Lego Shop not delivering to Parcel Locker (Rant)

[diepotato47]

Bit of a whinge here about my recent interaction with Lego Customer Service.

On the 22nd of September I placed an order for the Star Wars Range Trooper set through the Lego Shop at Home Website. This set has not been made available for Australians through any other retail stores, and is only available through Lego directly, or through other online dealers.

Immediately my order was placed on hold, because the address I provided was for a Parcel Locker. A Parcel Locker is a service run by the Post Office over here, which is a box that can only be opened by a single use code that is emailed to the receiver when a Parcel arrives.

For context, with my current living situation, I have to use this Parcel Locker service when receiving anything other than letter post. I currently live in university owned housing, and as such, my street address is actually about fifty odd houses. There is a letter service that runs, however this is handled internally through the University, and their reputation is spotty at best. It once took them a month to get a letter to me (an important one at that) after it was delivered to the office. Parcels are often refused and wind up lost. On the off chance a Parcel did find its way to me, it would be left unsecured in the letter area, which is less than ideal.The Parcel Locker is the best, most secure option for me to use.

I emailed customer service to explain this and was told they would look in to it. I did not hear back for five days, whereupon I emailed them again asking what the status was with my order. They replied later that day stating that they have a policy of not posting to P.O. Boxes and asked for a different address. I responded by explaining again that the Parcel Locker was from my experience fully suitable for receiving any parcels, and much safer than any alternative. I requested this issue be passed up to a manager and said I was not happy being kept waiting for five days (so far).

Customer service got back to me again, reiterating that they do not deliver to P.O. boxes, as they have had difficulties in the past with similar services. They passed along a list of Lego retailers in Australia that stock Lego and suggested I check with them for the set (already tried them all, nada) but promised to ask the dispatch team if they would make an exception in my case.

I heard back earlier tonight and was told there would be no exceptions, and was given 200 VIP Points for the trouble, and asked if there was a friend or neighbor’s address I could provide. I responded by pointing out that the VIP Points were of no use to me, as I have only the one address, and that it was not logical to involve a third party to ensure the Parcel made it to me when there was already a secure way of getting it to me, as the next closest address I could have it delivered to safely is far out of my way.

Lego’s final offer was to send the Parcel to my street address and see what happened. I refused, telling them I have lost Parcels before doing this, and it would only be a waste of time. They vaguely promised to review the policy and terminated the order.

I have to say I am really disappointed with Lego here. They refused to move on a policy that makes no sense to enforce despite having no real clue what was best for my situation. I am frustrated with the initial poor communication time, and the frustrating circles they ran it. What bothers me to is the offer of VIP Points by the way of an apology. I appreciate the gesture, but as I stated, if I could not get a delivery, they really had no value to me.

I’ve ended up paying a 30% markup and will be waiting four weeks instead of two by going through a seperate website, but at least my Range Trooper is on his way. I’ve deleted my Lego Shop Account and have no intention of using that service for at least the remainder of my least (another year minimum).

Anyway, that’s my rant, what do you think? Fair call to stick by the policy, or should Lego shift a bit if the customer knows best? Got a similar experience? 

Now I guess I sit back and wait for my set to arrive.

 

EDIT 

I should also mention that most usually, if the Post Office loses a Parcel, they will reimburse you. If the University loses a Parcel, you’re out of luck.

 

 

Edited September 28, 2018 by diepotato47

[Vindicare]

Definitely a bummer situation, but you being unhappy with a policy doesn’t mean the policy makes no sense. Maybe they tried the P.O. Boxes in years prior, and they had too many similar stories to what you say of your university’s mailing predictaments. 

[Nick Wolfe]

Hi, yeah I actually know about this policy, I used to work with the LEGO group.

The issue with Freight Forwarding companies like Parcel Locker is that the company is responsible for the package until it arrives in your hands. If the set gets lost on it's way to you LEGO will replace it. When the post loses it LEGO can make a claim and minimize their losses but when Parcel Locker, who LEGO doesn't work with loses or damages the package LEGO still has to replace it but has no recourse to make up the damage caused.

The other major reason for LEGO refusing to ship to PO boxes and to Freight Forwarding addresses like the parcel locker is that they make it much easier to run a scam when shipping to that address rather than a physical house. I'm not going to get into the details of how to commit fraud but it would typically involve stealing a credit card, ordering product from a company, and shipping it to a third party. These scams were a massive problem for the LEGO group so they made it a policy not to send to Freight Forwarding addresses and are phasing out PO boxes as well for similar reasons. And this change was very successful! The company put in a lot of anti scam measures and saw a staggering decrease in fraudulent orders.

When I worked with the company I heard a lot of stories like yours. LEGO doesn't like to accuse shoppers of running a scam so they lean on the first explanation but they will not make exceptions to the policy despite your arguments because a scam could say the same thing. But on the other hand a lot of customers get frustrated by the policy because of complicated issues with the postal service like you so the company is probably looking for a way to let you buy their stuff while still keeping the scams at bay. It's a frustrating issue but not really one of uncooperative customer service.

It sounds like you should be less angry at LEGO and more angry at your university's messed up mail system, they're causing you more trouble than LEGO's anti fraud measures.

[diepotato47]

Thanks Nick, that's a heap of great insight.

I'll clarify ( as I did with customer service) that the Parcel Locker system is run by the postal company, so it's not a forwarding company as much as an alternate delivery storage box, secure access for one person.  

Really disheartening to hear that this policy is based around stopping fraud. Kinda peeves me that Customer Service never bothered to explain the policy, as they promised they'd review the policy, which obviously seems like a falsehood now.

I think regardless of that, the five day wait for a response was out of line. 

Also, as far as the university using the Parcel Locker system, I understand why they do. With 1000+ residents, plus hundreds of staff and postgrad students, it makes sense to use a system like that. 

Thanks for the great insight!

[dr_spock]

I get packages for my daughter's university friend who lives in student resident and her packages (non-LEGO) keep getting lost.  I think with LEGO S@H, you can ship the package to a friend's or relative's home address.  That could be an option if you have nearby relatives or non-student resident friends.

 

[MAB]

On 9/28/2018 at 7:27 PM, diepotato47 said:

Anyway, that’s my rant, what do you think? Fair call to stick by the policy, or should Lego shift a bit if the customer knows best? Got a similar experience? 

 

 

You only know best from your point of view. If customer services can decide to overrule a policy because a customer asks them to, then it is not worth having the policy in the first place. They might as well let everyone use PO boxes.

 

[Robianco]

I'm with Lego on this one. Dropship scams and fraud in general can have a hugely damaging effect on a companies bottom line. If the best thing to do to combat this is put in place a rule that may inconvenience some but will protect others then I'm sure that's the best policy for them.

I'd say getting 200 VIP points simply because you were inconvenienced by other people committing fraud and your University postal delivery service being sketchy isn't a bad result.

Customer service also aren't going to discuss policy decisions such as this as the person making the complaint could get the hump because they feel like they're being accused of fraud themselves.

[diepotato47]

Trouble is, 200 VIP Points really does nothing if I can’t get an order delivered.

I appreciate the offer, but really, it doesn’t solve my problem, and just adds to the points I cannot use.