Unknown number of Christmas parcels stolen

An unknown number of Christmas deliveries has gone missing, some before they were entered into the computer systems of the parcel delivery firms, making them untraceable.

One disgusted driver said: "It's a similar story with many delivery firms. My firm (EDITOR: A large, national concern) did not bother to install proper security, so an organised gang was allowed to have free range at one of the firm's hubs, taking many parcels before they had been entered into our systems. The result is the firm lost an unknown number of parcels. They then decided to improve security, but that was far too late, as the damage had already been done."

An industry insider said: "There have been other firms who have decided to take extra temporary staff on, but who have not even done any security checks on them. For all they know they could have employed people with convictions for theft, dishonesty or sexual offences or perhaps even drink driving. But because they chose to cut corners, they would never know."

Vulnerable parcels and packages targeted by greedy thieves  have included high value electronic goods, foodstuffs, DVDs, books, etc. The industry insider added: "Nothing has been safe. One of the problems is that if someone in -for example, Devon, entrusts their parcel to a major national carrier for delivery in the Midlands or the North, they expect that major, national carrier, to deliver the parcel. What the major national carrier do not tell their customers is that the final delivery (or more accurately in some cases, lack of delivery) is put into the hands of a somewhat dodgy and shady local delivery firm who have a cavalier attitude to bothering with CRB checks on their drivers.

"And some of their drivers look upon Christmas as a special bonus time, keeping their eyes open for certain packages that they will divert to either a fence or (and in many cases they genuinely do not see anything wrong in this) in the case of foodstuffs and frozen or chilled deliveries, take them home for their families to consume.

"The result is great losses to small, specialist retailers who rely on Christmas orders for the vast majority of their income and disappointed families who have had their Christmas goods diverted by thieves."

What can be done about this?

"If you are in business and need to make deliveries always insist that the delivery firms that you use only employ properly CRB checked drivers and depot staff. If they can't, do not use them. Anecdotal evidence would suggest that there is less danger of you use the parcel delivery services of the Royal Mail. The Post Office or Parcel Force. Yes, they might be a little more expensive, but perhaps there's a good reason for that?

"If you experience problems with deliveries of parcels and their seems to be a pattern do not be reticent in involving the police. Obviously, firms who have no proper policy with employing honest, verifiable staff, or who deliberately flout their own rules for the sake of expediency or cutting corners and therefore, their costs, would not welcome the involvement of the police. Well, that's too bad. You might also need to check on their business insurance. A few claims against them might serve to remind them of their responsibilities to their clients and the customers of their clients."

ParcelsPlease Announce New Discounted Postage Charges from Europe

Following an increase in interest in their international delivery services, ParcelsPlease has taken the decision to reduce the prices of their parcel deliveries to the UK, specifically for parcels from France and Germany. The move, which will see the cost of sending a 5kg parcel from France or Germany to the UK fall to just £12.50, will appeal to their large expatriate community in both of these countries, say ParcelsPlease.

Dawn Henderson, Marketing Executive for ParcelsPlease comments: “We are delighted to announce the price reduction of ParcelsPlease.com import services from France and Germany. With a large customer base in these countries, we understand the importance of being able to send parcels to the UK in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible. Our French and German customers can now send their parcels to the UK from only £12.50 + VAT – a fantastic price coupled with first class service.”

The decision by ParcelsPlease to cut their prices has had a very positive reaction from their customers, in both Europe and the UK, and because ParcelsPlease prides itself on providing a cost-effective and reliable parcel delivery service that delivers door to door, parcel senders and recipients can be assured that their packages are in safe hands.

Dawn continues: “When we decided to cut our prices, we hoped that our customers would find this very useful and beneficial for them, and their loved ones. While this price change is still very recent, we've has some very positive feedback from our customers already, about the value of our cheap parcel delivery and we're starting to see more interest in our services to the UK, and more demand for our European parcel delivery services already, which is not only fantastic news for us, but also for our customers.”

myHermes delivers their one millionth parcel just in time for their two year anniversary

Parcel delivery experts myHermes is celebrating this week with the delivery of its one millionth parcel, only two years after it launched in the May of 2009. The door-to-door parcel delivery company has reached the million mark far sooner than it had anticipated, after witnessing two years of 'remarkable' growth.

Consumer demand for the service, which collects and delivers parcels to and from your door, avoiding the need for queuing at a Post Office, has seen parcel delivery volumes more than trebling year-on-year, with this year expecting to increase from 600,000 deliveries to 1.6 million. (EDITOR: With the closure of so many Post Office branches, just do not try to send a parcel on pension or benefits day!)

According to the Commercial Director at myhermes.co.uk, Jon Tobbell, the fast growth is evidence that the myhermes.co.uk service is a winner for consumers.

He said: “We’re overjoyed at how well consumers are responding to this innovative approach to parcel delivery.

“Consumers are becoming more and more price savvy and shopping around for ways to save more money. This, together with people leading busy lives, means the convenience of a door-to-door service, at prices cheaper than Royal Mail, has proved very popular. We’re looking forward to another year of strong growth.”

The millionth parcel was sent by Victoria Wilson, from Skipton, North Yorkshire, who was given a bouquet of flowers and a week of free shipping as a celebratory gesture. A regular user since June 2009, Victoria, who utilises the service for business and personal, said: "I was thrilled to find out I sent the millionth parcel through myhermes.co.uk. It’s a great service and has enabled me to reduce my shipping costs and eliminate expensive trips to the Post Office.

“I use myhermes.co.uk, not only because they are cost effective but they also have a great multiple upload tool on the website which makes sending a lot of parcels quick and easy. My courier is great, she lives locally and constantly provides a superb service. I can even select a ‘safe place’ option for collection and deliveries which guarantees that my customers receive their parcel if they are not in.

“I am delighted to have been given a week of free deliveries as I will continue to use myHermes.co.uk for both my business and personal use.”

myhermes.co.uk collects and delivers, door-to-door, six days a week throughout the UK and delivery takes between three and five working days. Customers can select a safe place for collection and delivery so they needn’t wait in. When delivering the parcel, three attempts will be made to deliver at the destination, not just an annoying card left and the inevitable trip to a sorting office after one failed attempt. It’s the best value door-to-door delivery service in the UK with prices starting from £2.75 per parcel.

FACTFILE:

Www.myhermes.co.uk

myHermes.co.uk is part of Hermes, the UK's largest home delivery courier network handling more than 115 million collections and deliveries each year.

Operating its own network of over 7,500 couriers myHermes provides doorstep collection and delivery for consumers, six days a week. Ordering is done online with prices starting from £2.75. The company also employs about 1,200 people across the country to support the network, which offers 100% UK coverage. All parcels are fully tracked and customers can use an online delivery status to see where their goods are.

Parent company Hermes, which rebranded from Parcelnet, is part of the Otto Group and commands 22% of the European business-to-consumer delivery market, forecast to be worth 10.5Bn Euros by 2016.

Road or air parcel couriers. Which is best?

The fluctuating cost of oil is nothing new, but a recent surge in price has caused a knock-on effect which has – so far – been felt most keenly in the aviation industry.

While Shell shareholders celebrated a 41 percent rise in first quarter profits, airlines like Delta and US Continental Holdings responded to the rocketing price of oil by adding $420 of fuel surcharges on flights to and from the U.S and Europe.

Now Troon-based courier service, Parcels Please is urging money-savvy consumers to save by opting for land-based courier companies as opposed to stomaching the added cost of sending parcels by air.

A spokesperson for the company said: “Fuel surcharges have a knock-on impact to the cost of tickets as well as the cost of sending mail and parcels via air.

“Surcharges are at least 50% higher than they were three years ago so we can expect the cost of air-based courier services to rise.

“While some argue fuel surcharges are just another way for airlines to make money, as long as these companies can prove it is a reimbursement of costs, consumers just have to live with these price hikes.”

While the rising cost of crude oil has also seen a hike in the price at the petrol pumps, the jump has certainly not been as severe with the average cost of a litre of fuel rising by between 10 – 20p.

Speaking about the rise in petrol prices a spokesperson for Parcels Please said: “Road-based courier are used to minor fluctuations in prices at the pump so, unlike air couriers, are unlikely to adjust their prices dramatically, if at all.

“On top of this, the 1p per litre cut in fuel duty laid out in 2011's Budget as aimed to help keep businesses on the road.

“This means customers of companies like Parcels Please can still enjoy competitive and cheap parcel delivery to France and other UK and European destinations without having to worry about the soaring cost of oil.”

(EDITOR: Whilst this is of no benefit to people needing to send parcels to worldwide destinations (unless using slower sea freight is not an option)  it would certainly make sense to look at costs comparing air and road freight within Europe.)