Holiday logistics nightmare

With the onset of the pandemic came a greater need for logistics services, particularly those that offer door-to-door delivery. There are very few of us now who do not know what Lazada and Shopee are, for instance.

I remember when Lazada was starting out and most of the complaints people had was with regard to their delivery service. It’s not hard to iron out the app’s kinks or weed out disreputable sellers, but customer satisfaction will rise and fall on the delivery service.

Once again, J&T Express has made people unhappy, this time over the holidays.

In June 2020 they went viral for the epic “mishandling” (as the news platforms put it, and that’s putting it mildly) of customers’ cargo.

The company apologized days after a video spread across the internet showing handlers carelessly tossing packages into vans.

A side note for marketers and students: look up the “United breaks guitars” case to see how execrable service can cost you public goodwill big time.

The latest J & T misstep came this holiday season.

Many people have not heard about their parcels, while other customers were told to pick up their parcels from the J & T warehouses.

Otherwise, they said, the parcels would have to be returned to the sellers.

That would have been a whole ‘nother nightmare. Dealing as they are with the “delay in delivery due to the high volume of parcels this holiday season,” as J & T put it on their Facebook page, who knows when they would have returned the packages, and when the sellers could refund the customers.

The company’s Facebook is flooded with angry complaints from customers.

Here are some of them:

Crystalstar A.: PLEASE EXPEDITE THIS PARCEL BEEN 3 WEEKS ALREADY IN TAGUIG [redacted]! my client is already very angry CANT CONTACT YOUR HOTLINE

Troy A.: Ive been waiting for my package since Dec 12 so its been 20 days and its been transit for 17 days. How does that makes sense? Tracking no. [redacted], its here its so close in taguig PLEASE GIVE IT A FOLLOW UP

Jen M.: Good job J&T for NOT actually delivering the parcels at the address this peak season and then your couriers will mark that delivery is unsuccessful kahit na nasa bahay naman yung receiver. What kind of service is this? You should already be reported! Now the seller won’t refund.

Okay, so you get the gist.

Here’s my personal horror story. I ordered food items and Christmas decorations from various sellers on Lazada well before Christmas. Everything arrived on time— baking equipment, household items, and so on—except for two parcels.

I was informed on the app that there was a delay and that they would arrive Dec. 28.

I thought to myself, still okay, in time for New Year’s, although I was disappointed about the holiday décor not arriving as I hoped. But still nothing on Dec. 28.

Then I realized those two packages were to have been delivered by J & T, and then I came across the complaints. The penny dropped. It was not a merchant problem, it was not a Lazada problem.

The other day, I got a message that J & T tried to deliver but they were unable to due to not having the “seller’s” address. What? See Jen M’s complaint above.

Then, yesterday, a message came from their Dasmariñas, Cavite warehouse that I had to pick up my two parcels myself.

I have no means of transportation, so I sent a Grab rider to pick them up. He sent me a photograph of many people standing in a long line to retrieve their parcels.

His comments? “Ma’am, ang tagal po, haba ng pila, gusto ko pa naman mag-book ng iba dahil may baby po ako, huhuhu.”

I asked him to hang in there, promising a substantial tip.

When he finally arrived at my home, he told me there were only two people in the warehouse releasing the packages, and that they were having difficulty coping with the deluge of customers.

So it’s not a J & T personnel problem—the poor guys on the ground forced to deal with a heavy backlog and irate folks seem to be doing their best and they were very apologetic.

It’s a J & T management and corporate problem. If I were the management of online selling platforms, I would cut ties with J & T. These incidents are not isolated. The company is unreliable. Their service is poor. Their operations are badly managed.

How else I can say this? They suck. Not only did they fail to deliver my package door-to-door, they took my shipping fee and did not render the service I paid for.

So where’s that shipping fee money gone?

Do I get a refund because I had to send someone to pick up my parcels?

I had to shell out the Grab fee and tip the courier for his assistance. Will I get reimbursed for that, J & T? How about everyone else who was subjected to this hassle?

Well, at the very least I got another “what not to do” case study for my marketing classes.

It’s 2023, a new year, and time for us to claim better treatment for ourselves, particularly when we are paying our hard-earned money for services that we rely and count on.

And when you can’t count on someone or something, it’s time to move on and find that company that literally delivers the goods as promised.

And before I go—a very happy new year to my readers! Thanks for following my column and occasionally commenting.

Your feedback is much appreciated. Please check out my Facebook page at @DrJennyO, where you can leave longer comments.

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* * * Dr. Ortuoste is a board member of PEN Philippines, member of the Manila Critics Circle, and judge of the National Book Awards. FB and Twitter: @DrJennyO