| Booking a parcel delivery through a courier re-seller can save money and they will arrange for your package to be collected from your home or work and delivered to your requested destination. Great so far, but it is unlikely that they will be able to give you a time for the collection. You can stay in all day and hope that someone will turn up but what other options do you have?
There are a number of options when having a parcel collected.
Some couriers will allow you to drop off your parcel with them rather than having it collected from your home or work. If your package is being delivered by Parcelforce you will be able to drop it off at a local post office or at a Parcelforce Worldwide depot. You will be able to drop off your parcel at your convenience and make sure that the parcel was at the first stage of its journey. Job done.
If you arrange to have your parcel picked up from your place of work or similar location such as university halls of residence then it is recommended that you leave the parcel at the building reception so that there is no risk that the parcel isn’t available when the courier arrives. You may have to get permission from your employer first.
You can leave your parcel for collection outside of your house but obviously this is at your risk if the location isn’t secure. Customers often leave parcels in a shed or outhouse. Many leave them by the front door but these options clearly aren’t recommended, but may be considered, if the item is valuable. You will need to advise the courier of the place that you will leave the parcel when you place the booking.
A parcel could be left with a kind and trustworthy neighbour. Again you will need to advise the courier.
Some couriers now offer timed services at additional cost. This means you can choose a specific collection window. This gives flexibility to suit any lifestyle and work patterns. Some of their services include 24/48hr delivery, AM slot between 7am and 12am and PM slot between 12am and 5.30pm. Some couriers also offer an evening delivery slot between 5pm and 9pm. And some couriers have thought of everything and even have an “avoid the school run” time.
Where it isn’t possible to nominate a specific collection time window you may want to guarantee the collection. This means that you will be refunded the cost of the delivery if the collection is not made on the date that you agreed with the re-seller, furthermore your package will be delivered for free. Not all re-sellers offer this option so it pays to check out the options carefully.
Some couriers, e.g. Yodel aka Home Delivery Network, will specify a particular collection date but will then text you with a 2 or 3 hour collection time window so that you know roughly what time the collection will be made.
So at the end of the day, we don’t have to end up disappointed having missed the courier. There are plenty of options we can choose. Obviously if you wish a parcel to be picked up or delivered to a neighbour and left in the shed, you would have to specify this when making your booking. If you are booking on-line, most have a “special instructions” section which will have to be filled in.
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