Parcelforce - terrible?

[sambo]

heard a lot of bad things so just trying to get some people's opinions on here:

do Parcelforce ever do anything right, or have i practically lost my guitar by having it sent by them?  :lol:  :oops:

they've picked up the nickname, parcelfarce, which isn't exactly promising...  :oops:  :lol:

[WezV]

the good thing about parcelforce is that they will drop your parcel off at any post office - very handy if you walk past one evryday on the way home from work.

My main issue is the lack of companies that cater for working people.

Home delivery network are the worst - they provided absolutely no way for my girlfriend to get a parcel without having a day of work to be at home for the delivery

[Transcend]

well when my guitar got sent in from US they stole it lol and took it really far away and i had to wait 5 hours in there depot for them to find it

other than that everything was fine

and they wouldnt send it closer unless i paid by card,,,, which at that point i didnt have the ability to do

[HTH AMPS]

never had any problems with Royal Mail or Parcelforce.

 :twisted:

[Twinfan]

Currently got a claim in with them for a damaged speaker when I sent a forumite my old Marshal 2x12  :(

But I've sent other things no problem, including a car exhaust  :lol:

[FELINEGUITARS]

well when my guitar got sent in from US they stole it lol and took it really far away and i had to wait 5 hours in there depot for them to find it

other than that everything was fine

and they wouldnt send it closer unless i paid by card,,,, which at that point i didnt have the ability to do

That is pretty standard procedure with something shipped in from the states where duty and VAT has to be paid on the item.
It will be held at the larger depot until tax and duty are paid and then it can be released for delivery.

It is similar with couriers like Fed Ex & UPS although they tend to just invoice you for the duty and VAT

So maybe not fair to say that they sstole it or held it ransom, although it will have been frustrating....

[Kilby]

I have my doubts about the Post Office

Posting a letter

London => Belfast = overnight (all but once over 30+ occasions)
Belfast => East London = 5 working days (average), but as long as 11 days (averaged over 20 letters)

Glasgow => East London = 4 days
East London => Glasgow = overnight

Belfast => Birmingham = overnight (8 letters)
Birmingham => East London = 3 to 6 working days (5 letters)

Even for registered letters when you track them they get to london next day and then a 2 or 3 day stall in London sorting offices (I've had 3 go missing everytime the last sighting was in London)

Oh yeah next day (before 10 am) to london usually means 2 days (minimum) and sometime in the afternoon.

If thats for normal letters then what chance does something expensive have (in my eyes) of arriving either vaguely in time, in one piece or at all :(

Sorry I had an extra bile duct installed today becasue my new mortgage papers took 4 days but cost 7 quid to send next day delivery

Still once it comes trough I will have enought money to buy a set of bareknuckle pickups & some locking tuners (at last)

[Transcend]

well when my guitar got sent in from US they stole it lol and took it really far away and i had to wait 5 hours in there depot for them to find it

other than that everything was fine

and they wouldnt send it closer unless i paid by card,,,, which at that point i didnt have the ability to do

That is pretty standard procedure with something shipped in from the states where duty and VAT has to be paid on the item.
It will be held at the larger depot until tax and duty are paid and then it can be released for delivery.

It is similar with couriers like Fed Ex & UPS although they tend to just invoice you for the duty and VAT

So maybe not fair to say that they sstole it or held it ransom, although it will have been frustrating....

yeah true... more than anything it annoyed me because it was a christmas present from a friend and i had to pay to recieve a present....

but still im happy with everything now other than the really long wait that i had to endure while they hunted for it

[WezV]

if stuff gets labelled properly as a gift before it is sent from the states then you wont get a customs charge.

[Woogie]

I thought if it's labelled as say a $20 gift then if it gets broken/lost, you will only get $20.

[Philly Q]

if stuff gets labelled properly as a gift before it is sent from the states then you wont get a customs charge.

Not quite true, unfortunately.

You can import goods up to the value of £18 from outside the EU on a commercial consignment.  If it's marked as a "gift", the limit doubles to £36, but you still have to pay import duties and/or VAT if the value goes over that limit.

[WezV]

i have never been caught out by that one - i have had stuff marked as gift with the value marked as $150 and escaped customs on a few occasions

obviously its worth pointing out that you shouldnt request people to mark stuff as gifts unless it is

[sambo]

cheers for the replies guys.

rob- thats the kind of story that has got me worrying...

five days its been since being sent now and it still isnt tracking on the website....


 :oops:  :oops:  :oops:  :oops:  :oops:  :oops: