Best Way To Send A Parcel Not Using Royal Mail

Cloth_of_Gold

I'm not sure where to post this so sorry if this the wrong board.

I have recently had a bad experience with items sent by Royal Mail Special Delivery By 1pm. I have a parcel that I want to send to another part of the UK which contains some birthday gifts but do not want to use Royal Mail (not sure about Parcelforce). I thought about sending the parcel using DPD but their list of exclusions, i.e. items that you cannot send, is huge and includes some of the the things in my parcel, e.g. chocolate and glass.  At the end of the list it has a list of 'Special Provisions' and one of these says 'Gifts'.

https://www.dpdlocal-online.co.uk/prohibited-items

My first question is, does this mean that you can still send something on the prohibited list if it is a gift?

My second question is, would DPD be the best carrier to use in these circumstances, i.e. a private individual sending a parcel containing gifts?

Within reason I'm not that price sensitive on this; I just want a reliable carrier which will either collect or has convenient drop-off points, and has a fairly narrow delivery window and allows the sender and recipient to track the item.

elsien

I can’t imagine it’s as simple as saying you can send a prohibited item if it’s a gift. There are some items on that list that they are not going to want to send whether they are gifts or not.
I have to be honest, I hadn’t realised their prohibited list was quite as long as it is

sheramber

The the glassware could get broken and the chocolate melted. 

Contact them and ask 
“Or you can contact DPD Online using our live chat - our customer service team is available 24/7 to help you”

Cloth_of_Gold

sheramber said:

The the glassware could get broken and the chocolate melted. 

Contact them and ask 
“Or you can contact DPD Online using our live chat - our customer service team is available 24/7 to help you”

Of course but virtually everything you might want to send is on the list and anything might get broken. It seems a bit pointless offering a service with so many exclusions. 

I realise, of course, that I can contact them but that was only part of my question.

Cloth_of_Gold

elsien said:

I can’t imagine it’s as simple as saying you can send a prohibited item if it’s a gift. There are some items on that list that they are not going to want to send whether they are gifts or not.
I have to be honest, I hadn’t realised their prohibited list was quite as long as it is

No, I can't imagine them being happy for people to send some of the things on there, even as a gift. The list is, in many respects, pretty ridiculous though and leaves very little that you actually can send. And why would prints or posters be prohibited? 'Slush syrup' must be particularly worrisome for them as they've listed it twice. And in case you think you can't send one basin, but two is ok, they've listed 'basin' and basins' separately. It doesn't fill me with confidence actually.

Here is Parcelforce's list, which is pretty sensible. https://send.parcelforce.com/prohibited-and-restricted-items They are part of Royal Mail though so I don't really want to use them.

Why is everything so difficult these days?

in_my_wellies

Hi, I have used Parcel2go for many years and found them reliable. Put in the weight and it gives you several options. You can pick the best company for you. 

I've also used Parcel Monkey for larger items

Alderbank

in_my_wellies said:

Hi, I have used Parcel2go for many years and found them reliable. Put in the weight and it gives you several options. You can pick the best company for you. 

I've also used Parcel Monkey for larger items

Neither Parcel2go nor Parcel Monkey deliver a single parcel themselves.

They just act as booking agents, booking your parcel in for delivery by the companies that the OP dislikes.

Parcel2go says, 'We work closely with the best UK couriers, including Royal Mail, Yodel Direct, Evri and DPD, to bring you cheap parcel delivery...'

Parcel Monkey says, 'It's easy to find and book a cheap courier service with courier companies like Royal Mail, Evri, Yodel, DPD...'

Cloth_of_Gold

Alderbank said:

in_my_wellies said:

Hi, I have used Parcel2go for many years and found them reliable. Put in the weight and it gives you several options. You can pick the best company for you. 

I've also used Parcel Monkey for larger items

Neither Parcel2go nor Parcel Monkey deliver a single parcel themselves.

They just act as booking agents, booking your parcel in for delivery by the companies that the OP dislikes.

Parcel2go says, 'We work closely with the best UK couriers, including Royal Mail, Yodel Direct, Evri and DPD, to bring you cheap parcel delivery...'

Parcel Monkey says, 'It's easy to find and book a cheap courier service with courier companies like Royal Mail, Evri, Yodel, DPD...'

I just checked them and discovered that. Parcel Monkey's list of prohibitions is longer than DPDs, presumably because they having to a combined list of all the companies they are agents for. I can't believe it's so difficult to send a few things, none of which are illegal, dangerous or in any way out of the ordinary. Well, I can actually these days.

Cloth_of_Gold

sheramber said:

The the glassware could get broken and the chocolate melted. 

Contact them and ask 
“Or you can contact DPD Online using our live chat - our customer service team is available 24/7 to help you”

It says that, but I can't find it on the website. All there is are links to FAQs on different topics.

elsien

https://www.dpd.co.uk/content/how-can-we-help/contact.jsp

However, their online chat requires a reference number and delivery postcode, the implication being that it’s only for after you’ve already booked the service.

Cloth_of_Gold

elsien said:

https://www.dpd.co.uk/content/how-can-we-help/contact.jsp

However, their online chat requires a reference number and delivery postcode, the implication being that it’s only for after you’ve already booked the service.

Thanks for that. It's pretty useless isn't it, but companies often seem to make it very difficult to speak to them. I almost feel as if it would be simpler to jump in the car and drive the 180 miles to Manchester and deliver it myself!