Hopefully I'm not too late here but most of the posts illustrate that myhermes and the like have a fundamental problem with their delivery system which is that THERE IS NO MEANS FOR THE BUYER TO COLLECT THE PARCEL FROM THEIR DEPOT.Sorry for the caps, but they seem wholly ignorant of the fact that in order for a delivery system to work, buyers need the reassurance that the item is stored somewhere safe to collect within a reasonable time.
Royal Mail, FedEx and ups all offer this facility as it saves them having to return the item, should home delivery be unsuitable.
I pity the bloke from myhermes who has to make the deliveries. Personally, I'd rather they left a card, saying where it can be picked up, rather than repeatedly trying to make a delivery when the buyers out. It's a waste of everyone's time.
The only time I'd use myhermes etc is when sending an item to an actual business...office hours, receptionist, etc.
Oddly this thread has made me decide I'll use Collect Plus for my next selling transaction despite what I've said about them! But using the deliver to shop option to the buyers shop of choice only. That has to be as close to safe and reliable for both sides as possible. Slightly more faff for them if delivery is normally easy but there it is. Only difference is I'll insure it for the right amount 😉
Needless to say I'm glad this has ended OK for both me and the buyer 😉
I'll continue to use CollectPlus as I've used it quite a lot, it's not let me down so far (!) and it works for me as I'm pretty near a couple of drop off points. Obviously I nearly cocked up by not covering the full insurance, so there's a lesson there to be learnt, although there is a grey area when the company says it's been delivered and yet the addressee says it hasn't.
If we didn't live in a world where so many people are playing the system it would be easy to be more trusting - but unfortunately it's not like that and it's far too easy to be taken advantage of.
I still don't understand why the buyer didn't contact me until two weeks after the delivery was due to take place (he knew how it was being sent and would have had emails from eBay stating that it had been dispatched and when to expect it) - but there you go. If I'd spent £200 on something I'd be watching it like a hawk!
Just one point for future reference.... if you buy Collect Plus postage through eBay [b]it does not give you the option of changing the insurance or paying for a signature[/b] - so buy through the CP website if you need extra insurance.
Just one point for future reference.... if you buy Collect Plus postage through eBay it does not give you the option of changing the insurance or paying for a signature - so buy through the CP website if you need extra insurance.
Considering how much profit they make on that insurance I would moan at them on Social Media to get it fixed through ebay!
