AddressPal from Anpost. Similar to Parcel Motel and Parcel Wizard.

marklazarcovic

well it pains me to say it but this is as farcical as i thought it would be,i registered the day it went live,no problem, havent received card yet,emailed last week to question why,what do i do now etc as i had things en route from the uk.

i got no responses to any emails. i rang the number on the website that states contact us here if any issues etc.,it was not a direct line to addresspal,it was to a automated system with dial 1 for ..etc etc, no option for addresspal , was redirected 3 times by various staff,after 10 mins got chatting to a lady there,explained my issues ref the card and incoming parcels.

she said they are not yet set up to fully implement addresspal,there is no trained customer service for this product,they are not trained,they have a q&a sheet and anything thats not on the sheet they have no clue of,they have other jobs and its a case of whoever answers the phone,and as happened to me today if they dont know they just redirect your call til you give up or someone else answers.

the emails are hit and miss,the card system is destined to fail,and finally she said i use pmotel,its far handier.
i have to agree.

and i work for an post.


i just knew they couldnt do this right,half a job.

kn

NeverWaining wrote: »

At what time did people get their SMS? Is it a morning thing or did it arrive during the day?

Morning. But I'd imagine its when the barcode gets scanned in your local PO that triggers the text/email.

Corholio

marklazarcovic wrote: »

well it pains me to say it but this is as farcical as i thought it would be,i registered the day it went live,no problem, havent received card yet,emailed last week to question why,what do i do now etc as i had things en route from the uk.

i got no responses to any emails. i rang the number on the website that states contact us here if any issues etc.,it was not a direct line to addresspal,it was to a automated system with dial 1 for ..etc etc, no option for addresspal , was redirected 3 times by various staff,after 10 mins got chatting to a lady there,explained my issues ref the card and incoming parcels.

she said they are not yet set up to fully implement addresspal,there is no trained customer service for this product,they are not trained,they have a q&a sheet and anything thats not on the sheet they have no clue of,they have other jobs and its a case of whoever answers the phone,and as happened to me today if they dont know they just redirect your call til you give up or someone else answers.

the emails are hit and miss,the card system is destined to fail,and finally she said i use pmotel,its far handier.
i have to agree.

and i work for an post.


i just knew they couldnt do this right,half a job.

Dont you just take in the print out you got when you registered, while you wait for the card?

marklazarcovic

Corholio wrote: »

Dont you just take in the print out you got when you registered, while you wait for the card?

yes thats not my issue, its the half assed attempt to do something ,they dont even know if the item is in the country,it arrived in herts on thursday.

believe me,the collecting the item will not be the problem,the organisation of the addresspal product will be a disaster,should not have been launched until staff were trained and a dedicated customer service was in place.

its doomed already.

Bhangraman

Apparently thhey lowered the price (still expensive though) "Oversized items will be charged at €25 per item"

WIZWEB

Bhangraman wrote: »

Apparently thhey lowered the price (still expensive though) "Oversized items will be charged at €25 per item"

For some reason I can't edit the OP. Perhaps the mods can to notify readers of the reduced oversized item charge. Yep agreed though still expensive.

Berty

I only found out about this service half way through February so considering parcel motel did so well from word of mouth An Post would want to extend the €1 to the 17th March or something.

j4vier

have they removed the 1 euro offer for february?

don't see it mentioned on the site anymore

brightkane

j4vier wrote: »

have they removed the 1 euro offer for february?

don't see it mentioned on the site anymore

it told me about it on the registration email, at the bottom.

waiting for my first package also, was delivered to their hub in uk today so be interesting how long it takes to get here

NeverWaining

Haven't received a card yet either. I wonder if they're on hold for now? Given that they listened to customers regarding the oversize charges they might be looking into shortening the address too.

kneemos

NeverWaining wrote: »

Haven't received a card yet either. I wonder if they're on hold for now? Given that they listened to customers regarding the oversize charges they might be looking into shortening the address too.

The code is ridiculous. Surely all they need is a Post Office code and sequential numbers starting from one for each PO.

Stinicker

I ordered three more items tonight and one via Parcel Wizard as I'm suspicious about its potential size. I have a competent postmaster and he scanned my item which triggered the text perfectly; and we had spoken about it before it even launched as I'm friends with him. My only concern is the long address code but we will see how these next three items fair out.

benmeade

My item was delivered to the uk hub last ŵednesday morning, and i know because it was tracked and signed for. No sign of it yet so itll be a week tomorrow.
The only reason i went with this is because of the mainland uk address. Does parcel motel or parcel wizard have a mainland address i can use in future.
This is a disaster.

Do we know if our items are insured?

Berty

No card here either. Two items hopefully en route. They really need to scan them in the UK not just the final destination.

I also agree the code is unnecessarily confusing.

Amouar

My package was delivered to Addresspal UK's address last thursday, and I still didn't hear from Anpost yet

NeverWaining

My first package had no tracking but was scheduled to be delivered to my AddressPal address last Monday, Tuesday at the latest. No sign of it.
I ordered three items around the same time. The second was delivered to me free of charge by a confused postman yesterday.

I won't be using them again unless I really need that UK mainland address. The Northern Ireland address has always been good enough in the past.

BoatMad

Yeah I have three items sent early last week. No sign , what's the bet they will suddenly appear 1st March

Kiss this customer goodbye , parcel motel for ever

thecivvie

I had 2 of my first 4 packages arrive yesterday. I had expected them Friday but was still delighted to get them. The service appears to be swift, no real issues other than my out in the sticks postmaster had no idea what to do I happened to be posting soemthing when he mentioned he had 2 parcels for me.

As my nearest PM is an hour's drive away and I tend not to buy much off Amazon unless I get free or cheap shipping to Ireland, it will be a benefit for me. I could use Parcel Connect but that is still a 20 minute drive each way.

Berty

Like somebody else I hope a bemused postman delivers mine. Small rural office. Only two people, we know of, in the town with my name so he doesn't need my address to find me. Would be darn handy as well, no fee and no visit to the post office.

Amouar

Sent them an email asking about my package. Let's see if they'll reply.

bk

thecivvie wrote: »

As my nearest PM is an hour's drive away and I tend not to buy much off Amazon unless I get free or cheap shipping to Ireland, it will be a benefit for me. I could use Parcel Connect but that is still a 20 minute drive each way.

You could also use parcelwizard which would deliver it to your door, if that was convenient for you.

stimpson

After reading this thread I rang the customer service line. The guy on the end of the line complained about lack of training. He rang my local PO and my package was there and hasn't been scanned into the system. I can pick it up anytime. I'd advise people waiting for packages to give them a call.

Looks like An Post have dropped the ball on this. If it wasn't for the €1 offer is just use Parcel Motel.

Amouar

stimpson wrote: »

After reading this thread I rang the customer service line. The guy on the end of the line complained about lack of training. He rang my local PO and my package was there and hasn't been scanned into the system. I can pick it up anytime. I'd advise people waiting for packages to give them a call.

Looks like An Post have dropped the ball on this. If it wasn't for the €1 offer is just use Parcel Motel.

I called them and my package was also sitting on my local post office without being scanned! The reason for this is that the package was opened (probably when it reached Dublin), and as a result a part of my ID code was removed, therefore staff at my local post office couldn't register it online.

On another note, the package content was perfumes, and happy to see that it was still delivered despite the package content was checked!

stimpson

Jesus - just been round to my post office. What a drama. 15 minutes while she rang support, printed a label, tried to scan it, keyed in the numbers, scanned it again about 5 times, looked at my licence and seemed to type the whole thing into her computer. In this time a massive queue built up behind me.

I give the whole system 6 months - it's typical semi state over complication of a simple process. Parcel Motel can sleep easy tonight...

kneemos

Looks like it was implemented without telling the staff

Quackster

Collected my first AddressPal parcel today. It was posted last Wednesday and I got the notification of its arrival this morning.

All went swimmingly despite me being the first to collect at my local post office. The process is definitely more than a bit long-winded and overly-complicated but I was done in a matter of a few minutes.

Still, the queuing to get to the counter would put me off. I'm lucky to live near a Parcel Motel locker and will be sticking with it unless I need to use a GB address. (Or they extend the price promotion!)

kn

stimpson wrote: »

Jesus - just been round to my post office. What a drama. 15 minutes while she rang support, printed a label, tried to scan it, keyed in the numbers, scanned it again about 5 times, looked at my licence and seemed to type the whole thing into her computer. In this time a massive queue built up behind me.

I give the whole system 6 months - it's typical semi state over complication of a simple process. Parcel Motel can sleep easy tonight...

Had a not dissimilar experience myself. She didn't have to ring support or anything but the admin seemed to go on forever.

kneemos

kn wrote: »

Had a not dissimilar experience myself. She didn't have to ring support or anything but the admin seemed to go on forever.

Do they ask for ID?

Crunchienut

kneemos wrote: »

Do they ask for ID?

Yes and the receipt shows the type of ID used

benmeade

My wife happened to be in the shop that is also the post office today and who is a friend of the girl who works in the post office. Girl in p.o. Said "oh theres a parcel here for your husband it came in yesterday" so my wife said ill take it now but they wouldnt give it to her. If my wife didnt happen to be in the shop chances are that i would not have known it was there!!

Its us the public that are training the anpost workers as to how its supposed to work. Typically Irish.......

benmeade wrote: »

My item was delivered to the uk hub last ŵednesday morning, and i know because it was tracked and signed for. No sign of it yet so itll be a week tomorrow.
The only reason i went with this is because of the mainland uk address. Does parcel motel or parcel wizard have a mainland address i can use in future.
This is a disaster.

Do we know if our items are insured?

stimpson

benmeade wrote: »

Do we know if our items are insured?

According to the FAQ they are not insured.

Berty

Just asked my postman what the story with Addresspal is?

Never heard of it. I explained the basic premise of it just in case they referred to it differently, nope hadnt a clue.

stimpson

stimpson wrote: »

According to the FAQ they are not insured.

True. If you skim through the full T&Cs though they do mention their liability is limited to €40 and talk about what you would need to do to submit a claim. So once your item is €40 or less you might be ok

Limitation of Liability - Direct Losses

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.

Claims

(a)
Any claim must be brought by the Customer and submitted in writing to the Customer Services Section, An Post, GPO, Lower O’Connell St, Dublin 1 D01 F5P2 within 30 days of the notification of availability for collection from the Collection Point. Such claims must be accompanied by:
(i)
Statement of the amount claimed (in Euro).
(ii)
Copy of Original Purchase Invoice of contents to provide evidence of cost price.
(iii)
Detailed description of goods involved.
(iv)
In the event of non-delivery/damage etc. copy of a written statement from the consignor confirming despatch.
If claiming for damaged goods, the address (and telephone number of contact) of where the goods are available for inspection should be supplied together with an estimate of the cost of repair.

N.B. All damaged goods and packing must be retained for inspection. Failure to do so may adversely affect claims.

kneemos

[Deleted User] wrote: »

True. If you skim through the full T&Cs though they do mention their liability is limited to €40 and talk about what you would need to do to submit a claim. So once your item is €40 or less you might be ok

Limitation of Liability - Direct Losses

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.

Claims

(a)
Any claim must be brought by the Customer and submitted in writing to the Customer Services Section, An Post, GPO, Lower O’Connell St, Dublin 1 D01 F5P2 within 30 days of the notification of availability for collection from the Collection Point. Such claims must be accompanied by:
(i)
Statement of the amount claimed (in Euro).
(ii)
Copy of Original Purchase Invoice of contents to provide evidence of cost price.
(iii)
Detailed description of goods involved.
(iv)
In the event of non-delivery/damage etc. copy of a written statement from the consignor confirming despatch.
If claiming for damaged goods, the address (and telephone number of contact) of where the goods are available for inspection should be supplied together with an estimate of the cost of repair.

N.B. All damaged goods and packing must be retained for inspection. Failure to do so may adversely affect claims.

Right.So no insurance then.

Amouar

kneemos wrote: »

Right.So no insurance then.

Considering that they can open the package and check the content, I'd stay clear unless the value is small and need a UK mainland address.

Discodog

I wonder how PayPal will handle any complaints/refunds? Do they sign for packages in the UK?

Crunchienut

Discodog wrote: »

Do they sign for packages in the UK?

Mine was signed for. It was delivered to them by courier so I can see date and time of delivery and name of person who signed for it on the courier's website.

I don't expect there would be any signsture for items delivered to them by ordinary post

Crunchienut

Berty wrote: »

Just asked my postman what the story with Addresspal is?

Never heard of it. I explained the basic premise of it just in case they referred to it differently, nope hadnt a clue.

His letter must have gone astray

An Post staff were written to earlier this month promoting the service

mathie

Went to the GPO to collect my parcel today.
I head to the parcel section and join the queue.
"Youll have to go to information (cashier 17) about that"
(silly my thinking my parcel might be delivered there)

I go in to information and queue again
"Oh Ill have to get the guy who deals with that"
<few minutes wait>
"Can you go to cashier 4 please?"

I go to cashier 4 and join the queue
The guy has to ask another two guys how to seal the deal.
Five minutes at this desk and I'm done.

ParcelMotel are truely 5hiting themselves.

Well it is early days guys. I'm sure the more victims er I mean early adopters they get in the better the post offices will become.

BoatMad

Well folks all my addresspal stuff arrived , but I had to keep asking the local post office each day, I now have several deliveries , none of which show up in my online transaction account

Whatever method AnPost is using to inform their post offices, is dismal

If the situation is that something has to be scanned, at the local postoffice, both the post mistress and myself were dammed if we could see any barcode, Unlike parcel motel, theres no barcoded label placed on the item, its just " plastered " with " AddressPal stickers"

We even looked at the barcodes on the delivery sack, but again these dont scan anything for addresspal,

The local office didn't know what to charge or anything , I hd to tell them ( in fact as she couldnt work out what to scan she had no way of actually working out any costs )

So folks check with your designated post office. as for €1 February, I think AN post should be giving us money not the other way around


IN fairness to an post , One sender " decided" to leave out the long addresspal number , but ANpost still located me and put a replacement label on the letter .

NightLine/Parcel motel must be howling with laughter by now

thecivvie

I got my 3rd package today, was not expecting it till next week. I happened to be in the post office posting a parcel and the postmaster said there was a package for me, he was just putting it on the system. It does seem to long and complicated for staff, thankfully I am in a rural area so the post office is small.

And I got the text and email about 2 hours after I collected it To be honest it suits me for eBay items that know the size of, will never use for Amazon

marklazarcovic

Got a phonecall from a postmaster saying my packets there,the wrong location,other side of galway ,only for he knew me and rang my mobile it would have been returned as the addresspal number was blacked out he said,im getting it free so thats good,but no email,no txt,nothing.

It wont last unfortunatley

kn

kneemos wrote: »

Do they ask for ID?

Yeah. Picture ID.

kn

Only a State Body could make a relatively simple process so complicated and user unfriendly. The difference with the private sector counterparts is really stark.

hecmail

I guess if you haven't ordered at this stage you'll probably miss out on the €1 off unless you get express delivery. I ordered something on Amazon yesterday and it's estimated delivery to the AddressPal address is March 3rd. So doesn't look like it'll be on time for the offer. Just to bare in mind now.

mooseknunkle

I ordered something on Sunday and it was delivered to addresspal this morning in England,hopefully ill have it by Friday!

How do i reprint my card?,when i try on my account it just says "Sorry Your AddressPal card is currently being re-sent to you. Please allow up to 5 working days for it to arrive. Otherwise, contact An Post Customer Service for help."

quilmore

got mine, it was the first one for the post office's staff and had to follow printed instructions
all good and dealt with well
by the end, when all was done and dusted she took a moment to ask me for feedback
I gave her the cons:
- stuck to post office's opening hours to collect
- code stupidly long and too many lines for address
- excessive charges for over sized items

the plus were:
- english address instead of NI
- pay as you go, instead of having to top up by an amount larger than 1 delivery, usually not a multiple either

she took notes, I'm not sure they'll go too far but I felt better at it
to finish it she asked me if I was to use it again, I was honest and said "probably not", with the exception I knew it was going to be something small and delivery to NI wasn't an option

NeverWaining

My missing parcel showed up. It seems very late but as it wasn't tracked I can't say for sure if the sender, Royal Mail or AddressPal caused the delay.

This time the confused postman didn't deliver it unfortunately. I had to visit the post office and go through the whole thing. The postmaster was ready for me (being his first(!)) and had a sheet of instructions ready. He did warn that "This is not going to be as easy as you think!". It took a bit longer than you would expect it would take to collect a parcel but the place was quiet thankfully.

He told me that they were called to a meeting about it a month or two back. It was explained back then but understandably enough he didn't store that information for the ~6 weeks until I walked in. They'll all pick it up pretty quickly I'm sure but even still it seems like An Post have made a huge meal of the process.
Why didn't AddressPal send a couple of tester packages to each post office to get them up to speed with the process before bringing in the customers?


I have one more package to come but it will be back to DPD's ParcelWizard after that. I don't like the potential oversize charge and I prefer getting a notification when a parcel arrives to my UK address.

BoatMad

kn wrote: »

Yeah. Picture ID.

in my case " ah this you ", "heres your parcels, dammed if I know what to do "