Thought that members ought to be aware of this problem when booking couriers through a shipping third party agency. I have been using "Parcel2Go" (P2G) as an agent to get me the best courier overseas shipping quotes, and I must say that they have been very good so far. One big problem though is as follows: I often choose Fedex as my preferred courier as they are efficient and can be the least expensive. However, recently I have experienced the following problem with USA and Australia destinations. OK; First , I pack the item, measure and weigh it, and then go to P2G for a quote, giving the destination, post code etc, and they give me shipping option quotes. I choose Fedex. I contact the buyer, who accepts the shipping cost and pays me. Now the problem; When I buy the service using P2G as the agent, halfway through the booking transaction, Fedex announce that my buyer's address is in "a remote area" and that there will be £13.00 surcharge. They do not tell you this when you first ask for the quote Consequently I am lumbered with a £13.00 extra shipping cost that I did not know about The only way I can avoid this unexpected whammy! is to assume that all non-city addresses in the USA and Australia are "remote areas" and add the extra cost to the shipping quote given to the buyer. This may however, be enough to put the buyer off. So no sale. Hope that this info is useful. Has anyone else been caught like this Steve
Hello Steve, I have heard of that catch before and some couriers try the same scam for delivering to the more remote parts of the UK., Jeff.
Hi Jeff, Would love to live in your "remote area" my friend . This is just a rip-off, because the Courier does not have a depot nearby . If they were honest and they are obviously not , they would say this when you ask for a quote,but they don't . Bandits and fraudsters - Steve.
Hi I use transgloblexpress.org and they tell you up front before you get to the pay stage Maybe worth a look and they are fantastic Kenny
Hello Steve, Shetland is not a bad old rock, but the weather can be fearsome! It's fine today though! Bandits and fraudsters are everywhere these days!
Thanks Kenny, Got them already up my sleeve to assess, but not used them yet. Will give them a go I think. Steve.
I've used transglobalexpress only once to send a lamp to Australia. No problems whatsoever on that occasion (and they were cheaper than the courier I normally use) but when I had to send a parcel to a P.O. Box number in Australia they would not deliver and neither would parcel2go.
Jean, Hello. Courier services will not usually deliver to a PO Box Number. Don't know why, but I think that it is something to do with Customs/Revenue/Traceabilty. What a suspicious world we live in eh! Steve.
I got a parcel from P2G from Britain quite recently, and I live pretty much in a "remote area" of Sweden. It still worked as a charm without any extra fees. Still.. I don't like this kind of deliveries that go straight to your door. It pretty much assumes that people aren't working between 6.00PM and 17.00AM, and that someone always can be home to meet up with this guy who drives the van. Generally you can convince the guy that he just can put the packet under the stairs or something when he surprisingly calls and announces that his "here", which generally is "there" since everyone's at their works... I want a parcel to be delivered to a fixed place near me where I can pick it up when I got the time. Just as in an old time post office, but I'm just as fine in picking up something in a local service point for e.g DHL or Schenker (as happens to be the case with my local petrol station just 3 km's away). Just don't force me to be available at home for a certain period of a certain day as many of these courier firms does!
Hi Christer, The point that you refer to is not the issue here. I am stating that the Courier companies are not being straight with us when they give a quote for shipping! They are hiding costs. The problem about being at home for delivery is easily got around; if you do not want to be around for a courier to deliver, then give your Post Office, garage address, or neighbour as the delivery point, if they are willing to accept it for you. Then you have a manned delivery point. So no need for you to be there. Best to you friend - Steve.
Yes, I understood that part Steve. That's why I started my post with telling that not all "remote areas" is over charged. It varies. Then I just simply went on to pin point another area that many of you who sell stuff should be aware of. Many buyers just simply take it for granted that stuff should come the ordinary way, i.e. via the post office, which surprisingly still exists in some places. If not, it's very important that you all tell that you are going to use another service, and what it all means. Just said as a good advice.
Christer, you may be aware that UK mail will not accept Lamps or Stoves as postage items. I have no choice but to use a Courier Service and this I always state if I sell an item overseas. Actually, it is getting so bloody difficult and expensive to send anything overseas these days I am losing heart, and will stop trying very soon. This will be not good for collectors everywhere. Goodnight mate, and thank you for your great work for CPL. Steve.
Thanks Steve. And what you tell me also is known to most in here at CPL and/or CCS, but unfortunately not to all. Just another reason to be sure that your counter part abroad actually realise that you are not using regular mail! I know it's a detour from your original post, but yet a very close and important issue to point out for us (who actually are the majority of the readers of both foras) who still lives in a world where a stove or a lantern aren't considered dangerous in its nature.
Chin up! I think you did a good job, and even though you were ambushed by the courier service, I didn't mind coughing up the cash because the product was good. These days anything outside of a capital city postcode in Oz is generally classed as remote by couriers. That is a large part of the planet! I've found that British Mail and Australia Post provide a good shipping price for lamp items (although, as you say, BM won't send founts and tanks, I understand). Thanks again. Tony
Transglobal has always been great for me and you are made aware of all charges, Royal mail no go in my opinion.
Curiously this PO Box business for the sake of security, is an oft used address for many government and NGO's. What have they to hide - what are they frightened of? As a former courier myself, PO Box numbers were not an address in the A-Z, simples. A Post Office monopoly. And how about couriers that use a Post Code alone to deliver: DHL left a big box in my kitchen doorway after I had popped out yesterday. Our post code, but not for us. Post Codes cover more than one building, and it just so happens that ours - if fed into a computer based database - their indicator lands on our roof. The box was destined for the Farmhouse 100yds away. Catches a lot out that does, the computer maps only land in the centre of a post code area. They don't make brains like they used to. Or maybe commonsense is eradicated from any education system (can't have people thinking for themselves).
FedEX is a good carrier (Holds the contract for the federal government), but I prefer UPS. FedEX subs out for non-commercial deliveries, and some will not deliver to remote areas. (We had trouble shipping to locations at the end of long 2-track dirt roads). I recommend that you consider UPS, and inform customers that there will be an additional charge if they do not live within city limits. BTW, UPS employees are represented (unionized), and FedEX is not. That matters to some folks. I know my UPS driver by name (Tink), but never have the same FedEX driver two times in a row.
I agree with Al. I have used UPS a few times and there were no hassles and no extra charges. They tell you up front if there are possible delivery problems. There are for instance parts of Argentina they don't seem keen on and say that they will hold packages for collection at a UPS depot for those areas. As I am mostly sending stuff to Mendoza this is not an issue and we get door to door collection and delivery. They may not be the cheapest but they are perhaps the most reliable. ::Neil::
hi if you use transgloblexpress you have a choice and UPS it one i always use and its not to bad compared to DHL which is double UPS and all costs are up front kenny
