Cheap Parcel Delivery - official discussion

buglawton

I noticed the Collect+ network expanded greatly in last 2 years, this is why I started to send stuff with them more often.
Their network expands due to higher demand.

The April 1st step change caused by the PO trying to commit commercial suicide with their new pricing has caused disruption, but I think long run it will mean many more Collect+ collection/dispatch points and staffing to match.

seeking_happines

can anyone recomend a delivery service for international post...im fed up with royal mail going astray even when i send with tracking and sighned for..its starting to get very costly in refunds and lost items....at the moment a typical wheight is 110 - 250 gms, so not large parcels and about 7 per week

Obviously_the_best

seeking_happines wrote: »

can anyone recomend a delivery service for international post...im fed up with royal mail going astray even when i send with tracking and sighned for..its starting to get very costly in refunds and lost items....at the moment a typical wheight is 110 - 250 gms, so not large parcels and about 7 per week

Nobody else is reasonably priced for that sort of weight.

buglawton

Interesting discovery, it seems that you can use the Collect+ network to deliver TO customers as an Ebay seller.

Now, the web page is not terribly clear:
http://www.collectplus.co.uk/for_ebay/

But if you enter the customer's postcode in the box midway down on the right, you get something like:

Delivered to the door from £3.99
Delivered to a local shop for the recipient to collect, just £3.49
We'll tell them when it arrives, ready for them to collect for up to 10 days

Now, their ought to be some mechanism within Ebay to get buyer's go-ahead that they want to collect rather than a doorstep delivery.

Lorn83

I have used collect+ quite a few times & never had a problem until today.

I sent a parcel using collect+ standard delivery service £3.99 plus £1 to include a signature before Easter to a company.
Had no updates on the tracking system until yesterday when it said the parcel was out for delivery & then was delivered on 04/04/13 at 11.30am.

I contacted the company that I sent it to this morning to ask them if they had received it, but they said no & that the person that signed for it was not known at their company.

I phoned the collect+ team who assured me that they had the correct delivery address and that it was delivered & signed for. They are currently investigating this with the driver & are yet to update me on the whereabouts of the parcel.

Now, the item I returned costs slightly more than their compensation cover as I paid an extra £1 for a signature. As the parcel was delivered and there is a signature to prove this, am I able to get full compensation for the item if they are unable to find out exactly where the parcel was delivered to ?

Many thanks,

paulofessex

Lorn83 wrote: »

I have used collect+ quite a few times & never had a problem until today.

I sent a parcel using collect+ standard delivery service £3.99 plus £1 to include a signature before Easter to a company.
Had no updates on the tracking system until yesterday when it said the parcel was out for delivery & then was delivered on 04/04/13 at 11.30am.

I contacted the company that I sent it to this morning to ask them if they had received it, but they said no & that the person that signed for it was not known at their company.

I phoned the collect+ team who assured me that they had the correct delivery address and that it was delivered & signed for. They are currently investigating this with the driver & are yet to update me on the whereabouts of the parcel.

Now, the item I returned costs slightly more than their compensation cover as I paid an extra £1 for a signature. As the parcel was delivered and there is a signature to prove this, am I able to get full compensation for the item if they are unable to find out exactly where the parcel was delivered to ?

Many thanks,

Personally l wouldn't have contacted them to confirm if they had received it, reason being as its a company anyone in the company could have signed for it and it could be a case that your customers don't know the names of the people on reception for example and it hadn't reached your customers hands as yet.

I would wait for a customer to contact me if they hadn't received a purchase.

Lorn83

Hi, thanks for your reply. Well the thing is I am the customer as I bought the item from the company and wanted to return it for a refund within their 7 day return policy and now they're saying they haven't received it even though it says on the tracking system it's been delivered and signed for!

soolin

buglawton wrote: »

Interesting discovery, it seems that you can use the Collect+ network to deliver TO customers as an Ebay seller.

Now, the web page is not terribly clear:
http://www.collectplus.co.uk/for_ebay/

But if you enter the customer's postcode in the box midway down on the right, you get something like:

Delivered to the door from £3.99
Delivered to a local shop for the recipient to collect, just £3.49
We'll tell them when it arrives, ready for them to collect for up to 10 days

Now, their ought to be some mechanism within Ebay to get buyer's go-ahead that they want to collect rather than a doorstep delivery.

Unfortunately that would only work if paypal changed their requirements to not require tracked delivery to the address that they give you.

I suppose it might work if a buyer nominated the Collect plus shop as their delivery address, as then the seller would be covered by sending there.

Obviously_the_best

buglawton wrote: »

Amazon have started shipping to convenient small shops using a Collect+ like network. Next time I order a bulky or expensive item I plan to try this as I practically drive past their extended hours collection point daily. The Amazon system extends to all its partners, it seems.

Tesco and John Lewis allow me to click & collect in the local Waitrose - used this last week for a JL purchase, excellent.

BUT

Ebay sellers have no such advantage!

'bout time Ebay addressed this by integrating it sale process to allow Ebay buyers to collect via a Collect+ like network.

It's not eBay that need to do it, it's the sellers. eBay have no control over seller dispatch methods.

I already allow collect+ collection for items under £20

buglawton

So how do you get around the 'needs to be a proper Payal address' issue?