Parcel Motel Thread (post all related questions here)

nsa0bupkd3948x

cheif kaiser wrote: »

Has anyone else had an issue with Parcel Motel splitting their packages into 2 separate parcels and charging for 2? I ordered 2 mirrors recently which were shipped to parcel motel as 1 package under the one tracking number, however, when they got to parcel motel because the boxes were simply strapped together, parcel motel separated them and charged me for 2 parcels and because they are too big to fit into any of their boxes, both were classes as oversized and I had to pay €14 for them.

The same thing happened yesterday when I shipped them 2 paintings as 1 shipment but again because they were 2 boxes strapped together, they once again separated them and charged me €14.

I really don't think this is fair and I actually don't think they have the right to interfere with my parcels.

I did email them about the mirrors but they didn't bother to respond with any explanation.

Any opinions on this?

Did you pack them yourself? Are you sure they were strapped together properly? I'd be surprised if they'd split parcels.

nava

cheif kaiser wrote: »

Has anyone else had an issue with Parcel Motel splitting their packages into 2 separate parcels and charging for 2? I ordered 2 mirrors recently which were shipped to parcel motel as 1 package under the one tracking number, however, when they got to parcel motel because the boxes were simply strapped together, parcel motel separated them and charged me for 2 parcels and because they are too big to fit into any of their boxes, both were classes as oversized and I had to pay €14 for them.

The same thing happened yesterday when I shipped them 2 paintings as 1 shipment but again because they were 2 boxes strapped together, they once again separated them and charged me €14.

I really don't think this is fair and I actually don't think they have the right to interfere with my parcels.

I did email them about the mirrors but they didn't bother to respond with any explanation.

Any opinions on this?

I would contact them about that, they should not split parcels they are interfering with your parcel.

Can you see that tape was cut to split the parcels? It would be very greedy on them if they did. Take pictures of parcels before opening if it shows they did that so you could email them to the customer service.

Could it be that even that they had 1 tracking number they were shipped as 2 parcels? Check if any of them have parcel 1 of 2 or parcel 2 of 2 or similar.

jimmynokia

If the packages where to big and they where split to fit seperate lockers what is the charge for an oversized delivery to your house,weight it up that way. look at both sides of the coin here. A, they may or may not have been a 2 piece consignment and B they may have done you a favour and C, Hopefully not the case and interfered with your package for gain.

sniper_samurai

Could be possible. I had customs interfere with packages like this once. I had two parcels from Hong Kong arrive in country on the same day, both individually below the limit to be charged VAT. They sent me their letter asking for the value for which I complied. When the packages arrived customs had duct taped the two parcels together and charged me VAT on the combined total.

This was clearly done by customs as both packages had address labels and franked postmarks.

styron

If they're in effect separate consignments tagged together by the seller for convenience I wouldn't have a problem - unless they were wrapped together.

There's a small chance they were split as a cost saving exercise - outsize parcels get exorbitant as thickness increases:

100 x 60 x 27cm = €7
100 x 60 x 28cm = €14
100 x 60 x 33cm = €21
100 x 60 x 38cm = €28

https://my.parcelmotel.com/Member/PriceCalculator

styron

sniper_samurai wrote: »

Could be possible. I had customs interfere with packages like this once. I had two parcels from Hong Kong arrive in country on the same day, both individually below the limit to be charged VAT. They sent me their letter asking for the value for which I complied. When the packages arrived customs had duct taped the two parcels together and charged me VAT on the combined total.

This was clearly done by customs as both packages had address labels and franked postmarks.

Epic ****tiness ... though I'm always VAT-paranoid enough to split purchases over different days if bargain fever permits.

cheif kaiser

The first 2 were 2 bathroom mirrors which of course are extremely narrow and did not weigh a lot. Combined they would barely add up to 1 oversized parcel. I could also see the markings on the boxes where they had been taped together.


The second 2 are 2 canvas paintings so again their weight would be very minimal and again combined together they would barely work out as 1 oversized parcel.
The were definitely shipped as 1 and the 1 tracking number all along the route indicates.. it's at the hub, it's with the carrier, etc.

Had either of these shipments even had some brown paper wrapped around them, they would had no choice but to class them as 1 but because you could see that they were 2 boxes, they were separated and charged as 2 oversized parcels.

jimmynokia wrote: »

If the packages where to big and they where split to fit seperate lockers what is the charge for an oversized delivery to your house,weight it up that way. look at both sides of the coin here. A, they may or may not have been a 2 piece consignment and B they may have done you a favour and C, Hopefully not the case and interfered with your package for gain.

They were both charged as €7 each for me to pick up in Finglas. if I want them delivered to my house, I have to pay an extra €10 each adding up to €34 in total for 2 canvas paintings!?!? I could have had them delivered directly to me for €22 so where is the favour?

nsa0bupkd3948x

cheif kaiser wrote: »

The were definitely shipped as 1 and the 1 tracking number all along the route indicates.. it's at the hub, it's with the carrier, etc.

Are you 100% sure they were sent as one parcel and not one shipment.

It wouldn't be unusual for one shipment to be scanned at the same time in each place but still be two separate parcels. If they were delivered together thats very poor form by Parcel Motel.

deezell

I'll bet Styron is right. When the volume of an oversize parcel is less than 0.165 cubic metres (165 Litres) it is charged at €7 , with a weight limit of 55kg . Each .03 cubic metre (30 Litre) increase in volume ups the price by €7. A large flat package of 110 x 150 x 10 cm costs 7€ , 2 of these cost €14. Tape them together and the increase in volume is five and a half extra jumps of .03 , rounded up to six. This parcel will cost an additional 6x7 = €42 extra, €49 in total. Splitting into 2 only costs €14. Someone at the depot was doing you a favour.

cheif kaiser

deezell wrote: »

I'll bet Styron is right. When the volume of an oversize parcel is less than 0.165 cubic metres (165 Litres) it is charged at €7 , with a weight limit of 55kg . Each .03 cubic metre (30 Litre) increase in volume ups the price by €7. A large flat package of 110 x 150 x 10 cm costs 7€ , 2 of these cost €14. Tape them together and the increase in volume is five and a half extra jumps of .03 , rounded up to six. This parcel will cost an additional 6x7 = €42 extra, €49 in total. Splitting into 2 only costs €14. Someone at the depot was doing you a favour.

I think you have your figures mixed up there. I am shipping 2 bathroom mirrors, not 2 doors! They were 50x70x10 if you stick 2 of them together they are 50x70x20 and both work at €7 because they have not gone over the dimensional weight. The same would apply to 2 pictures.

deezell

cheif kaiser wrote: »

I think you have your figures mixed up there. I am shipping 2 bathroom mirrors, not 2 doors! They were 50x70x10 if you stick 2 of them together they are 50x70x20 and both work at €7 because they have not gone over the dimensional weight. The same would apply to 2 pictures.

I can only speculate as to the motive for an operative to split flat packs. Your dimensons are well within the limits when the packs are taped together, it must happen frequently with larger flat packs that the staff split them. Perhaps the person who did does not fully understand when to split and when not. You have a valid case for sure. Did you get two text alerts and pin numbers to collect? Did you raise it with the people at the depot when collecting. The agent I spoke to at Xmas mentioned the huge number of new staff hired at the time, 150 or more. I'd imagine a lot of these would be prone to errors in work practice, especially in regard to something like splitting packets to save customers costs. It may not even be official policy. I can't imagine it's policy to do the opposite to boost charges. It's not ryanair! I'd phone them or visit the depot with the boxes and paperwork.

moleyv

Anyone know the opening hours of the PM depot off the North Road?

jimmynokia

@cheifkaiser. Can't quote from app. I never said nobody was doing a favour, I simply gave three options. Also regardless what you order the difference often arises in the packaging. We've yet to see that. Also If it was cheaper to have them sent directly why didn't you?

cheif kaiser

jimmynokia wrote: »

@cheifkaiser Also If it was cheaper to have them sent directly why didn't you?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

deezell

moleyv wrote: »

Anyone know the opening hours of the PM depot off the North Road?

9am - 9pm Mon-Fri, 9-5 Sat.

jimmynokia

cheif kaiser wrote: »

Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

Isnt it just..

moleyv

deezell wrote:

9am - 9pm Mon-Fri, 9-5 Sat.

Cheers

FixitFelix

I just noticed a company I ordered from never put my pmid on an item ordered, will I need to get in touch with PM about this?

TallGlass

Well finally got a reply from the motel... I will post it up here as I cannot understand, how mistaken they can be and for others to watch out with oversized items. I was charged 49€ for this and the calculator online said it would be 14€.

Hi
Thank you for contacting us,

The dimensions of your over size parcel were 66 X 60 X 80 resulting in a €49.00 charge.

If your parcel exceeds 41cm X 38cm X 64cm or weighs more than 10kg in actual weight, your parcel will be deemed “oversize”.
Oversize parcels are measured using “volumetric” which is cubic kilograms (kg³).

This is calculated by multiplying the Length (cm) X Width (cm) X Depth (cm) and then dividing by 3000. This gives us the volume (space it takes up) of the parcel in kg³ (cubic kilogram or ‘volumetric’ as we call it).

We charge €7.00 for anything under 55kg³ in volume, and then it costs an additional €7.00 for every 10kg³ in volume, over the initial 55kg³.
Guidelines below:-

• up to 55kg³ (in volume) is €7.00,
• up to 65kg³ (in volume) is €14.00
• up to 75kg³ (in volume) is €21.00
• up to 85kg³ (in volume) is €28.00 and so on..

For example, if your parcel dimensions are 50cm X 63cm X 91cm, then using the formula above, this would be a volume of 95.55kg³. We would then round to the nearest whole number of 96kg³. The charge for something of this size is €42.00 and would be charged upon the parcels arrival into us.

Then for an additional charge of €7.95 on top of the parcel charge you can organise a home/work delivery for the oversized parcel online via your parcel motel account.

Kind Regards,

My reply;

Hi X,

Good evening, thanks for getting back to me about my query. I have to disagree with you on the measurements of the box. As you can see from my pictures that I have attached to this email, that the size of the box is actually, 64.5cm x 35cm x 78cm, with a weight of 21/22KG. Using your online calculator I get a figure of 14EUR for postage; using a rounded figure of 65 x 35 x 78 cm with a weight of 22KG. I have measured the box myself and it is the same size as described on the box. I don't mean to be smart here, but it looks to me like someone doesn't know how to get the volume of a box, when they measured it. As firstly, I cannot find a side with 60cm anywhere on the box, unless someone decided to measure the side of the box that is 64.5cm twice, as in they measured the top and the size, which of course will give the same size and a completely in accurate volume of the box.

[cid:951ef075-ad31-4043-a68c-031294869779]

And also using the maths you provided, the size of the box 64.5*35*78/3000 gives me a volume of 59.15 which is below is 65kg price of 14EUR.

I trust you understand my position on this and can see why I am not to happy about a 49EUR charge over a 14EUR charge, as I said I was very happy with PM up until this and to be honest if someone doesn't see where I am coming from with this and refund me the difference, then I won't be using the motel again.

Best Regards,

X.

I have attached the picture of the box to this. Am I wrong in what I am saying? (reading over it I was a bit smart and snappy, but in fairness I am waiting nearly 5 weeks for a reply. I will be waiting another 5 weeks from my guess)

ED E

I cant see where they've got those figures from.

Snake Plisken

They seemed to have got rid of the free extended liability up to 250 euros if you filled in more details about your shipment eg courier what was in it courier tracking number etc.

EDIT actually wrong in their FAQ they give free extended liability up to €250 if you fill in the parcel Diary. Worth Filling in on items worth over €100

CianCollins

I am having a lot of trouble at the moment with Parcel motel and I would be grateful for some advice. I recently ordered a €250 product on Amazon the product was due to arrive between the 18th of Jan - 1st feb. I extended the liability on the 12th to €500, a week after purchasing the product, the following week around the 18th I tracked the product and it stated that the package arrived in NI on the 9th of January and was signed for. I sent on details to parcel motel of the product they came back to me today after a week of hounding them that they conducted a depot search and it was unsuccessful and that they are only refunding me €100 due to the fact the package had arrived at the depot before I extended the liability.
I am fuming and am considering taking it to small claims court as no where does it state it in the Terms & conditions that has to be extended before it arrives at depot. Do I have a leg to stand on should the package liability been extended before purchase.

Gadgetman496

CianCollins wrote: »

I am having a lot of trouble at the moment with Parcel motel and I would be grateful for some advice. I recently ordered a €250 product on Amazon the product was due to arrive between the 18th of Jan - 1st feb. I extended the liability on the 12th to €500, a week after purchasing the product, the following week around the 18th I tracked the product and it stated that the package arrived in NI on the 9th of January and was signed for. I sent on details to parcel motel of the product they came back to me today after a week of hounding them that they conducted a depot search and it was unsuccessful and that they are only refunding me €100 due to the fact the package had arrived at the depot before I extended the liability.
I am fuming and am considering taking it to small claims court as no where does it state it in the Terms & conditions that has to be extended before it arrives at depot. Do I have a leg to stand on should the package liability been extended before purchase.

Before or at time of purchase I would imagine, After the event would be a bit like insuring your house after it burned down.

If you entered it into your PM shopping list it would have automatically been insured for €250, did you do that?

TallGlass

TallGlass wrote: »

MY ISSUE

Just to update people on my problem with PM, fairly quickly resolved. Issued a refund of the difference and one free stay. Happy with the outcome and they came back to me very quickly to be honest.

Don't think I could ask for more.

So I will be back to using PM again.

MilesMorales1

Gah. I ordered something to Parcel Motel from tesco direct which uses standard post, dispatched last friday and the status on it is still dispatched, rather than delivered. It also didn't have my PMID on it, cos of the way that address thing works, so I just put the description of the parcel into the parcel finder thing on the PM website, but as of now there's no sign of the parcel.

Irish Gunner

Just wondering if anyone has ordered a TV from Amazon UK and got it delivered via Parcel Motel. I have only used them for delivery of items that fit in the boxes but looking at TV's and wondering if anyone has had any experience with them on delivery and collection from their Depot and how long it took etc and approx. cost as emailed parcel motel but no reply
Cheers

nava

Irish Gunner wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone has ordered a TV from Amazon UK and got it delivered via Parcel Motel. I have only used them for delivery of items that fit in the boxes but looking at TV's and wondering if anyone has had any experience with them on delivery and collection from their Depot and how long it took etc and approx. cost as emailed parcel motel but no reply
Cheers

I got a TV via PM a few years back, quite straight forward took the same as any other parcels, but I had it deliver to my house for a bit extra.

I got another TV with Parcel Wizard also no issues with them, best about PW is that they are not as strict for oversize items.

kingaaa

fernrock wrote: »

I have a similar problem, except that they agreed on the 11th that it was lost and they would compensate me (€91) to my paypal account within 7 working days. Still waiting in spite of several more support requests and telephone calls.

does anybody have a phone number for this mob...their customer service is shocking!!!!! ..I sent a package to another PM user in Waterford 4 days ago, I received the comfirmation text and everything, he still hasn't even got a notification that they have it in their depot !!!!

UsedToWait

kingaaa wrote: »

does anybody have a phone number for this mob...their customer service is shocking!!!!!

018835442

Shocking is not the word for it..
Call at 9am and you may get an answer.

Then vote with your feet, is my advice.

kingaaa

UsedToWait wrote: »

018835442

Shocking is not the word for it..
Call at 9am and you may get an answer.

Then vote with your feet, is my advice.

thanks for that..... great service when it's working, but if something goes wrong you may forget trying to get in touch !! this is the 3rd issue I have had with the (2 x receiving, 1 x sending)... each time customer service is deplorable!!! If I was the boss or owner I would be horrified if I heard some of these stories - it will eventually kill them off now that DHL and the like are getting into the business.