Which courier /postal services in the UK only deliver on weekdays?
July 8, 2011 2:00 AM Subscribe
Which courier /postal services in the UK only deliver on weekdays?
I need to deliver two small parcels within the same county. The recipient is a business address.If I post today (Fri), it is possible that the delivery will be attempted tomorrow (Sat). There will be no-one to sign for it, and the parcel will probably end up in some sorting office miles away.
Does anyone have any experience of companies that can avoid this scenario, either by not operating on weekends, or following delivery instructions requesting this? Ta.
I need to deliver two small parcels within the same county. The recipient is a business address.If I post today (Fri), it is possible that the delivery will be attempted tomorrow (Sat). There will be no-one to sign for it, and the parcel will probably end up in some sorting office miles away.
Does anyone have any experience of companies that can avoid this scenario, either by not operating on weekends, or following delivery instructions requesting this? Ta.
I think DPD is the best of the bunch by far, from my experience.
They have a Saturday service. They have a large, national network.
Some of my colleagues are consultants in the logistics/e-retail space and they reckon of the commercial express package companies, DPD are pretty good.
Alternatively, Royal Mail can do this for you - you can just get it delivered to the nearest post office. They have a sameday service too.
posted by MuffinMan at 2:58 AM on July 8, 2011
They have a Saturday service. They have a large, national network.
Some of my colleagues are consultants in the logistics/e-retail space and they reckon of the commercial express package companies, DPD are pretty good.
Alternatively, Royal Mail can do this for you - you can just get it delivered to the nearest post office. They have a sameday service too.
posted by MuffinMan at 2:58 AM on July 8, 2011
Post today by Royal Mail, but second class?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:07 AM on July 8, 2011
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:07 AM on July 8, 2011
Just take it to the post office tomorrow and then it will definitely not be delivered until next week. Alternatively 2nd class as others have said.
posted by koahiatamadl at 3:17 AM on July 8, 2011
posted by koahiatamadl at 3:17 AM on July 8, 2011
2nd class is a bit risky. As others have said, either use a service that guarantees delivery on a certain day or take it to the Post Office tomorrow.
posted by turkeyphant at 3:45 AM on July 8, 2011
posted by turkeyphant at 3:45 AM on July 8, 2011
DPD? If you are receiving a package, they're bloody awful. If you're not in, you're buggered.
posted by ComfySofa at 3:58 AM on July 8, 2011
posted by ComfySofa at 3:58 AM on July 8, 2011
Best answer: DPD are, in my experience, a bunch of muppets. If there's no-one in or they can't find the place, they will randomly deliver to any other property in the vicinity (I was in. They had my contact number. After checking their website and finding the package marked as 'delivered', it took multiple calls to their office to establish that they'd given it to someone in a shop instead of looking for my flat, the door to which was right there. Also they can't cope with complicated things like TR21-25 postcodes, despite there being a few thousand people living there and a consistent policy for how to deal with them).
The Royal Mail makes a couple of delivery attempts before making you go to the annoying office of Far Awayness, so if for some reason you can't post it tomorrow morning, gamble on posting it this afternoon and it not getting there until Monday anyway, or hopefully they'll attempt one delivery Saturday and one Monday.
posted by Lebannen at 4:01 AM on July 8, 2011
The Royal Mail makes a couple of delivery attempts before making you go to the annoying office of Far Awayness, so if for some reason you can't post it tomorrow morning, gamble on posting it this afternoon and it not getting there until Monday anyway, or hopefully they'll attempt one delivery Saturday and one Monday.
posted by Lebannen at 4:01 AM on July 8, 2011
Parcel Force 2-day delivery is weekdays only by default (Saturday delivery is extra).
As a recipient I've found APC very good.
Royal Mail Special Delivery (which we use where I work) is meant to be weekdays only, but sometimes they will try to deliver on a Saturday.
Otherwise if it's a local-ish delivery you could try a local courier company or Pony Express on a sameday.
posted by SyntacticSugar at 4:16 AM on July 8, 2011
As a recipient I've found APC very good.
Royal Mail Special Delivery (which we use where I work) is meant to be weekdays only, but sometimes they will try to deliver on a Saturday.
Otherwise if it's a local-ish delivery you could try a local courier company or Pony Express on a sameday.
posted by SyntacticSugar at 4:16 AM on July 8, 2011
Royal Mail Special Delivery does guaranteed Saturday Delivery for an extra £2.70.
posted by caek at 4:52 AM on July 8, 2011
posted by caek at 4:52 AM on July 8, 2011
Best answer: (my point being that if you don't pay that extra £2.70, they won't try to deliver on Saturday)
posted by caek at 4:53 AM on July 8, 2011
posted by caek at 4:53 AM on July 8, 2011
Best answer: The poster DOES NOT want the parcel delivered on a Saturday. So why is everyone telling them how to get it delivered Saturday?
I do not work for the Royal Mail, but my understanding is that they don't make deliveries to Business addresses on a Saturday. (It's a waste of everyone's time). If you want the parcel delivered NOT TOMORROW (Sat) then you should be fine with regular post. Also, I'm pretty sure all the big courier companies (DHL, TNT, UPS, FedEX, etc) don't deliver on Weekends anyway, so you should be safe with them if you have any doubt.
posted by davidjohnfox at 5:24 AM on July 8, 2011
I do not work for the Royal Mail, but my understanding is that they don't make deliveries to Business addresses on a Saturday. (It's a waste of everyone's time). If you want the parcel delivered NOT TOMORROW (Sat) then you should be fine with regular post. Also, I'm pretty sure all the big courier companies (DHL, TNT, UPS, FedEX, etc) don't deliver on Weekends anyway, so you should be safe with them if you have any doubt.
posted by davidjohnfox at 5:24 AM on July 8, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks all, will go to the P.O. suitably late today and hope for the best....
posted by Kiwi at 5:48 AM on July 8, 2011
posted by Kiwi at 5:48 AM on July 8, 2011
Courier companies like FedEx/UPS DO deliver on Saturdays to many locations but you have to specifically request that service and they charge extra for it.
posted by Carbolic at 12:28 PM on July 8, 2011
posted by Carbolic at 12:28 PM on July 8, 2011
Point being, even if they offer the service you won't get it unless you ask for it.
posted by Carbolic at 12:29 PM on July 8, 2011
posted by Carbolic at 12:29 PM on July 8, 2011
I'm probably too late here, but Royal Mail does a delivery which must be signed for (I think it's special delivery). If there is no one to sign for it, which I understand is the case in your situation, they will attempt to redeliver the next business day. There are tons of private courier services around as well that I'm sure will do this. I used to live in a flat where deliveries could not just be be left - which was a huge pain in the ass - but most of the time, regardless of the company delivering, they would attempt to deliver it twice (leaving notes each time) before sending it to the sorting office. I was told once that how and where the package was left, whether or not they attempted redelivery etc. depended on the instructions that the sender would give to the company.
posted by triggerfinger at 5:59 PM on July 8, 2011
posted by triggerfinger at 5:59 PM on July 8, 2011
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I've had a good experience shipping a personal computer from London to Bahrain using Addison Lee; turns out they do more than just cabs! Call them and see what they say.
posted by asymptotic at 2:27 AM on July 8, 2011