AddressPal & Lockers - An Post's Parcel Service SEE MOD WARNING FIRST POST

The_Conductor

cfeeneyinterior wrote: »

Hi guys, just wondering how long dies it take for parcels to be signed for in AP in UK and to then arrive in Irish post office?

It can take a little longer depending on a number of factors- I picked up one package (it was a book from Book Depository) which was signed for on the 24th Nov, yesterday (the 5th Dec). The book came in from the States- but the seller on Book Depository, for whatever reason, wouldn't ship to Ireland- which is why I used a mail bounce for it.

If you ring them they say on average its 4-5 working days- but can take up to 2 weeks. Occasionally it does take the 2 weeks.

The lack of tracking once received in St. Albans- is the killer for most of us- I've had some packages that have taken 2 weeks- that I was convinced were lost- which subsequently turned up.

By the way- I have had laptops (multiple) shipped to Address Pal in St. Albans- which were examined by customs- but all turned up safe and sound. I did it this way- as the duty when they hit the UK- as the first country they hit in the EU- was significantly less than the Irish duty- though I did know I was taking a chance (which I don't regret).

I'd suggest hanging in there- its probable that any delayed packages will turn up- it'll just take a little time longer (esp. at this time of the year).

Apparently there are multiple trolleys of unsorted packages from the UK sitting in Dublin Mail Centre- they are prioritising incoming mail from certain account holders (such as Amazon)- at the expense of their own Address Pal service and some other mail- such as low priority incoming packages from the UK and elsewhere (which are also gone up a few days in their delivery times).

Depp

brophy wrote: »

What about parcel connect ya gotta have some pick up locations closer

is it not the same story tracking wise with them? have an agent next door to the post office actually!

Jumbells

I have been told this morning by both Air Business ( +44 (0) 1727 890 600) and An Post customer service agent (01 705 7600) that if it has been lost or stolen that I will be covered. I asked the Air Business agent to email me confirmation of that and she said she would. But I'm not holding my breath. If you are contacting Air Business ask them to put you through to the Address Pal team or the manager. Don't let them fob you off with the AP number is probably missing. I have confirmed with the company that sent my laptop that the AP number was on the address.

Lord Derpington

cfeeneyinterior wrote: »

brophy wrote: »

Signed for 30th November and then picked up in local post office yesterday the 5th.

So 5 days and that's including the weekend. Not to bad considering time of year.

Mine was signed for on 29th... No sign yet. I'll give them til tomorrow and check local post office and then email I suppose.... Only used it for power banks til now, this one needed a UK address. Much prefer parcel motel / wizard but the mainland UK address works when 

Mine was signed for on the 30th and still no sign either, called anPost and was told to email addresspal support and have had no response as of yet.
This is my first and last time using this service, I'm a regular parcel motel user and by comparison this service is abysmal.
 
To add to their poor customer service, I checked the terms and conditions associated with addressPal. Looks like nothing is covered past €40

[font=Lato, sans-serif]7. Limitation of Liability - Direct Losses[/font]
[font=Lato, sans-serif]Without prejudice to conditions 6, 8 and 9 the liability of An Post for any physical loss or damage to the Item is limited to the lesser of:
(i)
the amount of loss or damage actually sustained.
(ii)€40
An Post is not in any event liable in excess of these amounts.[/font]

harr

One more issue this morning...I have another small xmas gift from a seller on Amazon being delivered to st.albans but the delivery was refused this morning ...I asked seller to send me confirmation on what address they attempted delivery at and the address is as exactly as it should be... confused as to why item was refused..it's not a big item or anything prohibited by address pal just a small child's toy...seller is contacting his courier to get a reason for failed delivery..will update when I get word back...

my3cents

harr wrote: »

One more issue this morning...I have another small xmas gift from a seller on Amazon being delivered to st.albans but the delivery was refused this morning ...I asked seller to send me confirmation on what address they attempted delivery at and the address is as exactly as it should be... confused as to why item was refused..it's not a big item or anything prohibited by address pal just a small child's toy...seller is contacting his courier to get a reason for failed delivery..will update when I get word back...

That could be a courier excuse? Refused because that was the easiest option for the courier who couldn't be bothered to wait for the item to be signed for? I imagine at peak times there must be a queue of delivers waiting to be checked especially at this time of year?

Edit> the same way couriers in Ireland say you weren't in when you were because it was too long a drive out to a rural location.

harr

my3cents wrote: »

That could be a courier excuse? Refused because that was the easiest option for the courier who couldn't be bothered to wait for the item to be signed for? I imagine at peak times there must be a queue of delivers waiting to be checked especially at this time of year?

Edit> the same way couriers in Ireland say you weren't in when you were because it was too long a drive out to a rural location.

Got email from seller...yep your partiality right ..he made attempt to deliver this morning but in his words the one guy working in mailroom was overwhelmed with deliveries and told courier it would be at least 40 minutes waiting to take in my order...so it looks like they are extremely busy and this probably is causing delays in people getting packages over here..courier was told he could leave parcel without signature if he was unwilling to wait...

my3cents

Smarten wrote: »

Hi

I am looking for advice regarding AddressPal.

I placed an order last week from Toys R US ( little girls main christmas present).
I have been checking the tracking details provided by Toys R US online.

When I checked it earlier today it had a comment "Refused by customer DELIVERY REFUSED, SIGNED FOR BY CALLEN, USING SATURN
13:28 Today GMT"

This is where I started to worry :-)

As a result, I checked the addresspal information I had provided on the delivery address.
I provided the correct AP **** number.

I just noticed that for the remaining address I added Air Business
Unit 6, The Merlin Centre
Acrewood Way
St Albans
Herts AL4 0JY


The correct address I should have used according to my card was Unit 5.

Will this cause an issue?

First time using AddressPal..

Any advice on who I should contact?

Your answer could be the same as this one....

harr wrote: »

Got email from seller...yep your partiality right ..he made attempt to deliver this morning but in his words the one guy working in mailroom was overwhelmed with deliveries and told courier it would be at least 40 minutes waiting to take in my order...so it looks like they are extremely busy and this probably is causing delays in people getting packages over here..courier was told he could leave parcel without signature if he was unwilling to wait...

Which is a very poor advertisement for AddressPal

Virtanen

Ordered an item which was dispatched on November 25th. Just when I was beginning to think I'd have to chase it up, I get a text 30 minutes ago that it's waiting at my PO. So an 8-business day turnaround, acceptable at this time of year.

It's a large package too, pushing the size limits on two fronts, they could have classed it as oversized if they were feeling mean.

philstar

i think an post have bitten off more than they can chew with this service

i've had items delivered from Hong Kong quicker than this

(i think a phone call to Joe is in the pipelines)

FanadMan

Think they need more staff in Air Business depot.....especially at this time of year.

harr

philstar wrote: »

i think an post have bitten off more than they can chew with this service

i've had items delivered from Hong Kong quicker than this

(i think a phone call to Joe is in the pipelines)

It's a good service put they definitely need to sort out issues they are having during busy periods...like any business around this time of year extra staff are needed...if trying to deal with Black Friday and Christmas orders with same staffing levels then they are only asking for problems and unfortunately some deliveries will fall through the cracks.
I would like to see more traceability on packages....

Discodog

Meanwhile, just when they can't cope, they issue a big mail shot promoting the service.

Mountainsandh

Depp wrote: »

for me its a matter of convenience, my nearest parcel motel location is a 40 minute drive away but I can walk to my local post office in 5 minutes. For the majority of the country this is the case as parcel motels coverage outside urban centres is average at best. As for parcel wizard being able to pick up my parcel at my leisure is a big benefit of addresspal, waiting around all day for dpd to deliver just isnt an option sometimes.

also important to note that since it was launched ive recieved nearly 30 items, including some obviously labelled high value electronics, and so far the closest thing ive had to a problem is a seller forgetting to include my number on the parcel delaying my parcel. The lack of tracking from the uk to here isn't ideal but its only a minor inconvenience when weighed against the positives of the service.

My experience iis practically identical. Must have received around 30 parcels, fast, easy, not a bother except for receiving someone else's parcel 2 weeks after the service started, and recently a seller forgot to display AP number, but it didn't even delay delivery, I wouldn't have known but for a note on parcel. I read the t&c, so I know to not take chances with sizes.
I have no nearer collection point than my rural post office. Long may it continue.

Suckit

Follow up from earlier post.
I just missed a (super fast) Parcel Wizard delivery, got on to live chat and they gave me the drivers number, Got on to him and he said he will be back this way in an hour and will give me a ring. I could even have arranged for him to drop it with any neighbour or a specific time.
So far PW are winning Christmas for me. Addresspal may have been a day or two slower (which isn't much), but because they never gave me a notification by email or text i had a tough time finding out where my parcel was and it took 4 extra days to sort it.

dabbler2004

Just posting about delivery times; my order was delivered to Address Pal on Saturday last and I've just got a text saying it's ready for collection in my local Post Office. The lack of a tracking number was a bit of a worry (and more so after reading this thread!) but so far so good.

harr

I see parcel motel are experiencing huge delays as well...an 80% increase in volume compared to this time last year...

Fears for Christmas gifts as Parcel Motel customers experience 'serious delays'
http://jrnl.ie/3126156

cfeeneyinterior

Phoned the local post office as hadn't received any email or text and my parcel is there.... Delivered to UK on the 29th so was getting a little worried. If you are waiting for yours, give the Post Office a call maybe....

dxhound2005

A colleague at work got an AddressPal envelope today, just an ordinary letter size. He accepted it, as he was expecting a delivery. It turned out to be a special offer from Amazon Prime inviting him to sign up for free for 30 days. That left him €3.50 out of pocket for an unsolicited delivery.

It would be a disaster if companies like Amazon begin "spamming" AddressPal with stuff like this. I emailed them on his behalf to alert them to this

ED E

dxhound2005 wrote: »

A colleague at work got an AddressPal envelope today, just an ordinary letter size. He accepted it, as he was expecting a delivery. It turned out to be a special offer from Amazon Prime inviting him to sign up for free for 30 days. That left him €3.50 out of pocket for an unsolicited delivery.

It would be a disaster if companies like Amazon begin "spamming" AddressPal with stuff like this. I emailed them on his behalf to alert them to this

Parcel Motel will refund these if you ask nicely.


http://pca.st/8BZ0
Retailer on Joe Duffy today moaning that AP are encouraging UK shopping.... :rolleyes:

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

FanadMan

ED E wrote: »

Parcel Motel will refund these if you ask nicely.


http://pca.st/8BZ0
Retailer on Joe Duffy today moaning that AP are encouraging UK shopping.... :rolleyes:

Why would Parcel Motel refund an AddressPal delivery? Or am I being totally thick tonight

nava

FanadMan wrote: »

Why would Parcel Motel refund an AddressPal delivery? Or am I being totally thick tonight

It means that if you get a letter like that with Parcel Motel, they will give you a refund if you ask them. We seen it a few times with in the past, users getting offers/catalogues from shops.

FanadMan

nava wrote: »

It means that if you get a letter like that with Parcel Motel, they will give you a refund if you ask them. We seen it a few times with in the past, users getting offers/catalogues from shops.

See - that's me being thick. I was reading it Parcel Motel would refund the person who got the Amazon Prime ad through AddressPal. I'm really having one of those days.

ED E

Point is its worth asking AP to be reasonable with this too, no harm asking.

FanadMan

I'd try Amazon as well - never know.....might get a free voucher from them

philstar

ED E wrote: »

http://pca.st/8BZ0
Retailer on Joe Duffy today moaning that AP are encouraging UK shopping.... :rolleyes:

well in fairness he was highlighting the fact that its a state owned agency who are facilitating overseas shopping and as a result much needed revenue leaving the country

i think he's got a point tbh

dxhound2005

philstar wrote: »

well in fairness he was highlighting the fact that its a state owned agency who are facilitating overseas shopping and as a result much needed revenue leaving the country

i think he's got a point tbh

They have facilitated overseas shopping for decades by delivering foreign parcels to people living in Ireland. This should be stopped, as should shoppers going to the North. And Boards.ie should close this forum on Online Buying as it seems to be mainly about buying from overseas.

Virtanen

philstar wrote: »

well in fairness he was highlighting the fact that its a state owned agency who are facilitating overseas shopping and as a result much needed revenue leaving the country

i think he's got a point tbh

I'd agree if An Post were the only ones doing it, but they were just following the lead of courier companies that were already doing it.

Without AddressPal, people would just use those services instead, and revenue would be even less. At least this way the state gets more money than they would without it. Less than they would if the concept didn't exist at all, I'll grant you, but making the best of a less-than-desirable situation

ED E

Address pal is probably the only service that can keep rural POs open with the DSFW moving away from them.