DHL concerns

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#1 Post by **carbon_unit** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 10:09 pm

Here is my saga so far:

I called IBM monday to send in my T23 for service.
They shipped me a box to send it in with via DHL next day AM delivery, it was supposed to arrive by noon tuesday.
Tuesday after I got home from work there was no box so I called IBM again.
The nice person at IBM suggested I wait another day and if I still had not received the box to call again and request that a box be "Power shipped" to me.
Wednesday after I got home from work there still is no box so I called IBM again and told my story and then requested a box be "Power shipped" to me but the nice person at IBM did not know what "Power shipped" is so they sent me a second box via DHL next day AM delivery.
Today (thursday) I get home after work and still no box so I call IBM again and told them this story, they suggested I call DHL, so that is what I do.
I give the nice person at DHL the tracking number for the second box and they tell me that it should have been there today but they are sure it will be there tomorrow.
Then I give her the tracking number from the first shipment and she says "OMG!!" and starts apologizing like crazy and eventually tells me she will find out what happened tomorrow and call me back with some answers.

My concern is that if they are having that much trouble delivering an empty box to me, do I really trust them to not lose my Thinkpad? Does IBM insure these deliveries?
IBM told me that they only do business with DHL, I"m not so sure that is a wise choice.
Has anyone else had a problem like this with DHL before? or is this an isolated incident?

ldbobby · #2 Post by **ldbobby** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 10:19 pm

Probably isolated. I've delt with IBM about 9+ times... and I've recieved wonderful service from both IBM and DHL every single time.

#3 Post by **BillMorrow** » Sat Jul 31, 2004 4:00 am

DHL bought Airborne last year..

now DHL is trying to compete with UPS and fedex..
easier to compete with UPS than Fedex..

i keep a couple of boxes and when i call for depot service i ask that they give me the address and account number and i call for a pickup the SAME DAY..
i.e. i don't wait for a box to arrive..

in the past, airborne has been ok..
they show up, ring the bell, toss the goods on the doormat and hightail it back down the roadway to the street..

YMMV but i prefer fedex and UPS in that order..

#4 Post by **carbon_unit** » Sat Jul 31, 2004 6:07 am

Well the box that was to arrive tuesday arrived on friday, so much for overnight service.

My questions now are:

(1) I did not see a return address sticker, will the DHL guy have one?

(2) What happens if DHL loses my Thinkpad? Does IBM insure these shipments? (Surely)

I don't have a lot of faith in DHL yet. This is my first experience with them.
I have dealt with UPS and Fedex a lot in the past and DHL has a long way to go if they plan on competing.

#5 Post by **BillMorrow** » Sat Jul 31, 2004 6:11 pm

carbon_unit wrote:Well the box that was to arrive tuesday arrived on friday, so much for overnight service.
My questions now are:

(1) I did not see a return address sticker, will the DHL guy have one?

(2) What happens if DHL loses my Thinkpad? Does IBM insure these shipments? (Surely)

I don't have a lot of faith in DHL yet. This is my first experience with them.
I have dealt with UPS and Fedex a lot in the past and DHL has a long way to go if they plan on competing.

there should have been an airbill in the box with some other papers..

my airborne guy once said they kept a few of those boxes around for the time they needed one..
generic, no labels or airbills..

i do not know if these are insured but i rather imagine they are..
however there was the case of the fedex plane that blew up into flame on the runway with a customers 760ED onboard..

it took him a long time to get it replaced..
worse, he sent the HDD with it and it ALL was meleted..
data and all..

it was a squabble between fedex and ibm over who would pay, i think..

#6 Post by **JaneL** » Sat Jul 31, 2004 8:31 pm

Oh, I remember that poor guy coming into the forum and telling about it. That happened back when we were all on the forum at CompuServe, didn't it?

As I recall, even though he was very upset at losing the system, it was the data loss that concerned him the most. And thus was born item #5 in the FAQ about never sending anything to EasyServ that you just don't have to and the credo that there are two types of people in the world: those who have needed their backups, and those who will.

He did appear to remain remarkably calm throughout the whole ordeal which is always a plus when dealing with any Very Large Company.

#7 Post by **carbon_unit** » Sat Jul 31, 2004 9:09 pm

morrow wrote: there should have been an airbill in the box with some other papers..

There was a airbill summary on the outside of the box with my name on it as the receiver and inside there was a bag with a strip of sealing tape and the "Laptop Packaging Instructions" sheet, nothing else.
I've taken all the foam out to check for anything else.

JHEM · #8 Post by **JHEM** » Sat Jul 31, 2004 9:25 pm

I've never been a fan of the Airborne/DHL foam padded boxes and much prefer the Fedex suspension boxes that sandwich the laptop between two sheets of polyfilm.

I've never had a problem with a laptop shipped via Fedex, wish I could say the same for Airborne.

I keep a supply of the Fedex boxes on hand and just slap the Airborne/DHL airbill on them when necessary. The drivers usually look askance at the box, but always take it.

Regards,

James

ldbobby · #9 Post by **ldbobby** » Sat Jul 31, 2004 11:06 pm

carbon_unit wrote:
morrow wrote: there should have been an airbill in the box with some other papers..

There was a airbill summary on the outside of the box with my name on it as the receiver and inside there was a bag with a strip of sealing tape and the "Laptop Packaging Instructions" sheet, nothing else.
I've taken all the foam out to check for anything else.

In my case, when I received my laptop box. The shipping label that was attached to the box needed to be pealed off as the return shipping label is hidden behind it.

#10 Post by **carbon_unit** » Sun Aug 01, 2004 6:26 am

ldbobby wrote: In my case, when I received my laptop box. The shipping label that was attached to the box needed to be pealed off as the return shipping label is hidden behind it.

I removed the airbill from the clear plastic sleeve it was in but there is nothing beneath it.

#11 Post by **BillMorrow** » Sun Aug 01, 2004 11:15 am

call ibm help line..
mention your case number and tell them you need the info for the airbill..

i can't imagine this occuring..
most all times i have used ez serve it has gone very smoothly..

in the "old" days one would send the ailing thinkpad into ezserve with that "sling" box james mentioned, and almost the next day, well, 2nd morning after sending it out, it would be back, via FedEx, looking like a new thinkpad, no matter what the age and condition when it was sent in..

they would replace missing bits (doors, screw covers) and even put a new trackpoiont cap if theexisting one looked used..

now, of course, sometimes they try to blame some problems things on the owner and want to present a large bill for repairing things they consider to be "user abuse"..

how things have changes since ibm sold that operation some years ago..

#12 Post by **carbon_unit** » Sun Aug 01, 2004 2:47 pm

Yeah, I must be doing something wrong because everyone talks about how wonderful EZ serve is. This is probably just an isolated incident. I never have trouble with any other services like this.
As far as user abuse goes, this T23 looks like new except for the dark areas in the lower corners of the LCD and I don't know how that could be user abuse.
Will they call first before making repairs that will incur charges?
I wouldn't want to be surprised with IBM holding my Thinkpad hostage for a large repair bill.

If that will be the case I will ignore the dark areas and replace the LCD myself at a later date.

#13 Post by **BillMorrow** » Sun Aug 01, 2004 6:59 pm

no, they will call first..
but the problem you describe is not likely to be called abuse..
they'll just replace the LCD and send it back..

i was just having fond memory recall of the time when easyserve was easy and fast and delivered 110%..

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