Beware of sellers using Fastway! Seller won't respond, what can I do?

[nautimonkee]

Just had a bad experience with a seller using Fastway. If I had known he was using Fastway I wouldn't have bought from them. My mistake for not asking before hand but I never knew Fastway were this bad. I just discovered this forum, wish I had seen it earlier!

I'm in an inner suburb of Melbourne about 16km away from the CBD. I bought an item for my son's birthday nearly 2 weeks ago.  It all looked good until my parcel got to Melbourne from Sydney. Then for 3 days the tracking showed "in transit". On the morning of the final day it was due for delivery I had another look at the tracking and it still showed "in transit". I was expecting on that morning to at least show "on board with driver". Then within 30 minutes I got a message from eBay saying the parcel has been delivered. I was home all this time so I quickly went downstairs to check outside the door and the parcel wasn't there. I went to my letterbox and I couldn't find the parcel. I thought this is odd. Maybe the driver delivered it to the wrong address, so I knocked on my neighbour's doors, all four of them on either side of my place. They all said they didn't receive any parcels addressed to me.

I then contacted the seller and he replied back asking if the delivery address was correct which I said yes. He never replied back after that. Then I put in an enquiry in with Fastway Melbourne. They replied back the next day with two photos of the driver putting the parcel in the unsecured, open cylindrical advertising material slot next to my letterbox. When I looked there after the delivery confirmation it wasn't there. I replied back saying it wasn't there. Then they replied back saying that due to Covid-19 all their drivers have an automatic authority to leave in a safe place and if no safe place was found they'll leave a calling a calling card. According to them their driver followed correct procedure and further correspondence should be made with the seller I purchased from. So Fastway have this notion that leaving a parcel anywhere they want is deemed as "safe" as long as they have photos to protect their back sides! For all I know the driver theselves could've taken the parcel back after taking the photos. It's not impossible to do, especially in this environment when they give themselves automatic authority to leave which leaves us responsible for the parcel according to their terms & conditons.

Since then I have contacted my seller again numerous times asking him what can be done, if the parcel was insured etc. Ha has yet to reply. I can't even request a refund through ebay as the item is flagged as delivered and that option isn't available. If I go to Paypal, they tell me to raise a query through eBay. I can't even report Fastway to the Postal Services Ombudsman as they will only help if the company is registered with them. Unfortunately Fastway isn't. In this day and age I can't believe such dodgy businesses and practices still exist.

What can I do about my seller not responding? What recourse do I have? If these companies can get away with things like this then what's the point in even using online shopping?

[tazzieterror]

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@brulinsfarm wrote:

My ebay address now has 'Do Not use Fastway or Sendle' after my name. After so many horror stories, & hours wasted chasing parcels that they don't deliver I had had enough. You should read about them on Product Review, 400 pages of angry customers, how they stay in business defies logic. A little tip, they have changed their name to Aramex.

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That might seem proactive, but it's actually not helpful.

First of all, if you purchase an item from a seller who has nominated Sendle/Fastway as the carrier/agent for that item, by purchasing you are agreeing to their shipping terms, including the carrier, and contradicting your "instruction" in your address.

Secondly, you're counting on the seller seeing the message in the address - not all will, nor should they have to looking in the address field for shipping requests.

Thirdly, if by chance you do purchase an item that would otherwise be sent via Sendle/Fastway, and the seller does see your message and isn't prepared to honour your request (they're not obliged to, after all), are you happy to reimburse the seller for the fees they lose in cancelling your purchase and refunding?

If you're not willing to have an item sent by Sendle/Fastway, it's your responsibility to check the listing and avoid purchasing such items, not the seller to make changes post-purchase.

[davewil1964]

Especially true with eBay, where neither eBay nor Paypal give the seller the buyer's email address.

[countessalmirena]

If only it were as simple as that, brulinsfarm!

Of course you have the right to purchase only from sellers not using couriers; however, that means that you'll need to be actively checking whether or not the seller uses a courier. You may need to contact sellers before you bid/buy, and specifically ask them whether they are happy to send to your address via Australia Post, not via a courier.

I could see the eBay address addition idea catching on if it did work as wish fulfilment, though. I would change my eBay address to include "Send Bugatti Type 55 Roadster with my order. Orders without the Bugatti Type 55 Roadster included as standard will not be accepted!"

[porcelain_dolls_by_me]

It beats the hell out of my how Fastway couriers still manages to survive - anyone can check the numerous online rating services andsee theat Fastway have zero customer satistaction.

[porcelain_dolls_by_me]

The business and the name may have been bought by another party.

However, the Fastway business is a franchise based operation so a new owner or not, expect little improvement in their services.

[*tippy*toes*]

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@porcelain_dolls_by_me wrote:

It beats the hell out of my how Fastway couriers still manages to survive - anyone can check the numerous online rating services andsee theat Fastway have zero customer satistaction.

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I know they have a bad name all over the country, but my few experiences with them have been very positive. Couldn't fault them. 

[lyndal1838]

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@porcelain_dolls_by_me wrote:

The business and the name may have been bought by another party.

However, the Fastway business is a franchise based operation so a new owner or not, expect little improvement in their services.

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The new owners can get improved service whether it is a franchise or not.

They can insist on improved service or terminate the franchise.

Tippy, I used to hate Fastway with a passion....their service was abysmal.

However, in the last few years I have bought medications from a company in Queensland and been very pleasantly surprised.

I generally order on Sunday evening or Monday morning if I need to speak to someone and receive the order on Tuesday morning about 7.30am.

The one thing that I have discovered is that the Queensland company allows the customer to give an Authority to leave which I always do.  For the most part ebay sellers do not allow ATLs.

[*tippy*toes*]

It's possibly the same medical company that I've bought stuff from. All deliveries were overnight. One time they accidentally sent me a box of sterile water instead of sterile saline. I contacted them and within the hour, Fastway were here to collect the wrong stuff. The next day, the correct item arrived, with extra thrown in.

[cezm]

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@*tippy*toes* wrote:

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@porcelain_dolls_by_me wrote:

It beats the hell out of my how Fastway couriers still manages to survive - anyone can check the numerous online rating services andsee theat Fastway have zero customer satistaction.

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I know they have a bad name all over the country, but my few experiences with them have been very positive. Couldn't fault them. 

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I agree. I have never had any problems with Fastway.

As with any reviews, I generally consider that people are more likely to post a review if they have a grievance and therefore reviews are more likely to be stacked to the negative. Those without a grievance just receive their parcel and go on their merry way

[lyndal1838]

To an extent I agree about reviews being slanted towards the negative but my dealings with Fastway are not all based on my own experience.

Yes, I have had some horrible experiences and currently some very good ones but a lot of my knowlege comes from industry experience.  Three members of my family have a grand combined total of 90+ years of experience in the courier industry.....and believe me couriers can talk.