The customer experience of failed deliveries

Following the privatisation of Royal Mail we can expect to see a shift in the business model for this backbone of UK infrastructure. The company has survived the digital age so far better than many had predicted as futurists plotting the death of the letter as email and instant message services dominated communications. While this digital transformation for many communications has taken place so too has the world of e-commerce with a dependence upon parcel delivery to receive your goods. This upturn in parcel deliveries including the many eBay addicts that have turned a website into a vocation means that while letters have declined parcels have seen an increase helping to position Royal Mail as a desirable business proposition having been floated on the stock exchange. This has lead to ever increasing pressure for parcel services with many smaller firms looking to undercut Royal Mail and take a slice of this action. These smaller firms often using Mum & Pop local people to make the local delivery reliant on these freelance individuals to represent their brand. A necessary evil to make the numbers work and cut costs but these local agents don't rely on every delivery to make their worth and merely dump and run. A recent experience where I was unable to receive the goods saw the tell tale slip left in my door with no address details for the courier service merely a local number that when called was never answered. As a customer therefore leaving me stranded and at their mercy. Where is the online tracking, the customer portal, the 24 hour contact number. None of these just a slip and a hope that one day in the future our paths may cross. Epic......fail.