My wife and I had a jumbo sized Balikbayan box picked up by LBC Express on Saturday 25th January, 28 days ago. We were given a tracking number. However, never at any time in the last 28 days has that tracking number revealed the whereabouts of our box. Except a simple message to say that the tracking number is invalid. We have a contact name and number for the LBC rep that collected the box but he has only managed to outline to us the box's intended journey. The LBC helpline number, although a London number, is routed to Manila. And they don't have any idea where the box is, though they do say they are investigating its whereabouts. Having phoned LBC on several occasions since the box was collected I haven't been convinced that we have done the right thing in using them. We tend to get a lot of "Thankyou for Using LBC" type responses and "Have a Nice Weekend" kind of approach, but no substance to the support service thusfar. Time will tell. We are beginning to wonder if this might be a variant of longnose "tax" in export form.
We are in the process of filling up a couple of Jumbos ourselves......... To be hones we have been trying to do it for a while............ A few months, really................. it ain't the lack of stuff to go in them, just the time andthe will power to finish off..........
We got them from LBC.................... We did send through them on a couple of occasions without hitches, so why not again...?
Same with us. Our first box went okay. So we said, why not again. The problem seems to be if something goes wrong. The support service is poor. Maybe I am asking too much. But they have a Facebook profile, a slick(ish) website and a helpline leading one to believe they are slick operators.
Mmmm we are getting a box on Thursday. Are there any other "reputable" balikbayan companies? We seem limited in this respect going of recent posts.
That is a good question. As we are on a relatively remote island we tend to have choice limitations and that is true of Balikbayan boxes. It was just chance that LBC started operating here and happened to be one of the better companies across the UK. Are Balikbayan Box companies in general synonymous with reliabilty? One wonders. But I believe that for me, it shouldn't be a case of giving them a hopeful punt. There should be some inherent gaurantees in their somewhere. And I do believe that the shipper should know where these boxes are at any one time. Leaving the UK their ought to be a shipping manifest and cargo summary ticket. I have never had a track and trace posted item lost before. Not one and I used to sell a lot on ebay a few years ago. That included overseas parcels. At £100 a shot plus contents and the time involved in making them up there ought to be a carrier about that can instill me with confidence. I thought LBC were they....
I did try to track on one occasion, but if the goods are on a container ship, in transit, you won't be able to find anything out for sure. You will have a positive answer only if the goods are still awaiting departure or have arrived at the destinastion port and catalogued before delivery.
Yes. But we, on this second occasion, have had no recognition of the tracking number whatsoever. Just that the number is invalid. It could be in the back of the collectors van still, for all I know.
I think its dependant on which container ship it'll be loaded onto. Your box may have missed a particular run and is in a depot waiting for the next. Plus with recent events they maybe struggling to cope as I'd imagine that alot of people are sending stuff home to their familes, though this doesn't explain why the tracking isn't working. At the very least you'd expect "in warehouse / on vessel" etc. LBC is a large company and i'd expect them to perform better than the smaller outfits.
Thats it. As you say, at the very least you would expect them to know where it is. As in on dockside waiting for loading. Or on boat en route to Manila etc etc.
Definitely not a punt. I mean they're in the business of delivery, they should at least... deliver. You'd think the reference number you're supplied by the pick-up driver would be you guarantee wouldn't you. In our business we do tracking also, however ours is from department (or process, however you look at it) to department but there are up to 15 processes, we inform the customer exactly where it is, real time. When I mean department to department, I'm not just talking UK, that can be a department in Europe or Asia too.
Exactly. It shoulnt be a case of packaging it up and when the collector takes the box, hoping for the best.
Well. It is day 30 since the box was collected by a Mr Nelson of LBC Express. And upon contact with the LBC Express helpline, LBC Express still do not know where the box is. They have no record of it in their system apparently. And they are still "looking into it". Probably checking out some of the chocolate, no doubt.
Is it possible to try to get the contact details of the driver? I think you need to get him involved as he's the last person to see it.
We messaged him the other night but no reply. But yes, I discussed with LBC the possibility that it may still be with the driver and that they might establish contact with the driver. Our idea and not theirs. We do know that the driver is an LBC employee.
Just have to keep trying I suppose. There does seem to be a distinct lack of customer service these days. You'd have thought it'd be the other way around in these tough times.
Got a call from the LBC collector, today. He said the box was shipped on 12th February and should arrive in Manila at the end of March. He advised that the track and trace doesnt always work. Time will tell.
