Free RM Parcel Collect - Extended to 30/04/2024

soolin

Money_Grabber13579 said:

vacheron said:

I've grown very fond of the free RM 24/48 collections especially because I know that our works postman (who I now know know very well!) will always collect during office hours and 95% of the time between 1-2pm. This means I can have my home parcels collected from my work address when I know I will be there, whereas other budget couriers are often trying to knock on a (clearly closed) office premises door at 9-10 in the evening!

They are still also the cheapest option too once you are in the 1-2KG and £20-£150 insured value range, and in many cases it is just easier for me to pay slightly more and have what would have been an Evri drop all collected together by RM as it saves me a parcel locker trip.

If they resort to charging for collections the cost difference beween them and Evri for lighter and cheaper items, will probably mean an end to me doing these "convenience upgrades", however for items valued at between £70-£150 they will probably still remain cheaper even with, say, a sub £1 collection fee compared to upping the insurance value on the other couriers.

Long may it continue!

PS. I think it would be fair if the collection fee is waived for any additional parcels collected from the same customer at the same address on the same day. Not sure if they would consider, or could easily implement, that though?

Was it not always 72p per collection rather than per parcel? Apparently you can book a collection for 1 item and then give the postman any additional parcels you may have (although you don’t get emailed proof of postage confirmation of the additional parcels). However, if it was per parcel, I wonder how that would work if they started charging again? Can’t see the postman spending the time to collect the additional money.

It was per parcel- if you hadn't booked the collection and paid then they either didn't take them, or they just took them without scanning them. 

vacheron

soolin said:

Money_Grabber13579 said:

vacheron said:

I've grown very fond of the free RM 24/48 collections especially because I know that our works postman (who I now know know very well!) will always collect during office hours and 95% of the time between 1-2pm. This means I can have my home parcels collected from my work address when I know I will be there, whereas other budget couriers are often trying to knock on a (clearly closed) office premises door at 9-10 in the evening!

They are still also the cheapest option too once you are in the 1-2KG and £20-£150 insured value range, and in many cases it is just easier for me to pay slightly more and have what would have been an Evri drop all collected together by RM as it saves me a parcel locker trip.

If they resort to charging for collections the cost difference beween them and Evri for lighter and cheaper items, will probably mean an end to me doing these "convenience upgrades", however for items valued at between £70-£150 they will probably still remain cheaper even with, say, a sub £1 collection fee compared to upping the insurance value on the other couriers.

Long may it continue!

PS. I think it would be fair if the collection fee is waived for any additional parcels collected from the same customer at the same address on the same day. Not sure if they would consider, or could easily implement, that though?

Was it not always 72p per collection rather than per parcel? Apparently you can book a collection for 1 item and then give the postman any additional parcels you may have (although you don’t get emailed proof of postage confirmation of the additional parcels). However, if it was per parcel, I wonder how that would work if they started charging again? Can’t see the postman spending the time to collect the additional money.

It was per parcel- if you hadn't booked the collection and paid then they either didn't take them, or they just took them without scanning them. 

I've experienced both even with the free promotion.

If I book the service before 9pm I can generally arrange the collection for the next day, however I have often had a sale come in just after 9pm meaning I can only arrange that collection for the day after next.

I have often asked when the postman came to collect the first parcel if I can give him the other one to save him a trip coming back the day after, but the response from the postman who serves our work address is "sorry, I only have "x" parcels listed to collect on my screen". However, when I arrange collections from my home address, my postman there is usually happy to take them (and scan them).

It seems odd as the package is clearly in the system as soon as the label is printed, and the post office would have no issue if I dropped it off at a counter on my way home instead, so I think it depends on each postmans interpretation of the rules.

I can see a potential issue if the system carefully estimates / calculates the space available on each van so they don't want a postman who came to collect one small parcel ending up with 20!

I also think the collection system may not be fully linked as I have had parcels collected (and scanned) earlier, yet the postman still turns up the next day to collect it?

KxMx

Wasn't impressed when I tried the service recently. Needed to return a puffer coat, size of parcel correctly booked in with Bring my Label. 
Postie took one look at my parcel and said he'd have to come back when his cart was empty. 
Knocked again later, didn't know he was supposed to be providing a label, had left his machine at work, I suggested re booking for tomorrow (leaving in a safe place), he didn't recommend it as couldn't guarantee a label then either. 
Ended up accessing a printer and dropping off at a Post Office.

Spoonie_Turtle

Hmm, I have a large coat to return so I'll have to get a wiggle on.  We'll see how it goes! 

Here I've always been able to book up until midnight for the next day, but we are late morning/early afternoon on a rural route so the only practical limitation is what the postie can carry in their arms between the van and the house.

zackary71

Looks like it's been extended again. Found on the Click & Drop page on Royal Mail website :

†† Parcel Collect charged at £0.00 when you book online between 00:01 on 16.08.2022 and 23:59 on 30.04.2024. Promotion does not apply to customers with an Online Business Account.

soolin

zackary71 said:

Looks like it's been extended again. Found on the Click & Drop page on Royal Mail website :

†† Parcel Collect charged at £0.00 when you book online between 00:01 on 16.08.2022 and 23:59 on 30.04.2024. Promotion does not apply to customers with an Online Business Account.

They left that one to the last minute- I'm glad it has been extended though.

Money_Grabber13579

Not sure if I’m missing it, but I can’t see any end date for free parcel collections on Royal Mail’s website anymore. There is a FAQ which says collections are free until further notice but that has always been there, even when an end date was specified elsewhere. Perhaps free parcel collections are going to continue for the foreseeable future?