Bluedart Saga: '70 Kg Shipment Lost'; Aviation Journo Slams Logistics Giant Over Repeated False Notifications
Ajay Awtaney shared a mail from the delivery partner, Blue Dart, reporting the loss of a 70 kg appliance shipment.
Author and founder of digital platform, 'Live From A Lounge', Ajay Awtaney, has slammed logistics giant Blue Dart over what he described as a 10-day-long "saga" involving repeated, false delivery failure notifications for a single "Domestic Priority" cash-on-delivery (COD) package and eventually losing the 70kg appliance shipment.
Awtaney on Friday shared an email from the delivery partner, reporting the loss of a 70 kg appliance shipment. The parcel is now deemed untraceable and under security investigation per the attached customer service email.
The email read, "Dear Sir, We would like to update you that the shipment is untraceable as if now and the security team is investigating the same. Simultaneously, we have kept the shipper informed regarding the same issue. Will update you once we get any update from the security team. Please allow us some time, and we shall keep you posted very soon about next course of action. We ensure you to expedite the process and keep you posted. Always assuring you the best of our attention." [sic]
The Saga
Starting October 28th, Awtaney chronicled the fiasco on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), posting tracking screenshots that showed multiple 'Consignee Not Available' or 'Premises Closed' entries.
Over the course of the ordeal, tracking logs allegedly accumulated nine-ten statuses, despite the recipient confirming his availability.
Awtaney, who verified apartment entry logs, noted that the agent often never even arrived at the building, mocking the company for “just sitting on the package."
The specific root cause of the delivery failures was revealed on November 5 when Awtaney posted a photo of the delivery agent at his door, alleging that the worker had repeatedly marked the premises as closed because they "did not know how to get payment on delivery."
This issue stemmed from the deployment of an untrained gig worker who lacked the knowledge or equipment to process the necessary COD transaction, arriving only after Awtaney publicly tagged the company.
On November 6, Awtaney escalated the issue to the Managing Director of Blue Dart. Reflecting on the ordeal, Awtaney criticised the firm's reliance on COD due to its extended delivery timelines and pointed out the company's inability to adapt to modern payment methods.
He said that while UPI is popular for low-value purchases, Blue Dart's systems apparently failed to handle card-based payment-on-delivery (POD) for higher-value items. After ten days of ordeal, the parcel is now reportedly lost.
