Why do people use "Man & Van" operators to send items to Greece?

Steve C Cronin

Steve C Cronin

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I got a quote from one of these operators who wanted £130 to take my new dinghy to Corfu from Leicester only they wouldm only deliver it to Igoumenitsa where I could either collect it myself or pay an extra €60 to have it put on the ferry again for me to collect from the ferry terminal at Corfu Town. Also, the earliest they could do it would be September. So, I did a Google and got two quotes, one from Fedex and the other from Interparcel. Both were around £68 +VAT and would be collected on this coming monday and would arrive at Gouvia Marina around 22nd August. No contest!

See:- www.interparcel.com
 
Inter parcel are very good , they tend to use UPS as their courier ( everything I have sent via Interparcel has been collected by UPS ) .

No dramas with them.
 
Ah that was a treat reading all that, as it was the same question as I was going to ask, as I want stuff taken down to Greece also, Lots of bits and bobs for the boat,
and would need to go on a pallet, but I don't know the implications on any duties etc, most of what I want sent out is used items any way,
Can I send for example. Used out board, wind steering, anchor etc.....I may just drive it down,

Colin
 
I just sent two large, heavy boxes, I'd say 50kg total, plus a guitar & a dive tank from Brighton to Porto Heli, for £70, very good value I'd say & I doubt very much whether Fedex or Interparcel could beat that...
 
In some cases to get around Dangerous Cargo problems with airlines. One other way is with companies such as DHL Fedex who use cargo flights.
 
V1701 said:
I just sent two large, heavy boxes, I'd say 50kg total, plus a guitar & a dive tank from Brighton to Porto Heli, for £70, very good value I'd say & I doubt very much whether Fedex or Interparcel could beat that...
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Would you be willing to share te details of your carrier with the rest of us?
 
George (Jorgos) the van man of course. He quoted me for the two boxes plus dive tank, which I estimated would weigh about 30kg total, either £30 if I got them to Bishops Stortford or £50 if I had him collect from Brighton. He's a very amiable guy & in the end, because of the extra weight & guitar I gave him £70, which he seemed happy with. His van was chock full of stuff, he's based in Porto Heli, which is where my boat is, so he's not having to go out of his way so to speak & maybe I got a good deal as my stuff would just about give him a full load or something, I don't know, I was expecting it to cost a few hundred quid...:D
 
I've used Mondial in Corfu many times and they've been faultless.
www.mondialtransport.co.uk

The only pain is having to send your stuff to their depot in Enfield.
There is a usefull service in the uk, where lots of delivery companies do a 'Pallet' delivery, anywhere in the uk for 55 Quid.
So use that to send to Mondial and then to Corfu. I've even had a Gas Boiler sent to me in Corfu, this way.
 
jimbaerselman said:
If you're looking at shipping to a wider and more esoteric range of destinations, where customs and other issues are important, look at http://www.ship2ship.co.uk/ , recommended by some of my web site readers.
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NO Jim! I'm looking at moving my new dinghy to Corfu, which is why I started the thread!

Still pushing your own website then? I thought that was a "No-go" here?
 
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Steve C Cronin said:
NO Jim! I'm looking at moving my new dinghy to Corfu, which is why I started the thread!
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Ah. Sorry. I thought you were asking why people used "man with a van" for transport to Greece - begging the question as to who else they could use.
Still pushing your own website then? I thought that was a "No-go" here?
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Well, actually, I was "pushing" ship2ship, since I think they provide a service useful to all readers of this forum. A wider population than just people shipping a dinghy from UK to Corfu. Perhaps I should have started a new thread "shipping spares"?

Anyway, I've obviously offended you, so I apologise for highjacking your thread. If you feel strongly about this, I suggest you report this violation to the moderators.
 
jimbaerselman said:
Ah. Sorry. I thought you were asking why people used "man with a van" for transport to Greece - begging the question as to who else they could use.
Well, actually, I was "pushing" ship2ship, since I think they provide a service useful to all readers of this forum. A wider population than just people shipping a dinghy from UK to Corfu. Perhaps I should have started a new thread "shipping spares"?

Anyway, I've obviously offended you, so I apologise for highjacking your thread. If you feel strongly about this, I suggest you report this violation to the moderators.
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Certainly no feelings of offence from my position!
 
I have shipped a dinghy and gear from UK to Preveza several times by courier using transglobalexpress site. Cost about £70 for box up to 30kg and takes week to 10 days door to door. Usually goes by UPS.
 
teddington_lock said:
Inter parcel are very good , they tend to use UPS as their courier ( everything I have sent via Interparcel has been collected by UPS ) .

No dramas with them.
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Not my experience with them. Paid a premium for next day delivery of 2 items, then, when it was too late to use an alternative courier, they emailed me to say they could not deliver to either post code - one in London and one in Gloucestershire and both provided with my original order. They then took a week to refund me. Dire:( I suspect they take your £££ then see if they can negotiate a deal - at your risk if they fail.
Parcel Monkey have been OK for larger items France-bound.
 
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