Address pal or Parcel motel..

Max Headroom

Been a long time user of PM and i've found it brilliant..but recently also started with AnPost's Address Pal..,,for those that dont know of it..its the same idea but you collect your parcels from your nominated post office, slightly cheaper, but youre restricted by opening hours....the max size of a parcel is slightly different for both..so if you were getting a lid then PM lockers are a bit bigger, but AP allows a longer package..72cm as against 64cm for PM....
With the recent news about threatened closures of post offices around the country i thought i'd do my bit to maybe help stop this from happening...
Every town needs a post office, not 10 coffee shops..;)

BTW..i have no connections with Anpost...

Riva10

Like the op I have been using PM for a couple of years and have found them very good. Usually my parcel would arrive within 24 hours after being checked in in Antrim but within the last 5 or six months I have had a number of issues with them. 48 and 72 hour delivery times after check in, other times parcels not being checked in for days even with recorded deliveries to Antrim and no answer to emails or phone calls. I have started using Addresspal and find them efficient and consistant. Always 2 or 3 day delivery to my local post office from their UK depot. Definitely a better service than PM of late

Carlosthejakal

I have used PM up until recently, I swopped as I have a post office much closer than I have a PM box. Be very carefule with sizes as I have just been hit with a 25€ charge with AP for a slightly bigger package and I have to go to a deopt to get it. With PM it is about 14€ for the same thing.

Wossack

biggest thing imo, is that address pal use a mainland uk address (hertfordshire), vs the northern ireland one PM use. Occasionally, the NI address has attracted increased postage costs (and rarer again, outright refusals)

Max Headroom

TBF i sent a box to the UK with PM..it was 2kg over the limit but they didnt hit me with the oversize/weight penalty...i just put it in as 10kg..:o
I had an arguement with PM before about multiple packages being put in seperate boxes..i got fork seals ,head bearings and a chain..all came in on the same day but were not put together...€11.85 instead of 3.95..:mad:
They said it too awkard to start combining things together...I worked in the courier business...its not hard at all...

Wonder if its the same with AP...anyone know..??

kerryked

DPD also offer a similar service called Parcel Wizard, have used it once in the past and didn't have any problems. 3 very handy services to get stuff delivered from the UK

super_furry

The main reason for me using Parcel Motel is so I collect my parcels outside of business hours. Until An Post offer that, it's useless to me.

cadete

kerryked wrote: »

DPD also offer a similar service called Parcel Wizard, have used it once in the past and didn't have any problems. 3 very handy services to get stuff delivered from the UK

This is the one I'm wondering about, is it home delivery? What are their prices like?

kerryked

cadete wrote: »

This is the one I'm wondering about, is it home delivery? What are their prices like?

It is home delivery, as far as I recall, or they'll deliver to your office or somewhere convenient.

Not too sure on the pricing, I remember when I signed up this time last year there was an offer to get your first 3 parcels delivered for free. Not sure if that offer is still on or not.

Here's the website. Can't see much about pricing after a quick glance, but they have a live chat feature so you could ask there.

nsa0bupkd3948x

cadete wrote: »

This is the one I'm wondering about, is it home delivery? What are their prices like?

Its €3.85 for Parcel Wizard. They either deliver to your address or a pickup point.

Theres a blog post that goes over Parcel Wizard v Parcel Connect v AddressPal v Parcel Motel.

kkhornet

Have used PM since they started and never a problem but ordered a few items during the week and got the email that they had 2 items received and ready to dispatch but only one dropped off, means now I'll have to pay for 2 drops when they both would have fit in one. Also dunno why they have only delivered 1 item

Hotblack Desiato

Thread here about PM, looks like they're pretty swamped at the moment, took 4.5 days for a parcel of mine to get from Newtownabbey to the locker in Dublin but other people are doing much worse than that, and it's only going to get worse over the next couple of weeks

kkhornet, 2 items is always 2 charges whether they arrive together or not

Max Headroom

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

kkhornet, 2 items is always 2 charges whether they arrive together or not

If they arrive together they should be put in the same locker...all these things are scanned and given to the same driver , he should be instructed to put them in one locker..its not rocket science..

Cazale

Max Headroom wrote:

If they arrive together they should be put in the same locker...all these things are scanned and given to the same driver , he should be instructed to put them in one locker..its not rocket science..

You don't pay once when you are posting multiple parcels at the post office. Why should they only charge you once to deliver multiple parcels?

Max Headroom

Cazale wrote: »

You don't pay once when you are posting multiple parcels at the post office. Why should they only charge you once to deliver multiple parcels?

Your first post here and thats it......why you even here..??

Wossack

Cazale wrote: »

You don't pay once when you are posting multiple parcels at the post office. Why should they only charge you once to deliver multiple parcels?

similar to how amazon only charge once to send you your order, but may split it into god knows how many separate deliveries (dont deliever to PM from amazon is the take away here..!)

Max Headroom

Wossack wrote: »

similar to how amazon only charge once to send you your order, but may split it into god knows how many separate deliveries (dont deliever to PM from amazon is the take away here..!)

You engaging with this troll...???

For their information my postman delivers several parcels almost every day...;)

Cazale

Max Headroom wrote:

For their information my postman delivers several parcels almost every day...

Max Headroom wrote:

You engaging with this troll...???

I'm not a troll. I searched boards for parcel motel and this thread came up. Your post man delivers several parcels because they are paid for individually. You can't just land up to the post office and expect them to charge the same price for one parcel as ten. It's the same principle for parcel motel.

Del2005

Max Headroom wrote: »

If they arrive together they should be put in the same locker...all these things are scanned and given to the same driver , he should be instructed to put them in one locker..its not rocket science..

They are out to make a profit not save money for customers.

Max Headroom

Cazale wrote: »

I'm not a troll. I searched boards for parcel motel and this thread came up. Your post man delivers several parcels because they are paid for individually. You can't just land up to the post office and expect them to charge the same price for one parcel as ten. It's the same principle for parcel motel.

You're wrong...if 10 parcels addressed to you arrive at Nightline they will all be delivered to you by one courier at the same time..just like the postman..if 10 packages arrive for you at Parcel Motel aka Nightline they will be seperated out into 10 lockers....

Hotblack Desiato

Someone mentioned in the long PM thread I linked to, that combining parcels could cause issues, e.g. what happens if there is 1 big box and 1 small packet in my locker, but I don't see the small packet in the dark at the back? I go off and either think my package is delayed, or that PM have lost it. Meanwhile the delivery man opens the locker for the next parcel, and has to take it back to the depot. Or he doesn't see it either, and the next customer either gets a "free gift" or then has to contact PM and arrange the return of it etc. etc.

Much easier, and certainly more profitable, to just stick to 1 locker = 1 parcel = 1 charge.

Up to the customer to get their supplier to amalgamate deliveries. Good point about not using it with Amazon! but I always get free delivery with them and just get it sent to work anyway, it's not usually stuff I'd be in a hurry to get. (wouldn't want to be in a hurry with PM either at this time of year :pac: )

Cazale

Max Headroom wrote:

You're wrong...if 10 parcels addressed to you arrive at Nightline they will all be delivered to you by one courier at the same time..just like the postman..if 10 packages arrive for you at Parcel Motel aka Nightline they will be seperated out into 10 lockers....

I'm not. Nightline the courier company will have been paid for those parcels by whoever sent them e.g. Amazon. They are paid by the recipient of the parcels delivered to parcel motel ie you. Their costs are in the transport of the parcels and not the locker at the end. They aren't going to do themselves out of money by grouping them together. It's a different business model and not that difficult to understand!

kerryked

Max Headroom wrote: »

You're wrong...if 10 parcels addressed to you arrive at Nightline they will all be delivered to you by one courier at the same time..just like the postman..if 10 packages arrive for you at Parcel Motel aka Nightline they will be seperated out into 10 lockers....

I agree with Cazale on this.

What you're forgetting is that if 10 parcels arrive for you at Nightline, you have most likely paid 10 separate times for delivery.

If you're buying 10 items from the like of Amazon and they put them all into one box THEN you should be charged for one delivery.

Same principle applies to ParcelMotel.

Max Headroom

At the end of the day i switched in order to try and preserve my local post office....good bye PM .....for now..??:)

15YemenRoad

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Someone mentioned in the long PM thread I linked to, that combining parcels could cause issues, e.g. what happens if there is 1 big box and 1 small packet in my locker, but I don't see the small packet in the dark at the back? I go off and either think my package is delayed, or that PM have lost it. Meanwhile the delivery man opens the locker for the next parcel, and has to take it back to the depot. Or he doesn't see it either, and the next customer either gets a "free gift" or then has to contact PM and arrange the return of it etc. etc.

They make the assumption that people actually look in the locker and take their stuff.

smg2013

Carlosthejakal wrote: »

I have used PM up until recently, I swopped as I have a post office much closer than I have a PM box. Be very carefule with sizes as I have just been hit with a 25€ charge with AP for a slightly bigger package and I have to go to a deopt to get it. With PM it is about 14€ for the same thing.

On the above, would you know how much bigger your parcel was? I was about to order a dyson from the uk and asked dy customer service for the box dimensions and the box is 1cm bigger than the allowed AP size! How pernickety are they re sizes in AP? (FYI The difference by the way is a saving of €70 in buying the Dyson from the UK!!!)