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Online purchase, offline delivery

Last week's article on difficulties with online shopping prompted a Killiney reader to get in touch. He said we didn't mention another barrier to internet shopping - An Post.

"On at least three occasions this year, An Post have made no attempt to deliver items I've ordered online and merely dropped a card though the letter box asking that the item be collected from the sorting office during their working hours," AJ Rous writes. He points out that the sellers are of course charged full postage, which they pass on to us. He's tried to contact the customer service department, but his most recent correspondence remains unacknowledged.

Coincidentally, another reader - in Drumcondra - had a similar experience with "a delivery" recently. She intercepted her postman as he delivered one of the aforementioned cards alerting her to the presence of a parcel with her name on it in her local sorting office.

The card said the postman had tried to deliver a parcel but was unsuccessful as there was no one home. Clearly there was someone home, she pointed out, and asked why he did not have the parcel. He sheepishly explained that it was too heavy, so he had left it behind. When she went to collect the parcel she found it contained a couple of babygros and a sunhat, which were neither too bulky nor too heavy for even the weakest of postmen.

So, what's happening to our postal service? If the correct postage is being paid and people are home to accept receipt, why is An Post not delivering on its side of the bargain? We tried to find out.

An Post, replied to our query with a statement in which it said it was "fully committed to delivering all domestic and international mail, provided it is correctly paid and properly addressed" and committed to have both incidents fully investigated. "We apologise to the people involved for the inconvenience they have experienced."

Paying for phantom texts

A reader who occasionally enters a newspaper text competition contacted us to complain about the ultimate rip-off. Each time he enters a competition it costs him €1 and each time he enters he gets a confirmation text.

"Last Friday I sent an entry but got no reply. On checking my phone I found my message was undelivered so I re-sent it.

"Later, I checked the status again to find the second message was undelivered. I re-sent, and it was acknowledged as correct."

Days later his mobile service provider - which he does not name - told him he'd been charged for the non-delivered messages, and that this was their regular practice.

"Are mobile service providers allowed to charge for services they don't provide?" he asks. "If my local postman cannot deliver a parcel to me, he leaves a note to arrange collection or call back at a later date with it. He does not take the parcel home and keep it for himself."

Phoney insurance

Aoife Kane read our recent article on mobile phone insurance and found herself agreeing, and so cancelled her policy last week.

"Imagine my surprise when I woke on Sunday morning to find my apartment broken into and my handbag, containing my newly uninsured mobile phone, gone," she writes.

She figured it wasn't the end of the world, as she knew she was due an upgrade. She called O2 and blocked the stolen phone and Sim card but when she asked about her upgrade eligibility she was told it wasn't due until June 1st. This date was non-negotiable, despite the fact that she had been an O2 customer for more than eight years.

"Unfortunately mine wasn't the only phone stolen from the apartment. My partner's (insured) mobile was also taken," she writes.

They both threatened to switch providers, and O2 relented and agreed to upgrade her phone two weeks early. After the upgrade was agreed, Kane received a call from an O2 customer service manager who asked how she felt about the way she was dealt with.

"I told him I was none too impressed and felt that two weeks wasn't a lot to ask after so many years. By way of making amends, O2 has waived my line rental for one month, a saving of roughly €28 ex-Vat, which almost cancels out the cost of the upgrade I paid for. I'm undecided as to whether I'll insure the new phone or not."

A sweet tooth bites

A reader from Leitrim contacted us drawing our attention to ridiculous prices she was charged on the Dublin-Sligo train recently. "A bar of Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate costs €1.75 while a muffin costs €€2 and a tea is €2," she writes.

To put these prices into perspective, a similarly sized bar of Cadbury's chocolate costs 73 cent in your local Tesco.

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