Nightline/Parcel Motel Thread Part 2 (post all related questions here)

MissShihTzu

silver2020 wrote: »

I just don't understand this backlash.

It will cost me €3.99 for each parcel. (€35 top up + bonus stay = 8.77 stays for €35) Considering that I can avail of free UK delivery and have the parcel in a locker that i can pick up at any time, its worth every cent.

I believe the extra costs is because the are adding a lot of overnight and weekend staff which will cost extra money, but which should see faster delivery.

Considering most of these services operate on wafer thin margins, I think its justified.

Maybe they should have left the cost at 3.95 and withdraw the bonus stay for a €35 top up and people would be happier?

No - They should keep doing the below...

coylemj wrote: »

It's like your local pub announcing a price increase on rugby or soccer match days 'because we'll be busier'.

What they should be doing instead is offering incentives for early collection, either a partial rebate such as a credit of €1 if you collect within 4 hours or entry to a draw for a big TV like they did a few years ago.

I'm a heavy user of PM as as lot of the stuff I use isn't available here as it is at home in the UK. What I don't understand and don't appreciate is the fact they have clearly decided to place a premium on Christmas deliveries. In the middle of a pandemic and subsequent lockdown when people aren't as able to get to the shops. Why would you think that's justifiable?

And NO - it doesn't result in faster delivery. If anything, delivery will be slower because of the volume. In fact - delivery has been much slower for obvious reasons. On the other hand? If people have withdrawn their business because of the cost rise, perhaps you'll get your wish and have quicker delivery? I doubt it though...

dan786

Looks like PM have lost a 1500 Euro parcel on me. I had two of the same items delivered to them at same time Thursday one of which was delivered to me. All parcels from yesterday and today have also been delivered. However the second parcel from Thursday is not even checked into my account.

Thankfully extended the liability to 1500 on Wednesday so they will have to pay it out.

One More Toy

dan786 wrote: »

Looks like PM have lost a 1500 Euro parcel on me. I had two of the same items delivered to them at same time Thursday one of which was delivered to me. All parcels from yesterday and today have also been delivered. However the second parcel from Thursday is not even checked into my account.

Thankfully extended the liability to 1500 on Wednesday so they will have to pay it out.

Good luck trying to get in touch with them. Nightmare

dan786

One More Toy wrote: »

Good luck trying to get in touch with them. Nightmare

I will get my money back for sure. I dont mind waiting. Its a busy period so dont expect them to get back to me straight away.

Doodah7

silver2020 wrote: »

be mindful of address pal restrictions on liquids and batteries (amongst others)

On the contrary, Address Pal is my go to service for batteries over Parcel Motel et al. Always guaranteed delivery using AP for such items.

Nigzcurran

dan786 wrote: »

Looks like PM have lost a 1500 Euro parcel on me. I had two of the same items delivered to them at same time Thursday one of which was delivered to me. All parcels from yesterday and today have also been delivered. However the second parcel from Thursday is not even checked into my account.

Thankfully extended the liability to 1500 on Wednesday so they will have to pay it out.

Fair play for getting the extra insurance, this is vital on any expensive items

silver2020

coylemj wrote: »

It's like your local pub announcing a price increase on rugby or soccer match days 'because we'll be busier'.

What they should be doing instead is offering incentives for early collection, either a partial rebate such as a credit of €1 if you collect within 4 hours or entry to a draw for a big TV like they did a few years ago.

But many pubs do increase prices after 11pm, hotels increase prices at peak periods, restaurants don't offer "early bird" deals on weekends, airlines increase prices in summer etc etc etc

mgbgt1978

Hardly a fair analogy. Airline and hotel prices are based on demand vs supply.
Parcel Motel can quite easily cope with an increase in demand, and make more money at the same time.
An Aeroplane has a fixed number of seats and if there is a demand surge for a particular flight it makes sense for the airline to increase the ticket price.
Parcel Motel is an entirely different business model.
This increase is simply price gouging.
Parcel Wizard, here I come......

coylemj

silver2020 wrote: »

I believe the extra costs is because the are adding a lot of overnight and weekend staff which will cost extra money, but which should see faster delivery.

They hire temporary staff and add 'popup' collection points to deal with extra capacity, it does not result in a faster service vs. the rest of the year. If anything, the quality of service disimproves significantly. I recall a few years ago in Nov/Dec trying to find my package in the dressing rooms in Kilmacud Crokes in Stillorgan, the place was chaotic.

The temporary staff (students in yellow vests) were so overwhelmed that they let the punters look for their packages. Which were scattered all over the place, on the benches and on the floor. I could easily have lifted a carton that was about the right size for an iPhone, taken it and come back the next day for my own package.

silver2020 wrote: »

Considering most of these services operate on wafer thin margins, I think its justified.

Parcel Motel is operated by Nightline which in 2017 was taken over by UPS. If PM operated on 'wafer thin margins', the day after the takeover UPS would have either jacked up the prices or closed it down. They did neither.

ED E

Their scale increases during this period, economies of scale make things cheaper to run. Instead of sometimes dropping 5 packages sometimes 30 the drivers can be almost guaranteed to always have a full run.


If they weren't dopes they have implemented a rebate policy where if you collect your item in the first 6 hrs you get a small portion of the charge back. That way the motels wont overfill as much and won't see the massive backlogs they always do.

silver2020

coylemj wrote: »

T
Parcel Motel is operated by Nightline which in 2017 was taken over by UPS. If PM operated on 'wafer thin margins', the day after the takeover UPS would have either jacked up the prices or closed it down. They did neither.

UPS bought Nightline primarily for their B2B contracts especially the just in time pharmaceutical contracts that sees daily deliveries to dispensing pharmacies and hospitals nationwide, Parcel Motel was an afterthought, but was considered a nice add-on

ED E wrote: »

Their scale increases during this period, economies of scale make things cheaper to run. Instead of sometimes dropping 5 packages sometimes 30 the drivers can be almost guaranteed to always have a full run.

In many cases that is correct, but it can be turned upside down too. Late pubs are an example - they have to have more security on, pay staff more and probably deal with more unruliness and those extra costs outweigh the business uplift, hence a higher after 11pm price

Same with PM. They will need night and weekend staff who will demand a premium payment, thus costs are up. Each individual package needs handling - this final van journey is just one of many parts of the equation

If having to pay a few cent extra means a reasonable service in the Christmas peak, I'll take that.

If if means a few penny pinchers stop using the service, that's even better

coylemj

silver2020 wrote: »

UPS bought Nightline primarily for their B2B contracts especially the just in time pharmaceutical contracts that sees daily deliveries to dispensing pharmacies and hospitals nationwide, Parcel Motel was an afterthought, but was considered a nice add-on

That may be the case, it doesn't address my point which is that if PM was operating on 'wafer thin margins' as you claim then UPS would have either closed it down or jacked up the prices. You imply that PM is a 'nice add-on'. I don't think that's how a company like UPS sees it. It either delivers a return on investment (via a decent profit margin) or it gets shut down.

silver2020 wrote: »

In many cases that is correct, but it can be turned upside down too. Late pubs are an example - they have to have more security on, pay staff more and probably deal with more unruliness and those extra costs outweigh the business uplift, hence a higher after 11pm price

Same with PM. They will need night and weekend staff who will demand a premium payment, thus costs are up. Each individual package needs handling - this final van journey is just one of many parts of the equation

You cannot compare PM to a late-night pub. Very few people would collect from PM collection points in the early hours so there is no comparison.

A pub has a set customer capacity, they can jack up prices when demand exceeds supply. Lots of office parties means that restaurants can jack up their prices for evening dinner in December. PM doesn't operate to the same economic model.

MissShihTzu

silver2020 wrote: »

If having to pay a few cent extra means a reasonable service in the Christmas peak, I'll take that.

Sorry - As already pointed out earlier in the thread, it doesn't. Especially coming up to Christmas in the middle of a pandemic and lockdown. Last Christmas, there was anything up to a 4 day delay in getting my parcels in Cork. But I had already factored in the wait, so didn't mind. That was BEFORE the events of this year.

silver2020 wrote: »

If if means a few penny pinchers stop using the service, that's even better

It's BECAUSE of the penny pinchers (gougers) at PM/UPS, you will not be getting a better service. They are simply charging a premium and taking advantage of the fact there will be more online shopping at this time of the year. Of course, if you wish to pay more, that's your prerogative.

Personally, I see no reason to pay a premium when there won't be any noticeable uplift in the service I am paying for.

rodia77

dan786 wrote: »

Looks like PM have lost a 1500 Euro parcel on me. I had two of the same items delivered to them at same time Thursday one of which was delivered to me. All parcels from yesterday and today have also been delivered. However the second parcel from Thursday is not even checked into my account.

Thankfully extended the liability to 1500 on Wednesday so they will have to pay it out.

Wow. You would think with the extended liability they'd have some extra checks and care for parcels not to go missing / get stolen.

spix

dan786 wrote: »

Looks like PM have lost a 1500 Euro parcel on me. I had two of the same items delivered to them at same time Thursday one of which was delivered to me. All parcels from yesterday and today have also been delivered. However the second parcel from Thursday is not even checked into my account.

Thankfully extended the liability to 1500 on Wednesday so they will have to pay it out.

Is there a signature on the tracking? If not they will cause a fuss and claim they never received the parcel even if it says delivered.

magoo84

rodia77 wrote: »

Wow. You would think with the extended liability they'd have some extra checks and care for parcels not to go missing / get stolen.

PM are absolutely hopeless. I stopped using them last June when they lost two parcels on me. They treat their customers with absolute contempt. If your parcel goes missing, it's all on you to do the chasing, there is zero proactive customer support. After two weeks of ringing and emailing, they came back to me and said that they thought one of the parcels arrived opened. They were either lying or saw an open parcel and didn't feel the need to contact me. Avoid avoid avoid.

jk23

magoo84 wrote: »

PM are absolutely hopeless. I stopped using them last June when they lost two parcels on me. They treat their customers with absolute contempt. If your parcel goes missing, it's all on you to do the chasing, there is zero proactive customer support. After two weeks of ringing and emailing, they came back to me and said that they thought one of the parcels arrived opened. They were either lying or saw an open parcel and didn't feel the need to contact me. Avoid avoid avoid.

I really wish I had read trustpilot before I used them, had 3 parcels delivered absolutely fine but the last two parcels have been lost even though they were signed for by someone in the PM depot.

Absolutely no follow up or responsibility taken which is so infuriating and reading social media there seems to be big issues at the Belfast depot with missing parcels

ED E

Prime is getting better, the times I need PM are limited. Feck em.

silver2020

coylemj wrote: »

That may be the case, it doesn't address my point which is that if PM was operating on 'wafer thin margins' as you claim then UPS would have either closed it down or jacked up the prices. You imply that PM is a 'nice add-on'. I don't think that's how a company like UPS sees it. It either delivers a return on investment (via a decent profit margin) or it gets shut down.



You cannot compare PM to a late-night pub. Very few people would collect from PM collection points in the early hours so there is no comparison.

A pub has a set customer capacity, they can jack up prices when demand exceeds supply. Lots of office parties means that restaurants can jack up their prices for evening dinner in December. PM doesn't operate to the same economic model.

The courier business has wafer thin margins. It's cut-throat. Large companies expect collection and delivery rates of €3 - €3.50

Maybe read my post about the pub anology again. If a pub is operating late night it has to pay staff a premium rate, thus it charges more for the exact same drink after 11pm than before 11pm.

Same with what PM are doing - they are taking on staff for overnight and weekend shifts so that parcels can be sorted and delivered to motels quicker 7 days a week and at night.

Last week I got a text at 10pm to say a parcel was in the locker - great, i spun up the road and collected it. That left that locker free for someone else's parcel the following morning. Adding Saturday and Sunday to it will help the backlog - I would hop[e those working late night / overnight Friday to Sunday get a premium rate for their work.

But no-one forces anyone to use these services. For €4 after the bonus stay, i have no problem if the service continues to be decent (so far this year about a dozen stays and all on time)

sheepsh4gger

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Anybody else having terrible trouble trying to contact parcel motel?

I avid using them around Christmas. That's when they mess things up.


It's a very reliable service except from Novermber and December when their system gets messed up.


Say in 2017 I ordered a bag of screws and got instead some big box of something. I went home, opened it and it was some sculpture. Tried to contact parcel motel, no response at all. I carefully pealed off the address sticker to find the original recipients address, called them up to say I got their package. The guy drove to parcel motel in his area and guess what, he found a bag of screws... Luckily the was going to Dublin with his wife so we exchanged items in the hotel. So we resolved this ourselves and PM didn't reply to until Christmas. I did get a refund tho.

moff13

mr.sensible wrote: »

Yes, DHL delivered to the NI address early on Friday morning (7am). The parcel hasn’t been logged in the Parcel Motel system yet, I registered on the expected delivery section on Saturday in case the PM number wasn’t on the slip, no acknowledgement or update since. Not great service at all.

I'm in a similar situation. Did you get sorted? Thanks

Dtp1979

Has anybody had any luck getting trough to an actual human on the phone? Id swear they leave the phones unattended when the pressure is on,just because they couldn’t be arsed answering to deal with the hassle

Dr_Colossus

magoo84 wrote: »

PM are absolutely hopeless. I stopped using them last June when they lost two parcels on me. They treat their customers with absolute contempt. If your parcel goes missing, it's all on you to do the chasing, there is zero proactive customer support. After two weeks of ringing and emailing, they came back to me and said that they thought one of the parcels arrived opened. They were either lying or saw an open parcel and didn't feel the need to contact me. Avoid avoid avoid.

Who do you use now and would you recommend?

I've used Parcel Motel for years (probably an average of one delivery per month) and have had a number of large oversize items delivered without problems. They did loose one small parcel on me last year and instead delivered someone else's package to my locker. As you said I had to do all the chasing and it was quite a chore getting a refund and well as trying to return the incorrect item delivered.

Parcel Motel have now increased their standard delivery charge to €4.50 from €3.95 prior to and following the Christmas period which is scandalous. They should be reducing fees if anything given the increased volume and economies of scale. Won't be using them again until fees return to normal.

I've used Address Pal a handful of times and had a major problem with them last year. Worst company I've ever had to deal with and will avoid at all costs if possible, the levels of incompetence were off the scale. Must have had 40 emails and 10 phone calls hounding them over a period of 4 months to get a resolution and when they finally issued a refund they withheld the VAT paid on the purchased item which they couldn't explain. Had to lodge a complaint with An Post separately to get that refunded.

I've never used Parcel Wizard but reviews aren't stellar either. Will have to try them next.

whiterebel

They haven’t increased to €7, its gone up to €4.50.

dan786

spix wrote: »

Is there a signature on the tracking? If not they will cause a fuss and claim they never received the parcel even if it says delivered.

Yes - had two delivered at same time by Royal Mail both have the same signature although it just says PM. Same hand writing and signed for within a minute of each other. I received one of these already, other is missing.

Its been sent onto their Antrim depot to investigate along with invoice and tracking and proof of delivery.

midletonian2

Have a parcel stuck (1 of 4) in Dublin since middle of October .

Have contacted PM 11 time over 6 working days and have got precisely nowhere. Appalling customer service . Won’t be using anymore. I have used them over 600 times over the years and this has been the worst experience by far . Tried contacting UPS the new parent co and Nightline (the old) but they could do no more than email which I have done already. Have had to buy the same item again which has been delivered by other means over a week now . 3 of the items made it Cork but number 4 not a hope.

You can imagine the level of frustration

One More Toy

midletonian2 wrote: »

Have a parcel stuck (1 of 4) in Dublin since middle of October .

Have contacted PM 11 time over 6 working days and have got precisely nowhere. Appalling customer service . Won’t be using anymore. I have used them over 600 times over the years and this has been the worst experience by far . Tried contacting UPS the new parent co and Nightline (the old) but they could do no more than email which I have done already. Have had to buy the same item again which has been delivered by other means over a week now . 3 of the items made it Cork but number 4 not a hope.

You can imagine the level of frustration

I can because I've been through the same process. Absolute nightmare. Will be using other services from now on

Grab All Association

Parcel Wizard is a superior customer service in my experience, the only thing that puts a lot of people off using it is no extended liability offered.

7aubzxk43m2sni

My package was marked "delivered" this morning by the first delivery service, so delivered to PM.

Haven't received any word yet from PM.

Is it normal that you hear nothing until it arrives in the actual local locker? Or should it already be in my account online ?

bennyx_o

I get an email when the parcel arrives in their Dublin depot with a picture advising they have received a package and it'll be in a locker soon - these are usually around 5pm or so. If it was delivered late, it may have missed the truck down to Dublin