Can We Still Trust Singapore Post?

angeline

I AM BURNING HOT WITH FURY RIGHT NOW!

One of my beloved blog reader, out of kindness, bought the Green Cow 'talking' piggy bank from me.

Its my duty and its the perfectionist in me that I WILL make sure that every single order is in good condition and 'talking' BEFORE I send them out.

For 7years of being in MY OWN retail business, I know the IMPORTANCE of customer satisfaction and I value it with all my heart.

Ever since I posted the 'talking' piggy banks on my blog, I do not have many buyers, but I have repeat orders from the same buyers. ALL BECAUSE THEY LOVED WHAT THEY SAW!

Meaning, the piggy banks reached them as good as it has left my hands before I passed it over at the Singapore Post counter.

But....

Yesterday, I received an email from the above reader of my blog. She was so nice. She even tried to hide the condition of the box from me. She merely wrote, "Angeline, there were no battries. Can you send me the batteries please?"

I knew that it was IMPOSSIBLE! So I pressed for more info and only then did she tell me the state of the box and the condition of the piggy bank when she received it.

I was so pissed! So angry with Singapore Post when I saw the box at her house!

It was obviously ripped open. The lockable cover covering the batteries was taken out when she received the parcel. The cover can be 'locked', so it is IMPOSSIBLE that it dropped out! The batteries were gone and so was the instruction slip stating the position of the batteries.

IN MY OPINION, it was obvious that the batteries were stolen. The red plastic tab was gone. The one who stole the batteries obviously didn't want the receiver to know that it was battery operated and hence I presume that the instruction slip was taken out by the thief as well.

Don't think that this is a ridiculous presumption. Cos' it takes ALL SORTS OF PEOPLE to make this world!

Then the horns and the legs of the cow was so badly smashed. There were cushioning inside. But the cushioning were gone too!

AND THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME I AM SENDING THIS!

If every piggy bank was in such a condition, do you think I will still have so many repeat orders???!!!

So THIS PARTICULAR one was truly sabotaged!

Called Sing Post immediately! After talking over the phone for a good 5 mins, the worst reply I got from the customer service was, "It was your decision to send by post and there is nothing we can do. But you could go down to the branch office and lodge a case."

And so we went. Luckily I took photos of the damage before we lodge the complain, because they TOOK THE EVIDENCE away, which is reasonable anyway.

She put the blame on us. Saying that our box is too fragile and that we did not put fragile stickers all over the box.

Damn! I have sent out SOOOOOOOO MANY IN THAT CONDITION and none of them were in such a state! Its so obvious that that particular guy didn't handle it properly, putting some HEAVY STUFF ON TOP OF IT! So HEAVY until my box GAVE WAY and squashed my cow!

"So can you guaran-damn-tee that after I put all the fragile stickers on the box, this will NOT HAPPEN??!" I challenged her.

"No I can't. But at least you've got a case to fight then." She argued.

HOW THEN CAN I STILL TRUST SINGAPORE POST?!!!

So now what?! I still have orders yet to send out. They were suppose to be sent out today. Now I don't even know what I should do.

Message for all those who are waiting for their piggy banks to be sent out:-

"I will be sending you an email asking for a confirmation. Making sure that you know what had happen. If you still wish to send by post, I respect your decision. I guarantee that the condition of the piggy banks are in good condition and 'talking' before I send them to the Singapore Post. But I CANNOT GUARANTEE that the piggy banks will reach you in the state in which they left my hands, especially after this incident. Reply my email and let me know your decision."

*AAaarrrggghhhh* I hate to have unhappy customers! Hate it!

Go here to see the pictures.

XavieraLin

Hi Angeline, can I know whether you sending it by normal mail or registered mail?

__________________
Crystal Dollies(Handmade With Love)

angeline

Its big.
it can't go into the mailbox.

so its sent to the doorstep of the house directly by the postman
and IF the receiver is NOT at home, a notification slip will be left at the doorstep.

sorry, I don't know the difference between normal and registered.

KittyMi

But you still have a case right? Since it is very obvious that the batteries compartment had been opened. Squashed box can be accident, but lost parts is definately ripped opened by some one? For all you know that fella purposely smashed the box to hide the fact that the parcel had been opened after he realised the batteries compartment cannot be put back to it's original state.

Write to ST FORUM, sure got immediate reply from SingPost. I think everyone is just waiting for something to happen, heard a lot of complains from unhappy customers too. Do you know that some postman cannot even be bothered to leave the collection slip when there no one home to receive the parcel?

pokerface

hi angeline, sorry to hear that you had such a bad experience with singpost. my recent bad encounters are some of the delayed mails (1 week to 1 month) i sent out via singpost.

for your parcel, i think on the safe side, you can take a photo of the piggy-bank packaged in the box, and a photo of the box when sealed. at least this would give you more evidence that you sent out the piggy-bank in perfect condition.

for registered post - it's additional $2.24 if i'm correct. ensures that the package is not lost and will be delivered to your doorstep; and provides a tracking number (you can track the package online at singpost website). however, not sure if this can guarantee good condition.

__________________

"My hands are the tools that God blessed me with so I may work creatively"

zhaocai85

Yes, you can trust SIngapore post as long as the address is correct........
else.... you can be the postman yourself......
if you dont trust their services....

Cocoon

Hi,

If previously there are no such problems, so cannot just blame everything on singpost. Maybe it you only very unlucky to met some unreasonable postman. So just pray hard if next time need to sent by courier again. BTW, how much for the despatch? Maybe you can consider switching other courier services if it happen again.

efashionshop

hi angeline

Yes, to some extend and under certain circumstances, you can still trust them. If your item is fragile n need special handling, can put fragile sticker n ask your customer to pay 2.24 for a reg mail. They will treat it differently n in any case tt something happen, you have a stronger case to fight against them.

For normal post, usually they jus dump into big bags for processing. you cant expect them to treat it so special n with extra care for the few dollars of postage tt we paid. If not, either opt for meetup or send via speedpost (cost is $9.15). I had been running my own online shops n had experience with them for years. I think some of the cust service people are superb but of cos, there are some who dun give a damn at all. From my own experience, it depends on which branch you go. i noe AMK central post office cust servce n the mgr is superb, great service n always helps me alot.

Some of the branches jus dun care n help when I have NORMAL lost mail, but some do bother to take times to search n check n call you back even thoufh they are not obligated to check for normal post.

Well, above are just my experiences with singpost. there are always black sheep in any service line, but still have good ones around.

maybe next time b4 you send, jus take a pic, send via reg n paste fragile sticker n see wat happen.

angeline

they are supposed to give me a reply today...
hopefully its a good one!
I'll see what they have to say today, before I take any further actions....
no calls from them yet....
*fingers crossed*

and this is what I did for today's postage.
go see photos here
some of my customers still wished to send their orders through them, so I respect their decision and I displayed my super kiasuism by putting 'FRAGILE, Handle with care' on all 6sides!

*fingers crossed*
hope it works.....

angeline

though they are huge, but they are extremely light... it only cost $1.50. Some of my customers after reading the blog post decide to self-collect instead of paying more for the courier service...