Dabs.com courier goes titsup

BT insists orders will be delivered

By Kelly Fiveash • Get more from this author

Posted in IT Director, 28th August 2008 06:02 GMT

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Online retailer Dabs.com has told customers to hang fire for a few days while orders due to be delivered by Amtrak are reassigned to another courier.

Netfold Ltd, trading as Amtrak, went into administration last Friday (22 August). It’s the second time in two years that the company has ceased trading.

The Aldridge, West Midlands-based firm said that customers who need to collect parcels or have deliveries outstanding should contact Business Post Ltd.

In early 2007 Netfold Ltd snapped up Amtrak Express Parcels Ltd’s assets after it had gone into administration. At the time its management blamed “financial difficulties during the autumn and early winter trading” for the company’s demise.

But less than 20 months later Amtrak has once again buckled under the strain, and up to 1,000 employees face losing their jobs. A number of redundancies have reportedly already taken place across the company’s depot network.

The delivery firm has regional hubs in Warrington and Bristol and owns 80 franchised depots and a fleet of 2,000 trucks and vans across the UK. It could not be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, Dabs.com has removed Amtrak from its consignment tracking web page.

The Register asked BT, which bought Dabs.com in April 2006 for £30m, if it could reassure Dabs customers that their orders were safe.

A BT spokeswoman told us: “Amtrak were one of several delivery firms that Dabs.com uses and we have plans in place to ensure that customers will not be adversely affected by what has happened.” She added that “those orders that were due to go out with Amtrak this week will now be delivered by Business Post and customers will receive their products in the next few days.”

Ernst & Young were appointed administrators of the Amtrak business late last week. A spokesman for the firm told the Independent that customers can expect some disruption to their delivery service, but added it was unlikely any orders would be cancelled.

The spokesman also said that Amtrak staff would receive their full salary for the month of August, but he declined to comment on their fate beyond that. ®

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