So, it happens once or twice a year that someone’ll send us a little parcel. My mother sends socks and pyjamas for christmas, some good souls will send tea bags here and there, and so on… but…
It can often take over three weeks to get here, sometimes not at all, and once, my aunt (in the good old school Irish faith) send actual money and I got the card, but the money had been taken out.
it seems that parcels that come from Germany, Belgium, Holland, Australia, the states, hell, even slow boat from China gets here faster than a box with a pair of long johns and good warm socks from Ireland. Why is this?
Cards make it in no time,and it’s something I seldom have to deal with, but here we are again, my poor mother calling every day for the past month asking “well now, love, have ye got the parcel?”
She seems rather distraught.
Does anyone else have this? Missing, or late, or parcels missing the odd box of tea bags?
We know that if a parcel is routed via a particular place and local sub-contractor we will have problems as this particular firm are useless. We have complained endlessly to the original contractor - parcelforce, DPD etc - to no avail.
We also had one parcel of 4 books sent by my sister, and eagerly awaited, arrive a bit late. But with 4 completely different and absolute rubbish second hand books. Somebody had carefully opened the parcel, removed the brand new best sellers, and replaced with this junk. So parcel weighed about the same and carried on through the system. No way of telling where this happened sadly.
Whenever my daughter in the UK sends me a parcel - usually for Christmas or birthday I ask for items to be added. Normally items I order on line from UK supermarkets as treats, or special items. The parcel is then collected by Parcels2Go - which charges very reasonable rates - and is delivered quicly to us in France. Sometimes it’s been as quick as 2 days from collection in UK to delivery here. Never any problem with ‘missing’ or damaged items; can’t recommend them highly enough. That comment about books being switched is just awful - can’t believe something like that would happen - that’s so mean.
But if you can suggest to those in UK that they use Parcels2Go it might avoid some problems; not sure if company operates in Eire - but we find them fantastic. And no, have no connection with them at all - just two happy customers in UK and France !!
Happy Christmas everyone - and best wishes to all of us for 2020 - no matter what it might bring !!
Gracious Jane… this is reminiscent of a happening in our commune a few years ago. A Brit received a parcel from UK which had totally wrong stuff inside… yes, it was books. They asked for my help and we/the Post Office etc etc did our best to discover what had happened and where… but no luck. Very, very strange.
It was parcel2go that my sister used! And we still use them, as it is impossible to guarantee that any company won’t sub contract bits of the journey - even parcelforce.
Parcel2Go is a cheap way to send a parcel, you then pick which actual carrier you want to send the package UPS/Parcelforce/Hermes/DPD etc.
I have used UPS via Parcel2Go recently and it was both cheap and excellent service.
I have however had 2 instances where a different courier was used via Parcel2Go and there were delays/problems - as the courier was appointed by Parcel2Go the actual courier would not assist with my queries and Parcel2Go were very bad in helping.
From what I have found - use them to book a quick delivery 2-3 day express with UPS and it works very well - using the economy 7 day deliveries are very poor and only marginally cheaper.
To send money it is wise to put it in something that looks like something else. I had the luck of the Irish on a horse called ‘Mujahiddin’ [I’d recently returned to UK after 9 months in Peshawar teach muj to shoot photos, not AK47s]
I sent £50 in tenners to The High Maintenance Blonde in Port of Spain Trinidad. Posting anything to Trini is with a wish and a prayer. Seven years’ worth of mail was once found in a ravine in the hills. That postie simply dumped his day’s post and, presumably, went to his local rum shop to get liquored up, nah.
I put the notes in an audio cassette case. I’ve used dvd cases as well. Always got thru’.
For the past 10 years I and my friends have been using Parcelsplease to send parcels between UK and France via UPS with never a problem. Both collect and deliver and collect and drop near to my friends. In all cases I can track and it works. Parcels from 3kg up to 12kg never more than €20. Collected Monday noon delivered in the UK by Thursday . Once by 9am in Surrey.
Where I could not control the carrier, my experience with others DHL, Parcel Force, TNT has been hopeless. Any time up to 3 weeks plus the usual phone call we cannot find you I am at the Maire come and collect,(Maire 15 minutes away.)
Must say M&S delivery with Modialrely to our local Spar is excellent. Tracked all the way.
PS
Always mark goods ( Household items)
I don’t know if it changes anything, but worth perhaps mentioning that she doesn’t use an actual logistics service apart from the state-owned version of La Poste. She seems to think it’s a French issue, but when I get post from anywhere else in the world, eve with colissimo, chronopost, or la poste, it gets here. I think someone in wexford is helping myself to the teabags before the ferry.
I had never watched morning TV before but I was staying in a room with a TV. Getting dressed one morning I put it on. The Channel 4 racing pundits were discussing the card for the afternoon’s racing.
One guy said, “Alright, the laughs are one me but I fancy that Mujahiddin for an outside bet.” The other 3 guys duly cracked up.
The laugh was on them! £10to win at 15/1!
I thought it only right to bung the H.M.B. the cost of a visit to the coiffista. And I was stunned when she reported it had arrived.
Not sure about ‘cards make it in no time’ - none of the cards sent to me from Australia are here yet, and they were posted on the 2nd December. So a nice New Year surprise to come!
