of various Young Teams, and on into a deserted industrial estate, thinking, ‘I’m glad it’s daylight, this place is well shady’. Once I locate the City Link depot, I queue for fifteen minutes, and give my tracking number to the nice lady behind the desk, who confirms it is there, and claims that she will send someone to fetch it. I ‘phone my Dad, to tell him the good news. My friend Nadine ‘phones, and tells me she is off to New York City for Christmas. In light of my present condition, I admit to feeling pangs of jealousy.
After 30 minutes, I remind the nice City Link lady of her promise, and she rather unhelpfully suggests that it’s possible my package is nowhere to be found, and that no one has informed her of this fact. After ten more minutes, I inquire again, and receive the same answer, and a suggestion that I leave my ‘phone number so that she might call to arrange another delivery date. I decline, raising my voice only slightly, and restraining the urge to pepper my reply with the foulest language. After a further 20 minutes I inquire once more, politely insisting that someone is sent off to find my package. A nice man returns with my package in two minutes flat, apologises, and wishes me a Merry Christmas.
I walk through the deserted industrial estate, and across the footbridge. It is now dark, which is why I don’t see the young gentlemen loitering on the footbridge until I am upon them. The young gentlemen ask if they might borrow my mobile telephone. I reply that they may not. There is a brief altercation, fortunately restricted to verbal badinage (rather than, for example, some light stabbing) which ends when I flee to the safety of the local Morrison’s supermarket car park. The young gentlemen lose interest, after hurling a few incomprehensible insults in my direction, and leave me free to continue to the train station.1
I arrive home, and place the package in my holdall, so that it can be taken to the Wirral, wrapped up and placed under the tree, ready for my Dad on Christmas morn.
In summary:
Time spent waiting for delivery which never arrived: precisely 8.5 hours.
Time spent on hold to City Link: approximately 2.25 hours.
Time spent travelling to and from the City Link depot: approximately 1.5 hours.
Time spent waiting at the City Link depot: approximately 1.3 hours.
Time spent shitting myself and legging it away from scallies: approximately 3 minutes.
Total time spent being dicked around by the unreliable couriers City Link: approximately 13.6 hours.
Conclusion:
City Link are the worst courier company in the world. I hope that anyone who Googles them in future happens upon this post before their website, and decides to use another service. Strapping goods to a half-starved mule and riding to your destination would likely be a quicker, more efficient mode of delivery.
1. I admit that, strictly speaking, #9 isn’t the fault of City Link, but I wouldn’t have been lugging hundreds of quid’s worth of Christmas presents across an unlit footbridge at night if it weren’t for them, and I’m not in a particularly forgiving mood. So they get the blame.
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Excellent rant! Have linked to help you achieve your page rank goals. Had a rant about Virgin Trains myself. ‘Tis the season to bemoan!
See you soon,
Donny. -
I wholeheartedly agree with you here. Citylink are useless. I was recently stung by their non-delivery antics too and had to visit their shitty warehouse to pick up my parcel. Thankfully I took the car but I only found it because one of their 40 ton juggernauts almost collided with me on the way out of the depot.
You should send yourself a large cardboard box full of your own shit via Citylink and sleep easier at night knowing that it will be stinking out their depot for months to come and there is no chance that it will ever reach its destination.
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Good idea Conz. I shall wait for an especially unhealthy turkey-based emission.
Don - see you soon! Are there any Tranmere plans? Also, I have your birthday present with me, only several months late, City Link style!
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Have just happened across this whilst on hold to citylink after having waited in for two days for delivery of a large parcel (a Christmas present for a five year old). Apparently they’ve been practicing their stealth delivery techniques all over Glasgow - they told me they’d tried to deliver twice but forgot to let me know they’d been there. I can’t be arsed going into all the details of their failings here - I need to save all of my righteous anger for the letters of complaint, safe to say that I’ll be putting in a claim for compensation, and suggesting that they make a sizable donation to the charity that I work for to compensate for me not being there on the busiest days of.
Ooh, got through after only half an hour on hold. And guess what? IT failures mean that they don’t know where the parcel is. And apparently there are no supervisers working today, but at the same time they’re all in a meeting. I think the Citylink have cracked the space/time continuum thing and are able to exist on several different planes simultaneously, and so perhaps my parcel is in another dimension. If only they’d’ve told me that…
By the way the direct line for the depot in Cambuslang is 0141 641 6250
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Of course they have fobbed me off with a wrong number! I’m trying 0141 643 3141 just now.
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I’ve had the same experience with City Link, Glasgow. I expected a parcel to be delivered on Wed 19 Dec, Express Delivery. Their web site says that they tried to deliver it on Thur 20 ( a day late). They did not appear and no card was left.
After a long wait on the phone they said they would redeliver it on Fri 21st. Again the web site said that an attempt at delivery was made. I was watching out the window for them by the front door when they said that they made this second attempt.
If really they did try to deliver they went to the wrong address on both occasions.
I phoned this morning to be told that City Link had “IT failure” and had 3000 unsorted parcels and that they could not guarantee that I would get the parcel if I went for it.
I went there at 10.30 am this morning but would not find the depot because, I think, that the address on the internet may be incorrect. It is certainly not known to my SatNav.
Well……….. the saga continues, I still do not have the present and Xmas approaches. -
I’m with you.
Rather than deliver a shiny new hard drive on time, they shoved a leaflet under the door a day late to say they had tried. Not my flat door, you understand; the outside building door. Not in an out of the way area; it’s in the bloody city centre with lots of passing people. And not actually all the way through. Mostly it was left on Hope Street.
Good timing is all that saved that from going missing.
(Rather than venture the trek out to their depot in the backwaters of nowhere, since no redelivery options were available, I just let them return to sender).
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Totally agree about City Link - not just useless, but liars too. Ask The English Cheesecake Company how THEY feel about City Link - as these totally unreliable couriers FAILED to deliver all of The ECC’s freshly-made (and perishable) product this weekend. City Link are useless, lying scumbags - DO NOT USE THEM. EVER.
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Yes, I had the same problems, stayed in tuesday, wed, thurs, frid, tried to deliver each day, yeah right! watched all their vans go past my door, did one stop, no, even said online, they carded me, well not thru my door! A certain (gentle)man named bill at city link said they wld deliver sat, and if i wasnt in wld leave it with a neighbour, although another employee of city link said they werent allowed to do that so bill was in the wrong!
Even although i do not have a car and i live in the east end of glasgow i am going to trek over that rugged terrain in cambuslang to get the christmas parcel i ordered from amazon who are also going to be informed of city links useless service. I will also tell them why do they use the cheapest service, folk would rather pay more to have a guaranteed service, I am sure.
When my phone bill comes in, city link are going to get a print out, and if i ever order online again from anywhere! i will find out the courier first. Heres hoping when I do visit their depot my parcel is there cos i am not in a very good mood!! -
Hello
Ive been waiting for a package since Friday 21st Dec..I rang there Cust serv Saturday to be told its on van ..no show
I rang on Xmas eve tobe told its on van and all parcels must be delivered before vans return to depot..no show..
I rang today 27/12/07 to be told they have lost the parcel and it never even reached my local depot
There a joke …Every time I buy something off the net (which is a lot) I cringe when tracking number is **ity Link
I really feel like going and egging the Citylink van which parks in a road just 5mins from :P
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That’s a bloody nightmare. I spent an hour or so in some other couriers’ depot only for them to realise the package had been sent back to the vendor. What you absolutely don’t need after that is a near-mugging. Horrendous.
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I live in Dorset and had all my families Christmas presents sent up to them on 17th. December by City Link. So called two attempted deliveries with cards left, no cards left and family there all day. Numerous telephone calls information given didn’t tie with Online Tracking History and at 28th. December Tracking History states parcel being returned but office say it is still at Cambuslang Depot. E mails sent with request for telephone response - nothing. Promises of it will be delivered on 29th. - won’t be holding my breath and won’t ever recommend City Link. Have written now to Cambuslang and Head Office. 28.12.07
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Citylink Cambuslang is a shambles at the moment. They had my order for delivery on the 18th but there’s been someone home for the last 9 business days - including Saturdays - and they still haven’t even attempted delivery. Site tracking says it’s now ‘Returned to sender’. I’ve emailed Head Office - no response of course, but I will be making a formal complaint in due course. Citylink are easily the worst of all the main UK couriers; managing to ‘forget’ where my house is for roughly one in four deliveries! Boycotting suppliers who use them would probably help. BTW, the depot manager at Cambuslang is a David Pettie - in case anyone’s thinking of launching a Small Claims action against them.
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UPDATE
Parcel didn’t arrive on 29th or 31st. No-one answering phones. Phoned local number on 2nd to be told was being delivered back to original collection point that day. Tracking History a joke, states on 29th. parcel delivered successfully, scheduled date for return delivery 31st.!!!!! But to cap all that the parcel arrived today 4th. Jan at my parents house where it should have been on 18th. Dec. If that is Express Delivery - well what can one say - if you are crazy enough to use City Link start posting your Christmas presents now and they might just get there in time. -
i have been reading the commets people have made,and they are right order goods not arrived waiting in all day there was no card now 4 days later no parcel,i am sick of them every one should get together and put them on watch dog they should not be aloud to get awy with this bloodt company
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I don’t know why reading this has made me feel better, but perversely it has
I am waiting for a washing machine (easy to lose those concrete-bottomed parcels) which was due for delivery on Jan 7th.
Didn’t come then. Or on the 8th, 9th, 10th or 11th. The faithful promises that it would be there on the 12th by midday weren’t met.
Then the deliveries for the 14th and now 15th have failed. I’ve variously been told that “drivers ran out of time” and that “there’s an IT problem”. Also that the parcel “is not lost, it’s just that we can’t locate it”
So, after really losing it with them on the phone, I’m now promised special delivery by 1030 tomorrow. I’ll be back then to post the excuse they use when it doesn’t arrive…
Anyone who has googled City Link with a view to using them - save the reputation of your business and steer well clear
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City link are such a bunch of idiots. I have sat in all day today, to be told by the depot that they have attempted a deliver! Bullshit. I know that I am never ever going to get the tv i ordered
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City Link are bloody useless. All I wanted them to deliver was some blank CDs and still they can’t even manage that. I’ve been sat in waiting for TWO WHOLE DAYS (and counting) waiting for them to deliver my parcel.
Yesterday I was sat at my computer and just happened to check the status of my parcel on City Link’s online “tracking” system and found that the driver had apparently attempted delivery not 10 minutes earlier. Of course, I knew this was a lie.
So, I go to check my post box. Guess what…No card, for the second time. So how am I supposed to know what the number of my local depot is where these bafoons are keeping my parcel?
So I have to ring the central number (sigh) - for the second time. I’m put on hold while some irritating woman tells me over and over how I can track my parcel online and how efficient City Link are. If they are so bloody fantastic, WHY AM I RINGING THIS BASTARD NUMBER! Eventually I get through and I explain the lack of a card and the fact that the apparent delivery was only attempted not 10 minutes ago. She puts me on hold while she phones the driver…I am then informed that the driver is no longer in the area (and probably never was) and that I absolutely must wait until tomorrow. She takes my suggestion that he turns around and comes back by suggesting that I come and collect the parcel myself. OK, like I’m going to pay you money to deliver a pacel to my door only to waste more time, money and effort going to collect it myself. Why don’t I just go and collect it from Ebuyer’s warehouse myself and flush all my money down the toilet while I’m at it? She takes my phone number in order, she says, to make sure that the driver can find my address.
The end result? Today, as I sit typing this, another of City Link’s diligent employees is probably shoveling an invisible missed delivery card through my letterbox. This will of course force me to go and strangle the driver and ultimately land me with a 25 year stretch. Of course, I can’t strangle him because he’s not even anywhere near my house, he’s just pretending he is. -
Make that three days…
My goods are apparently still being loaded onto a van. At least they are being honest by saying that no attempt to make a delivery has been made… -
Hm, I know this might ruin the fun of your rant, but it WAS the 21st of December and you said they said there’s an IT failure more than once. That tells me they weren’t just spinning you one if it was different people you spoke to.
Sounds like a terrible job. Speaking to angry customers with no IT and 3000 unsorted parcels just days before Christmas? Poor bastards.
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Aye, but spare us the overzealous whingeing mate…
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I work as a driver for city link in Aberdeen.
I feel for your predicamant, but you have to realise that in the run-up to xmas, city-link and ALL courier companies are so depserate for staff that they will employ any old junkie or fuckwit they can get their hands on, to drive and work in their stores.
Personally I spent the run up to xmas working 60-75 hour weeks, consisting of a hell of a lot of late night deliveries to ensure clients got their consignments for xmas. Mostly due to correcting the mistakes of the above influx of donkeys.
Long and short of it is simple, City-Link was a franchised nightmare with hugely varying standards accross the land, it has now been bought back by the mother company, and as a result the whole network is being upgraded. New vans, IT systems and guns (the things with the screen u sign at the door) and new depots. A new depot in aberdeen opens this month for example.
I have never really been loyal to any employer before but I feel city-link are at least slowly moving in the right direction and only time will tell.
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Ebuyer & City link
Phantom delivery, from a quick google I can see this is not uncommon. Alas, which bampot depot do I call given I have no card -
so i’m not the only one screwed over by city link,they are by far the worst company i have ever dealt with.it is now 4 days since i placed an order with NEXT DAY delivery and i am still waiting.they treat there customers with utter contempt over the phone and refuse to take responsibility for there failure to provide a service.How they have a contract with amazon is beyond me they are utterly useless.
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City Link are the worst courier company in the world. It’s not just one branch, it’s every single one of them.
I was supposed to have something delivered the other day, but City Link didn’t bother to leave a card or contact me in any way to let me know they tried to deliver it. I would have gone to their depot and collected the parcel if I had known it was there. There have been a couple of instances in the last year of goods I have ordered being returned to sender by City Link without any indication that a delivery was attempted (at two different addresses), two occasions when a delivery was supposedly attempted while my girlfriend was in the house, and on one occasion the driver delivered to the wrong house. After many bad experiences with them I refuse to do any further business with any company that continues to use them. You should too. Find out before ordering anything online what courier they will be using, and if it’s City Link send them an email explaining why you won’t be purchasing from them.
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I’ve had bad experiences with City Link and am currently sat here waiting for a Saturday delivery from Ebuyer myself. I have to admit I feel as though I only have a 50/50 chance of receiving my spanky new monitor.
Anyway, if you ever need to use a courier to send something yourself, I would recommend this site:
http://www.interparcel.com/They do have City Link on their list of couriers but as an Ebay seller so far I have used DHL Home Delivery and TNT through this site with great success.
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i have used city-link for about 3 years and have sent hundreds of parcels no problems, i do send a email to the customer letting them know when i am sending parcel so i suppose that helps, i have used other companys before and have had nothing but problems, city-link have just recently purchased target express and have got all there drivers to add to there team, yes problems do happen when it is busy time, but check out other complaints about other couriers and you will soon see city-links complaints are very few and far between, try google for other couriers type in (parcelforce problems) or dhl problems you will soon see what i mean,
city-link
U.K. Courier Company of 2007 Reliability of Service and Excellent Customer Service awarded by the Institute of Transport Management. -
The Aberdeen depot number os +44(0)1224 293304, but it continually rings out…
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This is happening to me at this very second! I even gave them my phone number to give me a ring when the driver failed again to find my real address, but no, that was too difficult. When I rang to complain, I mentioned the sh1t service, the phone immediately went dead, and now there is just permanent hold for me, with the constant blurb about how the can guarantee next day delivery to any where in the world! What a joke.
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Well it’s now June and I have just lost 2 days waiting in for a parcel from City Link. We were going away for a couple of days but as the parcel was the bike battery we’ve had to cancel. I’ve written to complain but no doubt my letter will end up in the bin. Customer service everywhere these days is crap. All what is written here is what has happened to me, how do they sleep at night?
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Agree - citylink awful.
damaged a bollard outside our house, months later, still taking ages to return calls, emails etc.
when they do - not helpful or sympathetic, i am almost made to feel
1) I am lying
2) it is my fault
unbelievable…!
Danielle (ge4), Mr Murphy (transport manager)
you are now named and shamed. Hope your family can read this someday.
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