Considering the problems this website has reported with Home Delivery Network over the years, you’d think the company would have taken note by now and told its staff to stay off here and stop insulting customers. But no. We’ve just had a massive rant from a delivery driver who seems intent on accusing customers of ordering stuff with their benefit money and running up lines of credit, and being too lazy to even answer the door.

Read this open letter to HDNL customers from one of their delivery drivers. Makes you proud to be British.

From: Annominous

I am a Delivery Driver for HDNL and I have to say that after reading these comments I can assure you that for every complaint you have for us as drivers, We have a complaint for you as customers,

I have just returned from working yet another 13 hour day where I endevour to ensure my van is empty on the return to the depot. We are under immence time pressure day in, day out. If your parcel is due to be delivered on a particular day then it is only fair to ask that you are in to recieve the parcel. When you are not in, usual proceadure is that we will try to leave it with a neighbour, yet we do not have time to be wondering up and down your street knocking on every door until a neighbour answers and is prepared to accept your parcel.

If we cannot leave it with a neighbour then we will return your parcel to the depot and schedule it for delivery another day. this is known as carry over.

Yet you do not seem to understand that this parcel is an addition to the parcels that need to be delivered on the particular day.

If you are not in to recieve the parcel, and you have no neighbours that are in either. then where we deem it safe to do so we will leave it in a place where you can get it, such as behind a locked side gate, shed, or other place out of public view. If you order a parcel knowing that you are not going to be in we try our best to get it to you,

As for the driver who threw your parcel over the fence and it landed in a puddle. I can only say we cannot see through fences, yet if you have ordered something and you know your not going to be in, surely common sence would dictate that you leave the side gate unlocked so that we can access a safe place at the rear of your property so that we can leave your parcel somewhere sheltered.

We as Drivers have our gripes as well. We dont bitch off it about it when we have rung your doorbell and you seem to think we have all day just to stand until you decide to answer.

We dont whinge, when you know a deliver driver is at your door and you answer it. Yet you seem to forget that your item needs signing for and you decide to spend the next five minutes looking for your glasses.

We do not complain when you have ordered items that are of a bulky nature such as flat pack wardrobes and you expect us to drag them through your house to the back room even though we are not inssured to do so.

And for all those who are sat at home on your arses. ordering stuff on the never never because your benefits do not enable you to pay for things outright. We are the Mugs who are out there working and paying taxes that enable you to do so.

If we come to your door and we are not prepared to carry bulky items up your stairs and place them where you want them. By all means spit your dummies out and say you dont want them. We will just press a button that says you have refused the item. No skin off our nose. The company still gets paid for the attempted delivery. And when you re order the comapny will get paid again.

And as for those of you who have the cheek to say that delivery drivers are of little inteligence we welcome you to try and do our jobs for a day. Perhaps then you will appreciate the stress and hard work we go through to get your package to your door. If you can say that you know where every street in your town is situated, and you can come to work at 6am spend two to three hours organising a route around your town, organising where the parcels are situated on the van, and visit in excess of 130 separate addresses per day your more than welcome to try.

When Xmas comes and your all sat at your computers ordering your presents, just remember that we dont even get the time to do any shopping or indeed have a xmas at all. We are out in all weathers 12-13 hours a day busting our balls to try and get your presents to you.

Fact is, HDNL is probably the biggest residential delivery service in the UK. We have contracts with some of the largest online and high street retailers in the UK and we continue to gain further contracts all the time. There is a reason for this. And all of you who say that HDNL are crap quite frankly, your just pissing into the wind. You are a small minority in amoungst millions of satisfied customers.

As for our level of intelligence, We work hard !!! Long hours !!! We do not sit inside nice warm offices day in, day out pushing pens looking at a little drizzle outside and complaining about it. We do not work to set hours.

The lengh of our working day is seriously affected by those of you who order things knowing your are not going to be in or taking an eternity to answer your doors. It takes intelligence to plot a route, Manage time, drive safely and adhere to strict security proceadures. It takes intelligence to maintain a daily delivery target despite the many obstacles that are placed in our path.

So for all of you feel the need to bitch on forums or blogs such as this all we can say is that we do our best but as with everything else, you cant please everybody. All I ask is that you have some consideration for the hard work we endure getting your parcels to you. And for those of you who have complained, One day in the job, would completly reverse your opinions of the job we do, I guarantee it.

Sorry if my English is slightly substandard, I can assure you that it is not becuase I am of little inteligence. but that it is because I started work at 6am this morning, I arrived home at 9pm tonight. I have it all to do again tommorow and I am truly knackered.

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