25 October 2008

The Canberra Times Direct - directly to where I'm not sure?

| dragonflygal
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I am yet again left disappointed and astounded by the failure of Canberra Times Direct to provide the service which I signed up for 5 weeks ago.

The Saturday and Sunday editions of the paper are meant to be delivered to our residence. On signing up for this service, I clearly stated that we live on a battleaxe block on a main road, and as such only wanted to arrange for this service if the delivery driver was able to deliver the paper at least some way up our driveway. This is to ensure that we actually receive the paper. I was assured this wouldn’t be a problem.

In the 5 weeks that this “service” commenced, we have received the Saturday paper twice, and the Sunday paper two out of the 4 times it was meant to be delivered. To say that the service has not met our expectations would be a gross understatement.

After calling the delivery team on Friday to explain my concerns and reiterate that the paper was to be delivered further up our driveway, I was assured this would be communicated to the delivery driver yet again.

To find that my paper had not arrived at 8am this morning was now not surprising. I called the CTD to let them know, and was advised that a paper would be out within an hour. It is now 11:00am and no paper has arrived. I called the CTD number at 10:50am only to have my call go to voicemail, stating that they close at 11:00am on Saturday. A similar situation occurred the first time I called about a missing paper, however that time I was left on hold from 10:20am for half an hour – literally – before the call hung up on me. Consultants are meant to answer until 11:00am on a Saturday!

Earlier this week I received a letter stating that we have been randomly selected to have the weekday paper delivered, commencing 22 October. One out of the three weekday papers expected has been delivered to date.

I am absolutely disgusted by the lack of service provided and the failure to deliver what I see as a basic service. The fact that the replacement paper never arrived this morning, frustrates me even more!

Does anyone else use CTD and find they experience similar issues?

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No, we have had it delivered (at our current address). Just not for several years.

justbands said :

We’ve received it several times over the past few weeks peterh. Odd considering we haven’t subscibed for nearly two years.

never subscribed. maybe the prior owner is getting a bill…

We’ve received it several times over the past few weeks peterh. Odd considering we haven’t subscibed for nearly two years.

this morning, at about 4-5am, really cannot say exactly, I heard the driver who delivers to my street roaring around, with his lights on high beam. I don’t get the paper delivered, I walk to kambah village to pick it up.

he seemed to be moving faster than normal, the screech of his brakes was a sign he didn’t know the street too well. when i put out the bins, I was surprised to find I had a CT on my doorstep. strange.

I wonder who missed their paper?

dragonflygal6:06 pm 26 Oct 08

I-filed said :

Well dragonfly gal if you care little about oppressed workers, what can anyone say to you.

I-filed, if you make sweeping generalisations about my concern for my fellow man based upon your interpretation of the issue, what can anyone say to you?
My brother-in-law delivers newspapers, just for the record – and for all you know I’m an oppressed worker myself.
But please feel free to post a useful response that doesn’t make assumptions about my character.

Well dragonfly gal if you care little about oppressed workers, what can anyone say to you.

I used to get the CT delivered on Saturdays , well I paid for it anyway. We are not in a battleaxe however the paper was occasionally left on our driveway. Often it was in the garden, in or under a bush, lying in the gutter or even on the road. At least 10% of the time we simply couldn’t find it at all. I rang and complained several times and there was no improvement. After a run of missing papers we canceled the service because it was just too unreliable.

If they are going to offer a service they should provide it, and when I asked for the service they asked me if I would like the paper left in my driveway and I agreed.

Heck, the CT can’t even manage to produce a half-decent paper for a large town. What hope that they could run an efficient delivery service? As for their website, now Fairfax has got hold of it it has improved, but they still hide most of the day’s stories deep in the bowels of the site and make you search.

dragonflygal10:27 am 26 Oct 08

I-filed said :

I sympathise with the driver over the battleaxe block. Someone in Sales said yes, and now the driver has have the frustration of probably hopping out of their car and heading a little way up the driveway … and some of those battleaxe driveways are long. A petty frustration, yes, but think how annoying it could be. I think that most considerate, well-mannered people would be happy to walk down their driveway a few yards and avoid inconveniencing a VERY poorly paid driver. Not to mention that those delivery folk pay their own petrol costs on contract, so it isn’t fair to make them idle their cars en route …

I-filed: The issue isn’t the walk down my short driveway – the issue is that the paper is either not being delivered (confirmed by the CTD to have happened due to the driver forgetting) or when it is being delivered, it’s being left on the path of the main road outside our house, and disappearing. To put it a few metres up the driveway would at least deter people from picking it up on their daily walk, something that I am assuming may be contributing to the disappearance of the paper. They can drive up the driveway and throw it for all I care.
They agreed to provide the service with the condition I asked for, the paper being delivered further up the driveway. The wages/petrol and inconvenience for the driver is not my responsibility – I would have been ok with not signing up if they didn’t agree to the paper being placed on my own property rather than on the street!

I sympathise with the driver over the battleaxe block. Someone in Sales said yes, and now the driver has have the frustration of probably hopping out of their car and heading a little way up the driveway … and some of those battleaxe driveways are long. A petty frustration, yes, but think how annoying it could be. I think that most considerate, well-mannered people would be happy to walk down their driveway a few yards and avoid inconveniencing a VERY poorly paid driver. Not to mention that those delivery folk pay their own petrol costs on contract, so it isn’t fair to make them idle their cars en route …

We used to have the CT delivered. My dad decided he didn’t want it anymore, so cancelled it, no fuss. Fast forward half a year later and it starts showing up on our lawn again. At first we thought it was just a mistake, for the neighbours or whatever… but then we got a bill in the post addressed to me for it. We called them up and they said that I had requested the subscription to be started again; but the time I supposedly made the call, I was overseas on a holiday. They tried to argue the point over and over but eventually relinquished. They haven’t been heard from since, fortunately…

Never got the CT delivered, but get the weekend SMH and Financial review. Only a couple of hiccups, but any time I’ve not gotten it I tend to just call up and they credit me with whatever I’ve missed out on. Only been a couple of times though.

WE did get a fre trial subscritption for BRW… meant to lasdt 3 weeks, kept coming for about 5 months I think…

Vic Bitterman7:20 pm 25 Oct 08

I usually only get the CT home delivered on a Saturday (directly via them). Last Monday I got a phone call for a 7 day delivery service from them for about $4 a week, some sort of special, for 17 weeks. Sounds good to me, so it was arranged.

Day 1 (Wed), no paper arrived. Needed a follow up phone call to get one delivered.
Day 2 (Thu), no paper arrived. Needed a follow up phone call to get one delivered.
Day 3 (Fri) paper delivered.
Day 4 (Sat – my usual delivery day), no paper arrived. Needed a follow up phone call to get one delivered.

Who knows what surprises tomorrow will bring!

Each day, my Daily Telegraph continues to be delivered without problem by my local newsagent.

In the past, I have had so many problems simply receiving a morning newspaper directly from the CT I have stopped subscribing.

Looks like their pathetic delivery service – after 4 days – hasn’t improved at all.

use http://www.canberratimes.com.au/ no delivery needed. Of course you miss out on the guff.

Wide Boy Jake5:29 pm 25 Oct 08

Canberra Times Direct used to be really good when the paper did the wrapping and deliveries themselves. It all went to pot when they sucontracted it to the slack newsagents, the very people we didn’t want to deal with anymore. I remember in 1993 when CT Direct first started we received our paper at around 4:30AM. It was great. Now we’re lucky to get it by 7.

Most paper deliveries are made by the local newsagent. If this is the case you’re better off going down there and speaking to them directly. Take a street directory with you and show the owner exactly which street and house is yours.

I’ve never had one go missing. And when we moved house there was a seamless changeover.

I think your issue is the battleaxe block. People just don’t cope with them.

When I lived on one I gave up on pizza deliveries and even taxis cos they just couldn’t work it out.

Nor could the door to door sales though, so it evens out.

I’ve been getting CTD 7 days a week since the service started. It must be 5 or 6 years (but could be longer..the years just creep away!). I’ve had a few papers not delivered, but a quick phone call has always seen it delivered, generally in half an hour or so, along with a credit for that paper. And on each occasion it’s been late, the driver has brought it to the door!

On the other hand, my local newsagent, who delivers me another paper 7 days a week is unable to deliver a paper if the driver misses the house. With apologies, I’m told to drive down to the shops to pick it up.

Couldn’t be happier with CTD.

Just cancel it, and request a refund for whatever you paid.

Getting the paper delivered in my experience is more hassle than its worth. Deliveries are terribly unreliable and you end up spending more on phone calls to chase up missing deliveries than you might save by subscribing.

Whenever I feel the need for a hardcopy fix of news, I just pick one up in my travels during the day. That is very rare in the last couple of years.

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