Cheap Parcel Delivery - official discussion

MikeXC

4457 wrote: »

I have to return a the above heater (69 x35.5 x50cm)and I am wondering if anyone can recommend a cheap, but reliable parcel delivery service? I tried My Hermes, but they do not deliver electrical items, I tried parcel2go, item too large, parcelforce too expensive!! I could go through Interparcel but I am put off by all the bad reviews. Any suggestions?

That's not an especially large package. Did you put the dimensions in as inches rather than cm? That might cause a problem!

I've found Interparcel themselves to be absolutely fine, including handling of a damaged goods claim. You just have to be careful which actual carrier you choose.

John_Pierpoint

MikeXC wrote: »

This is only really relevant to bulk freight customers.

Nothing strange about the fomula. Your typical one-parcel-at-a-time sender has no control over how it travels. The volume/5000 is commonly used by most carriers for international road/sea and air carriage. Sometimes it's 4000 or 6000, so best to check individual carriers T&Cs.

UK deliveries don't tend to suffer from this but do check dimensional limits.

Not quite true is it, when you go into a the post office the first question is surface or air?.

Though I do agree that most small consignment are "urgent" and cannot wait for a consolidation surface service.
Personal experience of personally consolidating parcels from USA until I could fill a surface container meant that some of them had to arrive a whole fortnight late, however they stopped getting lost in transit. The latter is the real nightmare that loses customers.

British Rail did manage to lose a whole container on one occasion - fortunately they found it again within 48 hours.

MikeXC

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

Not quite true is it, when you go into a the post office the first question is surface or air?.

OK, but the point was related to non-Royal Mail parcel carriers. RM don't impose a volumetric constraint. And even if you pay for 'surface' it may still go air depending on capacity.

caringa

I am selling an item on ebay and will be posting it next week. Any advice as to which courier to use and who offers insurance? It is valued at approx £50 and weighs about 2 kg.

Dewpoint

caringa wrote: »

I am selling an item on ebay and will be posting it next week. Any advice as to which courier to use and who offers insurance? It is valued at approx £50 and weighs about 2 kg.

Personally, I found that myHermes is the best and easiest to deal with - see my previous post. Comes with basic insurance (£50), or you can generally insure for more if needed. Always found them reliable and quick.
regards

caringa

Dewpoint wrote: »

Personally, I found that myHermes is the best and easiest to deal with - see my previous post. Comes with basic insurance (£50), or you can generally insure for more if needed. Always found them reliable and quick.
regards

Thanks! I was thinking about using them but its always better to have a recommendation!!:T

happyfrolics

NEVER EVER USE THIS COMPANY! THEY ARE USELESS!

(Text removed by MSE Forum Team)

AVOID! :j:T

GeeDubuu

It would have been useful for this to have been published earlier, for 'new' readers, to ensure Holiday deadlines were met. Having said that, very informative. I took a parcel cost quote from DHL's site but they were not much cheaper than Royal Mail and Parcel Force. In addition, they required that the contents be available for inspection....not a practicable matter when sending multiple, wrapped, family Christmas presents. Parcel Force, whilst being a bit expensive, delivered to the West Coast USA in 4 days. A call from Parcel Force said they could not send via their 'normal' carrier (Fedex) as Fedex would not accept any foodstuffs (even Sweets/Candy, Cookies) for delivery anywhere in the world. Other carriers do so, it seems, as the parcels sent were delivered in 4 days by ANO carrier. Next time, I'll certainly check out the cheaper ways of mailing. Thank you for the information!

custardy

GeeDubuu wrote: »

It would have been useful for this to have been published earlier, for 'new' readers, to ensure Holiday deadlines were met. Having said that, very informative. I took a parcel cost quote from DHL's site but they were not much cheaper than Royal Mail and Parcel Force. In addition, they required that the contents be available for inspection....not a practicable matter when sending multiple, wrapped, family Christmas presents. Parcel Force, whilst being a bit expensive, delivered to the West Coast USA in 4 days. A call from Parcel Force said they could not send via their 'normal' carrier (Fedex) as Fedex would not accept any foodstuffs (even Sweets/Candy, Cookies) for delivery anywhere in the world. Other carriers do so, it seems, as the parcels sent were delivered in 4 days by ANO carrier. Next time, I'll certainly check out the cheaper ways of mailing. Thank you for the information!

was a year ago not enough notice?

sofaman

I'm located in Norfolk, and MyHermes have been pretty good.

I usually send several parcels per week, and have saved £'s compared to Royal Mail (especially over 1kg parcels).