Anyone had issues with dustfreehay.co.uk delivery? Rant!

[catherine09]

Just like to add - this is NOT a rant about dustfreehay.co.uk at all - just the delivery company!

I ordered a large bale last wednesday evening as hay was running out, got an email Friday saying it had been despatched and to be expected Monday next day delivery - fab service.

Got home monday expecting to find it in the bin store - nothing there (I left instructions to them to tell the courier to leave it there). Looked at the tracking which said that it had been delivered at 1pm on Saturday afternoon and signed for - well, we weren't home on Saturday afternoon and there was nobody in :shock: much confusion ensues....

Thought maybe it had been put around the side/with a neighbour. Went to investigate - nothing. Decided to ring but by this time the call centre was shut (shuts at 7pm).

Yesterday - called them at 11 and spoke to a guy and told him what had happened - wanted to know where it had been delivered to and the name that signed for it, he told me he needed to speak to the delivery driver who didn't finish til 6 so it would be between 6 and 7. He also told me to ring Dust Free Hay and inform them - the lady I spoke to was very apologetic and asked me to keep her updated. Got home and checked tracking again only to find all the info that was there the previous day was gone, and now it just said 'delivery attempted'. I knew this was untrue as there was no card and no hay in the binstore! At half 6 rang again to be on hold for 10 minutes and then someone answered, said nothing, and hung up! Rang again and finally got through to a girl at 10 to 7 and said I was a little frustrated as we had actually ran out of hay that day (Tuesday) and they weren't eating the emergency P@H hay (cos it's horrible! lol) and I had been messed around and hung up on! and I just wanted to know where it was/ when it was going to arrive. She said that on my notes the guy had written that he had called me (he hadn't!) and said that he had written on the notes that there was a mistake and it hadn't been signed for on Sat and it was put on the van at 2pm that afternoon and she assured me it would be here by 9pm. Stupidly I believed her and didn't take her name or question her, because of course it never arrived! :evil: I'm sure she just fobbed me off as it was 10 minutes til hometime :shock:

At this point I was getting desperate so pulled forward the delivery of hay from a local farm (trialing new hays as the old farm hay wasn't great quality) and he promptly came this morning at 9:30 with a lovely wrapped bale of hay and a bale of straw. I've opened both and the hay is the best hay I have ever come into contact with - the buns love it and the bale is huge.

So, I decided to leave ringing the courier today as it was just making me frustrated and see if it came - nothing today either. I am now no longer desperate for the hay and am thinking of cancelling the entire order (if I can) but I feel bad for Dust Free Hay as it's not their fault at all - just the stupid courier company and the fact that I am now sorted for hay and don't really have the space for both bales now.

Ahh!!!!!! Rant over now

 

[Elena]

Oh dear. i've only used them once and don't remember having any problems. I don't use it because I just can't afford it, plus I find they love the baled hay just as much if not more.

 

[Alibunmum]

What a typically lousy piece of service from the delivery company, they don't seem to understand how important the stuff is to us do they? I am really glad you have found a local supplier though. It makes life so much cheaper and easier without having to factor in delivery costs. My buns all much prefer local farm bales to anything else!

 

[catherine09]

Yes, and I will be sticking with the hay from the local farm from now on. They do charge a delivery cost of £6 but in total it still works out much cheaper than getting mail order hay, and it is such good quality. Also as it's an animal feeds company they do food as well so I have set them a task of trying to source me some vetcareplus as I'm having real troubles sourcing it, so fingers crossed :thumb:

Still nothing from dustfreehay today - looked again on the tracking page and it now says that a card was left on the 17th - Saturday. Well it wasn't! I'll ring them later on and see what on earth is going on.

 

[Mackers]

Oh dear. I think DFH have recently changed courier companies, but I could be wrong. Mine love their stalky hay so I hope I don't have these problems when I order my next batch. Hope yours turns up soon.

 

[biscandmatt1]

the company they use are rubbish. my dfh turned up open, sometime wet and one christmas they managed to lose a ten bale pack by putting it on the wrong van. :roll: they used to get it out the van, swear about it, throw it on the floor, and were just generally rude. :roll:

 

[catherine09]

Update - still no hay! I just rang them and spoke to someone who assured me it was on the van today and is getting his colleague to get an ETA and ring me back with an update. Oh, forgot to mention, the first time I rang I was hung up on AGAIN after waiting 10 mins on hold.

I am so unimpressed with their customer service and will be passing my concerns onto DFH themselves as I know it's not their fault but it has put me off ordering from them again and I doubt i'm the only one. I mean, I ordered some hay from hay4pets and that arrived really fast with no problems, I don't know why DFH can't use the same delivery company as H4P as they seem to be good!?

I know it's just before Xmas and they must be busy but this delivery is nearly a week late now, and it was supposed to be next day :roll:

 

[biscandmatt1]

Update - still no hay! I just rang them and spoke to someone who assured me it was on the van today and is getting his colleague to get an ETA and ring me back with an update. Oh, forgot to mention, the first time I rang I was hung up on AGAIN after waiting 10 mins on hold.

I am so unimpressed with their customer service and will be passing my concerns onto DFH themselves as I know it's not their fault but it has put me off ordering from them again and I doubt i'm the only one. I mean, I ordered some hay from hay4pets and that arrived really fast with no problems, I don't know why DFH can't use the same delivery company as H4P as they seem to be good!?

I know it's just before Xmas and they must be busy but this delivery is nearly a week late now, and it was supposed to be next day :roll:

i told dfh a few times when it happened and they said they use the best courier company. :roll: cheapest more like! when it happened again, i complained, they took a few days to collect it, then said i was lying basically. never used them since.

 

[catherine09]

Well it finally arrived! And what a complete disappointment it was - much smaller than pictured on the website, looks like straw and smells of nothing. No sweet meadowy hay smell, just nothing.

I'm very disappointed to be honest, I though it was going to be fab quality but the buns won't touch it. £20 down the drain!

Would not recommend www.dustfreehay.com at all!!! Terrible courier used to deliver the product and very disappointing end product too.

 

[megansmummy]

Oh what a shame! I buy the DFH stuff bagged from our local petshop sometimes and it smells lovely and the buns adore it!

Never ordered direct from DFH as i emailed a couple of times but waited a long time for a reply and the last time i emailed I didnt get a reply at all. I have been ordering from H4Ps and will stick with them now as the customer service is amazing (they replaced a bad bag of Timothy in time for christmas even though they struggled to get a courier) and I think they are the best price3d online hay place and the stuff is amazing!