Late package? Find it yourself

[Jman888]

Late package? Find it yourself

Ronald Loh The New Paper Wednesday, Nov 05, 2014

Dragonlink warehouse was overflowing with boxes of undelivered orders.

For two weeks, she waited patiently for her order to arrive.

But last Tuesday, a few days before an important event, she became desperate as she had yet to receive the outfits she ordered.

So the housewife, who wanted to be known only as Ms Lee, 45, called the supplier in China, only to be told that her items had been delivered to a warehouse in Singapore.

She went to the warehouse, owned by Dragonlink, at MacPherson Industrial Complex and was greeted by a shocking sight.

"I saw mountains of boxes of orders waiting to be delivered. Some of them were even spilling out of the warehouse," she said.

Then came another shock: she had to dig through the huge piles to search for her package.

The warehouse operations manager, Mr James Lee, 60, said this was the first time such a situation has happened.

Since Oct 17, the company has received more packages from China daily than it could deliver. Customers such as Ms Lee are not happy.

She told The New Paper that she had ordered two sets of clothes costing about $200 from China's top online marketplace Taobao on Oct 15.

She needed them for an event over the weekend and had paid about $20 for the items to be air-freighted.

"It should have taken about three to five days for the items to reach me. When two weeks went by, I became desperate as I really needed the outfits," she said.

When the supplier in China told her that the items had been sent to Dragonlink, she contacted the Singapore company and was told that she would have to collect the item from its warehouse.

EIGHT-HOUR SEARCH

"My husband drove me there at about 3pm on Tuesday and I told him to wait in the car as I thought it would be a quick collection," she said.

But she ended up spending eight hours rummaging through hundreds of boxes.

"Imagine standing up and bending down for eight hours. The clothes of some other customers were soaked with sweat," said Ms Lee, who struggled with the bigger boxes because of her small frame.

"I dug and dug until my hands were dirty. I probably went through some boxes more than once because the place was very messy, but I still couldn't find my package."

At about 11pm, she went home empty-handed.

"The employees said that they would look for my package and told me to go home," she said.

"But when I returned the next day, they said they had not found my stuff. I was angry and frustrated and told them I needed the items urgently."

They eventually found her package - after another six hours of rummaging.

When TNP visited the warehouse last Thursday at about 7.30pm, it was filled with boxes. There was barely enough space to walk through the maze of boxes to get across the warehouse.

About six customers were seen hunched over the boxes, searching for their packages.

When TNP approached one customer, who was sitting down and looking weary, he declined to comment.

The warehouse looked mostly cleaned out when TNP returned the following night.

A female customer was arguing with a warehouse worker.

"You don't pick up calls and you never reply to any of my e-mails," she was heard saying as she demanded to speak to the person in charge.

Some customers took to Twitter and online forums to vent their frustration.

Ms Lee said she was just relieved that she got her clothes in the end.

"I don't know whether I'll continue using this service, but I really hope things improve soon," she added.

I saw mountains of boxes of orders waiting to be delivered. Some of them were even spilling out of the warehouse. - Ms Lee

Orders just came flooding in: Manager

More boxes than they could cope with.

That has been Dragonlink's headache since the pile-up of packages began on Oct 17.

Dragonlink is a courier service that delivers packages from overseas to local addresses.

Mr James Lee, 60, who is in charge of operations at its warehouse, said his employees had not encountered such a situation before. The packages usually arrived from China, mainly Guangzhou and Shenzhen, in quantities that they could deal with.

"Everything was smooth before Oct 17, when suddenly, orders just came flooding in. There were more than we could deliver each day," he said.

As a result, a backlog started building up, worsening by the day as more shipments arrived.

"We're doing our best to deliver every package. We understand some customers may not have received their orders, but they don't have to come down and shout at us," he said.

Mr Lee said the company has spoken to its overseas clients about the issue.

BUSINESS

"But how to complain? At the end of the day, we are running a business and they are our clients. We just have to solve this problem quickly," he said.

As there are only about seven workers at the warehouse, Mr Lee said he tried to hire additional helpers.

"But no one took up our offer. So some of us had to stop our own administrative work to help the customers look for their items," he said.

He estimated that all the orders would be delivered by this week.

Mr Marcus Chua, 42, an operations manager who has been in the courier industry for 10 years, said such situations can be prevented by proper planning.

"The sales team must know how much the delivery team can handle. They must communicate," he said.

"It's like if you're alone, but you order food for 10 people, you're in trouble."

But Mr Chua conceded that such situations could still crop up unexpectedly.

He said: "You must have back-up resources, maybe part-time or freelance workers you can call to help settle your extra deliveries.

"If you plan right, you can handle at least 80 per cent of such excess. If not, then you're planning to fail."

We're doing our best to deliver every package. We understand some customers may not have received their orders, but they don't have to come down and shout at us. - Mr James Lee

[email protected]

 

 

good luck if your item are still in order and good condition

[Mustank]

wah!!! now many people buy taobao liao

siang hoh buy cheap china handphone from taobao

[Acemundo]

 

 

good luck if your item are still in order and good condition

 

I think I went dragonlink before. one of those forwarder that left a very bad taste on forwarders.

 

it happened then when my wife bought something online. should be q00 if I recall correctly. as usual, drop a delivery note on weekday saying no one in the house. we called up to ask for re-delivery, they say they do not do re-delivery. so no choice, one of the Saturday went down to bedok industrial area which was the addressed indicated on delivery note.

 

at their bedok address, they only pasted a sticker saying they have moved to macpherson and asked customers to proceed to macpherson. at macpherson there was quite a lot of customers collecting also and as it came to my turn, I complain about their shoddy service and operation. all the guy can say is "no choice"

Edited November 5, 2014 by Acemundo

[Jman888]

I think I went dragonlink before. one of those forwarder that left a very bad taste on forwarders.

 

it happened then when my wife bought something online. should be q00 if I recall correctly. as usual, drop a delivery note on weekday saying no one in the house. we called up to ask for re-delivery, they say they do not do re-delivery. so no choice, one of the Saturday went down to bedok industrial area which was the addressed indicated on delivery note.

 

at their bedok address, they only pasted a sticker saying they have moved to macpherson and asked customers to proceed to macpherson. at macpherson there was quite a lot of customers collecting also and as it came to my turn, I complain about their shoddy service and operation. all the guy can say is "no choice"

 

 

heng so far i have not encounter such issue with Qoo

 

the warehouse looks worse than the salvation army donation centre

[Lala81]

TB most people should be buying thru 4PX right?

Why need to use dragonlink?

[Simpleonly]

TB most people should be buying thru 4PX right?

Why need to use dragonlink?

that time 4px goods kana stuck at custom and cause a long delay, almost 1-2 month backlog, that why ppl change to another forwarder...

maybe that why no DL is flooded with goods....

[Jamesc]

Mr James Lee, 60, who is in charge of operations at its warehouse, said his employees had not encountered such a situation before. The packages usually arrived from China, mainly Guangzhou and Shenzhen, in quantities that they could deal with.

Mr Marcus Chua, 42, an operations manager who has been in the courier industry for 10 years, said such situations can be prevented by proper planning.

 

42 year old operations manager teaching 60 year old ops manager how to do his job.

 

These young punks think they know it all.

 

I am very worried for the next generations as they all seem to think they know it all

 

and want to teach the older generation how to do things.

 

I bet Mr James Lee was already working when Mr Marcus Chua was still wearing short pants

 

but I could be wrong.

 

 

"You don't pick up calls and you never reply to any of my e-mails," she was heard saying as she demanded to speak to the person in charge.

Orders just came flooding in: Manager

"We're doing our best to deliver every package. We understand some customers may not have received their orders, but they don't have to come down and shout at us," he said.

 

Yah lah the customers don't have to come down and shout at them.

 

They can just stay at home and keep calling and sending emails

 

which the company will just ignore.

 

Some people are just so unreasonable.

 

Edited November 5, 2014 by Jamesc

[Acemundo]

 

 

heng so far i have not encounter such issue with Qoo

 

the warehouse looks worse than the salvation army donation centre

 

haa my wife also got the black face from me when we were at bedok and saw the notice to go macpherson. I kind of grudge her for not calling them in advance to check the change of location. but to put in a fair word, I think just a few days before we went down to bedok we already call them to request for re-delivery. so this dragonlink simply has poor customer service by not informing or not knowing of the operational address change few days later. pasting a sticker on the drawn down shutter to inform customers who made a wasted trip just doesn't cut it.

 

I can only say this courier/forwarder operations are poorly planned and screw ups is definite. now the situation just ratifies my observation and I am glad my experience then is much better than the customers of theirs now.

Edited November 5, 2014 by Acemundo

[Thaiyotakamli]

I also went once bought from Gmarket and indeed they are messy, need to queue for about 6-7 ppl before my turn to collect my order

[Lala81]

that time 4px goods kana stuck at custom and cause a long delay, almost 1-2 month backlog, that why ppl change to another forwarder...

maybe that why no DL is flooded with goods....

 

hmm didn't know that.

Nothing i buy from TB is urgent. So delay jiu delay lor.

Think i stick to 4px. If i really need something on time, i use daigou

 

So far my qoo10 experiences have been satisfactory.

Edited November 5, 2014 by Lala81

[GLZT]

 

42 year old operations manager teaching 60 year old ops manager how to do his job.

 

These young punks think they know it all.

 

I am very worried for the next generations as they all seem to think they know it all

 

and want to teach the older generation how to do things.

 

I bet Mr James Lee was already working when Mr Marcus Chua was still wearing short pants

 

but I could be wrong.

 

 

 

Yah lah the customers don't have to come down and shout at them.

 

They can just stay at home and keep calling and sending emails

 

which the company will just ignore.

 

Some people are just so unreasonable.

 

They are both old enough la, if get a 100years old man come lecture them both say need proper planning means he sure correct cause he is 100years old?

 

But to be honest the 42 years old answer might as well dont answer. By say proper planning can prevent this problem is like saying if you dont buy toto you wont lose money. Its such a vague and simple answer, anyone not in that industry also can say.

[Jman888]

 

42 year old operations manager teaching 60 year old ops manager how to do his job.

 

These young punks think they know it all.

 

I am very worried for the next generations as they all seem to think they know it all

 

and want to teach the older generation how to do things.

 

I bet Mr James Lee was already working when Mr Marcus Chua was still wearing short pants

 

but I could be wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

i dun think the 42 years old was from the same company, perhaps another logistics company providing his opinion.

 

the 60 years old could be in the old system for all his life and the 42 years old maybe come from Fedex/UPS world best logistics company.

 

haa my wife also got the black face from me when we were at bedok and saw the notice to go macpherson. I kind of grudge her for not calling them in advance to check the change of location. but to put in a fair word, I think just a few days before we went down to bedok we already call them to request for re-delivery. so this dragonlink simply has poor customer service by not informing or not knowing of the operational address change few days later. pasting a sticker on the drawn down shutter to inform customers who made a wasted trip just doesn't cut it.

 

I can only say this courier/forwarder operations are poorly planned and screw ups is definite. now the situation just ratifies my observation and I am glad my experience then is much better than the customers of theirs now.

 

 

i normally buy korean stuff though some may come from china, so far so good.

 

if nothing important and small value, i will give up the item and ask for refund even if they have already shipped out.

[Acemundo]

They are both old enough la, if get a 100years old man come lecture them both say need proper planning means he sure correct cause he is 100years old?

 

But to be honest the 42 years old answer might as well dont answer. By say proper planning can prevent this problem is like saying if you dont buy toto you wont lose money. Its such a vague and simple answer, anyone not in that industry also can say.

actually cannot always go with the saying that "older is wiser". it is a general fact but not always true when applied to specific persons.

 

as for the vague answer, the statement is true but you don't expect someone being interviewed to give detail answers how to run an operation,right? problems that occur regularly is a reflection of the lack of planning. just like I already had bad experience with this forwarder sometime back. the problems seems to have mounted.

 

problems that are due to bad luck are usually occur on random basis and one-off.

 

 

 

 

 

i normally buy korean stuff though some may come from china, so far so good.

 

if nothing important and small value, i will give up the item and ask for refund even if they have already shipped out.

 

my wife buys all over different portals whose wares are typically from china, korea and usa. I would also say generally the experience has been positive. that's why this episode with dragonlink left me quite a deep impression as it was the odd one out with such a bad experience. I ask my wife to go give a low rating and cite the courier service as reason for the low rating.......haha......think she may eventually not have done that.

[Jamesc]

I thought it was fashionable to blame the younger generation

 

for being soft, not knowing how to do a job properly,

 

for thinking they know everything and wanting to tell

 

older people how to do their jobs?

 

Or does this only apply to people below 42 years old?

 

[Jman888]

I thought it was fashionable to blame the younger generation

 

for being soft, not knowing how to do a job properly,

 

for thinking they know everything and wanting to tell

 

older people how to do their jobs?

 

Or does this only apply to people below 42 years old?

 

 

 

below 30 to be exact

[Ktglfc]

I am more concerned abt fire hazards...

Hopefully the warehouse can pass all the safety requirement...

If ganna fire, will be a huge loss to alot of customers

[Freestylers09]

i been using DL for years..so far very good until last month

 

delayed 2 weeks, parcels wet..

 

even the delivery guy at my area sms me etc..this kind of good service

 

its all depend on the delivery guy...like my clients one can delivered within 4 days once send from China

 

but now my area the delivery guy changed...kinda sian liao ..so end up kana delayed etc

[Jimmylim]

older doesn't mean wiser or more knowledgeable. could be mid career change or whatever, we don't know.

 

one should not just judge on age alone. if one stops learning, no matter how old you are, you are still screw up. never stop ourselves from learning, even from the younger one.