Pass the parcel quickest? — Royal Mail, Evri, DPD etc

[Marmalade]

In today’s pseudo-news the DM ran an experiment to send identical parcels by different carriers. (The one carrier they didn’t and couldn’t easily check of course was Amazon Prime.) Timing them, Evri, as many would expect, came last. 2nd class post arrived before first class. Price made little difference.

All a bit of fun in the absence of ‘news’. 

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[mr.bluesky]

No surprise Evri came last, Parcel Force should come first at that price being the most expensive,  surprised 2nd class Royal mail beat 1st class Royal Mail makes you wonder whether its actually worth paying more for first class 

[NelsonH]

I post a lot of items, dozens par month.  ParcelForce for me is very fast, very reliable and has very good tracking. 

The price quoted in the trial, is what happens if you TAKE the parcel to the Post-Office.

But if you book a timed COLLECTION directly from you it will be much cheaper.   Typically for what I'm posting it's £12 over the counter and £8.50 for a collection.

I know this sounds strange but that's how it is.  Used to be the same price, but not now.

I'm using 48-Hour service but usually a collection from me at 4pm will arrive the next day, even if it's the other end on the country.

In ten years the ONLY parcel to take more than 48 hours went to the Hebrides and involved two flights.

Another thing to consider is the cost of insurance for loss/damage.  ParcelForce is included free up to £150.

And if the recipent is out they don't dump it on a doorstep and run away.  You just go to the nearest Post-Office and collect it.  Evri/Hermes does not even ring the doorbell.  I'm sure this is why they have a lot go missing.

[JontyR]

Evri get a bad press but to be honest I've found them pretty good, not universally quick, but the store to store is pretty convenient and things usually arrive. And some delivery times recently have been off the scale. This is all from a side hustle. I've only ever had a single problem with them and this was the fault of the receiving customer rather than the courier. The issue was not helped by any kind of easy access to a customer service representative. I'm not sure I'd use them for my main business purposes that may involve signed for deliveries etc.

Although I believe the services are related I am always wary if I am asked to despatch stuff via InPost, had more issues with things going wrong or parcels getting mixed up than I care to recall.

I'm really confused - and would welcome any insight - on the operation of second class post. Surely with all the automation available today sorting and seperating out some items should actually be more costly? Is it just a capacity thing? If there is more post that can be trainsported that day the first class gets priority? How often does this actually happen? 

[wristjob]

I had a parcel delivered RM 48 tracked on Saturday. No card, no clue and when I checked they had put it in a blue bin - just not my blue bin. I eventually found it in my neighbours bin but lucky it didn't get recycled.

I think they are all as bad as each other.

[mr.bluesky]

I had a parcel delivered RM 48 tracked on Saturday. No card, no clue and when I checked they had put it in a blue bin - just not my blue bin. I eventually found it in my neighbours bin but lucky it didn't get recycled.

I think they are all as bad as each other.

Had a Royal mail parcel delivered yesterday,  had an
E mail saying it was due to be delivered on the 29th Dec but it came 5 days early so credit to them.

[Rick2468]

My local Evri courier always delivers quickly and early within the designated two hour slot that gets sent to me. I always rate her 5 stars.

However I used Evri to deliver a parcel to a regional office for a colleague who was leaving. I ordered the parcel a month in advance and it was supposed to arrive in a week. After two weeks the parcel hadn't arrived so I contacted the supplier and they said they dispatched the same day to Evri and it appeared to be caught up in the Evri system. They offered to send a replacement at their expense which arrived within a week. I then got a call from a withheld number two months later and the caller was from Evri asking me where the office was. He was trying to deliver the parcel I ordered 10 weeks ago. I told him that Evri needed to sort out their ops and told him not to bother delivering it.

[Harry Monk]

I had a parcel delivered RM 48 tracked on Saturday. No card, no clue and when I checked they had put it in a blue bin - just not my blue bin. I eventually found it in my neighbours bin but lucky it didn't get recycled.

I think they are all as bad as each other.

It doesn't depend so much as which company but more down to how well the local depot is run and of course the individual delivering the item.
Customers do need to take some responsibility as well though. If you are expecting a parcel and you aren't going to be in ,go on line and advise where the item can be left and make arrangements for somewhere where the item can be left safely. For around 8 weeks the pressure is on to deliver first time and not have to take items back to the depot just to attempt another pointless deliver the next day.

[RandomGuy99]

It's a bit pointless the DM putting out this story now. No time to improve things, but I guess it does avoid them being accused of trying to damage these businesses.

[Marmalade]

It's a bit pointless the DM putting out this story now. No time to improve things, but I guess it does avoid them being accused of trying to damage these businesses.

I think it’s mostly an entertainment piece. A tired reporter thinking up an experiment knowing it will make clickbait with the number of people that complain about deliveries. DM now have a separate button in their news app for “news” though the difference is minimal. If there’s any real news, like a terrorist incident or JK Rowling getting a blister on her foot, it goes front page anyway, and usually before the Beeb or Guardian check if it’s happened.

Everyone — or nearly everyone — hates Evri, especially when they realise it’s the old Hermes delivery under a different name. But they’re cheap. Some distributors offer a choice. I think they’re slightly better than they used to be. The only delivery service that can be relied on totally seems to be Prime. If they say next day delivery and it doesn’t arrive next day, I’ll complain.

(Their early business model in the U.S. was to say they posted first class but actually posted expedited, so it got there quicker than first class and impressed customers. It’s not hard to see how successful they’ve been.  They’ll also collect it for free and refund at no charge if you want to send it back. No fannying about at a post office or putting postage on it. But that’s for Prime members. I’ve no idea how their standard service compares.)

[RandomGuy99]

I think it’s mostly an entertainment piece. A tired reporter thinking up an experiment knowing it will make clickbait with the number of people that complain about deliveries. DM now have a separate button in their news app for “news” though the difference is minimal. If there’s any real news, like a terrorist incident or JK Rowling getting a blister on her foot, it goes front page anyway, and usually before the Beeb or Guardian check if it’s happened.

Everyone — or nearly everyone — hates Evri, especially when they realise it’s the old Hermes delivery under a different name. But they’re cheap. Some distributors offer a choice. I think they’re slightly better than they used to be. The only delivery service that can be relied on totally seems to be Prime. If they say next day delivery and it doesn’t arrive next day, I’ll complain.

(Their early business model in the U.S. was to say they posted first class but actually posted expedited, so it got there quicker than first class and impressed customers. It’s not hard to see how successful they’ve been.  They’ll also collect it for free and refund at no charge if you want to send it back. No fannying about at a post office or putting postage on it. But that’s for Prime members. I’ve no idea how their standard service compares.)

I hate Evri because they have scammers who pretend to be them sending our SMSs to try to get you to give them all your personal details. My actual Evri delivery person is very good.

[Marmalade]

p.s. Prime were doing next day delivery up to yesterday — just got stuff I ordered yesterday afternoon. A fuck site better than the Post Office last day posting which was 19th. Unfortunately you can’t send stuff by Prime except as a business. Nor will they collect stuff I want to send that I didn’t buy from them. But then I don’t think the post office does. And DPD etc charge quite a bit for collection-deliveries.

[Marmalade]

I hate Evri because they have scammers who pretend to be them sending our SMSs to try to get you to give them all your personal details. My actual Evri delivery person is very good.

Even without scammers what annoys me is the amount of emails. They’ve got, it’s ready for despatch, good news it’s on the way, it’s delivered. Then bugging me for a rating and expecting me to sign up.

Last week DPD sent me an email with a “proof of delivery”. It hadn’t arrived so I looked at the “proof” — a roadside picture of some house like nothing anywhere near my neighbourhood.

Something I didn’t like about Amazon was their alcohol deliveries. Wanting a photo at the door, a picture of my passport and verbally asking me how old I am. Thankfully they’ve skipped that. A case of wine now arrives with as little fuss as a box 12-pack of bogrolls.

[JontyR]

But then I don’t think the post office does.

They have introduced this, and last year anyway it was the same price to leaving outside your front door to be collected as it was to take it down to the postbox. You didn't even have to print a label, just inform that you wanted a label to be printed and affixed on collection.

It had the whiff of an introductory offer and haven't had cause to use for a while so don't know if it still stands.

[Nickp]

For the life of me I can't work out how ebay sellers etc can send stuff out to me free when I've only purchased a £3 item. If I went to the post office I'd be fleeced. How do they get such cheap postage?

[myothernameis]

My neighbor found a way to deal with parcels going missing or delivered to the wrong address

So my neighbor, before ordering a item to be delivered to her address, they would contact the supplier, and provide them with a selfie and a photo of their door

Supplier accept this and then the order was placed, and delivery company picked the item up.  Item failed to arrive, but the courier said, parcel has been delivered, and here the screen shot of the door, and person

Supplier said item has not been delivered, but courier kept say, sorry it has, then the supplier dropped the big one.  Purchaser has supplied them with a selfie and photo of door as proof of address.  The supplier went on, and charged the delivery company £100 for the cost of the lost item.

My neighbor now get most of her parcels on time, and delivered to the right address

[Whoamifam]

For the life of me I can't work out how ebay sellers etc can send stuff out to me free when I've only purchased a £3 item. If I went to the post office I'd be fleeced. How do they get such cheap postage?

Tracked or large letter my 2nd class large letters cost me £1.55? It be arriving late tho switched to evri on my bigger stuff. Royal mail had started to let me down.