Awful mail order company

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"it is up to them to decide they cannot be bothered to use normal mail service (Mailspeed!!!) which is cheaper and frequently faster than couriers"

I would certainly take issue with that statement ..... I have waited over a week .... actually 10 days for a chart card to be delivered by Royal Mail to me ..... I sent my car docs to buyer on the Monday midday - he rec'd Tuesday midday in UK via Courier ....... both are Latvia - UK transits ...

I regularly have to send docs all over Europe etc. - I would never ever use any postal service that has to extend outside its own country .... I would only use courier - that includes small parcels as well.

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British Post and French post take 3-4 working days with small packages for a fraction of the cost of a courier. I use both on a daily basis. A courier frequently takes in excess of 48 hours, calls at no set or previewed time and if you are not in may not deliver again for another 48 hours and frequently has premium rate telephone lines... Postal services allow you to pick up the item from the PO during working hours from the next day... Far better and more user friendly in my experience...

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Comparison :
Chart card in a small letter jiffy bag - Royal Mail - £15.95 took over 10 days ..... and had to collect.
Car docs and keys in similar jiffy bag - Courier - £10 - next day delivery to guys door. IF he hadn't been there to accept - a note is left for collection - I specify that in the instructions - so same tactic as Royal mail without the tranist delay.

No contest I'm afraid. Plus as another says - you can track a Courier item fully on net .... certainly like to see RM do same !!

Don't get me wrong - I think RM is marvelous INSIDE UK. Compared to USA and other so-called advanced countries - RM is streets ahead ...
 
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and if people don't like that overhead, they simply don't use it.


[/ QUOTE ] That's right - I don't like their terms - they are exorbitant because they cannot be bothered or its not cost effective to be bothered to find the best delivery deal for their customers...
My right is to not do business with Mailspeed because I prefer companies that are more interested in their customers... No problem for me - lots of user friendly companies out there and I will use them .. Not a company that is not interested in the individual customer... Their problem - not mine..

Just expressing dissatisfaction - fair or not fair?
 
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parcelforce price to france for 2kg is about £25

you can trim some off that with negotiation for repeat business, but even so.

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but the item was not 2KG - that is Mailspeeds minimum weight - cannot be bothered to quote for less weight so even if it weighs 1oz and will go in a letter they will charge £15 -- all swings and no roundabouts - they win win win -- of course that's their right..
Its a course in how to build international business - get into a market that's the size of the US called Europe... And there is a market out there.. but hey. What do I care......
 
as I keep repeating, they've averaged the price out for their international orders.

To calculate the minimum price for each order would take a huge amount of time (cost)

If you want to order from a UK company that specialises in UK deliveries, then that's the cost.

If you want a company that delivers internationally at minimal cost, find another supplier.
 
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as I keep repeating, they've averaged the price out for their international orders.

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And I hear you Brenden and you are right anything from 1oz to 2kg is going to cost £15 -- not a very interesting deal --- as I keep saying I will indeed not shop from Mailspeed - I did not realise they were as bigger than say Amazon who are able to offer far better delivery deals. Clearly Mailspeed is so big and important it does not need tiddly little orders from tiddly little people like me not based in the UK... As is so frequently the case Brenden you are totally correct. -)
 
Sorry I have to disagree. I think £15 is a fair price. They want a POD and that means that they can't use Royal Mail. I have a mail order business and it is nearly impossible to get small parcels to Europe under £40 with anyone like UPS or Fed Ex, try it!
 
Maybe they got huge by being user friendly - by taking care of customers and not just making sure that unlike Mailspeed they do not make a 'profit' out of P&P but deliver for the price advertised... You were telling me that Mailspeed were so big they could not be troubled to work out fair delivery deals for their customers... so are they too bit to be bothered? Then they must be very big!
 
you can't compare them to Amazon, and I've never intimated that they were large. I'd have thought rather that they are quite small, and have relatively few overseas orders compared to UK ones, and that would affect their pricing policy
 
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A mail order company has not got overheads in terms of high street rental, rates lighting heating etc... So what is the problem with providing a little individual service and using 'mail' rather than a courier when appropriate... If it were a matter of a couple of quid I would go fair enough - on a £25 quid item the p&p mark up possibly equates and double the profit... Their right - their business - their bat and ball etc etc

My right to say - I do not want to do business with companies that do not price honestly.... And to say it out loud - or am i very wrong - again?

[/ QUOTE ]Absolutely agree with your right to complain.

However, I worked for a mail order company for a while. The significant volumes of parcels being handled would make multiple couriers very difficult. And secondly, unless they are truly huge, they will get much better rates from the couriers for an exclusive arrangement, so often they are economically disadvantaged if they try to use the most appropriate for the parcel size.
 
For what it's worth I agree with you Michael that their balnket charge is ridiculous. If they had any notion of customer service they would in this instance have spent 2 mins working out the actual cost and charged you that.

Instead they have earnt themselves bad publicity. It's amazing how companies don't realise the importance of good customer service...

Personally I have also had issues with mailspeed, and have given up trying to trace a package that was ordered through them and never turned up. After endless conversations on the phone all I could establish was that the order was supposed to have been sent directly from manufacturers and they couldn't prove I hadn't got it etc etc... As it was for about £20 I decided to give up and not use them again.

Marc.
 
I appreciate that multiple couriers would be a problem and its a fair point.

Ultimately it does irritate people who expect a reasonable deal... Most mail order companies do not last too long - I suspect partly cos they cut the margins too much and then cannot provide a good service.

You cannot please all of the people all of the time and this has all grown a bit out of proportion... I am irritated because I now have to sit down and surf around to find the items from a more reasonable company. I am not always price driven - will pay a bit more to company who are nice with me... I just hate being taken for a fool and being told 'this is P&P' when clearly there is an element of profit in it.
 
If you want personal service go to a small retailer who will take the time to get the best price for you.

I like Mailspeed, even though I have trade accounts with most manufacturers I still use them. They are efficient, helpful and good at what they do.

A forumite in Europe got in touch with me last week, after some investigation we mutually decided to send the order by Royal Mail. This saved them alot of money, in fact over 60.00gbp, but it meant I had to take time to do it.

If you want personal service, dont use a bulk mail order company.

Oh yes, happy birthday. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
You started by quoting UK delivery costs, and are still maintaining there is a profit in delivery despite not having any other than an emotional response?
 
Thank you for the birthday wishes -

gave myself a brand new life-raft in a container from a very user friendly UK mail order company for £100 less, including delivery, than I could source in France...

I just need some 'chocks' to mount it on.. Could make a wood frame again like I had in Bambola but would like smaller hard plastic little chocks with straps to go on the stern of my cat - keeping weight down...

As formally retired I cannot wait to enjoy the fruits of a lifetimes endeavours -
 
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You started by quoting UK delivery costs, and are still maintaining there is a profit in delivery despite not having any other than an emotional response?

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Brenden I posted earlier that I was quoting UK - France small package rates.

Nothing emotional about a mail order company like Mailspeed who have a standard rate of 1oz to 2kg for £15 - It is ridiculous for 1oz.... As you explained they are too big or was it too small to bother with giving the customer a fair deal on P&P.

I am bored with all this - they have a policy problem in my opinion - it is only my opinion and probably not worth much --- I just believe that small or big customers should be important - I am not too bothered except I must now surf around and find another supplier that does not 'appear' to try to make a profit from P&P
 
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Sorry I have to disagree. I think £15 is a fair price. They want a POD and that means that they can't use Royal Mail. I have a mail order business and it is nearly impossible to get small parcels to Europe under £40 with anyone like UPS or Fed Ex, try it!

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My company regularly ships parcels up to about 2Kg to the UK & Europe.

For Europe we use a carrier company called PODS based at Heathrow. We pay ~£16 and thats for insured, signed for 2-3 day service - depending on where its going. Within the UK we pay £7.10 up to 2Kg for next day insured delivery

I was in Spain last year and locked my passport and the safe keys in the safe 3 days before I was due to fly home. PODS got a spare safe key to me in less than 24 hours and it only cost about £9

I have no connection with this company but good & inexpensive couriers are out there, you just need to look.
 
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