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

punchdrunk · 15-12-2017 1:47pm

Toots wrote: »

What company was it shipped with? I had something similar happen me with one from the states and I ended up getting in touch with British customs, who were very helpful. I think an online search and a couple of phone calls eventually got it sorted.

it was sent via japanese post and handed over to royal mail in the UK,

I would have thought they would hand a delivery note over to parcel motel so i could pay the tax etc on it- that's really my problem, I could pay it on the royal mail site if I knew the docket reference!

is there a number for the parcel motel centre up north that i could call?

nsa0bupkd3948x · 15-12-2017 6:33pm

I've been using ParcelConnect instead of ParcelMotel over the Christmas period and its been brilliant. Accidentally had a parcel sent to ParcelMotel. Was redirected from my locker and instead sent to the Kilmacud GAA location. Ain't happy at all. Have to email them to get them to put it back in the queue for the locker but haven't heard back yet.

josip · 15-12-2017 8:47pm

Parcel Motel have now sent another of my parcels to Kilmacud.
And changed my preferences again to set my preferred delivery to Kilmacud.
And charged me for the last 'missed collection' in Kilmacud that they redirected there after I told them not to.
Don't use Parcel Motel.

Xenji · 15-12-2017 11:07pm

Still fine in the west, delivery occurs a few hours later than usual, but it is still arriving the next day, I have had problems in the past, boy have I had problems, but this is the best Christmas period in years so far.

coylemj · 17-12-2017 5:15pm

josip wrote: »

Parcel Motel have now sent another of my parcels to Kilmacud.
And changed my preferences again to set my preferred delivery to Kilmacud.
And charged me for the last 'missed collection' in Kilmacud that they redirected there after I told them not to.

Their system is relatively customer-unfriendly in that you can't ask them to divert a package that's being held up if your nominated collection point has a backlog but they reserve the right to divert without giving you the option to wait it out or nominate a different collection point.

I was waiting and waiting last year for a notification to pickup from Deansgrange Texaco so I asked them if they could redirect my package to one of two or three (named by me) alternative collection points which might be less busy but they said their system didn't allow this.

doomshine · 17-12-2017 8:36pm

Xenji wrote: »

this is the best Christmas period in years so far.

Agreed, been using them every week and only once, 2 weeks ago, my parcels were delayed by more than 12 hours. Delivered to PM on Saturday morning, in the lockers Sunday morning (instead of the customary Saturday night), can't complain.

If only they fixed the touch-screen in Rathmines! It's been an ongoing issue, it always stalls and it's hard to even put your phone number in as some parts of it are very unresponsive.

Toots · 17-12-2017 9:15pm

punchdrunk wrote: »

it was sent via japanese post and handed over to royal mail in the UK,

I would have thought they would hand a delivery note over to parcel motel so i could pay the tax etc on it- that's really my problem, I could pay it on the royal mail site if I knew the docket reference!

is there a number for the parcel motel centre up north that i could call?

AFAIK if there's any sort of duty/tax due on it, parcel motel won't accept delivery, so they most likely refused delivery of the note as well. I'd emailed them before ordering something from the states one time to ask what would happen if there was customs due on it and they said they wouldn't take the delivery if there was, so I just had it sent to my home address instead.

whiterebel · 17-12-2017 10:43pm

Toots wrote: »

AFAIK if there's any sort of duty/tax due on it, parcel motel won't accept delivery, so they most likely refused delivery of the note as well. I'd emailed them before ordering something from the states one time to ask what would happen if there was customs due on it and they said they wouldn't take the delivery if there was, so I just had it sent to my home address instead.

According to their website, they do accept non EU parcels which require customs clearance.

Soccarboy11 · 17-12-2017 11:53pm

PM definitely do accept parcels which have duty. Had a package come to the NI depot. They paid the duty, then they phoned me and said I needed to pay the duty they had paid, paid it via debit card, and package made its way down to me. Either its they always do it or its a luck thing maybe?

ikol_ · 18-12-2017 3:13pm

amazingly my parcel got delivered on friday aftre taking 11 days to make its was back up from limerick and 3 days in transit from dublin to my depot.. think thats me done with parcel motel though..

Eoin247 · 18-12-2017 6:58pm

Soccarboy11 wrote: »

PM definitely do accept parcels which have duty. Had a package come to the NI depot. They paid the duty, then they phoned me and said I needed to pay the duty they had paid, paid it via debit card, and package made its way down to me. Either its they always do it or its a luck thing maybe?

They didn't pay the duty for me. But it was in the Dublin depot, so maybe they have different rules. It also happened over a year ago so it might be different now.

Harrybelafonte · 18-12-2017 11:06pm

They’re asking me to top up my account by €91 to cover cost of a bike. Way way more than I expected. I could have driven to Belfast and collected it for that?

ED E · 19-12-2017 1:25am

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

They’re asking me to top up my account by €91 to cover cost of a bike. Way way more than I expected. I could have driven to Belfast and collected it for that?

IIRC its dimensional weight, you could have predicted that.

shocksy · 19-12-2017 1:30am

For anyone who had PM pay the vat or duty, did they charge an outrageous admin fee like UPS and the rest of the crooks

PickleJar · 19-12-2017 9:25am

Just wondering if anyone has used their returns service for online retailers and had problems? Or am I the unluckiest person in the world? Two parcels sent on different days 4 weeks ago - both put safely in lockers and PM have no record of them after that...and the retailers haven't received them either.

Xenji · 19-12-2017 9:49am

shocksy wrote: »

For anyone who had PM pay the vat or duty, did they charge an outrageous admin fee like UPS and the rest of the crooks

UPS owns Parcel Motel.

whiterebel · 19-12-2017 1:58pm

shocksy wrote: »

For anyone who had PM pay the vat or duty, did they charge an outrageous admin fee like UPS and the rest of the crooks

Anyone who does customs clearance and lays out Vat/Duty on your behalf will charge. If you can do that yourself for €15 go ahead.

ondafly · 19-12-2017 3:48pm

waiting on a package since the 11th that was received by ParcelMotel but states in Transit since - annoyingly I've received other packages in the meantime to ParcelMotel which were ordered after the 11th and are "medium" size also. Really annoying.

Anyone know if the packages return to the Depot each night ? i.e. can I just head out an collect in person ?

Panrich · 19-12-2017 4:25pm

ondafly wrote: »

waiting on a package since the 11th that was received by ParcelMotel but states in Transit since - annoyingly I've received other packages in the meantime to ParcelMotel which were ordered after the 11th and are "medium" size also. Really annoying.

Anyone know if the packages return to the Depot each night ? i.e. can I just head out an collect in person ?

In the same boat myself. I've 4 parcels in limbo at present and a newer one arrived in the meantime.

rubadub · 19-12-2017 6:34pm

In the cycling forum today...

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

Parcel motel trying to charge me €91 for a bike. Is this the norm?

CramCycle wrote: »

I think they go by volumetric size after a certain point so probably not far off it. They done the same to me as the box was larger than expected (and mostly air, the dimensions I was given by the company where way off). I negotiated them down a bit as I simply could not afford it, think I got mine down to about 50euro from just north of 100euro. This was about 5 years ago now though.

Weepsie wrote: »

I've heard of people negotiating them down so worth a punt.

guanciale wrote: »

Happened to me.
If you collect the bike as oppose to delivered to a motel it is much cheaper - i did this last year.

Bring a blade to get rid of the packaging - the folks at the Dublin base (near Ikea) were fine with me leaving the packaging with them.

CramCycle wrote: »

I done that as well, the PM crowd let me leave it in one of their bins outside the depot.

Phone is the best way, or at least, the way that worked for me. Sorry I forgot to mention I collected mine, which may have helped with the reduction.

I only see now Harry posted in this thread, still relevant replies though.

doomshine · 19-12-2017 7:04pm

Anybody knows if they'll be delivering to motels on Sunday, Christmas Eve?

caviardreams · 20-12-2017 12:10am

doomshine wrote: »

Anybody knows if they'll be delivering to motels on Sunday, Christmas Eve?

Looks like saturday is the last day and, that's for parcels received by Friday 11am

https://parcelmotel.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/articles/115005863785-Parcel-Motel-Christmas-operating-schedule

brighterdays · 20-12-2017 4:10am

Anybody know what the situation is with lost returns? I've a package sent back since the 6th with no update to Topman and it seems to be in limbo. Just showing 'Outbound' from Dublin as of the 12th of this month with no delivery. Emailed support but just said I'd ask here in case anyone else has advice from past experience... I know they'll be so busy

EDIT: I've just read posts about not using PM for returns and their poor service. Oh fun... lmao

ondafly · 20-12-2017 9:45am

"no support agents are available to take your call, please leave your name, number and email and we'll get back to you shortly"

argh ! I'd happily sit and wait on the line.........you think they would have learned from last year.

nsa0bupkd3948x · 20-12-2017 9:52am

brighterdays wrote: »

Anybody know what the situation is with lost returns? I've a package sent back since the 6th with no update to Topman and it seems to be in limbo. Just showing 'Outbound' from Dublin as of the 12th of this month with no delivery. Emailed support but just said I'd ask here in case anyone else has advice from past experience... I know they'll be so busy

EDIT: I've just read posts about not using PM for returns and their poor service. Oh fun... lmao

I've used them a good few times without any major issues. Haven't send to Top Man before though.

Last one was Collect+ send on Sunday and arrived into Belfast today.

shocksy · 20-12-2017 11:22pm

whiterebel wrote: »

Anyone who does customs clearance and lays out Vat/Duty on your behalf will charge. If you can do that yourself for €15 go ahead.

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: oh look a smart alec.

I'd gladly do it, and I'm blessed that most of my packages get through without having to pay anything thankfully. I specifically ask sites not to use couriers and most of them are happy to oblige. €15 is a total tip off, no one asks them to clear customs on peoples behalf so they have no business doing it, but you clearly don't mind paying that ridiculous sum. Even An Post who charge ridiculous prices can do it cheaper than €15.

whiterebel · 21-12-2017 12:47am

shocksy wrote: »

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: oh look a smart alec.

I'd gladly do it, and I'm blessed that most of my packages get through without having to pay anything thankfully. I specifically ask sites not to use couriers and most of them are happy to oblige. €15 is a total tip off, no one asks them to clear customs on peoples behalf so they have no business doing it, but you clearly don't mind paying that ridiculous sum. Even An Post who charge ridiculous prices can do it cheaper than €15.

Anything attracting Vat and or Duty must be customs cleared. Who would you suggests does it? Tell the courier the next time you don’t want them to clear it, and tell them who you would prefer to do it.

If you find someone who will employ a person to do customs entries, pay for the software, and keep about half a million in their VAT account for customs for nothing, do let us know, the whole forum would be interested. An Post is €10 and losing money hand over fist.
And try answering without the smart comments and roll eyes.

dan786 · 21-12-2017 5:52pm

Hi lads, been using PM for over a year with 10 deliveries a week but came across a problem first time today. The pin would not work when collecting my parcel , got an error with QR code today. The parcel is still showing as stored on my account.

Anyone else ever experience this , if so what is the best way to get it sorted?

nava · 21-12-2017 5:57pm

dan786 wrote: »

Hi lads, been using PM for over a year with 10 deliveries a week but came across a problem first time today. The pin would not work when collecting my parcel , got an error with QR code today. The parcel is still showing as stored on my account.

Anyone else ever experience this , if so what is the best way to get it sorted?

Check in your account the locker is your selected locker, I think if a locker is busy the move users to a locker in another location that's not as busy.

Other than that contact them by Phone, Twitter , etc

dan786 · 22-12-2017 11:15am

nava wrote: »

Check in your account the locker is your selected locker, I think if a locker is busy the move users to a locker in another location that's not as busy.

Other than that contact them by Phone, Twitter , etc

You were spot on. Seems like they installed another one a mins walk away from the current one. The location names were exactly similar with just one work different in the two. Now I know theres two, I have been wondering why all deliveries recently have been very quick compared to waiting upto 4 days last year.

colly10 · 23-12-2017 6:40pm

They say their cut off for delivery tomorrow was they must recieve today at 11 am.

I send to newtown abbey, got a mail at half 2 today to say it’s in their dublin depot.

Is the 11 cut off the time they must recieve it in the North or the time it must arrive in Dublin?

caviardreams · 23-12-2017 7:21pm

colly10 wrote: »

They say their cut off for delivery tomorrow was they must recieve today at 11 am.

I send to newtown abbey, got a mail at half 2 today to say it’s in their dublin depot.

Is the 11 cut off the time they must recieve it in the North or the time it must arrive in Dublin?

It's either I think but the cut off was yesterday at 11am I think - details here:
https://parcelmotel.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/articles/115005863785-Parcel-Motel-Christmas-operating-schedule

colly10 · 23-12-2017 7:56pm

Damn I was reading the 2015 schedule where 23rd at 11 was ok

aaronm13 · 23-12-2017 9:47pm

Parcel was delivered to the north this morning and got notification to say it arrived in Dublin this afternoon. Just got a text now to say it's in my locker for collection so got it just in time.

colly10 · 24-12-2017 12:16am

Just got the same, fair play to them

cefh17 · 25-12-2017 9:34pm

I'm thinking about buying a TV online but weary of the oversized charges eating into the savings difference.. has anyone any experience getting a TV shipped through PM? It'd be a 55"

the whole year inn · 26-12-2017 2:36pm

I didnt put the PM on the delivery and only noticed now that its with the courier .I emailed support and put a thing on the diary.My name is on the package,what usually happens now when this happens ,how long does a delay take.I am guess it has to go to the dublin depot and then on to the collection point(Mayo) so I guessing it will be a few days late maybe more with the busy period.
The parcel was ment to delivered on the 28th so 29th ment to be in my locker.

ED E · 26-12-2017 8:19pm

the whole year inn wrote: »

I didnt put the PM on the delivery and only noticed now that its with the courier .I emailed support and put a thing on the diary.My name is on the package,what usually happens now when this happens ,how long does a delay take.I am guess it has to go to the dublin depot and then on to the collection point(Mayo) so I guessing it will be a few days late maybe more with the busy period.
The parcel was ment to delivered on the 28th so 29th ment to be in my locker.

Backlog for the few days off means no way it'll be Antrim -> Mayo in 1 day. At a guess 3.

If you wait till its delivered and do the find my parcel process with the tracking number they scan third party numbers into the system too and it will instantly "claim" the package as yours.

Oat23 · 29-12-2017 1:46am

Has anyone used their return service to return something to the UK that has a prepaid royal mail label? Was it a good experience? I have something ordered from google UK that needs to be returned.

I had a google and I found a guy who used it twice with RM prepaid labels. The first one was lost before reaching royal mail as he made a mistake with the service he chose (PM covered the loss). Second made it to it's destination safely.

cefh17 wrote: »

I'm thinking about buying a TV online but weary of the oversized charges eating into the savings difference.. has anyone any experience getting a TV shipped through PM? It'd be a 55"

I had a 55" TV delivered from parcel wizard last month and they only charged me the normal €3.85 rate. Parcel Motel were gonna charge €36 according to their calculator.

the whole year inn · 30-12-2017 3:48pm

ED E wrote: »

Backlog for the few days off means no way it'll be Antrim -> Mayo in 1 day. At a guess 3.

If you wait till its delivered and do the find my parcel process with the tracking number they scan third party numbers into the system too and it will instantly "claim" the package as yours.

Just an update.
Was delivered by DPD in Antrim yesterday at 9.20am, I got a message at around 6pm that my parcel was in there Dublin Depot and then I got a message today around 11 am that the parcel was ready for collection in there Castlebar location.
I did update the diary on the Web page with the tracking number but overall I was very impressed and arrived same time as if I hadn't messed up the address.
Well done Parcel Motel.

mathie · 02-01-2018 4:57pm

Hi

I ordered some items from Amazon UK and they arrived with Parcel Motel in Belfast and then to me a few days later.
The box was open when I got it from the Parcel Motel locker and Parcel Motel say that its not their fault and to contact Amazon for a replacement.

Anyone else had experience of this?

Thanks
M

givyjoe · 02-01-2018 5:01pm

mathie wrote: »

Hi

I ordered some items from Amazon UK and they arrived with Parcel Motel in Belfast and then to me a few days later.
The box was open when I got it from the Parcel Motel locker and Parcel Motel say that its not their fault and to contact Amazon for a replacement.

Anyone else had experience of this?

Thanks
M

They usually take a photo of the package once it arrives at their sorting facility. That pic is usually emailed to you. Have you checked the photo?

mathie · 02-01-2018 5:02pm

givyjoe wrote: »

They usually take a photo of the package once it arrives at their sorting facility. That pic is usually emailed to you. Have you checked the photo?

Yes.
The photo is taken from above and the parcel was open at the side.
So you can't see if it was opened before or after the photo was taken.

Mycroft H · 02-01-2018 5:04pm

givyjoe wrote: »

They usually take a photo of the package once it arrives at their sorting facility. That pic is usually emailed to you. Have you checked the photo?

Not that it means squat. Last one I got you couldn't tell what had happened to it.

geotrig · 02-01-2018 5:18pm

I had a similar issue recently,pocket sized item , got nowhere with it outside of getting a replacement from an amazon 3rd party, which cost me the difference, as it was more expensive price and a refund of the parcel motel fee. I also hightlighted my concerns that I've noticed quiet a few packages "tampered" with in recent times but nothing missing ! I only have these "tamperings" with the pm items and nothing that has come through other routes /services

feedthegoat · 02-01-2018 5:30pm

That's unusual, never had any negative experiences with them. Once got a delivery of 2 black now ties that I didnt order but that was it.

stevek93 · 02-01-2018 5:31pm

This is ridiculous "not our fault" if a employee in Parcel Motel hears this they might want to chance their arm. There should be a full investigation and sack whoever stole your parcel.

Berty · 02-01-2018 5:34pm

Motels have CCTV and you're entitled to see images of you held on it so ask them to review the CCTV images to prove it was opened on arrival and say you want a copy of it.

You're insured up to x amount so they're responsible. No point offering an insurance service if they tell you to go away.

nava · 02-01-2018 6:44pm

MOD: Merged with PM thread.

Cazale · 02-01-2018 8:33pm

I got the missus a fitbit for Christmas and the box was torn open between the photo in the warehouse and me collecting it. The fitbit was still intact but someone obviously had a look to see if it was worth robbing. I rang them up to complain and they didn't care. Last time I'll use the service.

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

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