Cheap Parcel Delivery Official Discussion

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Photomic wrote: »

In short, I sent a parcel using ParcelMonkey (using DHL service) to China. I weighed the parcel to be 4.4 kg.

Two weeks after i sent the parcel I received a note that ParcelMonkey will charge me more as the parcel was 4.5kg, not 4kg. This would be fair otherwise but heir website allows only to enter full kilograms, i.e. 4kg or 5 kg. Since 4.4kg is closer to 4 kg, I entered 4kg when I sent the parcel.

I complained about this and they said feel free to take us to Small Claims Court, which is exactly what I plan to do. The extra 100g can easily be gained do to rain absorbed on cardboard parcel.

Any views on this? Without the website problem, I would have accepted the extra charge no probs.

So far I haven't seen any Ts&Cs that say you can round down if the website doesn't allow for fractional numbers. They only say they can charge you a penalty fee if your package is heavier or bigger than declared.

When I want to ship something, I round up and watch the price to see which way it goes - I get several quotes: one for my measured dimensions and weight, and two with upped and rounded numbers. Sometimes, even on websites that do allow fractional weight, rounding up doesn't change the price significantly (only a few pence) or the price doesn't change at all - and if the price doesn't change at all, I plus on the dimensions and weight of the package a bit too to the nearest centimetre and kilogram, so no one can complain (and I take pictures with rulers and scales, paranoia style, in case they do).

steveE2

Photomic wrote: »

In short, I sent a parcel using ParcelMonkey (using DHL service) to China. I weighed the parcel to be 4.4 kg.

You didn't check properly

Couriers use Volumetric weight to measure the bulk of an n item. Volumetric weight is a size measurement performed by carriers to determine how bulky an item is. This is then used as if it were the actual weight of the item. FedEx & CityLink use length x width x depth divided by 6000 and DHL do the same but divided by 5000.This ensures large bulky items are charged for accordingly. Imagine a 1m square box that weighs 1kg, it wouldn't be fair to transport this for the same price as a 10cm square 1kg box as it takes up far much more room on a van or truck.

Not having used couriers very often this was something I didn't know but could well explain the extra charge.

Photomic

jordanryan wrote: »

We always go higher and so 4.4Kg we would be book as 5Kg so this doesn't happen and doesn't delay the parcel etc. How much are they charging you? It can only be a couple of £'s surely?

The problem appears to be their website.

ParcelMonkey website is not fully compatible with Google Chrome. I just entered successfully 4.5kg using Internet Explorer but using Google Chrome on the same machine results 45 kg, as the decimal point is omitted.

Yes, about 5 quids only but I find it irritating. I have to say I had problems with ParcelForce collections booked through ParcelMonkey as well which did not help either. Twice ParcelForce did not show up and for one collection when they did, they did not accept ParcelMonkeys shipping labels.

leighv

Hi all,

Got a package coming from Italy to the UK - and lowest price (30cmx15cmx15cm - 1.8kg) is £25!!!

Any suggestions of a cheaper solution?

Many thanks.....

jordanryan

leighv wrote: »

Hi all,

Got a package coming from Italy to the UK - and lowest price (30cmx15cmx15cm - 1.8kg) is £25!!!

Any suggestions of a cheaper solution?

Many thanks.....

That sounds cheap, who's that with?

smartshopper2011

leighv wrote: »

Hi all,

Got a package coming from Italy to the UK - and lowest price (30cmx15cmx15cm - 1.8kg) is £25!!!

Any suggestions of a cheaper solution?

Many thanks.....

ecoparcel http://www.ecoparcel.eu/homepage/

€16.00

Obviously_the_best

yup, ecoparcel is probably your best bet

leighv

Yeap - it's a pain they don't do paypal/credit card/etc. Plus just as an fyi I think the initial price they show at the beginning of the process is excl of VAT. I get 18.26 at the end - but still cheaper. Thanks.

sparkyG_2

I started to use myparceldelivery.com a few months ago after problems with some of the other guys. I have to say *touch wood* that I havent had any problems and sent quite a bit

Obviously_the_best

steveE2 wrote: »

You didn't check properly
Not having used couriers very often this was something I didn't know but could well explain the extra charge.

Their website automatically works out volumetric weight so you enter the actual weight