AddressPal, Parcel Motel - business as usual?

bo0li5eumx12kp

Need to get an item delivered to a UK address only, with pickup in south of Ireland.

I've never used these before and cause of brexit, curious as to whether there's any concerns?

Is there a preference for which one to use?

Picking up in a local parcel motel locker is probably easiest for myself.

Pacifico

Holland Shy Wacko wrote: »

Need to get an item delivered to a UK address only, with pickup in south of Ireland.

I've never used these before and cause of brexit, curious as to whether there's any concerns?

Is there a preference for which one to use?

Picking up in a local parcel motel locker is probably easiest for myself.

They’ve all closed their UK address. Check the courier forum

bo0li5eumx12kp

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058142264

This thread?

That sucks.

ongarite

AddressPal is still running but its a much more limited service than Parcel Motel and Parcel Wizard used to be.

There are weight & dimension restrictions, no alcohol, product with built in batteries.
Its more expensive & with Brexit there will be customs duties from 1st Jan

deravarra

AddressPal decided to jump on the ripoff bandwagon and are squeezing an extra 3 euro per UK purchase/delivery to Ireland.

Their email said that they would no longer be able to offer collection services for these deliveries - which were costing €3.95 a shot.
They could now only send direct to addressee "due to customs requirements" - and this would incur the higher charge of €6.95.
HOWEVER, if you were not at home, you could ask for the parcel to be collected by you at the post office of your choice.

That's quite an underhanded price gouging effort with little attempt at masking this grubby practice!

blade1

deravarra wrote: »

AddressPal decided to jump on the ripoff bandwagon and are squeezing an extra 3 euro per UK purchase/delivery to Ireland.

Their email said that they would no longer be able to offer collection services for these deliveries - which were costing €3.95 a shot.
They could now only send direct to addressee "due to customs requirements" - and this would incur the higher charge of €6.95.
HOWEVER, if you were not at home, you could ask for the parcel to be collected by you at the post office of your choice.

That's quite an underhanded price gouging effort with little attempt at masking this grubby practice!

I just had €7.49 taken from my account for an item I ordered using address pal.
Where did 7.49 come from.
Website says price is 6.50.

Also from the 1st Jan there's an extra customs handling fee of 3.50 regardless of duty on the item or not.
Fair gouging alright.

deravarra

blade1 wrote: »

I just had €7.49 taken from my account for an item I ordered using address pal.
Where did 7.49 come from.
Website says price is 6.50.

Also from the 1st Jan there's an extra customs handling fee of 3.50 regardless of duty on the item or not.
Fair gouging alright.

I ordered an item from the US 2 years ago - and got it through addresspal - never again!
Not only did they charge customs on the delivery within the US - i.e. the cost of delivery from origin to the addresspal address in NJ - and then charged me €10 for handling my customs payment - but demanded cash only when at my door.

What kind of stupid business does this?

As if customers would have cash in their houses all the time.

Del2005

deravarra wrote: »

I ordered an item from the US 2 years ago - and got it through addresspal - never again!
Not only did they charge customs on the delivery within the US - i.e. the cost of delivery from origin to the addresspal address in NJ - and then charged me €10 for handling my customs payment - but demanded cash only when at my door.

What kind of stupid business does this?

As if customers would have cash in their houses all the time.

That's how An Post have done it for years, collecting payment at the door. All couriers charge for processing your custom charges, some charge €15.

blade1

deravarra wrote: »

I ordered an item from the US 2 years ago - and got it through addresspal - never again!
Not only did they charge customs on the delivery within the US - i.e. the cost of delivery from origin to the addresspal address in NJ - and then charged me €10 for handling my customs payment - but demanded cash only when at my door.

What kind of stupid business does this?

As if customers would have cash in their houses all the time.

All couriers have that charge but only when duty is to be paid on your item.
Now there is going to be a charge when no duty on item. :rolleyes:

deravarra

Del2005 wrote: »

That's how An Post have done it for years, collecting payment at the door. All couriers charge for processing your custom charges, some charge €15.

I would expect that they would send a notification that they would need cash payment on delivery - and an estimation on how much.

We are living in the 21st century after all - and not many people keep cash in their homes.

bo0li5eumx12kp

Their websites seem to allude this service potentially coming back online when brexit negotiations are settled.

Is this what's expected?

whiterebel

deravarra wrote: »

I ordered an item from the US 2 years ago - and got it through addresspal - never again!
Not only did they charge customs on the delivery within the US - i.e. the cost of delivery from origin to the addresspal address in NJ - and then charged me €10 for handling my customs payment - but demanded cash only when at my door.

What kind of stupid business does this?

As if customers would have cash in their houses all the time.

Customs charges are based on the freight cost from the customer to your door. Local delivery forms part of that.

whiterebel

If the Brexit deal is ratified, I would think all services will come back next year.

un5byh7sqpd2x0

whiterebel wrote: »

If the Brexit deal is ratified, I would think all services will come back next year.

A Brexit deal was agreed 20 minutes ago. Let’s see what it means.

bo0li5eumx12kp

DPD have just said to me in a conversation that virtual addresses will no longer be available, ever.

As in, this is not temporary.

This sucks!!

What do we do when we want goods that aren't normally shipped to Ireland now?

Mrcaramelchoc

Holland Shy Wacko wrote: »

DPD have just said to me in a conversation that virtual addresses will no longer be available, ever.

As in, this is not temporary.

This sucks!!

What do we do when we want goods that aren't normally shipped to Ireland now?

I think DPD have just stopped doing it end of story but parcel motel have stopped doing it and are waiting to see what the Brexit deal brings.

deravarra

whiterebel wrote: »

Customs charges are based on the freight cost from the customer to your door. Local delivery forms part of that.

I had no quibble with the local part of it - as in from the US to Ireland.
I fail to see why I should have to pay customs for a service bringing the item from Wisconsin to NJ.

And my main issue was with the at the door cash demand without prior notification.

whiterebel

deravarra wrote: »

I had no quibble with the local part of it - as in from the US to Ireland.
I fail to see why I should have to pay customs for a service bringing the item from Wisconsin to NJ.

And my main issue was with the at the door cash demand without prior notification.

Local isn’t US to Ireland, that’s international. Freight is based on door/door unless specifically stated to be FOB Free on Board - the exporter pays the local charges. If they pass those charges on to you, then it is liable for the VAT/Duty calculation.

Last time I used AddressPal I got an email advising exactly what charges were due for customs and processing.

deravarra

whiterebel wrote: »

Local isn’t US to Ireland, that’s international. Freight is based on door/door unless specifically stated to be FOB Free on Board - the exporter pays the local charges. If they pass those charges on to you, then it is liable for the VAT/Duty calculation.

Almost like saying if I have a McDonalds in the US, I should poo before getting on the plane unless I want to incur VAT charges on that meal here in Ireland...

whiterebel wrote: »

Last time I used AddressPal I got an email advising exactly what charges were due for customs and processing.

Wonderful! I didn't - hence the issue I had with them.
As an aside, I have now found out that a parcel I had been expecting from the US came to Ireland on the 13th, left Portlaoise mail centre on the evening of the 14th, and arrived in Heathrow on the morning of the 16th. Nothing was updated on the USPS tracker which was the originator. I just checked An Post today on the off chance that it might show something.
If this happened in the company where I work, heads would roll. But as it's a state owned entity, heavily unionised, not even a slap on the wrist will be done!

Tzardine

Does the deal now mean no extra fees and customs on UK purchases?

deravarra

Tzardine wrote: »

Does the deal now mean no extra fees and customs on UK purchases?

Good question - and need time for clarification. Intependent.ie shows a little ambiguity in their article:

"The deal will guarantee the EU and UK tariff-free and quota-free access to each other’s goods markets and fishing waters post-Brexit, and ensure ongoing transport, energy, police and security links.

Under a withdrawal agreement concluded last year, trade between Ireland and Northern Ireland will continue under existing EU rules, with customs and safety checks needed on goods coming into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK."

beachhead

Del2005 wrote: »

That's how An Post have done it for years, collecting payment at the door. All couriers charge for processing your custom charges, some charge €15.

Don't youse have a piggybank at home.Suppose your bank cards get "lost","borrowed",cancelled, overdrawn.What then???

beachhead

deravarra wrote: »

Good question - and need time for clarification. Intependent.ie shows a little ambiguity in their article:

"The deal will guarantee the EU and UK tariff-free and quota-free access to each other’s goods markets and fishing waters post-Brexit, and ensure ongoing transport, energy, police and security links.

Under a withdrawal agreement concluded last year, trade between Ireland and Northern Ireland will continue under existing EU rules, with customs and safety checks needed on goods coming into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK."

The Rvenue and courier companies are not goig to backtrack on their nice little earner just because of a deal deal Brexit.There are new costs involved,sur.

glen123

§§

deravarra

beachhead wrote: »

Don't youse have a piggybank at home.Suppose your bank cards get "lost","borrowed",cancelled, overdrawn.What then???

never cancelled or overdrawn. We use apple pay or google pay for everything. 21st Century

deravarra

beachhead wrote: »

The Rvenue and courier companies are not goig to backtrack on their nice little earner just because of a deal deal Brexit.There are new costs involved,sur.

Especially An Post - need to raise as much revenue as possible. Screw the customers is in their vocabulary!

L1011

beachhead wrote: »

Don't youse have a piggybank at home.Suppose your bank cards get "lost","borrowed",cancelled, overdrawn.What then???

I've a credit card and a debit card with two different banks, on two different platforms (Mastercard/Visa), both with plenty of funding behind them and both of which can be done via Google Pay on my phone in case of the physical card being lost/stolen. If there's a crisis enough to take down all of that, cash isn't likely to be honoured either!

Everything is paid for by EFT or card at this stage from shops to the milkman, even my window cleaner takes EFT from regulars now and I think he has a card reader since COVID started too.

I would rarely if ever have cash at home and certainly not have exact change as requested by couriers that do COD for customs fees - which isn't just An Post.

blade1

deravarra wrote: »

never cancelled or overdrawn. We use apple pay or google pay for everything. 21st Century

Fear not the postman will accept cheques :rolleyes:

wozniattack

blade1 wrote: »

Fear not the postman will accept cheques :rolleyes:

Even the depot only accepts cash. Rather annoying :pac:

Del2005

Tzardine wrote: »

Does the deal now mean no extra fees and customs on UK purchases?

There'll still be VAT so the extra charges will apply.

Rewired

What about pre-owned items from Ebay, etc?


Edit: found a link https://sellercentre.ebay.co.uk/global-sales/2021-vat-changes

• Sellers should begin listing the applicable VAT rates on all their existing and new listings as soon as possible.
• From 1 March 2021, eBay will make it mandatory to add the VAT rate on all UK and EU sites when listing items.