www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Started last Friday.... wanted to post a 4kg parcel....Standard parcel, expecting £8-10. Nope. £15 odd.

So in a grum, i took it back off the counter and walked away.... sent said parcel for £6.42, including an extra charge for Saturday collection.


Had two small packets to send today, identical items. Measured them up and priced up for small parcel, less than 80mm thick, about 78, eyeing through with a tape.

Mrs took one, posted it to Argentina, cost £4.50.....7500 miles approx...
Took the other one, to go to Staffordshire, £5.20....150 miles, reckon it was too big to go as a small parcel, despite me checking.

Lucky they were shut by the time i got home.


I am now making it my mission, to find out what tolerances the Royal mail gauges are manufactured to.

Royal mail, tell me its Post Office's issue..... they tell me its Royal Mail's problem, as they supply the gauges.

I feel your pain - this is one of the reasons I stopped ebaying my crap.

You measure 50 times, weigh it (my stuff was WELL under) and take it to the post office - ALWAYS double the price and full of some crap excuse. The service they say it should be is never available 'for that type'.

Can't win.

BG

Similar with me, I don't like to sell on ebay, but if some one wants my stuff they are welcome, but if its "expensive" I say postage is £18, I sent something the other day via parcel force, it cost £15 but it did arrive just less that 24 hours after I posted it, so I am happy.
There is a courier company a few miles form me, they are cheaper, but you have to go there in person, which is a right pain, as I then have to go the opposite direction to work, so I don't go there much.

Anyone used the http://www.collectplus.co.uk/ service? Seems a lot cheaper than Royal Mail / Parcelforce and you take the parcel to a local convenience store which usually have better opening hours.

i use my parcel
http://www.myparceldelivery.com/

I have been using My Hermes https://www.myhermes.co.uk for 95% of my parcels recently. Takes about 3-4 days normally, but its pretty cheap.
They also have an option of a 'safe place' which i tend to use most of the time- saves waiting in or missed collections.

Sent about 40 parcels with them over the last 12 months, only one have I had a problem with, and im 99.9% sure that wasn't the couriers' fault.

Take a surface table and a vernier height gauge next time i go to the post office.


For very small and light items though, you'd think Royal mail would be the way.

my parcel use hermes amoungst others so try the same weight and size in my parcel as well

Post Office are a literal bunch of thieves, have been constantly caught overcharging for parcels, I gave up on them, just buy stamps now and write par avion on them and shove it in the post box, not one thing failed to be delivered and NONE found to be lacking in postage, despite Post office counters claiming it would need double the amount of postage.
I'm sure their scales are rigged also, as they ALWAYS read higher than other scales, even checked my set at home with 1Kg weight we used to spot check the scales calibration at work...bang on. item 110g, PO counters 130+g.....total and utter thieves, not to mention their customer service in many branches is a total joke, worse than the Soviet union