In recent days, a story about a male shipper (a person who transports goods) texting customers with harsh words, complaining that the goods were so dirty and smelly that "the smell could not be removed even after many baths" has sparked many debates on forums about the profession of driving and delivering goods.

According to the investigation, the incident happened on June 15, but the customer only recently shared it on the online community because of his anger. The customer named K. in Hanoi said that at around 7:20 p.m. that day, she used an application (app) to order a driver to pick up and transport goods from Giap Bat bus station to So Thuong, Yen So ward, Hoang Mai district.

Because the goods were boxes of fresh seafood, weighing about 50kg, quite large and heavy, the customer noted in the order on the app that the goods were bulky. The shipping cost for the distance was 37,000 VND, plus 20,000 VND due to the large size of the box, so the total amount of the order was set at 57,000 VND.

After placing the order, Ms. K. saw a notification on her phone that a shipper had accepted the order. When the male delivery man called, the customer said that because the goods were bulky, priority should be given to vehicles with a cargo rack in the back, otherwise it would be difficult to move. However, the male delivery man insisted that he could still deliver the goods normally.

Next, the male shipper came to pick up the goods at the bus station. After about 15 minutes, he pressed the cancel order button and called the customer to ask for the home address for home delivery.

Upon arrival, the male shipper complained that the goods smelled bad and were difficult to transport, so he asked the customer to pay 100,000 VND to unload the box. Ms. K. did not agree and said she would only pay a few tens of thousands more to tip the driver. After a while of negotiating, the customer finally transferred the full 100,000 VND to the male shipper and received the box.

Everything seemed to stop there, but suddenly became a big deal when 20 minutes later, the customer received a text message from the male shipper with many swear words, saying "the goods are so dirty and smelly that it takes 3 days to wash them off".

"I think that any profession, especially service professions, requires a proper attitude of respect towards customers. In this case, the delivery person's behavior made me very upset," said Ms. K.

When Dan Tri reporters contacted the delivery company to discuss the above case, the representative of the company's complaint handling department reviewed information from related parties. Because the driver canceled the order, and the customer did not directly report it to the company, the company had difficulty resolving the issue.

However, in general, the representative emphasized that any delivery staff working for the company must comply with the established principles. The company will base on the severity of each incident and the number of violations to remind or retrain, especially with harassment, rudeness, threatening behavior to customers... If the incident is serious, the company will stop cooperating with the employee.

"In order to improve service quality, we always encourage customers to report directly to the hotline. This way we have full information to check and handle promptly," said a representative of the shipping company's complaint handling department.

The scandal has sparked debate about the spontaneity, lack of professionalism, limitations in training and management of the shipper force as well as ways to "circumvent the law" when doing this job.

In fact, the shipping company charges a 15-20% discount for each order from the driver. The actual amount the shipper receives is not enough for 80-85% of the order value because tax must be deducted. Because of such large "losses" in the intermediary stage, drivers use the "trick" of canceling the order after receiving the goods, then directly contacting the customer to negotiate the service price, so that they can receive the full fare.

Commenting on this case, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Doanh, who has many years of experience in the freight transport industry in Ho Chi Minh City, said that "this is not a rare occurrence".

"I often transport seafood and frozen goods orders within Ho Chi Minh City and know that there is a phenomenon of drivers who stay at the bus station to wait for orders and then secretly cancel the orders to run outside like the above case. After that, the driver directly calls the customer to ask for the address and then insists on taking more money with many reasons. At this point, the customer will be in a difficult situation, it is difficult not to accept the goods," said Mr. Doanh.

In the case of picking up orders at parking lots, the goods are usually bulky, according to the male shipper, the driver can completely call to negotiate with the customer. For example, seafood boxes often leak water, so the driver will have to wash and clean the car after transporting the goods, so he can ask for an additional 20,000 VND - 30,000 VND in addition to the shipping fee. Usually, both the delivery person and the recipient are happy.

"As a colleague, I also disagree with the behavior of the male shipper mentioned above. If you get the difference from outside, you should be happy. If you argue and curse like that, it will be difficult to stay in this profession," said Mr. Doanh.