Parcel Motel Athlone new location concerns

unreg999

Does anyone else have an issue with the new location for the PM in Athlone?
I use it a lot and was very happy with where it was located when it was behind Kilmartens there... I feel very vulnerable and unsafe going to the new location especially by myself in the dark.

It's down behind the Nightline Depot down past Lidl, just before the huge DPD Depot... all the arctic drivers park and sleep right there overnight waiting for the DPD Depot to open...

I was there last night at around 11 and it was pitch black, there were no lights around it at all, the only lights were from my car! It's a very deserted area once the offices and shops are closed. I was extremely nervous going to collect my parcels but I had no other time to do it and no one to bring with me.
The whole reason I liked using PM was because of the convenience of it being 24/7 and in a safe area.

To clarify, I am a very independent woman in my 40's!

I emailed my 'concerns' to them and got a complete brush off... they said I could collect my parcels in a different place (it's the only one in Athlone or near) or pay for home delivery if I didn't feel safe... :mad::eek:

This was the email I followed up with-

"I think you missed the point of my email, the reason I feel unsafe is because it IS unsafe!
To clarify, I felt perfectly safe before it was moved when it was located behind a busy Service Station, very well lit and opposite a big hotel, carpark, McDonalds and NCT centre.
These two locations are very close so this is not about location, it is a very real concern.

1. There is no lighting around the machine or in the area/carpark/road AT ALL apart from the small screen on the machine itself.
2. It is located down a dark road with no street lights in the vicinity.
3. After office/shop hours, all the nearby buildings/offices are closed, empty and dark
4. There is scrubland all around it and an abandoned cart track right beside it full of bushes and trees.
5. It is at the back of the dark Nightline warehouse building which is located in a dark carpark down a dark road (after office hours)
6. The DARK carpark is full of large arctic trucks with people (all men that I saw) sitting in them or standing around outside them. You need to drive through them to get to the machine which is located right beside where they all park.

So can you please address the above with a clear precise answer instead of a vague brush-off? How can any of that be considered safe? Were any of these points addressed specifically when the survey you mentioned was conducted?

And no, I do not wish to add extra time or expense on to my journey to go to a different location or home delivery, that is absolutely NOT the point of my email. If I wanted to do that, I would have already.

If you can't answer my questions clearly and directly then please direct my email to a Supervisor or someone who can."

Surely they have a responsibility towards their customers that the area they place their machines in is a safe area?

TomOnBoard

I absolutely agree with you. It's a lousy location and I too would be quite fearful using it late at night.

flazio

That's disgraceful. Unfortunately the other services like Address pal from An Post and DPD service which I can't remember the name of only use businesses open at business hours, (but sometimes local stores that open until 10 or 11pm if that's any good to you) other than that the next nearest locker is Caseys in Roscommon.

TimHorton

They put it there because there is no cost , I use it regularly and I agree it is unsafe , I would never ask my wife to collect anything down there.

unreg999

Thank you all for feedback, they are still brushing me off and saying they did a 'survey' for the new location and have deemed it safe and have had no other complaints....!!

As usual in Ireland they are waiting for someone to be hurt, robbed or worse before anything is done (

veryangryman

At the risk of going against the tide here..

If your arriving in a car at their reception, you should be safe. If an issue, call in at a daytime hour when the shops are not closed.

I cant imagine anywhere on earth that is totally safe and not isolated in the queer hours. I've walked through Times Square at 5am without meeting a soul.

I'm quite sure that there's a reason that nobody else has complained. Realists

unreg999

Hmm VeryangryMAN, do you know what Parcel Motel is or how it works?? Did you read my post at all?? 😳🙄

The whole point is that there is NO reception, there is no office and no people there! It is a completely self service machine that is located outside.
It is convenient exactly for that reason and that it is accessible 24/7.

I specifically mentioned in my OP, if you had bothered to read it before commenting, that I was unable to go at any other time or bring anyone with me.
Something I had done many times in the past, even at 'queer' hours (whatever that means) with no concerns before it was moved to a very remote and dark location.

Please try to educate yourself before making comments just to seem clever and 'go against the tide'...

I also don't believe they haven't had other complaints, other people I have spoken to have said the same as me, even men feel nervous going there sometimes

roosterman71

I'd say yer much more likely to meet weirdos behind Kilmartins than down where it is now.

The parcel is held for a set number of hours. Find it hard to believe that the only time it could be collected is in the middle of the night.

Could you get someone else to pick it up for you?

I'll agree that it's not the most convenient spot for the lockers, but it is what is is. No one is making anyone use the service, or forcing them to collect things at mad hours. This thread reads like a whinge and a moan because a voluntary service isn't living up to make believe expectations

Zubeneschamali

roosterman71 wrote: »

This thread reads like a whinge and a moan because a voluntary service isn't living up to make believe expectations

A voluntary service just got worse - why wouldn't people complain?

roosterman71

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

A voluntary service just got worse - why wouldn't people complain?

Because in no way are you forced to use it. There are alternatives out there. If people stopped using the service, then they might change the location or something.