Don't use Parcel Monkey! (City Link particularly)

106pete · Post by **106pete** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:32 am

P2g are Clubbing Eddy! I posted the parcel to mercutio and they claimed the parcel was taken when the van was stolen, there t&c got them out of it, I emailed them saying how jobby there service is and how I have vowed never to touch them again.

Before that they collected a gearbox, claimed it wasn't there when the driver went to pick it up but he was new so markes it as collected so I had a collection invoice but still no claim could be made. Because it was never collected according to him!

Both occasions with dhl/yodel!

6 months later it's delivered and just dumped in the garden, no explanation or anything. It's just laying there?

http://www.paisleyfreight.com have my business ATM after very promptly delivering a huge bucket seat at a good price.

89 UKDM BA4 4WS (resto job!) · Post by **wurlycorner** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 9:28 pm

nucleustylzlude wrote: I think that is the final straw and your 'managing director' will be hearing from me.

Unfortunately Maridette won't exist of course (customer service people generally use a pseudonim) and they're probably one and the same as the MD (or the MD's wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/brother etc) but very best of luck to you mate.

Yep, I've also had crap experience with city link.

Worst customer service I've ever had was Yodel though - their 'local depot' that I could collect from was Ipswich (40 miles away - and I live in the county town of Essex FFS where every courier including Yodel (I've seen it!) has a depot!) And they wouldn't deliver on a saturday morning. Useless arseholes that I won't ever use.

89 UKDM BA4 4WS (resto job!) · Post by **wurlycorner** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 9:33 pm

106pete wrote: http://www.paisleyfreight.com have my business ATM after very promptly delivering a huge bucket seat at a good price.

I booked via them to get some wheels collected from a seller and the service worked ok. They sub the courier work though of course, so it's luck of the draw again...

89 UKDM BA4 4WS (resto job!) · Post by **wurlycorner** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 9:35 pm

prelude_h22 wrote: Another one to avoid is HDNL - Home delivery network. 10x worse. They dont even show up but on the tracking system they say you were'nt in. SHocking!

I think HDNL have changed their name but are still bad - i think they are called yodel

Yep, yodel is a merger between HDNL and part of DHL (though DHL still operate themselves too?!).
HDNL, made even worse IMHE

89 UKDM BA4 4WS (resto job!) · Post by **wurlycorner** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 9:40 pm

newkid wrote:parcel2go are amazing using yodel(used to be dhl) sent near enough 100 items and never had a problem

I got a couple of bits from you via that route. They turned up fine (well packaged, as you say, which makes a huge difference) and it was in very good time, but if no-one's in Yodel are utter utter crap to get the parcel out of (my previous post was about that experience I had with them...)

Someone was in the second time (complete fluke, they normally aren't) otherwise I don't know how I'd have got it - I actually arranged the redelivery date with them just to waste their time, knowing no-one would be in (they'd pissed me off that much) but my housemate was sick that day, so my plan failed lol

Duo · Post by **Duo** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 8:36 am

I've always found TNT and royal mail to be pretty good, in my old job we used citylink and tbh they were terrible, the guy who did the deliveries and collections was ace but even he said it's the clowns in the depot that screw it up. UPS are pretty good too and I like them because if you import they will pay the shipping tax and then bill you for it on collection so you get the part faster. Both TNT and UPS never had any issues in my old job, not sure if they're still on par but they were great at the time.

As it's been said get trading standards involved and let them read the t's and c's then make an assesment etc etc, at worst your complaint will go nowhere, at best it'll shut them down. Just get the refund first dude and if all else fails try the LG Express courriers, I hear they're pretty good

Supercharged 無限MUGEN BB1 Profile · Post by **nucleustylzlude** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 10:07 am

So I think that we can all conclude that City Link are scraping the barrel and that generally most of them are crap too!

The big names like UPS & DHL I can't fault, especially international shipping. Like I said before, never really had a problem with Royal Mail for small items. It's just slightly larger items where it pays to shop around, just don't go too cheap!

I'm sitting and waiting for my refund, still nothing yet, but in their books, 'it's early days yet'!

I'll look at how best to contact trading standards, it just doesn't feel right the 5 day thing on pickups and deliveres, then the 7 day to process refunds.

Duo · Post by **Duo** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 1:58 pm

^^^ Go with your gut dude, you got nothing to loose and genuinely feel something is not right, they might be forced to re-word things etc, there is a legal minefield out there for names and definitions etc etc. Good luck dude and I really hope TS tear them a new one...........legally speaking of course...........

trfh · Post by **trfh** » Thu Nov 08, 2012 9:41 am

I've been using Parcel Monkey for some years as an Ebay seller, and I picked up this thread because I have a problem with them too. Surprisingly, this thread shows up on the first page of Google results about Parcel Monkey - no doubt they won't be happy with this sort of publicity!

Its a sorry tale of a company promising much - and failing to deliver. Then taking a ridiculous amount of time to give a refund.

But from the comments on this thread, some people are mistaking Parcel Monkey for a courier company. They are not. The couriers are companies like Fedex, TNT and City Link. They do the actual running around. If you go direct to one of them as a private individual, they will either refuse your business completely, or want quite absurd amounts of cash. You can only get a good deal by going to "agents" like Parcel Monkey, Parcel2Go, Interparcel, etc.

In this case, Parcel Monkey were let down by their agent, City Link. And then they compounded this screw up by failing to provide a contact phone number, and taking far too long to process a refund.

A balanced view of all this is that Parcel Monkey provide a good value service (hard to find anyone cheaper in fact) - BUT things are going to go wrong some of the time, and they don't have the people or systems to sort things out quickly. If you have flown with EasyJet, you will know the sort of thing to expect - its great when it works, but when it doesn't, expect a major FUBAR and very little redress.

In general, if you have a critical shipping deadline, go with one of the big names, like Fedex, UPS, etc, and make sure you use a "guaranteed" service. And use an agent with a phone line! My recommendation is Interparcel at http://www.interparcel.com. You have to book on line, but they have a phone number open normal office hours.

Richard
Richard

Post by **vanzep** » Thu Nov 08, 2012 9:53 am

It all depends on how fragile and valuable an item is and how urgently its required. Best courier service imo when buying or selling to someone on the forum is LG Express - other luders are the only ones who care enough to handle things properly. If thats not possible then i would look at meeting people half way distance and personally hand over. Ive sold my mugen bumper and wings recently and decided there was no way id trust these with ANY courier - im meeting the buyer half way. Citylink is a joke - i sold a set of wheels a year ago and booked them as a pallet - they came to pick them up 2 days late and started ripping the pallet apart so they could load them into the van wheel by wheel wtf

i came very close to punching the guys lights out. I had to refund the buyer and im still annoyed about letting that person down.