I've recently been enjoying the utter laziness of having food delivered, instead of going out to pick it up. The benefits are potentially great, what with extended selections, bulk ordering and the fact you don't have to get off your butt. But there are a few drawbacks, and let me tell you, they are just as great.

For example, I buy a good amount of my food (everything but veggies) from DM. I like DM. They sell decent quality organic food and they don't charge for delivery after [I think] 40 euros, which is well below my usual spend. They use a company you may have heard of, called DPD, to handle their parcels.

DPD, on the other hand, leave a lot to be desired. Let's have a look at their latest delivery...

Ordered on a Thursday, I was notified of their delivery on Monday morning.
On Monday afternoon, I started to wonder. I checked their tracking page and found my parcel marked as undeliverable.
Curious, that, since the last one came without any problems, and the last time I checked, my house hadn't moved anywhere.
I rescheduled. For Tuesday. Made sense to me. I got a confirmation. That'd do nicely.

Tuesday came and went.
Wednesday morning, I get a call. They've lost my address, apparently. I'd better furnish them with it once more.
With that, I'm assured the food I ordered last Thursday will be here this Thursday. A week after it was sent. Good job there are no veggies in there, or that parcel would be stinkin' up the place.
Thursday morning, I check the tracking page again, and to my surprise, it's being sent back to DM.
But why? They never called and they haven't been to the house.

I called their help line and stopped the parcel. Lucky for me, I have a van, otherwise I wouldn't be able to pick it up.
Held at the depot, I now had to go out and collect the parcel they couldn't be bothered to deliver. And boy, when I saw it, was I grateful for their excellent service...

This was after they'd taped it up with their fetching DPD tape. I suppose it was too heavy for them.

You start to wonder if they just kick the boxes across the warehouse.

Still, it's good to know that things could have been much worse. This is the VIP service, it seems.

Just a few of the first items out of the box give you some idea how hard it must have been kicked. Those cans take a bit of effort to dent that deeply.

Never mind. At least I was given a sincere apology, when I finally got my hands on the parcel.
Sorry, not apology. Smile. Service with a smile, apparently, excuses the service itself having being like some kind of John Cleese satire.

Thanks, DPD. I shall make sure to use you again the next time I need some delicate pottery delivering, or perhaps some original 14th century art.