I chose ZTO Express because its online quote was 10 yuan. The order was placed a little after 8 a.m., and by noon the courier had come to pick up the package. So far, efficient enough.
I filled in the waybill and handed it over. When I asked how much, he said, “Thirteen yuan.”
“But the online order said ten,” I said.
“The online price is just for reference. Where can you send a parcel for ten yuan these days?” He sounded impatient.
I mentioned that the last time I used ZJS Express, it cost 9 yuan. Then I paused. He had come all the way here; making a fuss over a few yuan seemed more trouble than it was worth. I paid 13.
After he left, I called ZTO customer service. The agent was friendly and asked how she could help. I asked what the price should be from my address to the destination. She checked and said 10 yuan.
“Then why did the courier charge me 13?”
She explained that courier prices are set by local branches; the online figure is only a reference.
I asked why other companies can have nationwide pricing while ZTO’s price varies from city to city. Her answer was simple: “That’s how our company works.”
I hung up feeling annoyed. The issue was not the two or three yuan. It was the gap between what was promised and what was charged. I felt tricked. If the online price isn’t accurate, why display it at all?
I told Jasmine about it. She reminded me that this was the same company whose couriers refuse to bring parcels to the door and make people walk a long way to collect them.
Then I remembered. Several earlier ZTO deliveries had ended the same way: the courier sat on his motorcycle, hands on the handlebars, and told us to walk five or six minutes from the west gate of the compound to the south gate. When I called and asked him to come to the west gate, he said flatly that he only delivered to that spot. He would not budge. Calling that door-to-door delivery is a joke. It was more like having trouble delivered to my door. A simple delivery had been turned into a bad mood. That is lousy customer experience.
Since then, whenever an online shop lets me choose the courier, I ask them not to use ZTO. I had gone a long time without dealing with them, long enough to forget how unpleasant they can be. So: stay away from ZTO, keep your mood intact.