Parcel Motel Issues

Ditto on the bad experience with Parcel Motel. Had a printer delivered from Amazon to them in Belfast as the Amazon seller did not ship to Ireland. Though its a small printer it turned out the box was oversize and so they could not deliver it to my designated Parcel Motel in Cork. OK, I was unlucky, but I thought I might still get my printer eventually and I could pick it up in Cork.

3 days after it was delivered to Nightline in Belfast I got an e-mail that just said "Please collect your oversized Parcel Motel package at Nightline, Unit 5 Mygan Pk, Finglas, Dublin", no other details except their telephone number.

I called it and said I would like to collect the parcel from their Cork depot, to which the response was, "Sorry, its in our Dublin depot, you will have to collect it from there".

I said, "but, I'm supposed to be able to collect it from any of your depots in Ireland", reply: "Ummm, I'll pass you through to our packaging dept, pause, Sorry, their very busy, I'll have to get then to call you back"

UPDATE: Once I e-mailed Parcel Motel customer support, the experience improved a lot, It seems the staff I dealt with on the phone were not up to speed on the procedure for oversize parcels. Ruth replied to my e-mail immediately and had my parcel in the Cork depot by 9 the following morning.
Makes me wonder if they provided a link to an online form in their "oversize e-mail". Then you could click and select your preferred delivery depot from a list, might save some hassle for them and the customer.

I have used PM about 18 times in the past 10 weeks and found them to very good, I had an oversized package delivered yesterday and I collected it in Finglas last night

I've had one bad experience, I ordered a christmas present for Santa which arrived with them in NI on the 11th of December, but when I rang then looking for it on the 18th, they couldn't find it. it took them 48 hours to check their warehouse, but no luck. I had to but the item in Dublin for twice the price, but then may I should have ordered it before the rush started

The issue I have is, it arrived this morning !!!!

I don't want it now, I got another one at twice the price, remember?

What cover do PM have for late deliveries, can I request a full refund or do I have to accept that the parcel arrived, even though I was told they lost it

PS. Because of the sales the price online is now half what if was

One would think Parcel Motel would have some responsibility here if they signed for and accepted a parcel on 11th December and then misplaced it for nearly 1 month and told you it was lost. You checked with them, they searched their warehouse for 48 hrs (?). I would contact their Customer Service Dept, if they have one, and see what they say - 1 month is not really a reasonable time frame.

Hello,

I received an oversized parcel and although I got a text that I can collect it in Dublin they also have a depot in Cork. So far so good.

The problem is that I have been charged 21 Euro due to the oversize. The calculation is not by weight but using the volumetric weight which is length x height x width / 3000 (dimensions in cm). So although the parcel weighs very little (4 pillows) I have been charged 21 Euro extra.

I have been advised that the extra charge can be up to 161 Euro (!) which would correspond to a volume of roughly 90x90x90 cm. Although this is fairly big keep in mind that you will be charged that even if it weighs only 10kg for example.

I used Parcel Motel in the past and was very happy with the service but from now on I will definitely be very carefully checking the dimensions with the shipper before ordering. If it is oversize Parcel Motel is simply not competitive.

Regards,

I have used Parcel Motel frequently over the past two years. All without problems, except for one delivery.

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The box was sopping wet and badly damaged when I opened the PM locker. It was a few days before Christmas so I took it home and closely photographed the box at its various stages of opening. I was lucky that the Chinese seller had packaged the item extremely well. The electronic product's box was packed inside a bigger box with paper padding. Also the item itself was wrapped in a plastic bag inside the product box. The water damage had penetrated right the way through the outer box, paper padding and inner product box which was also damaged. The only thing that ultimately saved the electronics was the plastic bag surrounding the product itself.

I surmised that the driver had dropped it into a deep puddle as we had very bad flooding around the delivery time. He had also either thrown or kicked the box as it was badly physically damaged as well.

I checked my account and PM's picture of the accepted delivery at the Antrim depot and it "looked" okay. However I noticed that they cynically take the photos from such a distance where you would not see water damage or anything else bar semi or total destruction of your parcel anyway.

I contacted PM about this attaching my photographs of the water damaged and physically smashed in packaging. The response I had form their "customer service" was spectacular.

It took the form of: "Up Yours!", presumably with an Antrim accent. No offer of any compensation, since the product was okay, regardless of the photographic proof of the damaged parcel. My point was that I paid for their service and they did not deliver on that service. Damaged parcels are not what I pay for.

From that point on I will only use them if they are significantly cheaper than the alternative, and only with bombproof and definitively small items. I would say they have lost half of my business due to two employees (driver & customer agent) who don't realise who pays their wages.

Lesson learned.

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Distance Selling
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The point that someone made about your distance selling rights going out the window if you use PM is also true. If they receive your parcel on day 1 and you receive it from PM on day 2, 3 or 4, your have already lost that many days of your time to return without question.

If they delay your parcel after receiving it, then every day that it is delayed after they receive it endangers your right to return the item at all under distance selling rules.

If they lose your parcel completely, then you are in a battle with PM for the cost of the product AND their charges. As one poster reported it took him forever to have this sorted with PM dragging their feet for the entire process.

I presume if your product is damaged as in my case they will be similarly difficult to deal with, or may point blank refuse to reimburse you. They will refer back to the cynical photograph taken at their Antrim depot, as if their driver's who subsequently handle your parcel are blameless innocent paragons of virtue.

Be aware, their customer service when things go wrong at their end is less than stellar. They are a courier company, so you can imagine how much they give a tihs about you or your parcel.

I find delivery fulfilled, or direct from Amazon, or the seller to be safest, as all of your distance selling rights are intact, and also with complete loss or damage to your parcel you are completely covered by EU and Irish consumer law.