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

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.

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)

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

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.

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 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

Sophie Howling Phone wrote: »

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 ?

You should get 'arrived in the Dublin depot' message first, but their parcel processing has got very sluggish. Two weeks ago I got a DHL delivered notification at 10am and the PM arrived notification after 6pm. You can use the 'find my parcel' option but sometimes they don't even bother to reply.

Sophie Howling Phone wrote: »

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 ?

In my experience if it's delivered by around 11 am in Newtownabbey it's usually (but by no means always) checked-in to the PM depot that evening. If it's any later it's usually checked-in the next afternoon or evening.

Are people really adding to their backlog now for parcels delivered today and not check in by afternoon. Cop on you are making things worse for those with genuine issues.

During peak periods they dont show up on account till 8pm/9pm some times or sometimes even the following day so give it atleast a day or two before starting to worry and sending them email for it and add to their already huge backlog

Dtp1979 wrote: »

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

It's near to impossible from my experience. All you can do is log a support ticket through their website (it's a skin on the ZenDesk ticketing system many companies use). Then eventually, after a month they will reply by email.

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Finally got through to them today. I had 5 oversized parcels paid for and was waiting over a week for them. Their excuse...there was no Eircode on my account and the drivers didn’t no my area( a numbered house In an estate). I’ve had dozens of parcels delivered by them before. So I asked” you’re telling me my parcel will get delivered only if by luck I get the driver that knows the area? Why wast I contacted about my Eircode if there was any confusion?”
Imbiciles

Especially that your phone number is printed on the Parcel Motel label...


I only get things delivered to the official parcel lockers at petrol stations, this makes everything simple and predictable. Recently I had to buy a house appliance, it was classified as an oversized item but it fit in a locker OK.

It's probably going to take an extra few days. I had a package delivered to NI Depot early Tuesday morning but didn't get checked in until Wednesday Afternoon. It still hasn't even arrived to the locker yet so either looking at tomorrow or Monday.

I've used PM for over 5 years and I've never had a package lost. I ran into one issue a few years back during the busy period with a large item that was shipped that took several weeks to find and resolve. I've learned not to use them for the most part in the months of November and December as it's just a disaster really and you're on your own trying to resolve the issue as they are swamped.

I don't really have an issue with them raising their price if it meant better customer service and a more speedy delivery, as the same price has been in place for over 5 years for me now at least. But the service has gotten slower for me the last few months, which is understandable given the current situation and the increase in online ordering. The email just seemed like; we're raising our prices for the busy period; and that was it really.

It’s actually worse this crowd are getting. Bunch of idiots. It’s like they have 1 person handling the calls. They’re up there with Eir for customer service at this stage