I’ve been shifting a load of parts lately and I’m sure a lot of people who use the classifieds regularly to sell stuff will have noticed that Royal Mail has jumped their prices up so much that they’re rarely the cheapest option anymore. I think a lot of people know that Hermes are the cheapest for most stuff.

Well, there seems to be a reason for this- I had a parcel turn up in February from them that was smashed to pieces. I hoped this was a one off, but in the last month I’ve sent out 8 parcels and 2 have turned up damaged and one has been lost. People that’ve bought stuff off me get hacked off, I’m down on a few quid until they sort it out. I’ve NEVER had a failure rate like this before.

I know a lot of people have found them fine but I think this failure rate is a bit high, so use with caution IME.

You may be right about hermes, but TBH you can do a lot to prevent broken packages arriving with better packaging. Fortunately I buy a lot of stuff online, including a lot of electronics, which come in over-protective pacakaging. I keep all packaging stuff in the garage to use on my own stuff that I send out. You just cant trust any carrier not to employ a lumpen thug who wants to throw your stuff around.

I bought a secondhand monitor and it was delivered with MH – broken. To be fair it was also packed badly and the guy forgot to write “Fragible” on it.

Courier who came to collect it turned up in a Focus with his 6 year old daughter in tow!

Is that some sort of MH codeword ? 😉

When using any courier, it’s always best to package the goods as if they are going to survive the apocalypse, or possibly a Sharknado…

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwsqFR5bh6Q[/video]

A portmanteau word comprising ‘fragile’ and ‘frangible’ – very apt.

TBH you can do a lot to prevent broken packages arriving with better packaging.

This, it really cheap too. stick loads of stuff in the box extra cardboard etc…

Can they really be that bad? Tesco use them. Received various bits from them, including fragile stuff with minimal packaging, with no issues.

There’s a bloke down the road from me who’s a freelance courier (if that’s the right word) and he picks up from My Hermes every morning. He backs his smashed up Mondeo estate to the MH truck and parcels get chucked between the 2. He then drives round like a nutter giving the parcels a good stir in the back as he goes.

I have had things delivered by MH and they’ve always taken ages so don’t bother with them.

All courier companies have the capability to be good or bad as far as damage goes, it very much depends on the local drivers at either end IME. I have a good angle from my upstairs at work to look out onto the industrial estate and into vans delivering nearby. Some of them have neatly packed boxes, some look like a giant has picked up the truck and shaken it! (I try to avoid those ones). Of course the cheaper companies like MH and Yodel don’t really help because it encourages the drivers to operate quicker than perhaps they should.

Few years ago I had a Christmas job with the Home Delivery Network (now My Hermes). I’ve never seen parcels treated with such callous disregard as by their drivers, and will do everything I can to avoid using them myself.

I find Citylink to be awesomely quick via parcelmonkey. I always ignore the myhermes option as being too cheap.

You get what you pay for IMO.

They are simply terrible, do not be tempted if the parcel is of any importance to you or anyone else.

Any deliveries Ive ever had made by MyHermes have ended up in my garden. They dont knock, just pitch it over the fence and leave a card saying its been left at the side gate. Which I dont have.

The last one was a set of coffee cups. Now I have a ‘Make-your-own coffee cup set’ instead of two cups.

My Hermes – always been good for me. Just checked on my account and have used them 38 times in the last 18 months and so far not had any problems. I do tend to pack stuff in a ‘worst case scenario’ way though.

It is just your luck who is delivering your parcel from any of these companies and the people who have handled it along the chain. It’s the same as any walk of life, some will take pride in their work, some won’t.

For all you know the guy with the 6 year old in tow was very careful, but the guy in a sorting office somewhere was heavy handed…

I have never used then before but have had a few things delivered by them including a riser bar that they managed to get through the letter box! Royal Mail dont even try…I think out post lady pre-writes the cards and doesnt even attempt to deliver parcels.

A few weeks ago I heard the letterbox snap shut so went to the front door to see letters and one if those little red cards. I opened the door, saw her and asked if I could have my parcel and she said it was already at the post office waiting to be collected! Even stuff like my other half’s contact lenses which are in a box small enough to fit, have to be collected which is a pain when you can only get there on a Saturday.

Back in topic, I normally use City Link and they”ve always been pretty good.

They put a card through our letterbox. Nothing to say what for or where the parcel was. They’d placed the four car wheels I’d bought in a big empty veg box in the front garden. We never used the front door due to the house layout so it wasn’t obvious. And they’d been left in the rain

Free market now isn’t it, any bugger with some wheels and a sat-nav can be a “courier” MH are obviously one of the outfits that take advantage of the current market conditions… TBH they’re the kind of organisation that Zero hour contracts are made for un skilled / minimum skilled staff on relatively low wages who’s hours can be “throttled” to suit demand…

I’m not a fan of Yodel either TBH, their Van drivers always seem to behave like dicks, tailgating, speeding, in a constant rush when delivering, and seem to constantly be on their mobiles when I see them driving, at least round our way…

TBF I’d maybe consider MH them if I was sending lower value and/or “robust” / non-fragile items, say soft goods, clothing, cheap plastic tat, tyres maybe? where keeping the delivery costs down helped margin and the item could withstand their “handling” but for ebay / classified selling I’d tend to stick to RM, they ain’t perfect or the cheapest but I’ve had no major issues or damages with them…

The appropriate packaging / labeling points should apply whichever courier service you choose.

Always over pack an item is the rule… The rule is to make sure the item would still be ok if it was dropped from 30,000ft.

I’d packed a pair of wheels in a box that originally contained a pair of wheels. The postage label said that they’d come from Asia to Northern Ireland then to South Yorkshire in one piece. Then Hermes get hold of them and they make it 160 miles and the box is ripped to bits and some bits have fallen out and the wheels are out of true.

I got put on a limited seller status on ebay for poor delivery times using them too. They collect up all week but some will only go meet the lorry once a week, plus the other end can be the same, they get them all and sort them into delivery areas so it could be a few days before it gets to your pile.

Insurance is p1ss poor too, £20 i think and if you add more parcelforce is a lot cheaper.

I learnt the hard way

They’re worse than ShittyLink and that takes some doing.

Courier who came to collect it turned up in a Focus with his 6 year old daughter in tow!

Is this bad?^^

I’ve sent about 12 items using MH and have no negative feedback to date, so tells me that they have done what I paid them to do.

One thing that I didn’t like is take my last 2 parcels without leaving me a collection receipt.

Avoid like the plague !!! I was attracted to the low cost too.. Set up an account booked a parcel when I could not print there label off I thought my printer was faulty.. No bother I emailed link to a friend who also had no joy 🙁

Sent item Royal Mail and contacted Herpes* for a refund was told I would get it within 3days.. Heard nothing and that was 3 weeks ago.. Tried to log in to chase it up and I have no account or history ????? And the email I was sent regarding refund has disappeared from my inbox ???

Gave up 🙁

*They F***k you and leave a nasty aftertaste !!!!

*They F***k you and leave a nasty aftertaste !!!!

We still talking about parcel couriers?

Having the kid with him isn’t bad, but it was a surprise.

Used them recently, posted 2 frame and lots of bit (about 10 times in total.

My experience so far.

1. Easy online system
2. Can pay with Paypal
3. Easy label print out.
4. Drop off is on my lunchtime walk route.
5. As far as i know all items have arrived in time and intact.
(I emailed buyers about the frame and they were delivered in time and intact.)
6. I will use again because it’s cheap and convenient*.

*I will make sure i over pack the items.

*They F***k you and leave a nasty aftertaste !!!!
We still talking about parcel couriers?

Yes, but one called ‘My Herpes’….

Coincidentally, they’ve just delivered to me this morning. Left my prized purchase in a plant pot by the front door. It’s raining chats and chiens here as well….

Avoid like the plague !!! I was attracted to the low cost too.. Set up an account booked a parcel when I could not print there label off I thought my printer was faulty.. No bother I emailed link to a friend who also had no joy

Sent item Royal Mail and contacted Herpes* for a refund was told I would get it within 3days.. Heard nothing and that was 3 weeks ago.. Tried to log in to chase it up and I have no account or history ????? And the email I was sent regarding refund has disappeared from my inbox ???This sounds 100% like user error to me. Especially the last bit. Sorry. 🙂 Never used their online booking system but if it’s anything like UKMail (which I use at work) it relies on Java to print the labels, which may well be disabled as a security precaution.

have used once for a batch of ebay selling – won’t use again

items were not underpacked, but still managed to get lost and/or broken

Setting up account- Easy

Paying – Easy

Booking parcel- Easy

Try getting money back – F***k off !!!! 🙂