Getting around UK supplier that have blacklisted Parcel Motel?

runswithascript

I want to order a budget phone directly from Motorola UK, rather than Amazon UK, as doing so will save me £39, and get me a slightly better device.

After they cancelled my initial order, they said my bank refused the transfer. My bank confirmed they never tried to take the money and... - long story short - 4 attempts later someone from Motorola eventually told me that they will not deliver to Parcel Motel, or other PO Box services.

I have tried inputting my PM without the PM ID, so everything except my unique identifying number, as I know it will still reach me, and also by changing my PMID from say PM12345 to 12345 LTD, as recommended elsehwhere. Still though, not long after ordering the order is cancelled.

I have contacted PM directly by phone, and their parent company Nightline, but neither can do anything for me as the only UK address they can give me is the same one as PM in Antrim. I asked if I were to omit the postcode from my order, in case this was something being flagged by Motorola automatically, would the delivery still reach their Antrim office and they told me no.

Does this make sense? And/or can any of you recommend another way to get this item safely to the Republic? I have no friends or family in the UK I could ask to manually forward.

Perhaps An Post or DPD offer something that could help? I do not want to give up!

SCOOP 64

Have you tried DPD parcel wizard, same as parcel motel but deliver to your door,
but will still have a northern ireland address, dont know if you will run into same problem.

runswithascript

SCOOP 64 wrote: »

Have you tried DPD parcel wizard, same as parcel motel but deliver to your door,
but will still have a northern ireland address, dont know if you will run into same problem.

I literally just confirmed my email address with DPD Parcel Wizard 30 seconds ago. I just need to check if the address used has a unique number a the top, which I expect it to, and I expect that would give it away as a PO Box...

runswithascript

So the DPD format is like this:

Address Line 1: PW123456
Address Line 2: DPD Parcel Wizard
Address Line 3: Unit 5 Trench Park
Address Line 4: Trench Road
City/Town: Newtownabbey
Postcode: BT36 4LB
County: Antrim

Unless I try something like this:

Office: PW-12345
DPDPW
Unit 5 Trench Park
Trench Road
Newtownabey
BT36 4LB
Antrim

What do you think?

Right2Write

Have you looked into www.addresspal.ie

I've used this - goes to an address in St.Alban's, Herts, UK. Cost €3.50 for normal size packets. Delivered to your nominated local post office.

The address has a number on top.

Are Motorola prescribed from selling to Ireland? Seems odd as surely there are UK customers with PO box number addresses like this?

runswithascript

Right2Write wrote: »

Have you looked into www.addresspal.ie

I've used this - goes to an address in St.Alban's, Herts, UK. Cost €3.50 for normal size packets. Delivered to your nominated local post office.

The address has a number on top.

Are Motorola prescribed from selling to Ireland? Seems odd as surely there are UK customers with PO box number addresses like this?

Thanks for that, I will contact Address Pal and see if they are happy to receive one package for me without the number on top. This happened before when I was using a UK website, and due to the address formatting the PMID was not included - I spoke with PM about it ahead of time and they took care of everything. I could also call DPD, but the lesser known addresses/companies will probably work best, like Address Pal, and one someone recommended to me, Parcel Connect.

stronglikebull

dusf wrote: »

Thanks for that, I will contact Address Pal and see if they are happy to receive one package for me without the number on top.

Without the ID number on top, it won't go anywhere. Address Pal numbers are big long alpha-numeric strings too, so it's unlikely that you can truncate it in any way.

runswithascript

stronglikebull wrote: »

Without the ID number on top, it won't go anywhere. Address Pal numbers are big long alpha-numeric strings too, so it's unlikely that you can truncate it in any way.

That may be the case for Address Pal, although your package is still retrievable if you leave your PMID from your Parcel Motel address, as due to whatever format the address input was in on a website I ordered from before, Parcel Motel were still able to get a package to me with the PMID missing.

I contacted DPD, they said they would let me do the same, leave my mailbox number off the address, and I also changed the line DPD to DPDPW, paid with PayPal this time - using an email addresses I added without my name in it, and I used a family members name - order still cancelled.

A guy in work has let me use his UK address and it is on the way - I have never encountered the like of this before.

Walter2016

some companies simply refuse to send to a PO box of whatever type as they require a direct signature on delivery. Usually its higher value stuff.

Soemtimes you just need to accept that not everything will be possible when these security measures are in place.

L1011

Some sites do not want the hassle that will ensue when someone tries to demand a warranty return with shipping from Ireland paid for; some sites are worried about anti-competitive territory deals they have with a supplier; some suppliers that sell direct in the UK have such a deal in Ireland.

If they check each order manually, you aren't going to find a workaround. Find a mate in the UK like we had to pre-Parcel Motel

Berty

I tried to order from Motorola last year and even spoke to somebody after rejected orders. They will not send to either PM or PW. I don't know about Address pal though as it wasn't around then.

stesaurus

I once ordered something through PM and forgot to put in my PM ID. So instead PM have an advanced notification system that you can give them all the details of an expected shipment. So tracking number, delivery provider, description etc. PM will then know its yours even without the ID.
The extra advantage is they also up the insurance on the item to €250 for free.

So maybe try that? Leave off the ID and postcode.

L1011

s.welstead wrote: »

I once ordered something through PM and forgot to put in my PM ID. So instead PM have an advanced notification system that you can give them all the details of an expected shipment. So tracking number, delivery provider, description etc. PM will then know its yours even without the ID.
The extra advantage is they also up the insurance on the item to €250 for free.

So maybe try that? Leave off the ID and postcode.

Phones are high enough value and high enough margin for each order to be manually checked. Postcode out won't stop the very obvious address.

runswithascript

Tried all the stuff with PM and DPS regarding leaving off my mailbox number, not putting DPD in the address, etc. etc., 6 attempts, all cancelled - it is currently on the way to the private address of a friend in the UK.

Oh and Motorola did mention the reason was because they did not want to deal with refunds and warranty issues across borders.

jackinthemix94

Which is a good point. There was a poster here recently that used Parcel Motel for an order from France and was demanding free postage from Ireland despite having used a UK address.

Having read the sense of entitlement there, I understand why they're being so stringent. It's a shame that a few wreck it for the majority though.