Damn you ParcelFARCE!

[martlewis]

Have waited 2 weeks for my EB3 and today I get a letter from royal mail. Not content with asking for £12.95 VAT, but they then add their bit on in the form of another £8.00. It's a disgrace that they get away with what they charge especially as I already paid shipping!

Now, I live in Chesterfield, so where do you think my parcel is? No, not in Chesterfield, or the next nearest place, Sheffield... It's in Rotherham ](*,)

So I decide that's not too far really, but I jst sent my driving license away for a change of address and all they will accept is photo ID!

All I can say is I hope HRH is still happy with their service, by Royal appointment etc.

Rant over and feeling a bit better.

 

[mailee]

Here, here, I agree. It really amazes me that they are supposed to be a service for the public?? :wink:

 

[Philly]

Yup, I have given up ordering stuff from the States because of this.
As you have already PAID for shipping how the heck do Parcelfarce feel they can charge you again for "handling"????? Especially as you go to THEM and pick it up..... :roll:
Philly

 

[Nigel]

I slipped up yesterday when I took a parcel to their depot for delivery in England and it was only after they had written all the paper work and stamped the parcel I was told there is a minimum charge of £14.50
Had I taken it to a post office the cost would be about £5.

I am being reimbursed for the postage so you can imagine what the recipient will think of me,

learning by mistakes Nigel

 

[Alf]

Erm... Nigel...? :-s #-o :lol: Mind you if it is me then I reckon it'd have come out a bit more than a fiver even standard parcel.

Amazingly I didn't get knobbled for duty by them on my one and only (so far) order from North America. Mind you then I found the customs info on the contents was for someone else's (lower value) parcel, so I hope he didn't get clobbered instead... 8-[

Cheers, Alf

 

[Roger]

Always helps to have some good friends and relatives scattered across the world - one in Canada and one in the States saves an awful lot over time

 

[Nick W]

Hmmm, I wonder what Watchdog would make of it?

 

[Losos]

IIRC they have done a prog. on Parcelforce many times

 

[dunbarhamlin]

Parcelforce are certainly rantworthy.

The last that really hacked me off was getting a note from a stateside supplier telling me my parcel (perfectly addressed according to the POs postcode database) had been returned to him with a note 'Incorrect or incomplete address' - because Parcelforce don't issue their drivers with a GPS, and so if a property doesn't have a number they don't always bother trying to deliver :angry: and then having to pay for second delivery costs because of their incompetence!

 

[Dad]

My wife hates parcelforce - she once asked me to not order from a particular company because they use parcelforce for deliveries.

Her biggest gripe is when they've attempted a delivery & we're not in so they leave their card & you have to ring them... and you get their infuriating answering system...

 

[Anonymous]

I have ordered from many places and asked for them not to use parcel force - even when it is their usual company, they will often change for your delivery rather than lose custom

Classic Hand tools are a case in point, first delivery a debacle thanks to parcel farce, all subsequent deliveries using a different carrier and OK

Still awaiting my EB3 :roll: :roll:

 

[Gerome]

i'm a postie at a mail center,i must admit i haven't had much experience of Parcel Force,but Royal Mail stopped being a public service when they opened up the market to other firms and forced it to act as a business,only a badly run one.

 

[RogerS]

I'm on first name terms with Graham (my parcelforce driver). Even got his mobile number. Maybe I'm lucky as he always goes the extra distance (metaphorically not literally :lol: )

 

[Rural Platypus]

I use SayNoTo0870 to find the *real* number of the delivery company depot. Has worked a treat so far. Particularly useful for Amtrak who always mark my parcels online with 'cannot find address' and then never answer the (0870 costly, redirected) phone.

RP

 

[LyNx]

Same here. Our local driver is great. If no-one home he tries at least 3 other houses to drop the parcel off.

Never had a problem with them to date.

 

[Losos]

Gerome - I now live most of the year outside UK and when I can persuade a supplier to use Royal Mail then the service has been good. A small parcel was posted on Friday & arrived Monday morning which is better that I used to get in UK.
But Parcelforce is a different matter, my recollections of them in UK are pretty bad.

RuralPlatypus - Thanks for that link, that'll come in handy for me in the future I can assure you.

 

[martlewis]

Edited the thread title as I think the general opinion is they are a farce. I would agree Royal Mail are fine tho.

Had another parcel delivered this morning. Doorbell rang so I looked out of upstairs window and driver was already on his way to the van and a card was through the door. The card must have been written before he even got to the house as he physically didn't have time to write it after the bell rang.

Took his reg number as he drove off and rang the depot to report him. Funily enough 2 hours later another van turned up with my parcel but no appology.

 

[Gerome]

I know quite a few people(even within Royal Mail) moan about Parcel Force being bad,as i said,i haven't had any experience with them and they are run separately from Royal Mail.Most of the people where i work at Royal Mail are dedicated,work hard and are proud of their job.Things do go wrong,items lost or damaged etc,but then my mail center alone handles up to 3.3 million items a day,i dent think most people realise the volume of mail that comes through the system.It gets a lot of bad press,mainly when a postie gets caught nicking from the mail,but then there are about 150.000 people working for Royal Mail and in any company of that size you are going to get some To%%ers :roll:
Thats enough from me ,i'm starting to waffle on a bit !!

 

[Anonymous]

driver was already on his way to the van and a card was through the door. The card must have been written before he even got to the house as he physically didn't have time to write it after the bell rang.

I think this is very common practice for royal mail too. I can't remember the last time I actually got a parcel delivered, always have to pick them up form the local post office.
This is despite my daughter being home most times (she comes down form her bedroom to find the card) and 2 weeks ago I was working in the dining room, wandered towards the stairs to find a card on the floor. Not even a knock :shock:

I reckon they quickly fill out the cards before starting their rounds and get off home asap (I vaguely know a postman and he goes home when the round is done, not at a specific time)

 

[tim]

I think a lot of the time it depends on the individuals. I have at least four deliveries a week, often from different companies but over the last couple of years have got to know the regular guys - one of them minicabs for us as well in the evenings! They know where to leave things and are all nice guys.

The problems still occur but tend to be caused by two things -

the system:

eg Parcelforce guy turns up today to pick up something that he had already picked up yesterday. He knew that he had picked it up but he had been issued a new pick up notice so had to come out.

eg spurious notes added to delivery info ie leave with neighbours if out - we don't have any neighbours or addresses eg my name, Herefordshire.

agency drivers:

These are the guys who earn a bad name for the companies and are the main cause for me for failed drops or pick ups.

Cheers

Tim