I do sympathise with everyone who is having problems with Hays DX - it must
be very frustrating.
However, as I've said before, these stories are in complete contrast to our
experience here at the University of Kent.
We haven't had any problem at all with the invoicing process (or any other
aspect of the service).
We always receive the invoice within 7-10 days of the tax point date
(presumably delivered by the courier, as it has no postmark) We do get
overdue statments, but these must be crossing with payments sent by our
finance division who sometimes have a backlog of work. I check all the
charges against the waybills and consignment notes and haven't found a
single error since last September when we started to use the service.
If they can get it right for us I can only conclude that the quality of
service must depend almost entirely on the efficiency of the courier/driver
assigned to a particular area. Sian Phelps at Imperial College at Wye is
only 10 miles from us but presumably has a different driver, who provides a
very indifferent service.
With regard to delivery of items to PO Box numbers, we have had one item
returned by Hays DX last autumn, marked as undeliverable; this had been sent
to another Hays customer (a large university library). Apparently the driver
assigned to that area was having trouble locating them on campus so gave up!
Once again "driver error".
I'm not making any excuses for Hays DX, just outlining our experience. I
would be equally furious if we were getting the kind of service most of you
are having to bear. It seems to me that the driver is the key - if Hays are
getting so many complaints about non-arrival of invoices they should be
instructing the drivers that invoice delivery is top priority, or offering
the alternative of postal delivery.
======================================================
Angela Faunch * Document Delivery Supervisor * Templeman Library
University of Kent at Canterbury * Kent CT2 7NU
Tel 01227 823566 * Fax 01227 827107 * [log in to unmask]
======================================================
----- Original Message -----
From: Phelps, Sian <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2002 3:16 PM
Subject: Re: HAYS DX Transport Scheme
> Annette
>
> Here at Imperial College at Wye (Wye College as was)I have been having a
> long & painful debate about invoices with people at Hays DX over the last
> few weeks. Our invoices get dropped off by our courier, but when we go
> through quiet periods we don't ask him to call more than once a week, &
when
> he does come he seems to be given invoices/statements/threatening letters
to
> hand over in a batch, some a month or more overdue. Also, we often get
> overdues without ever having had the original invoices. Fortunately they
are
> for small amounts, but I end up spending ages trying to match up the
> reference numbers on statements to see whether I've paid or not.
>
> I have asked & asked to have the invoices &c posted to us. For some reason
> this seems to be an incredibly outlandish request. As far as I can see it
> would save me & them time, & they would get their money without endless
> 'phone calls & duplicate invoices.
>
> Last week, after being transferred to the third person I've spoken to
about
> this, I was asked to send a fax outlining the problems so that our account
> manager could take it up with someone higher. I was told that there had
been
> other complaints, & given the details about financial services was
> outsourced. I am hoping he will come back to me on this, but I'm not
holding
> my breath - I will chase again after a while.
>
> I still don't see why they can't just post the bills to me. In fact one of
> the customer services people I spoke to assured me they were posted & if I
> hadn't had an invoice for June to call back. Needless to say I didn't &
they
> had to fax it to me...
>
> If I get any useful response I will keep you posted!
>
> Sian Phelps
> Assistant Librarian
> Kempe Centre
> Imperial College at Wye
> Wye, Ashford
> Kent TN25 5AH
>
> Tel 020 759 42911
> Fax 020 759 42929
> E-mail [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Annette Moore [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 15 July 2002 13:32
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: HAYS DX Transport Scheme
>
>
> At the University of Sussex we have been using HAYS DX transport scheme
> since the closure of the LASER Transport scheme in September last year.
> Inititally we were quite pleased with the service having received full
> doucmentation and information about the service and having a "dedicated
> customer support representative" to ring if there was a problem.
> However....when ever we do have a problem, our representative has left
> or moved to another section and our call gets passed from one person to
> another. One of the main concerns lately has been the late arrival or
> non-arrival of our monthly invoice. When I do the monthly statistics at
> the end of each month, I often have to ring HAYS DX to ASK for the
> invoice so I can include the postal figure in our monthly statistics!
> Have any other libraries found this problem with HAYS?
>
>
> Another problem has been the delivery of PO BOX items through HAYS DX.
> Several University Libraries have a PO BOX number in their address which
> we didn't think was a problem, until recently we sent an item addressed
> to a University with a PO Box through HAYS and the item never arrived.
> When I contacted HAYS about this they said that they do not deliver to
> PO BOX numbers but just pass the item onto the GPO. Several
> conversations later with HAYS DX, it appears they do deliver to some PO
> Boxes, but not to others - what concerned me was that they didn't return
> the item to us if they were unable to deliver. According to their
> description of service for Undeliverable items - they say that if they
> are unable to deliver items due to "insufficient address information"
> the local Service Centre will contact the customer via Customer
> Services. This situation is ongoing with HAYS but has given rise to
> concern. Again, can I ask if other libraries have had problems with
> deliveries to PO Boxes or do you not use HAYS DX for PO Box numbers?
>
> Annette Moore
>
>
> Annette Moore
> Interlibrary Requests
> University of Sussex Library
> University of Sussex
> Brighton, BN1 9QL
>
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> Telephone: 01273 678162
> Fax: 01273 678441
>
