joker97: I'm very confused.

Dispatch or despatch?

It's all the same 

dejadeadnz:

 

Hammerer:

 

I can understand your annoyance. But you are insisting that "dispatched" only has the meaning you assign it: that the item has actually been physically sent. The meaning of the word allows that the task of sending has been assigned/commanded but the actual execution is not necessarily complete.

 

 

 

P.S. Edit to correct grammar

 

 

They claimed "dispatched", i.e. past tense/done. Not dispatching. The Merriam-Webster dictionary so defines the word "dispatch", amongst other things:

 

 

 

to send off or away with promptness or speed; ...

 

 

 

to dispose of (as a task) rapidly or efficiently

 

 

 

In context, I think the fact that I've never, ever run into any online merchant that claims an item to have been dispatched without it having been picked up by a delivery agent, the fact that they used the word in the past tense, and that it is neither doing something promptly or efficiently to create a tracking number and then sending it the day after (relatively speaking for the online word) means that they really should cease their current practice. And frankly just who did they "send off" my item to when they merely created the tracking number yesterday?

 

Even the meanings you've used allow for The Warehouse's use without depending on the tense.

We can also look at this by the functions performed.

When we post the letter or parcel into a post box, it sits there until the scheduled pick up by NZ Post. NZ Post doesn't know about the item until after it is handled in their postal centre. You'd be happy with that meaning of dispatched.

The situation with The Warehouse is not that much different. The item sits in a dedicated area for pickup. That area functions as a kind of post box. It has a regular pickup because of the scale of The Warehouse's online sales. It can be scanned at pickup by the courier but the first scan can also be at a postal centre just like a regular post box.

I also remember a time when NZ Post used to have staff working on the premises of large post users like, from memory, Inland Revenue.

In all cases, the item is dispatched when the next step is underaken by NZ Post.

Hammerer:

 

The situation with The Warehouse is not that much different. The item sits in a dedicated area for pickup. That area functions as a kind of post box. It has a regular pickup because of the scale of The Warehouse's online sales. It can be scanned at pickup by the courier but the first scan can also be at a postal centre just like a regular post box.

 

It is important, because (in my view) delivery lead times are calculated from the date/time when the package status changes to 'dispatched'.  

If dispatched simply means sitting in an outward goods,   then it is impossible to calculate delivery lead times on this. You have no idea if the courier will collect today or tomorrow (they might be too busy). 

I placed the item in an envelope, added a suitable stamp and walked around the corner to place the envelope in the NZ Post box.

I have dispatched the item to you.  The NZ Post box may or may not be cleared every day.  I really have no idea when you will receive the item.

Was dispatch the wrong word to use in this context?

surfisup1000:

 

Hammerer:

 

The situation with The Warehouse is not that much different. The item sits in a dedicated area for pickup. That area functions as a kind of post box. It has a regular pickup because of the scale of The Warehouse's online sales. It can be scanned at pickup by the courier but the first scan can also be at a postal centre just like a regular post box.

 

 

It is important, because (in my view) delivery lead times are calculated from the date/time when the package status changes to 'dispatched'.  

 

If dispatched simply means sitting in an outward goods,   then it is impossible to calculate delivery lead times on this. You have no idea if the courier will collect today or tomorrow (they might be too busy). 

 

 

 

I've been addressing the topic. The Warehouse is not doing an injustice to the word dispatch in either meaning or function. It is not a deceptive practice.

Now the issue you bring up is related but quite different. The issues of lead times and service levels are important to many of us, myself included. But calculating delivery lead times is largely meaningless if there isn't a discussion of the service level that The Warehouse is being held to. In the OP's case, there was no mention of The Warehouse's service commitment which would be relevant to show us whether it was or was not met for the OP.

The situation with The Warehouse is not the same thing as a "dispatch" meaning the package is "sitting in an outward goods" waiting for a delivery whenever. The Warehouse will have a contract with their courier service that specifies service levels and probably has a schedule of pickup times. Without that information, we're just making reasonable guesses about what is happening. That's why delivery lead times are difficult to calculate because you have to know all the service windows that operate.

MikeB4:

 

joker97: I'm very confused.

Dispatch or despatch?

 

 

 

It's all the same 

 

Essentially, despatch is old spelling that continues in some places, the UK more than most.

http://grammarist.com/spelling/dispatch-despatch/

crichton:

I placed the item in an envelope, added a suitable stamp and walked around the corner to place the envelope in the NZ Post box.

I have dispatched the item to you.  The NZ Post box may or may not be cleared every day.  I really have no idea when you will receive the item.

Was dispatch the wrong word to use in this context?

crichton:

I placed the item in an envelope, added a suitable stamp and walked around the corner to place the envelope in the NZ Post box.

I have dispatched the item to you.  The NZ Post box may or may not be cleared every day.  I really have no idea when you will receive the item.

Was dispatch the wrong word to use in this context?

crichton:

 

I placed the item in an envelope, added a suitable stamp and walked around the corner to place the envelope in the NZ Post box.

 

I have dispatched the item to you.  The NZ Post box may or may not be cleared every day.  I really have no idea when you will receive the item.

 

Was dispatch the wrong word to use in this context?

 

'Dispatch' is correct because the package now under the responsibility of NZ post and their rules. You cannot prevent delivery (within reason) at this point.

You are incorrect in one aspect though--- you say you don't know when the box is cleared. It is listed on the postbox -- NZ post follows this schedule. Therefore, you know exactly when it will be delivered using the collection time listed on the box and the lead time in the service agreement .   You can be confident of telling the recipient when they will receive the item. 

I am not incorrect.  I very rarely read what is written on the Post Box.  It is quite possible to post a letter without observing the messages printed on the box.

MikeB4:

 

joker97: I'm very confused.

Dispatch or despatch?

 

 

 

It's all the same 

 

Is it really? If I'm fighting and I dispatch my enemy? Then using the other version of the word wouldn't really work...

crichton:

 

I am not incorrect.  I very rarely read what is written on the Post Box.  It is quite possible to post a letter without observing the messages printed on the box.

 

But that is only due to your apathy  --- understandable when you don't care when the letter is delivered.   We are not talking about this situation.

However, if it is something a little more time critical then no doubt you'd be taking care to post in a box that is still to be cleared for the day. 

Dairyxox:

 

MikeB4:

 

joker97: I'm very confused.

Dispatch or despatch?

 

 

 

It's all the same 

 

 

Is it really? If I'm fighting and I dispatch my enemy? Then using the other version of the word wouldn't really work...

 

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/despatch