Can someone help me please?

Never ever ever buy something from www.dabs.com – or from any company that uses Home Delivery Network as their courier of choice.

My laptop’s hard drive recently died after only 3 years (note to self – next time, don’t buy a Toshiba) and made the mistake of ordering a new one from Dabs. Apparently their courier, Home Delivery Network, tried to deliver it twice unsuccessfully, though they never left a card or any other evidence of having done so. On your first 3 purchases, Dabs do not allow you to use a different delivery address from your billing address for ‘security reasons’ so unless you plan to be home on a week day, all day between 7am and 6pm, expect a week or so of bureaucratic nonsense before you hold your purchase in your sweaty little hands.

After tracking the failed delivery attempts on the Home Delivery Network’s website, I decided to call them. There is no phone number listed on the site. It directs customers to go back to the original supplier of the item in question. So, I wrote to Dabs to reschedule, and arranged to work from home the day of delivery. Unfortunately, Dabs, who also discourage customers from actually phoning, have a rather leisurely approach to answering emails, and no one got back to me until the day after the package was meant to be delivered.

I searched online for the telephone number for Home Delivery Network, which I found on a thread called Hard to Find Telephone Numbers. Several bits of information were imparted to me during the ensuing telephone conversation:

• My postcode doesn’t exist in their system
• Despite there being no telephone number anywhere on their website, they do not wish to discourage customers from phoning them
• They do not deliver to Universities (I work at a university, so they could not deliver to my work
• They will only deliver to homes or organisations that have no yellow lines in front and have plenty of parking spaces (how does that become my problem?)
• Once drivers leave the depot, they are completely unreachable (apparently mobile technology has not yet reached the logistics industry)

After I screamed, laughed and cried into the phone, we finally reached an agreement. They would deliver to my husband’s place of work. And they did, around 11:30 this morning. And at 2:30 this afternoon, they phoned to say that they couldn't get access to the flat, and I should contact them to reschedule delivery. But they didn't get me, because they called my home number, which I told them was not the best number to reach me during a work day. Either Home Delivery Networks are hilarious pranksters, or complete idiots. And I’m sure one of the people I spoke to at their central call centre was actually drunk.

And, to cap it all off, Dabs finally got in touch with me this afternoon, replying to the email I sent them 2 days ago. Well done!