My Experience, Review and Grievances with Africa Courier Express (ACE)

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ACE cancelled my account, withheld my orders in their offices and have so far refused to pay me my earnings because I insulted their service.

I am one of the many SME’s who use ACE as a delivery partner. I was previously using employees to deliver the items within Lagos but I decided to give ACE a try early last month.

** So what happened?**

I have been going through all kinds of issues with them from charging me for “insurance” to orders being cancelled without reaching out to the customers but I have kept quiet.

It’s meant to be a premium service and you keep quiet thinking they would change sooner rather than later.

On Friday morning (28th August,2015), I dropped off a couple of orders at their Yaba hub among which one was to be delivered to a customer in Ojota. This should have been taken to their center in Ikeja and later dispatched to the customer on Friday or on Monday as is the usual practice but till date, I don’t have a clue where my item is and no word from their staff as to what happened to my item.

This order was not been delivered and no one has given me an answer as to where my item is.

I complained about this bitterly on Tueday and told them to get their acts together in a very harsh tone. I had had enough of their sloppiness and was sick and tired (just the first month with different mistakes from ACE – some of these mistakes I was wrongfully charged for)

But wait! What does an average ACE customer go through?

- You pay before they even receive your first order (N17,500)
- They will make you sign a contractual agreement before taking any item from you(protection for them not you)
- Plus, you have to enter every order you get into their dashbord before they can deliver it (which creates a huge database for them for unsolicited emails to your customers)

I complained about this “misplaced item” from them on Monday night after waiting for an update from Friday to COB on Monday.

Rather than solve my problem, the CEO instructed them to cancel my account immediately because I used insulting words at them.

Here are his words -

Ercin: “We have 0 tolerance for unethical and unprofessional insulting attitude. We are providing a service. If a merchant is unhappy, they are free to use another provider.”

Yes, my account was cancelled because I didn’t use niceties while addressing them after messing up for the 6th time in 3weeks? (This is not an exaggeration. If you are into E-commerce and you want proof, send me a private message and I will tell you more)

Every effort made to get back the item has proved abortive. The items sent outside of Lagos also, I have no clue as to what happened to them. No update. I am completely frozen out by this top logistics provider because I dared to insult them for their consistent errors.

To be honest, they have some positives or one that stands out-

  • PH and Abuja delivery is well handled. I still haven’t found a provider who handles items to these locations as fast as ACE. For Lagos, there are many companies who would offer you a similar service at about the same rates but not Port Harcourt and Abuja.

But what are they terrible at?

  • You have to pay before you can start using their service.

  • Every order to be delivered has to be entered into their database.

  • They take the customers information that you gave out in confidence to them and use it to promote other businesses behind your back.

  • They charge you for returns and cancellations (well, this is written in black and white. What becomes a challenge is when their riders cancel items without reaching out to your customers. This happened 3X during last month)

  • They charge you for collecting cash from your customers and for sending that cash to your bank account (1.35% and N100 for every transfer. The former is in the rate card. The later is not)

  • You have to micromanage them especially when you have cancellation (I think this is the case with some other top players also).

  • They don’t honor signed agreements.

What I want?

  1. I want my account balance sent back to me so I can get someone else to handle deliveries in the interim (money paid in for their delivery service)

  2. I want my earnings deposited into my account.

  3. I want my order returned and a comprehensive reason why it wasn’t delivered to the customer (I’m curious as to why no one has an answer for this).

  4. I want an apology for making my business go through all of this.

I get it, maybe point 4 might not be taken seriously as I am not Chicken Republic or Leadway Assurance ( major clients) but I paid for a service and ACE gave me a promise. Shutting down my account in the manner it did was reckless and it has affected the business since Monday.

  1. I want a proper cancellation based on what we both agreed to in the agreement I signed and a signed letter by ACE promising to destroy every customer information in their database when the cancellation is due (Its in violation of the terms signed between the Merchant and the company)
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These are very damning allegations that could prove disastrous to ACE. They were on Radar last week. I hope they have an explanations for this, 'cause I was considering using their service. Waiting for a counter. :persevere:

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These are serious allegations my friend. They better be true.

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Oh cool, you know just last week they had this AMA thing here on radar, I was going to bust them right through because I had a similar nasty experience but I just thought to chill, I mean… its a start up, a business, its not easy and all that, but to read your experience too?

My experience is similar to yours but I wont even bother about details, it was so annoying I sent a mail to complain and copied the founders, corporate head and another staff in charge of my account, not a “pim” as in it was like my courteous complain via email fell on blind eyes, I personally would not ignore a persons complain about me not to talk of a customers complain.

That was my last deal with them, if I have to take my order through Ajala jalingo, I’d rather. I sincerely, wish ACE the best, keep your house in order.

Cheers

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too long :rage:

everyone stores information in a database… its called record keeping :disappointed:

As for the terrible part… those are some the ways they make money…
its called business :grinning:

besides you signed a document that YOU know favors them :scream:

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I’ve heard more “not so nice” things about this courier service provider than good.
Yet, we know that this industry used to be the sole forte of NIPOST and a few offline partly regulated providers.

I had once thought of working with Tranex on an online delivery solution for startups. But time had the better of that idea.
It’s still early and I believe anyone can enter this market as the current players are presently riddled with the basic teething problems common to emerging economies.

I have had customers in the past who actually were offensive because we would not allow them go against the acceptable use policy of our service.
Personally, and this is only my opinion, I think terminating a customer’s account for “angrily” expressing their dissatisfaction at the quality of service has some tone of insecurity / superiority (ego) complex.

Also, I think any customer who signs up to a service should comport themselves properly without resulting to insults when frustrated by a service provider - I know how badly I feel like cursing MTN when I hear that “your account is too low message” even when I have credit.

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Hi Jimi,

Thanks for your point. First let me start by saying, it is never our intention to get into an argument with clients with accusations back and forth. We are all young businesses and it’s important we support ourselves as we grow.

However it is important to address a few points in your message for the benefit of the readers here:

  1. Regarding customer information. We do not send unsolicited mails to your customers. As you know, the purpose of merchants uploading package details with customer information is so we can send tracking details and promote transparency to your end customers and to you (the merchant).
  2. Regarding our charges, as you stated we are very up front with our charges from which the Merchant can then decide if they are fine to work with us. That being said, close to 70% of our charges are only charged when an item is successfully delivered so we are heavily incentivized to deliver.
  3. Regarding the closing of your account. The subject and body of the email you sent to our team reached about 15 people in our Company and included profanity. While we are a service provider and understand there are frustrations in running a business we have taken a stance as a business not to condone such language internally and externally hence our decision to close our business with you.
  4. Regarding the cancellation of your package. You entered the same package information twice which was detected by our tool and the extra package got cancelled. This is one of the reasons we promote the use of our online delivery tools to isolate and get to the root cause of any issues.

Lastly, regarding your deposit and any packages our possession, our team is reconciling your account. All packages in our possession will be ready for your pick-up and your deposit returned to you tomorrow.

We deliver for several hundred businesses and treat each client with respect and have a desire to deliver every single package we take and delight customers across the country and Africa.

We wish you the best in your business and your future endeavors.

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Jesus !!. This doesnt sound right at all.

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Hi @ercin_eksin since you are addressing the issue, I’d like to say;

  1. You do send unsolicited mails to customers, I experienced it with my customer, apparently the mails are sent to track the orders which is good but unfortunately you keep sending even after the goods are delivered, my customer had to call me 2ce to alert you guys on the issue, I called to complain more than 2 times before it was rectified for both my account and my customers. A simple automation will stop the embarrassment.

  2. I had a messy experience with you guys too but I wont even bother with the details, my advise is at least acknowledge a customers complain, I don’t get how hubris would work for you in a service business where you are not god.

*Note; my complain via email was without profanity, I was courteous and reasonable.

My 2 cents.

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Hi Lawwyy, kindly check out www.nationdelivery.com. quite new and very efficient too.

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Tip: It helps to put a disclaimer stating that you are a part of nationdelivery.com though, so the business has a human feel, rather than this pseudo spammy route you’re taking. You guys have good heads on your shoulders, be proud to associate with it.

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Guess you’re right.
It was a sentence and it was out of frustration.
6th error in 3weeks and no one knew who or what.

About MTN though - be happy MTN is not owned by ACE, you might have been disconnected =)

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What the heck are you saying mate? This is business not Baba Ijebu! What kind of “oh well” explanations are these?

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I do apologize for the profanity. It was one sentence and I was out of line.

You and Tunde are guys I respect for your work at Jumia and at building ACE - this issue won’t take away how much respect I have for what you two have accomplished for yourself. Please extend my sincere apologies to your team also.

On the issue of closure, especially this statement from your email reply to me:

"If a merchant is unhappy, they are free to use another provider."

You and I know that once a merchant signs up on your platform, they are stuck thanks to an unwritten rule - no refunds!

I wanted out the third day after signing up but I wasn’t going to get my money back plus you also made me sign an agreement which stipulated how cancellations of accounts should be done.

I signed the contract agreement after reading it thoroughly - I know what I got myself into before paying for your services. There is no where in that agreement that states that ACE has the authority to cancel a merchant’s account whenever they feel like doing so.

There is a proper procedure for doing this.

If you don’t know this, then you need to revisit that document and read the fine print.

This issue is not about profanity. Its about a breach of contract.

You asked your managers to cancel all rescheduled orders for my account today. Those orders had gotten to their destinations and the customer was aware, in some cases, the customer rescheduled the items themselves and yet you made them cancel it just to drive home your point.

The mysterious part about your reply here is that you still can’t tell me why my order wasn’t delivered on Friday/Monday? This was the cause of the mail, remember?

I will review my options on this issue before making my next move.

Thanks.

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I’m interested.
Can I pls get your rate card?

Thx

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Jimi,

To think I paid for ACE’s service on Monday. I reckon I will use them till my balance is exhausted and move on. I hate businesses with a god complex.

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you say “THIS IS BUSINESS” like you know what that means…

the OP signed a DOCUMENT that favors them… which means he is legally bound by that agreement… The OP knows what he got himself into…

Life is about taking risks (which means life is about gambling)… The OP gambled… He played “BABA IJEBU” with his money …

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Hi Jimi,

I will call you this afternoon to discuss. Both sides are passionate about growing their businesses so I’m sure we can have a conversation and solve.

Re: the package intended for Ojota. From our records, you entered the LGA for the delivery as “Ikorodu” so the package was routed to Ikorodu vs. Ojota which delayed the delivery attempt.

Tunde

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Hi Mo,

Glad to have you on board as a merchant. I would say, try the service and make your judgement call. I am sure you’ll see from a reliability, transparency for yourself and your end customers and client management standpoint you’ll be happy.

If any issues, drop me a line directly (I believe you have my details). If not, send us a note at genius@ace.ng and I’ll come back to you quickly.

Tunde

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@xolubi: I think it does not matter whether he works with National Delivery or not?? Even as @Jimi is trying to resolve his issues with ACE, alternative 3PLs are highly welcome. Let’s not create unnecessary bottlenecks in the flow of ideas.

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