Yodel or not....
Discussion
Afternoon,
Online retailer here, currently using DPD for our parcel solution (the vast majority of orders go Royal Mail, with only next days and high value/large items going DPD). DPD have been very good and offer great information to recipients via their predict service.
Anyway my local Yodel rep has been on a mission to get my business this past couple months and has put together a very attractive offering. On paper it looks very good, with the rates being upto 20% better for a standard UK parcel. Their service and notifications etc seem to be half decent also.
BUT.... its Yodel. Am I being stupid? Yodel obviously went through a bad period and got themselves a really bad reputation, however if their more recent success rates etc are anything to go by then they are no different to the other main players.
Now I am not looking for a single horror story about how a parcel went missing, this happens with every courier. What I am looking for is opinions from businesses similar to us who send thousands of parcels via Yodel each month.
Are they reliable? Do they have a decent booking system? Do your customers make a fuss because you use Yodel? Do you also use their Packet service? If so how do you find it? Do they co-operate with claims? How are they outside of the UK?
Thanks in advance.
Online retailer here, currently using DPD for our parcel solution (the vast majority of orders go Royal Mail, with only next days and high value/large items going DPD). DPD have been very good and offer great information to recipients via their predict service.
Anyway my local Yodel rep has been on a mission to get my business this past couple months and has put together a very attractive offering. On paper it looks very good, with the rates being upto 20% better for a standard UK parcel. Their service and notifications etc seem to be half decent also.
BUT.... its Yodel. Am I being stupid? Yodel obviously went through a bad period and got themselves a really bad reputation, however if their more recent success rates etc are anything to go by then they are no different to the other main players.
Now I am not looking for a single horror story about how a parcel went missing, this happens with every courier. What I am looking for is opinions from businesses similar to us who send thousands of parcels via Yodel each month.
Are they reliable? Do they have a decent booking system? Do your customers make a fuss because you use Yodel? Do you also use their Packet service? If so how do you find it? Do they co-operate with claims? How are they outside of the UK?
Thanks in advance.
Edited by russy01 on Monday 30th June 13:58
As a customer I do not like seing a parcel delivered by nodel, as opposed to getting a dpd notification with leaves me impressed.
Nodel would not stop me ordering, but I would favour someone who sends by DPD. One thing that does surprise me, as I assume that DPD costs more, is why firms do not advertise the fact that they use a courier who will give a timeslot....
Nodel would not stop me ordering, but I would favour someone who sends by DPD. One thing that does surprise me, as I assume that DPD costs more, is why firms do not advertise the fact that they use a courier who will give a timeslot....
I've never used Yodel for a business but I did manage a move from APC to DPD, split-testing between the two. I found that when surveyed, 94% of our customers were happy with delivery with DPD and 83% with APC. I would hazard a guess from all the deliveries I've had with Yodel down the years that they'd be significantly lower than that.
The 20% sounds attractive but if they have an approval rating with your customers of 75% for example, you'll soon see that saving wiped out by a decrease in returning customers.
What I would recommend doing is telling Yodel you'd like to split test them against your current provider. If you're sending 40k parcels a month it won't take long to build up a good enough sample, just a quarter of your volume for a month. You then survey the customers who got their delivery with Yodel as well as the same number of DPD customers and see the results.
If you want any help/advice with setting that up let me know, as I say I've done it before.
Also, if you do use Yodel let me know the name of your business so I know to avoid in future
The 20% sounds attractive but if they have an approval rating with your customers of 75% for example, you'll soon see that saving wiped out by a decrease in returning customers.
What I would recommend doing is telling Yodel you'd like to split test them against your current provider. If you're sending 40k parcels a month it won't take long to build up a good enough sample, just a quarter of your volume for a month. You then survey the customers who got their delivery with Yodel as well as the same number of DPD customers and see the results.
If you want any help/advice with setting that up let me know, as I say I've done it before.
Also, if you do use Yodel let me know the name of your business so I know to avoid in future
surveyor said:
As a customer I do not like seing a parcel delivered by nodel, as opposed to getting a dpd notification with leaves me impressed.
Nodel would not stop me ordering, but I would favour someone who sends by DPD. One thing that does surprise me, as I assume that DPD costs more, is why firms do not advertise the fact that they use a courier who will give a timeslot....
Likewise, if all else was the same I would chose the DPD delivery as I have good experience with them. Nodel would not stop me ordering, but I would favour someone who sends by DPD. One thing that does surprise me, as I assume that DPD costs more, is why firms do not advertise the fact that they use a courier who will give a timeslot....
However I would say we are the types of people (in a business forum) who would look to check which courier?? Would the average Joe select "Next Day Courier Delivery" regardless... Plus if you took marketplaces as an example you merely state "Other 24hr Courier" or "Expedited Delivery"....
Its far too big a discount to ignore, I think the only way forward is a trial with a survey.
russy01 said:
surveyor said:
As a customer I do not like seing a parcel delivered by nodel, as opposed to getting a dpd notification with leaves me impressed.
Nodel would not stop me ordering, but I would favour someone who sends by DPD. One thing that does surprise me, as I assume that DPD costs more, is why firms do not advertise the fact that they use a courier who will give a timeslot....
Likewise, if all else was the same I would chose the DPD delivery as I have good experience with them. Nodel would not stop me ordering, but I would favour someone who sends by DPD. One thing that does surprise me, as I assume that DPD costs more, is why firms do not advertise the fact that they use a courier who will give a timeslot....
However I would say we are the types of people (in a business forum) who would look to check which courier?? Would the average Joe select "Next Day Courier Delivery" regardless... Plus if you took marketplaces as an example you merely state "Other 24hr Courier" or "Expedited Delivery"....
Its far too big a discount to ignore, I think the only way forward is a trial with a survey.
Never mind the deal that you’re being offered – whose service is going to work best for the customer? As a customer I want my parcel as quickly and easily as possible. Given a choice I’ll always use a supplier that uses Collect+ as I can collect my parcel up until 11pm from a local convenience store. I usually get the e-mail saying it’s arrived before I leave work too, so I can collect it on the way home. Great. Other couriers don’t have a Collect+ type service so I’ll only consider one of those if they provide the option for me to nominate somewhere safe outside the house to leave my parcel. I have zero interest in using someone who’s going to attempt deliver while I’m out and, worse still, leaves a card saying they’ll try again tomorrow ... at the SAME TIME!!! RETARDS! Royal Mail is useless too because the post office doesn’t open late enough meaning I have to wait ‘till Saturday to collect my parcel ... and then everyone’s going for the same reason and I can’t park anywhere near.
russy01 said:
OllieC said:
Don't do it.
Dont want to sound like a knob, but....Bad experience from receiving a delivery, so hold a grudge? Or bad experience from sending 500k parcels a year via them?this was a couple of years ago, but the experience has left a sour taste.
We're not talking a massive amount of parcels sent, but in the 100's per week...
Edited by OllieC on Monday 30th June 15:49
k that!!Why not go back to DPD, let them know that Yodel are aggressively chasing your business and that the current offer on the table is making you think of giving them some volume because the savings are so very significant.
Say that you have heard some good things about Yodel in recent times - including seeing their latest service figures, which look fine for your needs - and that it is clear to you that Yodel really, really want the business.
And that you are generally very satisfied with the DPD service, but that you are now wondering if the pricing you are on really is the very best they can do in today's ultra competitive market.
Say that you have heard some good things about Yodel in recent times - including seeing their latest service figures, which look fine for your needs - and that it is clear to you that Yodel really, really want the business.
And that you are generally very satisfied with the DPD service, but that you are now wondering if the pricing you are on really is the very best they can do in today's ultra competitive market.
JPJPJP said:
Why not go back to DPD, let them know that Yodel are aggressively chasing your business and that the current offer on the table is making you think of giving them some volume because the savings are so very significant.
Say that you have heard some good things about Yodel in recent times - including seeing their latest service figures, which look fine for your needs - and that it is clear to you that Yodel really, really want the business.
And that you are generally very satisfied with the DPD service, but that you are now wondering if the pricing you are on really is the very best they can do in today's ultra competitive market.
Done it, No further movement on price. Say that you have heard some good things about Yodel in recent times - including seeing their latest service figures, which look fine for your needs - and that it is clear to you that Yodel really, really want the business.
And that you are generally very satisfied with the DPD service, but that you are now wondering if the pricing you are on really is the very best they can do in today's ultra competitive market.
russy01 said:
Done it, No further movement on price.
Give yodel a bit of volume then and see how it goes. If it goes as well as yodel hope, you can have another go at DPD before you take a bit more volume to yodel.If they really are at the lowest they can do and 20% saving is there you owe it to yourself to convince yourself one way or the other if DPD is worth the extra.
JPJPJP said:
russy01 said:
Done it, No further movement on price.
Give yodel a bit of volume then and see how it goes. If it goes as well as yodel hope, you can have another go at DPD before you take a bit more volume to yodel.If they really are at the lowest they can do and 20% saving is there you owe it to yourself to convince yourself one way or the other if DPD is worth the extra.
MitchT said:
Never mind the deal that you’re being offered – whose service is going to work best for the customer? As a customer I want my parcel as quickly and easily as possible. Given a choice I’ll always use a supplier that uses Collect+ as I can collect my parcel up until 11pm from a local convenience store. I usually get the e-mail saying it’s arrived before I leave work too, so I can collect it on the way home. Great. Other couriers don’t have a Collect+ type service so I’ll only consider one of those if they provide the option for me to nominate somewhere safe outside the house to leave my parcel. I have zero interest in using someone who’s going to attempt deliver while I’m out and, worse still, leaves a card saying they’ll try again tomorrow ... at the SAME TIME!!! RETARDS! Royal Mail is useless too because the post office doesn’t open late enough meaning I have to wait ‘till Saturday to collect my parcel ... and then everyone’s going for the same reason and I can’t park anywhere near.
Sorry but i have to bite, if you know you're not going to be home the following day why don't you use one of the many options open to you? Collect from depot, delivery to alternate address, authorise to leave without a signature etc etc. People like you don't help yourselves by refusing point blank to make a small arrangement to make your life easier. For the record UPS now have access points where parcels can be delivered and will be left if the recipient if not at home.
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