The owner of a bike repair business says he has been left with a lot of angry customers after he was unable to dispatch £1,000 worth of equipment he had left for posting at a McColl's store. Martin Dallaghan took dozens of parcels to one of the chain's stores for shipping out earlier this month.
A member of staff accepted and scanned the parcels, which contained cycling equipment sold by Mr Dallaghan's bicycle repair business, Never Mind the Bike Shop. However, when customers began complaining that they hadn't received the items they had ordered, Mr Dallaghan found out that they had never left the shop, according to a report in the Manchester Evening News.
Unfortunately, his delivery of the parcels to the store coincided with the company going into administration. Parcel, courier and delivery service Yodel pointed to the "unusual and unfortunate circumstances" and said it was now talking to McColl's and Mr Dallaghan.
He said: "They showed me a room full of parcels, including mine. I've got a grand's worth of stock sitting in there. I'm stuck in limbo. There's nothing I can do and they won't give them back to me. Some of my customers are hopping mad and are becoming crosser by the day. We're not a massive business – we only have five staff.
"This will affect our ratings and position on eBay but I can't send this stuff out again because some of the equipment is quite expensive. It would be a big loss to us."
PayPoint services at McColl's stores across the UK were temporarily suspended earlier this month as the firm fell into administration. However, a spokesperson for McColl's claimed any issues had "now been rectified' as supermarket giant Morrisons was in the process of purchasing all of its stores, saving 16,000 jobs.
Mr Dallaghan said that when he took the parcels to the shop in Broadstone Road, Reddish, Stockport, between May 4 and May 12, a member of staff told him they were still being accepted. But after receiving complaints from customers, he was able to track the parcels online and found, he said, that they had "not moved an inch".
When he visited the McColl's, he said a member of staff confirmed his parcels were still there, but that he could not collect them as they had already been scanned. He now fears it could be weeks before he is able to get his hands on the parcels. "It feels like I'm going round in circles," he said. "I'm being passed from pillar to post. Nobody is helping me.
"I understand they have been going through a tough time, but what were McColl's management thinking to not stop accepting parcels? It's so frustrating because if they released them, I could take them to a shop up the road and send them from there. I've been using that store on a daily basis since 2007 but the relationship is broken now. I don't want to go in there again."
A McColl’s spokesperson said: "Following the company falling into administration on 9 May and subsequent sale to Morrisons, the entire McColl’s team has been focused on business continuity. One of the impacts of this transition was the temporary suspension of certain services that meant customers might have had problems with collecting parcels. These issues have now been rectified and we apologise for any inconvenience caused."
A Yodel spokesperson said: "We regret the inconvenience caused due to these unusual and unfortunate circumstances. Our team is in conversation with McColl's and Mr Dallaghan to ensure that correct processes are followed and that all parcels are accounted for and delivered in a timely manner."
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