Advantages: I managed not to kill anyone Disadvantages: Total lack of customer service; depot miles away from anyone
...think I have the answer. Initial City Link, the courier delivery service that could make a worthy adversary to Dr Who (if he ever, y'know, ordered a sonic screwdriver from Maplins and ICL were delivering it).
Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, the muppets at ICL. Bear in mind this review relates entirely to getting a delivery made to me in the Edinburgh area (since that's where I live, it would be silly getting something delivered to me elsewhere).
I'm ... ...every step of doing so as difficult as possible; if ever there was an organisation that seems to revel in putting itself out of the way; if ever there was a reason to shop at your local store rather than have things delivered; satan, thy name is Initial City Link. ...
blackpuddinonnabike 14.05.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Initial City Link
Advantages: Sorry, can't think of any Disadvantages: Too many to list
...retailers who somewhat misguidedly think Initial City Link (hereafter known as ICL) provide a delivery service.
THE COMPANY
According to their web site (city-link.co.uk), ICL were founded in 1969 and pioneered same day and next morning delivery services. They are part of Rentokil Initial plc, although it would appear that Rentokil’s expertise hasn’t been used to rid ICL of bugs. Their head office is in Hounslow, Middlesex and their distribution ... ...branches in the UK and also deliver to 25 European cities and New York.
THE SERVICE
ICL offer a next day delivery service, the cost of which varies (see their web site) depending on the weight of the parcel and the required delivery time. The options are:
By 7.30am (Major Cities) By 9.00am By 10.30am By 12.00 noon Next Afternoon by 5.30pm Next Day by 5.30pm For the princely sum of £47.70 plus £1.85 per kilo, they will even deliver at a specified ...
jez_taylor 11.10.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Initial City Link
Advantages: None Disadvantages: inefficient, rude members of staff, difficult to get hold of,unreliable
As a mail order customer I have a lot of experience of different courier companies. I also work for a mail order mobile phone dealer and our main courier is city link. Out of all the courier companies of today city link is definitely not the one I would choose.
When you order something via mail order and they say next day delivery then that is what you would expect, providing you ordered your items before a certain time in the afternoon. This is ... ...delivery on time if you pay the surcharge to receive your goods before 12.30pm that day.
If you’re not in then a card is usually left, not by city link though. Oh no. They try to avoid this where they can get away with it. I called them once to complain about this because they said they never had anything for me and I called the company who I ordered from and they told me the courier reference number and I contacted them again and told them this ...
coolchanty 21.01.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Initial City Link
Advantages: none at all Disadvantages: rude staff, unhelpful, inefficient, say one thing and do another
I am writing this review as a person who has received items deliverd by CityLink.
Last year I received a card through my door telling me that CityLink had attempted a delivery.
This card stated that the parcel had to be signed for at the address and could not be delivered elsewhere. The alternative is to collect the parcel from them but they will only keep it for 5 days.
I telephoned the Exeter office to request that they deliver to my office, ... ...at my house and a signature obtained. I had quite a lengthy conversation with the man, saying that I lived 20 miles from their depot and was always out at work, but nothing would shift him.
(You can only have a different delivery address if you contact the company you ordered the item from and they advise CityLink, but seeing as they will only keep the parcel for 5 days, you could run out of time here!)
I then advised them that we would have to ...
kismet 07.03.2005 (22.02.2006)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Initial City Link
Advantages: None Disadvantages: Everything possible
Back in 2004, I would have typed a positive review and given them five stars. After my recent experience, well, I'm well and truely disgusted...
This is started when I ordered a laptop through Rizeon. Everything went smoothly with the company Rizeon itself. I have no complaints against them, only compliments. They informed me it had been dispatched with City Link and provided me with the consignment link. Eargly waiting for my laptop on the Monday, ... ...the status first thing in the morning, so far everything was looking promising according to it. They had loaded my package onto a van for delivery. By afternoon, I knew my chances were very slim of actually recieving it in time by 5:30pm. At 3pm, the status had updated to me apparently not being at home to recieve the order and I had been carded with contact information. A complete lie of course as I was in the entire day with three family members, ...
hughesmonger 29.01.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Initial City Link
Advantages: None Disadvantages: they lose stuff and are totally incompetent
As the proprietor of a mail order company, I have a lot of experience with UK courier companies; after bad experiences with Parcel Farce and Night Fright, we switched to Shitty Link about one year ago, and I can honestly say this company is by far the worse courier service in the UK.
It's not just the fact that they seem to regularly loose stuff, do not come to collect parcels when we have booked them in, or deliver goods to the wrong customer, ... ...use City Link, but it's also their inability to sort anything out, once they have screwed up. Let me explain some of the horrors with City Link
They lost a parcel containing about £400 worth of goods, and then denied that they ever picked it up, so we were unable to claim anything from their "insurance"
They lost about £1500 worth of goods being sent to Southern Ireland - about 6 weeks later they did actually find them and the reason they gave ...
TotnesHemp 05.11.2007 (13.11.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Initial City Link
Advantages: none (if you want to infureate someone, than send something to them using this service) Disadvantages: unreliable, slow, inefficient
I ordered a goods from Amazon and waited and waited.....the first day it should be delivered, nobody rang the bell, no card left. Next day waiting, nobody rang the bell, card left telling me I have to go to their branch...which is very very far indeed.
I contacted them, and said, that I was waiting for 2 days already, I know for sure nobody was ringing the bell...(by the way the bell is working perfectly)....and therefore, I want the parcel to be ... ...the morning, it is 16:43 I contacted the City Link...and surprise, surprise they called me back (unlike yesterday, when I also contacted them) and told me that I will receive the parcel in the next hour....which I have some doubts about.
Even if the parcel will be delivered today, I do not think we can expect much from a company whose drivers do not know how to ring bells...in short, their service is the worst I have come across....(I spent four ...
flauta 01.08.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Initial City Link
Advantages: Free Delivery 'Next day' if you miss it first time Disadvantages: Slow, unorganised and totally unreliable
- Experience -
In the past month, we've been ordering a few things on the internet. Delivery times are important to me as I'm an impatient person, so I normally shop around for sites with next day Delivery. Heres What I've bought;
- A thinkpad 600x laptop
- A 500mhz computer base unit
- A 1.3ghz computer base unit
- An Archos multimedia player
On all these purchases I was charged from 10-15 pounds for 'Next Day Delivery'. Every site operates ... ...for city link, which I can use to track my parcel on the internet.
City Link's website and tracking service is quite useful up to a certain point. It was updated when my parcel was recieved by them and when my parcel arrived at the local branch. However, after 'Goods out for Delivery' appears, you are left in the dark, believing you will get your delivery by their 'Promised' time of 5pm.
This would not be so bad if City Link Drivers were reliable, ...
Fishfood01 16.07.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Initial City Link
Advantages: Must offer cheap rates to suppliers, which can be the only reason they use them. Disadvantages: Incompetent staff, inability to deliver on the day they say, lack of useful information, damage to goods
This review is from the point of view of a consignee, but is useful to know if you are considering using them for deliveries, as this is likely to be the way people remember dealing with you.
City link (whose reputation preceeds them to the extent that the mere mention of their name invokes cries of "S***ty Link, they're terrible, one time they...") seem to embody the worst aspects of delivery services, customer service staff who seem to have no ... ...to give any indication of delivery times, inability to deliver on the day you ask, rude, incompetent staff, difficult collection from the depot (in Bristol at least), and a seeming casual disregard for the consignments.
The latest in a long line of, quite frankly, incompetent delivery sagas is detailed below:
Having ordered from an online company, I carefully paid for the option which would "guarantee" delivery on a date which I was able to take ...
jeude54cartes 19.01.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Initial City Link
Advantages: Have proved largely reliable Disadvantages: Certain small wories elaborate on in the review
City link is undeniably a company with a horrible reputation, just look at many of the reviews, thus while my own personal experience has being largely positive, the impression garnered is that it is highly variable depending on area. Moreover their are certain little factors which while personally may not be problematic, can as I will explain be considered a flaw.
Citylink is one of the larger curious being used by many on-line retailers, while ... ...I have often being apprehensive when I order something delivered by them I have yet to suffer any serious problems.
My most common usage has being for before 12 delivery, I have yet to have any serious failings in delivery on time, received two packages from them this morning at 8:30am. The problem or not depending on how you look at it is when you are out.
I am fortunate in that I get along well with my neighbours, and often have had them knocking ...
warandpeace 09.01.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Initial City Link
Advantages: Absolutely None Disadvantages: Appalling service, Lies, Lies and more lies
Initial CityLink
The Meadows
River Bank
The Meadows Business Park
Blackwater
GU17 9AB
Camberley
Telephone +44 (0) 1276 606200
Fax +44 (0) 1276 606299
Email: linda.brown@city-link.co.uk
Website: http://www.city-link.co.uk Ordered goods from Amazon.co.uk on the evening of the 24th July, 2007. Received acknowledgement from Amazon and "your item is dispatched" on the evening of the 25th. Woohoo! I'd paid extra for Express Delivery (before 1pm ... ...In Depot. Waited and waited and waited......
Tried to call City Link at 14:00 on the 26th July. Nightmare. Rings for ages (nice little revenue share earner on their 08700 number) no answer, after 8 minutes hang up.
Tried to contact City Link via their website. Pathetic. Evidently as a consignee (ie recipient of a parcel) you are the lowest priority - you cannot email from their website to ask where your parcel is.
Called again 15:15. After 6 minutes ...
Andysteve 27.07.2007 (31.07.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Initial City Link
Advantages: Absolutely none whatsoever apart from faint amusement at just how bad they are Disadvantages: Absolutely everything - non-existent deliveries, poor customer service - shambolic
Do a quick google search on City Link Couriers and you will see that they have a long rap sheet of not ringing door bells.
That too has been my experience. At home for two days working. Two attempted delivery cards through my door. Both oddly enough dated between 30-90 minutes in the future. On both occasions I had been in my house all day. Ringing customer service, I was accused albeit reasonably politely of lying and that the drivers always knock ... ...of the City Link Service operative, and she had to agree it was loud enough to fulfil its purpose of alerting me that someone was at the door.
In my experience this was the same driver on both occasions. Driving his Delorean van so he could make deliveries in the future. but despite having mastered the art of travelling forward in time still incapable of ringing a door bell.
The customer service operative, sarcastically informed me that he may ...
A1Deal 04.03.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Initial City Link
Advantages: There is not one positive facet of this organization - ZERO Disadvantages: They act with total impunity in respect of providing the service for which they are paid
Where does on start with this mob? I have NEVER successfully received a delivery from them in 7 years. Apart from asking for my goods to be left at depot for collection via their own automated system, only to spend two hours getting there in the freezing cold following a map that was wrong on their own card I was told the goods were back on the van and unavailable. That was only after ringing the door bell for 30 minutes to be given their 'customer ... ...chap in front of me whose card said collect today being sent chasing their delivery van [his parcel was on a van too] and the guy after me telling me he loses stock for his mobile phone business as drivers help themselves knowing what it is they are delivering. In general: Convenient depot? No, you need to hire an expeditionary team to find them Speed? No, you simply don't get a delivery - effectively speed is zero - it NEVER arrives Reliable? At ...
cherubaebel 11.12.2009
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Review of Initial City Link
Advantages: Provides a warm feeling knowing that people too stupid to work at McDonalds can find work here Disadvantages: How many do you want?
How difficult can it be to deliver a TV to me? I could've received this from South America by now! Two weeks and three re-arranged deliveries later, none of which were actually put on the job schedule by the inept staff, and I'm STILL waiting. Call number 1 entailed me being "fortunate" enough to be offered a Saturday delivery as there was a slot available in the schedule....which staff idiot number 1 proceeded to forget to do. Staff idiot number ... ...date....again not done, again not delivered. Time now for staff idiot number 3 to take centre stage, promising that the matter would be dealt with urgently and that she would call me back ASAP....phone call never received. Thankfully the manager of said idiots seemed to know what he was talking about (probably due to dealing with problems like this on a daily basis)...but the final straw is that they now tell me they've seemingly lost my TV in their ...
Dan_Grainger 02.11.2009 (03.11.2009)
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Review of Initial City Link
Advantages: None at all Disadvantages: If you've got days to waste waiting around for them not to arrive...
Goods I ordered though an online retailer were sent out for delivery by City Link.
Having not been at home the first time the package had to be delivered a card was placed through the door with a message that city link would attempt to deliver the package the following day. Whether an attempt was made the next day, I don't know, but not card was put through the letter box, even though on contacting City Link to try and arrange for redelivery I was ... ...contacted City Link and arranged for a re-delivery on the Friday of that week only to wait in the ENTIRE day and nobody from City Link to show up. Phoning City Link again I was told that an attempt was made at 11am and nobody was home. (Again no card was left). Re-arranged the delivery again for Saturday morning and waited in the ENIRE morning. Again, no delivery no card. City Link at this point supposedly show on their system that my address has ...
JonJe 09.01.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Initial City Link
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