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Old 31st Oct 2018, 10:34 am   #1
David G4EBT
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Default Couriers/Post Office - Prohibited/Restricted items

In another thread someone wrote that "we can't send radios or electronic equipment via My Hermes", and I wanted to correct that misapprehension. All courier services and The Post Office have lists of items which are prohibited, and a further list of items which - though not prohibited, are restricted. By restricted there ae rules on packaging, and no compensation for loss or damage in transit.

The lists are quite lengthy, and can include as prohibited items such things as credit/debit cards, lottery tickets, passports, driving licences, as well as any form of animal alive or dead. Though of no direct relevance to us, it may come as a surprise (it di to me) that the Post Office permits the sending of live creatures including bees, caterpillars, cockroaches, crickets, destroyers of noxious pests, earthworms, fish fry and eggs, leeches and other parasites, lugworms, maggots, mealworms, pupae and chrysalides, rag worms, silkworms, spiders and stick insects.

They must be boxed and packaged to protect the creatures, Post Office staff and customers from harm, and sent 1st Class as the minimum service. Items must be clearly marked ‘URGENT – LIVING CREATURES - HANDLE WITH CARE’. The sender’s name and address must be clearly visible on the outer packaging.

The only restriction that I can see on electronic equipment such as radios, valves, CRTs etc, is that they're classed as 'delicate' or 'fragile' so if sent via My Hermes would not be subject to compensation for loss or damage. Examples mentioned include TVs, projectors, turntables and computer monitors.

I mention this topic not for debate or comparisons of couriers but to simply say check the list of prohibited and restricted items to see what's allowed and what isn't. (There can be additional restrictions on sending certain items internationally to specified countries too, such as mobiles phones with or without sims to residential address is Turkey or Pakistan).

As My Hermes was specifically mentioned, their list of prohibited and restricted items can be found here:

https://international.myhermes.co.uk/prohibited-items

The Post Office list is here:

https://www.postoffice.co.uk/mail/uk-what-can-i-send

Hope that might help clarify matters, and if nothing else, to appreciate the value of the Forum Courier Service and the goodwill of fellow forum members!
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Old 31st Oct 2018, 11:05 am   #2
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Default Re: Couriers/Post Office - Prohibited/Restricted items

The problem with Hermes isn't their list of prohibited items, it's their all encompassing list of items for which compensation cannot be claimed in the event of loss or damage. This includes practically all items which would be of interest to vintage electronics enthusiasts.
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Old 31st Oct 2018, 11:19 am   #3
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Default Re: Couriers/Post Office - Prohibited/Restricted items

Agreed Paul but I have never had a Hermes package lost or damaged.
I have learnt over many years how to pack delicate objects.
Pre courier days, we used to ship lots of glass and ceramic sheets by Royal Mail, you learn quickly how to pack!

I have had HM Customs destroy valves as they mistakenly regard them as containing mercury.

I have used DCD to ship large radios ( too big for Hermes ) abroad using the eBay Global Shipping without incident too.
Perhaps I am just lucky.
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Old 31st Oct 2018, 11:34 am   #4
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Default Re: Couriers/Post Office - Prohibited/Restricted items

All couriers are fine until something goes wrong. I once had a box of set top boxes sent to me by another forum member. When it failed to arrive and I chased it, I was told it had been 'accidentally destroyed'. When I asked them to deliver whatever was left they said the package had been 'lost'. Not only could I not claim for the lost items, I couldn't even get a refund of the charges, even though the loss was unarguably the courier's responsibility. I just had to take the hit as they were 'electronics' - fortunately the value was low.
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Old 31st Oct 2018, 11:38 am   #5
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Default Re: Couriers/Post Office - Prohibited/Restricted items

I agree with Sam in that packaging correctly is the key to safe delivery.

My 'test' for such packaging is (seriously) drop kicking the parcel the length of my driveway. If it can't survive that kind of abuse then it is likely to not survive (some) delivery companies handling.

Sometimes is feels as if writing 'delicate contents' or just 'fragile' on the outer is an invitation for them to TRY to damage them!

One of the most effective methods for safe delivery is to write - clearly and legibly - "check contents before signing for delivery".

I have oft thought to build a GPS, time and 'g' monitoring (6 axes) recording device to send in packages (of different sizes and weights) via various couriers to determine which couriers actually handles the package most appropriately. I thought it might also make a decent article on those TV consumer programs.....

I can already imagine the recording showing the packages being tossed great distances and bouncing/rolling across warehouse floors!
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Old 31st Oct 2018, 11:51 am   #6
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Default Re: Couriers/Post Office - Prohibited/Restricted items

My throw test for posting items was created in the 1970s when I watched them throwing mail bags out of a mail car across a station platform against the ticket office wall.
I have later changed this advice to the length of a sea freight container.
There has been no change in all those years.
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Old 31st Oct 2018, 11:53 am   #7
Ted Kendall
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Default Re: Couriers/Post Office - Prohibited/Restricted items

There is a carrier offering this service - when my CEDAR Cambridge arrived it had a sticker on it describing how accelerations on the package were remotely monitored. Mark you, this was expensive stuff, so would warrant that sort of carrier.
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Old 31st Oct 2018, 12:07 pm   #8
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Default Re: Couriers/Post Office - Prohibited/Restricted items

Back in April, Royal mail manged to 'lose' a small Roberts Radio I posted to Roberts in Tipton. Because I didn't have a purchase receipt, proving the value of the radio, all they would refund was stamps to the value of the postage I paid.
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Old 31st Oct 2018, 12:17 pm   #9
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Default Re: Couriers/Post Office - Prohibited/Restricted items

Serious accelerations/decelerations of post are surely nothing new?

The old mail-trains picked up and collected mail while running at full-steam through smaller stations!

https://youtu.be/0EGQWAZghaM
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Old 31st Oct 2018, 12:33 pm   #10
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Default Re: Couriers/Post Office - Prohibited/Restricted items

Quite common at one time to have indicators on large expensive items. These if I remember correctly were CDC computer Disk drives weighing about 150Kg.
Mind it’s a bit more difficult to throw a package like that around but no doubt someone tried.
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Old 31st Oct 2018, 12:38 pm   #11
David Simpson
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Default Re: Couriers/Post Office - Prohibited/Restricted items

I'll echo David's support of My Hermes & the Post Office. I've had excellent service from both. Other private couriers have tried to con me out of extra dosh regarding my north Scottish postcode, but not Hermes.

Regards, David
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Old 31st Oct 2018, 12:42 pm   #12
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Default Re: Couriers/Post Office - Prohibited/Restricted items

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nuvistor View Post
Quite common at one time to have indicators on large expensive items. These if I remember correctly were CDC computer Disk drives weighing about 150Kg.
Yes I remember the removable disk-packs from CDC9762 and Lark drives coming in protective packaging that had shock-detectors on them: these were a sealed glass tube of red dye which also contained a ball-bearing. The thing was then mounted on a backing made of absorbent cardboard, with a plastic transparent front. If subjected to excessive shock the tube ruptured and the dye flooded the cardboard, giving a rather impressive 'bloodstain'! [I know, I deliberately broke one once the disk was taken out to see what happened].
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Old 31st Oct 2018, 1:13 pm   #13
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Default Re: Couriers/Post Office - Prohibited/Restricted items

You can pack things as well as you like. If they are thrown around too much they will break. When I lived in Germany I never had any problems and old radios arrived without a scratch. Since moving top France I have had several radios arrive as a kit of parts. There was no damage to the packing but heavy components such as transformers or loudspeakers had broken loose. They then flew around inside the radio smashing everything in sight. It was so bad that I haven't bought any radios for years. The only exception was some VE301s where the seller agreed to dismantle them and send all the parts separately. Obviously French parcel sorting is different to how they do it in Germany. If anyone has a spare cabinet for an Ekco AD38 I would be very interested.
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Old 31st Oct 2018, 1:21 pm   #14
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Default Re: Couriers/Post Office - Prohibited/Restricted items

I can confirm that Hermes are fine in most cases. But no carrier is perfect. I send all sorts of things, a lot of them breakable, so I use plenty of padding, and double box where the item warrants it. I have a parcel damaged about once a year of four or five sent a week.
I use Royal Mail 2nd if the customer lives in a flat or somewhere it's complicated to find the front door - I contact customers to ask - RM posties will know the area. Just in case we have a driver pushed beyond caring. But of course you have to pay RM extra for tracking.
Late December seems to be a peak time for losses - I suspect because temporary drivers are taken on. They have been fine with compensation in that rare event of damage.
I do use Royal Mail usually for international parcels, and they have a higher rate of damage or loss, but will fork out for the item's value.
Hermes tracking is very patchy. I have a page of items listed as not delivered I know from customer feedback have arrived. My own feedback to Hermes makes no difference. Watching the scanner they use I can understand this - sometimes they just won't scan.
Hermes have a max weight limit of 15 Kg, I think, less than some carriers.
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Old 31st Oct 2018, 1:49 pm   #15
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Default Re: Couriers/Post Office - Prohibited/Restricted items

A few months ago I bought a battery powered garden strimmer online. Unfortunately the auto line feed was pretty useless so I decided to return it. Even though it came by courier I couldn’t find one who would take it back due to the parcel size and/or the lithium battery, nor could the seller.
As within less than five days of my original request the seller had refunded me in full and said to dispose of it how I wished, I’m guessing they must bump up against this issue quite often.
(In the meantime a generous spray of silicon lube before each use makes it just about usable)
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Old 31st Oct 2018, 1:57 pm   #16
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Default Re: Couriers/Post Office - Prohibited/Restricted items

Quote:
Originally Posted by G6Tanuki View Post
The old mail-trains picked up and collected mail while running at full-steam through smaller stations!

https://youtu.be/0EGQWAZghaM
Good video, thanks!!

Though running through stations, speed would have been reduced anyway. Still, 0 to 25mph in under a second is a fair bit of acceleration for the mailbag contents!
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Old 31st Oct 2018, 3:21 pm   #17
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Default Re: Couriers/Post Office - Prohibited/Restricted items

Quote:
Originally Posted by G6Tanuki View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nuvistor View Post
Quite common at one time to have indicators on large expensive items. These if I remember correctly were CDC computer Disk drives weighing about 150Kg.
these were a sealed glass tube of red dye which also contained a ball-bearing.
Those were the ones, forgotten about them attached to the removable disks packs boxes aswell.

Don’t mention the CDC Lark drives, glad those are a distant memory.
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Old 31st Oct 2018, 5:33 pm   #18
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Default Re: Couriers/Post Office - Prohibited/Restricted items

Unfortunately parcel carriers depend on the employment of many humans, the attitude of which will vary: the weakest link in the chain, etc.

Like many of my vintage, I got work at Christmas on postal deliveries. Throwing small packets into the appropriate bag, many of which were ranked together hanging from steel frames, was a particular skill. Large parcels didn't get this treatment and were stacked elsewhere.

Some years ago I ordered a large printer from a mail order supplier. I asked if this could be delivered to an address where I happened to be working for a period and this was agreed. My desk faced a window which overlooked the courtyard. I saw the Luton arrive and 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), refused it and was promptly on the phone to the supplier. I received another - the second driver was more careful, but, of course, who knows what goes in the parcel hub.

I've almost always collected valuable radio items that are likely to be delicate, sometimes driving long distances to do so. One of the few exceptions was a valved item that came from Holland. This arrived safely though the box and packing was many times the volume of the item.
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Old 31st Oct 2018, 5:43 pm   #19
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Default Re: Couriers/Post Office - Prohibited/Restricted items

That tallies with my advice in post#6.
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Old 31st Oct 2018, 5:43 pm   #20
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Default Re: Couriers/Post Office - Prohibited/Restricted items

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nuvistor View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by G6Tanuki View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nuvistor View Post
Quite common at one time to have indicators on large expensive items. These if I remember correctly were CDC computer Disk drives weighing about 150Kg.
these were a sealed glass tube of red dye which also contained a ball-bearing.
Those were the ones, forgotten about them attached to the removable disks packs boxes aswell.

Don’t mention the CDC Lark drives, glad those are a distant memory.
I remember them too. For some reason DEC put them on the RL02 (higher density) disk packs but not on the RL01 (lower density) ones. At least that's the case for the packs I have here. Perhaps the higher density drives had a lower head flying height (the heads were certainly different) and were more likely to headcrash if the disk was even slightly distorted.

I remembered the name of the indicator as 'shockwatch'. A google search led me to :

http://www.shockwatch.co.uk/

so it seems they are still made.
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