I've had a complaint!

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

A customer I did a drop too has complained about me! :cry:
Which isn’t surprising considering I’m an agency limper! :smiley:

The story goes like this…

I make a drop to the main city hospital almost everyday, and i do this in the hospital loading bay area, which I believe is the purpose of the place! But yesterday, along with my normal drop, I had an ADR pallet for a fireproofing contractor working on the hospital grounds in the Accident and Emergency area. So I asked the guys while doing my normal drop if the A & E area had chaged at all, as it has (thankfully) been a while since I last visited this (my local) A & E department. They told nothing had changed and their faces agreed with my thoughts that this was not a sensible place to put a 26t truck. So I called the number I had on the paperwork for this drop, and eventually managed to communicate to the recipient that I was in the loading/unloading bay area, and they should come to me.

And through this 30 mins process…
I even had one of the guys from the loading area on the phone to give him directions that progressed into a conversation into why the driver (me), shouldn’t go and drop the pallet in an A & E area.

Some time later, along with feeling we were having the same conversation multiple times… 3 of the fire contractors arrive at the loading area, and yet again tell me to drive around to the A & E area to drop the pallet, as it’s just around the corner…
I repeated that i was not going to spend 10 seconds in the A & E area, whether it was currently clear or not. As I wouldn’t go there and hinder or block access to an A & E area, or any part of the hospital actually, as it has a loading/unloading area for a reason! :unamused:
I even repeated the fact that the loading area guy had said they could pick the pallet up there, and borrow a pallet truck to get it where they needed within the hospital. But again and again they insisted that i should drive to where they wanted and drop the pallet.

By now (if I had a gun licence) I don’t think i would be getting the opportunity to write this, as I think things would have got messy! :smiley:
And my final act in what was becoming an excruciating affair of deja vu… I said I have other drops to do, you either take delivery of the pallet here, or it goes back in the truck. followed by; if you want to rearrange delivery at a later date, you can talk to my office about it.

They took delivery there! :smiley:

So today, after mentioning in passing the previous evening the interesting incident of the day, my TM today is on the phone at lunchtime, asking for more details! :open_mouth: Saying a complaint has been made against me! :confused:
So I explained in detail what had happened, and annoying I didn’t get to speak to my TM this evening to ascertain exactly what the complaint was, but I’m dying to know…

2

You were in the right. End of. I find I don’t like contractors that much. They leave their vans where ever they please, ignore you etc. Every dam drop I do for a certain store there is always a dam builders van in the loading bay. Still, you did the right thing so nowt is going to come from this.

3

You did right Evil. You’re not a servant or lackey to these arrogant gits. You explained why you weren’t gonna block the entrance and that should be the end of it.

Tell your boss that you did a dynamic risk assessment (they lurve crap like that) and decided on safety grounds you weren’t prepared to risk tarnishing your company’s reputation by aceeding to the contractors (illegal) wishes. That should baffle and impress your boss in equal measures! :smiley:

4

Naughty naughty.

I had to go on a ‘Attitude correction’ course at a previous job. Had to watch a powerpoint done by the head of Customer Relations, it started bad as they normally finished at 5pm and i didn’t get back that day till closer to 7pm iirc. Just because of two customers who complained i was not taking there concerns about their delivery times seriously. Basically along the lines of if you have a problem phone customer services who can get someone to sort the routes out if possible. Probably followed by the line “Im just a driver”.

5

Evil8, been there and done that (you won’t be surprised). I used to go in there quite often usually with stuff for contractors not the actual hospital.

Used to be a really helpful guy on goods in, scouser with dodgy teeth, and he would give me detailed direction to which dept and where it was. Awful place tbh never liked going there much. They seemed to be pretty much rebuilding the hospital, different trades working all over place. Nasty narrow alleys, cars parked badly etc etc.

Anyway you did the right thing but maybe next time get the contractors foreman to ring your TM or better still you ring your TM and then hand the phone over.

Sadly it won’t be your last complaint because some recipients are just A holes looking for a ruck.

6

the maoster:
You did right Evil. You’re not a servant or lackey to these arrogant gits. You explained why you weren’t gonna block the entrance and that should be the end of it.

Tell your boss that you did a dynamic risk assessment (they lurve crap like that) and decided on safety grounds you weren’t prepared to risk tarnishing your company’s reputation by aceeding to the contractors (illegal) wishes. That should baffle and impress your boss in equal measures! :smiley:

Excellent reply :slight_smile:

Well done for trying to do the right thing and acting in a courteous and professional manner. A credit to the profession :arrow_right:

7

You did absolutely the right thing just think of the ■■■■■■■■■ if an ambulance came in on blues and twos while you were blocking the area. All because some lazy ■■■■■■ couldn’t be @rsed using a pallet truck.

8

Talking of deliveries to contractors, the paperwork i have has the site mangers mobile phone number on it, i have a delivery time with instructions of ring when an hour away, or i ring if delayed on the way.
They always have their phone off and on voice mail, you get there, nobody knew you were coming, nobody knows which area they want their stuff.
When they do show up, it is the wrong day or they ordered the wrong stuff.
They soon get a shift on when they are told about demurrage and how much it will cost them for a lorry sat around for hours.

9

Hospitals are useless at the best of times. I once spent an hour at Ipswich trying to deliver 2 boxes of forks (12 forks in each)

Nobody knew where the stores were, even a bloke that spent about 20 mins taking me there, as he had worked in the stores for 25 years before coming back to the hospital as a volunteer. If I had showed my true feelings that day, I’d have run out of forks, could have happily stuck one in every idiot I encountered

10

“Nix speak English” :exclamation:

Job done :smiley:

11

Goodonya evil.

12

Basically anywhere would have done, but not in the A&E area which is where they wanted it.

You was right, if hospital admin/stores wanted stuff delivered into the A/E area that’s a different story but they would pre-arrange something like that and made sure ambulances etc could still access the area whilst you were there, and someone with authority should have been on site to supervise…their responsibility something like this and that’s why hospital management get paid the big bucks To Take Responsibility.

There’d have been hell to pay if, and sods law decrees its so, that just as you got the pallet half off two bloody ambulances with life and death situations on board had turned up and you caused even a minutes delay.

13

i always throw health and safety back at them . "youre not prepared to accept the delivery here because of health and safety issues, but you expect me to ignore health and safety so you can have the delivery five yards nearer? sorry no can do the rules apply to me too.

14

you done well to manage this long with no complaints on multi drop work.

think I lasted 2 days at 3663 up norf before I had a complaint - I refused to take the pallets to each part of the store I was delivering to and had the audacity to drop them in the good in bit.

do what you think is right and as others have said let someone who is on a pay grade to make them decisions make them, although I think I would have called the office to say if these ■■■■■■■■■ don’t unload me soon I am leaving.

15

You were right to stand your ground. Would have been hell to pay if you’d impeded an Ambulance on an emergency.

There are some right knobheads about when it comes to accepting deliveries, when I was on Groupage with tilt trailers in the 90’s, I would always ask for a pallet truck to roll the pallets to the back doors, easiest and quickest way to do the job. Went to a drop, and the goods in bloke says he’s going to charge a £1 for his trolley, so I stripped the side out instead, which led to the yard being blocked up for the best part of an hour, for what would have been a 20min tip. Though if he’d said that a £1 for xyz charity box, as I was asked for a few times, then I’d have give him a £1 donation gladly :wink:

16

Evil8Beezle:
By now (if I had a gun licence) I don’t think i would be getting the opportunity to write this, as I think things would have got messy!

Alright Ronnie Pickering. :unamused:

17

Contraflow:

Evil8Beezle:
By now (if I had a gun licence) I don’t think i would be getting the opportunity to write this, as I think things would have got messy!

Alright Ronnie Pickering. :unamused:

Whoooooo :open_mouth: :open_mouth:

18

Contraflow:

Evil8Beezle:
By now (if I had a gun licence) I don’t think i would be getting the opportunity to write this, as I think things would have got messy!

Alright Ronnie Pickering. :unamused:

19

Cheers for the responses and agreement that I did the right thing, although it’s common sense really.
I’m just narked that they complained! :imp:

I’m pretty sure my TM is happy enough with my decision, as later that day i was asked if I could be booked on to work next week! :smiley:
So I’m not going to lose any sleep over, although I do want to catch up with my TM to inquire exactly what was claimed in the complaint, as i have a feeling it’s lightly to have been embellished somewhat! :laughing: