Couriers/Post Office - Prohibited/Restricted items

[kellys_eye]

You can understand now why modern equipment is sent wrapped in thin plastic film and then 'foamed' with insulation stuff ensuring the whole item is held rock steady!

On the upside I did receive a letter via Royal Mail that was addressed:

[my name]
Blackrock
Small Scottish Hamlet

It took 6 weeks (according to the myriad of post marks!) but it did arrive!

[AC/HL]

Originally Posted by Junk Box Nick

...watched in horror as the driver opened the rear shutter, climbed in and threw the box to the ground. I examined it (the printer had broken free from its internal packing)

Poor packing on the Manufacturer's part there. Something as vulnerable as a printer would normally be in custom designed packing, able to withstand stacking and be drop tested to at least this height.

[G8HQP Dave]

It may be cheaper to use less packing and accept some breakages. I'm sure an accountant will have done some sums on this.

I once stood on a railway platform late at night (can't remember where, or why). Nearby there was a line with two platform faces. Standing on one someone was engaged in throwing a pile of Post Office sacks across to the other one. A few missed and ended up on the line, so then he had to walk down the ramp and fetch them. I suspect that actually carrying them across would have been easier on his muscles and nearly as quick. That taught me a lot about parcel packing!

PS just remembered: my mother-in-law ordered some stuff (not sure what). When it arrived she was a bit slow getting to the door, but as she got there the driver had noticed that there was an open window at the top of the porch so he opened it further and pushed the parcel through so it landed on the hard floor (5ft drop?), then scarpered.

[Sinewave]

I had a lovely AVO destroyed in the post arugably due to poor packaging

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=148162

If properly wrapped well in bubble wrap, batteries removed and then boxed, this would have survived.

[The Philpott]

I have worked at RM and delivered everything from money, blood and urine samples, to live bees and crickets, and even two tins of surstromming. (One of these 'fermented herring hand grenades' had suffered a failed seal and the smell took a week to depart from the depot and the van. The packaging consisted of putting the tins in a jiffy bag- which was evidently not enough for such a noxious substance in a pressurized tin.)

There is a huge element of luck involved with loss/damage to items delivered to the door, but as has been discussed already bomb-proof packaging is vital to swing lady luck in your favour...problematic if you're the receiver not the sender.

Dave

[Terry_VK5TM]

Way back when I was actually young(er), mid 70's actually, I worked for a video production company and regularly had to travel around New Zealand doing presentations for various customers.

The projection equipment then was not small easily handled box item but a huge monstrosity, the main box with the projection tubes and lenses took at least two people to lift it, the screen was a semi-curved rigid affair and cost in the region of $14,000 at the time.

We had special travel cases made for it, but I still remember standing in the airport one day watching as they rolled the projection unit end over end to the plane to load it.

Have never trusted any organisation to get things safely from one place to another since.

[Damien VK3RX]

FedEx have a good how to pack guide on their website, under Shipping > Pack. Pity more people don't follow it.

Someone once posted me a Kenwood TR2200 transceiver they'd managed to wedge into a hair drier cardboard box. Perfect fit in the box, but no packaging around the unit, not even a plastic bag. Not surprisingly it had a number of faults on arrival, and they tried to blame the post office for poor handling

Somewhere I read the rule of thumb was to pack so an item withstood a drop from 3 feet, roughly the height of the rear floor of a freight truck.

[stevehertz]

My take and/or advice on couriers:

1) Regarding risk of poor or dangerous handling, it's far more a case of the individual than the courier company itself.
2) Expensive couriers damage packages as do low cost ones.
3) Quality of packaging is EVERYTHING. Oversize boxes with lots of firm packing all around the item. For smaller items at least three inches all around, up to six inches for a large, heavy item such as vintage hifi receiver.
4) When packing an item just ask yourself if it would withstand being thrown the length of truck. If not, rethink and repack.
5) I find that the truly huge difference in cost between a low cost carrier and an expensive one can affect the saleability of the item. Buyers want cheap yet 'perfect' shipping!
6) All the insurance exclusions can largely be circumnavigated by good packaging and good, clear, protected address labelling.
7) After all this, still bank on getting caught out sometimes. If it's THAT valuable, use collection only.

[Craig Sawyers]

I have a large number of good things to say about couriers, the Post Office and ParcelForce, and a smaller number of horror stories.

Like the Tormek tool sharpening station, that arrived so badly destroyed that the 12mm steel driveshaft was bent.

Or the test equipment sent from the West coast of the US that was returned to sender because repeated delivery attempts were made (no they weren't).

And others.

In fairness, with a tiny number of exceptions in many hundreds of shipping events over the last two decades, I have received full compensation for the disasters. Although the compensation claim procedure always needs determination and a slab of time, regardless of shipping method.

Craig

[broadgage]

Back in the old days, I heard of children being employed to carry lightweight but fragile packages by train and/or bus.

A known individual carrying the package was much safer than it passing through many unknown hands.

A child was preferred over an adult because they were cheaper to pay and could also use a reduced price child ticket.

Some teenage train spotters liked this way of obtaining free travel.

[MrBungle]

I found the best way to get compensation sorted was to post a rant/review on twitter and trustpilot. That worked universally for Yodel and ParcelForce.

The only carrier I haven't had a problem with (yet) is UPS.

Also most important advice: double box anything fragile. What you don't see is what happens in the sorting facility. I've seen inside one years ago when I was doing software consultance for POD systems and what the driver does is 5% of what the staff at the sorting facility are capable of.

Lithium batteries are prohibited by RM, easy, send cells.

[Sinewave]

Even well packaged items can suffer from the rain though. Typical of UPS around here is 'knock knock', no answer in two seconds then the parcel gets thrown over the gate or put towards the side where the garage door is, with no note through the door to tell me of this.

This happened twice, both parcels out in the rain for a week, carboard so wet it fell apart....you can imagine the rest.

If only UPS had bothered to put a card through the door.

[Craig Sawyers]

The problem is that many courier companies give their drivers near impossible delivery schedules. So they spend their life trying to save seconds in every delivery, because if they don't meet the schedule there is a bollocking waiting.

It is not the fault of the delivery drivers - it is all to do with corporate policy of the courier companies.

[stevehertz]

Well yes but as far as us, the pawns in this game is concerned it doesn't really matter, all we can do is pack accordingly and hope that others too pack properly to combat the way parcels are thrown around.

It's an extremely competitive market, and in such environments corners are cut and something has to give. In this instance it's speed that is all important as speed = lower costs, and that leads to 'fast', uncaring handling of our dear parcels. People have been complaining and claiming for years and nothing has changed. RM's claim form is so difficult to 'satisfy' you may as well not bother, I've been there on a number of occasions, and yet they're seen as a premier service, expensive as they are. I tend to use the cheapies now and make sure I pack to withstand a tank assault.

[Heatercathodeshort]

A while back I regularly drove artics on trunk routes for the Royal Mail. They were incredibly careful taking a lot of trouble with customers property. Very few items were lost or damaged and I saw this first hand. They were a pleasure to work for.

Recently Yodel went to a great deal of trouble to track a parcel from the United States to my address. All credit to them and their team at Crawley.

I did drive for another courier company that vanished a while back. They treated customers property in an appalling manner. The floor of the lorry was covered in electronic components from burst open packets. As I said, they are no more.

Most courier companies do a good job. It is not an easy one with remote addresses, no house numbers, no parking, timed deliveries and a host of other stressful problems. You have to be sitting in the driving seat of one of those Mercedes Sprinter vans to appreciate this. Regards, John.

[camtechman]

Back in the early 70's Practical Photography treated its' subscribers to a free pack of self adhesive, red fluorescent labels, to stick on envelopes containing photos.

The intention was to make the postman take notice of the contents. The label read:
"PHOTOGRAPHS - DO NOT BEND OR FOLD"

Quite a few were still being folded up and pushed through letter boxes and some even had this message hand written on the envelope:

"Oh Yes They Do " !!!!!

[David G4EBT]

I usually ask them to leave parcels in the greenhouse if out.

The often use their own initiative to find their own 'secret place' and pop a card through to give the recipient an clue as to where to find the secreted parcel.

For example:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...very-fail.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...l-doormat.html

[emeritus]

A few years ago I posted a photo of a parcel from Screwfix which had no packing whatsoever. The set of twist drills was fine, unlike the packs of GLS bulbs that the drills had been smashing into during transit! I learned how to pack things securely during a summer holiday job, where I spent a couple of weeks in the export packing department. The most distant customer was the British Antarctic Survey at the South Pole.

[G8HQP Dave]

I have had parcels 'hidden' under the doormat. I also once had a parcel left in a recycling bin, which I discovered by accident a few days later - fortunately before the bin was emptied.