Warning about Parcel Motel bike shipping costs

seven stars

Just some advice in case anyone was thinking of using Parcel Motel to get a bike shipped from Britain. For things like bikes, PM calculate the price based on volumetric weight, which can work out to be extremely expensive. I got a kids bike shipped from England, but the sender boxed it in a standard bike box, which PM charged the guts of 100 euro to get from Belfast to Dublin.

My advice is to use a different service - I've heard Paisley Freight have fixed prices for bike shipping that are fairly reasonable.

c50

seven stars wrote: »

Just some advice in case anyone was thinking of using Parcel Motel to get a bike shipped from Britain. For things like bikes, PM calculate the price based on volumetric weight, which can work out to be extremely expensive. I got a kids bike shipped from England, but the sender boxed it in a standard bike box, which PM charged the guts of 100 euro to get from Belfast to Dublin.

My advice is to use a different service - I've heard Paisley Freight have fixed prices for bike shipping that are fairly reasonable.

you're making parcel motel look life thiefs with a title like that. theyre quite straight talking when they give max measurements. Of course the bike came in a box...

im thinking they wouldve returned to sender if you requested it to be done.

I would also like the add that i once got a box from planet x for a few small bits that was ridiculously sized in proportion to what was inside and they charged me nothing more than the standard €3.50 when they couldnt fit in the container and had to be brought to their warehouse

Masala

Agree with C50. You asking the wrong people to do the wrong job...

They do a good job ... they do what they say on the tin!!

ardle1

c50 wrote: »

you're making parcel motel look life thiefs with a title like that. theyre quite straight talking when they give max measurements. Of course the bike came in a box...

im thinking they wouldve returned to sender if you requested it to be done.

I would also like the add that i once got a box from planet x for a few small bits that was ridiculously sized in proportion to what was inside and they charged me nothing more than the standard €3.50 when they couldnt fit in the container and had to be brought to their warehouse

+1..
I totally agree, someone reading OP's post could be put off using Parcel Motel... Parcel Motel is a fantastic service, I've had numerous dealings with them, with no complaints what so ever, in fact I've often received Parcels on a Saturday or even a Sunday

CramCycle

They are also lenient in pricing terms for the large boxes, I did not expect mine to be so expensive but they settled on the 50 I put in over the 95 that it should have been. Its very clear on their site, they can't be held accountable for the numpty packaging of alot of UK online retailers.

diomed

Check out deliverme.ie in Newry. They deliver all over the island of Ireland.

The tax man

I've had two bikes delivered from the UK through Parcel Motel. One cost me €17.50 and the other cost €24.50. A few frames have cost slightly less.
Great service and so far I can't fault their pricing.

Mycroft H

+1 on Paisley Freight.

Got my Peugeot shipped with them. 3 Day delivery from them. Tracked and Insured for something like 60 odd euros.

seven stars

Hang on a minute - at no stage did I suggest Parcel Motel don't provide a good service. It's just not a suitable service for the carriage of bikes, and the thread title and post are quite clear that I'm referring to the carriage of bikes here.

Most of the posters who have replied are already aware that I 'asked the wrong people to do the wrong job', and I agree. My post was obviously not for your benefit. It was intended - in a spirit of helpfulness - as a headsup to anyone within the boards cycling community who may not be aware of this, in case someone makes the same mistake as me.

CramCycle

seven stars wrote: »

Hang on a minute - at no stage did I suggest Parcel Motel don't provide a good service. It's just not a suitable service for the carriage of bikes, and the thread title and post are quite clear that I'm referring to the carriage of bikes here.

Most of the posters who have replied are already aware that I 'asked the wrong people to do the wrong job', and I agree. My post was obviously not for your benefit. It was intended - in a spirit of helpfulness - as a headsup to anyone within the boards cycling community who may not be aware of this, in case someone makes the same mistake as me.

TBF the tone of your OP sounds like they screwed you in some way, it was implicit not definitive, problem with the interweb as it is often hard to get someones tone. I found them a good service for shipping bikes, negotiable as well on price if you ring them up. That said if I ordered from the UK again, I would look around more, they just provided an easy solution as most retailers want a delivery address whereas alot of freight require a pick up point.

Harrybelafonte

seven stars wrote: »

Hang on a minute - at no stage did I suggest Parcel Motel don't provide a good service. It's just not a suitable service for the carriage of bikes, and the thread title and post are quite clear that I'm referring to the carriage of bikes here.

Most of the posters who have replied are already aware that I 'asked the wrong people to do the wrong job', and I agree. My post was obviously not for your benefit. It was intended - in a spirit of helpfulness - as a headsup to anyone within the boards cycling community who may not be aware of this, in case someone makes the same mistake as me.

You never actually said you had made a mistake and suggested people use another service instead. Those details were missing so it just seemed like you were dismissing Parcel Motel's services. It's a good point to highlight though.

fat bloke

Yiz are all very cranky this morning. I read the same post from the same OP with no anaphylaxis.

Thanks OP for highlighting the mistake / issue. 100 quid is a large percentage increase on any kid's bike and worth bringing to general attention.

cosbawn

I use parcel motel a bit and find them really good. Especially when using Amazon and you get the "don't post to here" stuff. Great way around it. One item was costing about £12 B Pounds from amazon and Parcel M was the standard €3/4€. So a really great saving. Though I do always try and get free p&p.

However I recently had to send a small enough parcel back to UK, Parcel Motel quoted €14 :eek: So went in post office and got it sent off for €7.50

Planet X

On the above advise, got a bike coming in from UK with Paisley Freight. £42.50. Regardless of dimensions or weight they advised me. It's being collected today (2nd. hand) from Dorset.
Let's see.......

seven stars

How'd you get on with the Paisley Freight delivery Planet X?

The fixed pricing regardless of size or packaging is a good thing I reckon. I'd be interested to know how the two bikes that cost €17.50 and €24.50 were packaged. My delivery was a youth's cyclocross bike in a standard Wiggle bike box.