Need help with couriers.

troyzer · 24-09-2015 4:51pm #1

Hello all!

I'm living in the UK at the moment (doing my MSc). Before I left a few weeks ago my phone broke and I sent it off for repair. It's back in the shop and a family member picked it up. I asked her to post it over but apparentely An Post won't handle it because it has a battery? I have no idea, but they made it very clear they couldn't take it.

It's a phone, it's not a pallet of bricks. And I honestly cannot find any quote with FedEx, Parcelforce, DPD, UPS or any other big firm that is less than 50-60 euro to send a small package from Dublin to Cornwall. It's literally cheaper to fly.

Am I missing something here? Why is it so ridiculously expensive? I have quite literally shipped 20 kilos of rocks across Europe for less than that (I'm a geologist).

Any tips would be welcome, I'm fairly screwed otherwise.

uck51js9zml2yt · 24-09-2015 4:55pm

troyzer wrote: »

Hello all!

I'm living in the UK at the moment (doing my MSc). Before I left a few weeks ago my phone broke and I sent it off for repair. It's back in the shop and a family member picked it up. I asked her to post it over but apparentely An Post won't handle it because it has a battery? I have no idea, but they made it very clear they couldn't take it.

It's a phone, it's not a pallet of bricks. And I honestly cannot find any quote with FedEx, Parcelforce, DPD, UPS or any other big firm that is less than 50-60 euro to send a small package from Dublin to Cornwall. It's literally cheaper to fly.

Am I missing something here? Why is it so ridiculously expensive? I have quite literally shipped 20 kilos of rocks across Europe for less than that (I'm a geologist).

Any tips would be welcome, I'm fairly screwed otherwise.

Remove the battery and post separately.
Registered post for the lot.
I get phone batteries in the post without issue.

troyzer · 24-09-2015 5:35pm

Wilder Straight Roach wrote: »

Remove the battery and post separately.
Registered post for the lot.
I get phone batteries in the post without issue.

I can't remove the battery. It's sealed. It's an Xperia Z.

FreshCoffee · 24-09-2015 5:44pm

Try Parcel Motel. I used them recently to send a package to the UK and it worked perfectly with tracking available online. A small package is €14.50 and no restrictions on batteries as they don't use air shipment.
www.parcelmotel.com/prices/#prices-send

Note standard liability is €100 but you can extend it to €500 for an additional €3.50

troyzer · 24-09-2015 5:51pm

FreshCoffee wrote: »

Try Parcel Motel. I used them recently to send a package to the UK and it worked perfectly with tracking available online. A small package is €14.50 and no restrictions on batteries as they don't use air shipment.
www.parcelmotel.com/prices/#prices-send

Note standard liability is €100 but you can extend it to €500 for an additional €3.50

Not bad, I'll have a look at it. It must be very slow though if they don't use air-mail?

uck51js9zml2yt · 24-09-2015 5:52pm

troyzer wrote: »

Not bad, I'll have a look at it. It must be very slow though if they don't use air-mail?

Never happy ,are we

FreshCoffee · 24-09-2015 5:56pm

I put my parcel in the locker on a Monday but it wasn't collected until Tuesday and was delivered in the UK on Thursday. (I guess if I had put it in the locker early Tuesday it would still have been collected Tuesday / delivered Thursday and so would have been 2 days.)

I sent mine to a major centre in the UK, it might be a day longer to the smaller centres.

troyzer · 24-09-2015 5:57pm

Wilder Straight Roach wrote: »

Never happy ,are we

Ha ha! Yes, that's true. It'll do I suppose.

troyzer · 24-09-2015 5:58pm

FreshCoffee wrote: »

I put my parcel in the locker on a Monday but it wasn't collected until Tuesday and was delivered in the UK on Thursday. (I guess if I had put it in the locker early Tuesday it would still have been collected Tuesday / delivered Thursday and so would have been 2 days.)

I sent mine to a major centre in the UK, it might be a day longer to the smaller centres.

I wasn't aware that parcel motel was even in the UK. The website doesn't allow me to check nearby locations. I have no idea if I can use it or not.

uck51js9zml2yt · 24-09-2015 6:00pm

You could also take a look at parcel connect. They work via a shop network.

Stokolan · 24-09-2015 6:01pm

I used parcel motel to return a car dvd player to Amazon before and a package to an eBay seller.

Each time it was €15.50 and took between 3 - 5 days

Both packages were probably the size of a shoe box

FreshCoffee · 24-09-2015 6:03pm

Parcel motel is just in Ireland. I believe they are owned by Nightline. They deliver your parcel in the UK to your door, there is no 'motel' involved over there.

troyzer · 24-09-2015 6:03pm

Guys, I have no idea how to do it. Parcel Motel don't operate in the UK and there isn't a list of collection points on their parent website.

Do they operate a door to door courier service in the UK? The Nightline website is incredibly vague.

troyzer · 24-09-2015 6:04pm

FreshCoffee wrote: »

Parcel motel is just in Ireland. I believe they are owned by Nightline. They deliver your parcel in the UK to your door, there is no 'motel' involved over there.

You beat me to it there. But the Nightline website said they don't offer delivery to the destination I selected. They only have one depot in the entire UK and it's in Manchester. I'm in Cornwall.

FreshCoffee · 24-09-2015 6:10pm

It's Parcel Motel you deal with. I assume they hand the package to a UK delivery company for final delivery.

When you log in to Parcel Motel you can go through the process and they ask for the UK postal code and then present you with addresses at that postal code to select from. I tried a random Cornwall postal code and it seemed to work fine.

uck51js9zml2yt · 24-09-2015 6:12pm

Stokolan wrote: »

I used parcel motel to return a car dvd player to Amazon before and a package to an eBay seller.

Each time it was €15.50 and took between 3 - 5 days

Both packages were probably the size of a shoe box

Not wanting to derail the thread but if you had gotten onto amazon chat they could have sent you a returns label to their depot in dublin even if u had used Pm for delivery. Hope they refunded you the cost.

troyzer · 24-09-2015 6:29pm

FreshCoffee wrote: »

It's Parcel Motel you deal with. I assume they hand the package to a UK delivery company for final delivery.

When you log in to Parcel Motel you can go through the process and they ask for the UK postal code and then present you with addresses at that postal code to select from. I tried a random Cornwall postal code and it seemed to work fine.

Yeah, I got that there. And I read the terms of parcel motel and batteries don't appear anywhere on the prohibited items list. Seems too good to be true!

I'll have to set up the account. Do you know how much the insurance covers?

troyzer · 24-09-2015 6:31pm

troyzer wrote: »

Yeah, I got that there. And I read the terms of parcel motel and batteries don't appear anywhere on the prohibited items list. Seems too good to be true!

I'll have to set up the account. Do you know how much the insurance covers?

Nevermind, you already said 500 euro. 18.50 is fine, much cheaper than the majors.

But why is it still so expensive compared to getting stuff delivered by online retailers? Obviously they'll get a bulk buy discount, but even this is triple what you'd normally pay.

uck51js9zml2yt · 24-09-2015 7:16pm

troyzer wrote: »

Nevermind, you already said 500 euro. 18.50 is fine, much cheaper than the majors.

But why is it still so expensive compared to getting stuff delivered by online retailers? Obviously they'll get a bulk buy discount, but even this is triple what you'd normally pay.

You really are never happy,are you?:)
They don't have the ability to absorb the costs like Amazon etc. Do you know how much it costs to run a truck....I do.

troyzer · 24-09-2015 8:32pm

Wilder Straight Roach wrote: »

You really are never happy,are you?:)
They don't have the ability to absorb the costs like Amazon etc. Do you know how much it costs to run a truck....I do.

That's true. But even smaller companies can do it cheaply. I recently bought a really piece of specialised equipment from a small geological supply company out in Sheffield. It wasn't particular valuable, only £20, but it was heavy and they still managed to ship it to Ireland for £5.

corks finest · 25-09-2015 5:41am

troyzer wrote: »

Hello all!

I'm living in the UK at the moment (doing my MSc). Before I left a few weeks ago my phone broke and I sent it off for repair. It's back in the shop and a family member picked it up. I asked her to post it over but apparentely An Post won't handle it because it has a battery? I have no idea, but they made it very clear they couldn't take it.

It's a phone, it's not a pallet of bricks. And I honestly cannot find any quote with FedEx, Parcelforce, DPD, UPS or any other big firm that is less than 50-60 euro to send a small package from Dublin to Cornwall. It's literally cheaper to fly.

Am I missing something here? Why is it so ridiculously expensive? I have quite literally shipped 20 kilos of rocks across Europe for less than that (I'm a geologist).

Any tips would be welcome, I'm fairly screwed otherwise.

I was charged e 55 via courier,,, got it redeemed,,, second time,didn't tell an post,sent it as normal package, e 8.50. Ish

troyzer · 25-09-2015 9:56pm

FreshCoffee wrote: »

It's Parcel Motel you deal with. I assume they hand the package to a UK delivery company for final delivery.

When you log in to Parcel Motel you can go through the process and they ask for the UK postal code and then present you with addresses at that postal code to select from. I tried a random Cornwall postal code and it seemed to work fine.

They never gave me the option to insure the package, that's slightly alarming.

FreshCoffee · 25-09-2015 11:54pm

You have a bad case of hand holding need!

Log in to your Parcel Motel account.
Scroll down to the heading EXTENDED LIABILITY
Click EXTEND LIABILITY, select the cover level you need and purchase.
Your new cover will be effective for all packages sent and received for 14 days.

troyzer · 26-09-2015 12:22am

FreshCoffee wrote: »

You have a bad case of hand holding need!

Log in to your Parcel Motel account.
Scroll down to the heading EXTENDED LIABILITY
Click EXTEND LIABILITY, select the cover level you need and purchase.
Your new cover will be effective for all packages sent and received for 14 days.

Hand holding is all I need! You kids and your technology, it wasn't like that back in my day (2008).

Cheers for the help, I think I have it sorted now.

uck51js9zml2yt · 26-09-2015 12:35am

troyzer wrote: »

Hand holding is all I need! You kids and your technology, it wasn't like that back in my day (2008).

Cheers for the help, I think I have it sorted now.

Are you happy now ?:):)

troyzer · 01-10-2015 8:56pm

Update lads.

I got the phone. And guess what? It was damaged. I purchased the extended liability so we'll have to see what happens. But I know they're just going to point the finger at the repair shop and the repair shop claims they checked it before sending it off.

Need help with couriers.

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