# Parcel Motel



## bbound (29 Oct 2020)

Hi,

I had an item delivered from uk and when the item arrived in the republic, I opened the parcel motel locker with the pincode, the box was inside but the item was not in the box. The box had been tampered with and had a cut to the side covered up with packing tape.
Parcel Motel have delayed and delayed and have offered me the minimum compensation of quarter of the item value. 
They have not given me any detail on why the box was in the locker  but was empty?

The seller that has very high ratings sold via amazon uk sent me a picture of the item in the box that was delivered.  Yet only the box was in the parcel motel locker, no item.
I have asked the seller to try to get any signed proof it arrived in northern ireland parcel motel correctly.

Can anyone offer any help with this?

regards


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## Sue Ellen (29 Oct 2020)

Have a vague recollection, where there was a big problem a few years ago, I think around Christmas time, where people complained of mobile phones in particular going missing.

Google shows  and there was some    Perhaps a read through those might provide some help.

Update:  This is the particular thread that I was thinking of.


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## Thirsty (29 Oct 2020)

My last two parcels were opened and 'resealed in transit' with parcel motel tape.

Neither were high value items and nothing was missing;  but it's the first time in I think 7+ years that has happened.

Now that I think of it, the photo  that you get emailed before it goes out to the locker, didn't have any tape on it.

Parcel motel are fine when everything runs smoothly; less good at dealing with issues.


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## galway_blow_in (29 Oct 2020)

parcel motel have pretty low standards in my experience, my account with them has been hacked a couple of times


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## Gordon Gekko (30 Oct 2020)

Interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever used the service until this week (I’ve ordered coffee that way because I’ll be in and out of my home). Pity.


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## Leo (30 Oct 2020)

bbound said:


> Parcel Motel have delayed and delayed and have offered me the minimum compensation of quarter of the item value.



Was the value of the item was more than their standard liability limit of €100? What was the value and how much are they offering? They advise to take out additional cover if you are expecting higher value items. It's €3.50 for cover for a 14 day period.


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## Zenith63 (30 Oct 2020)

Gordon Gekko said:


> Interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever used the service until this week (I’ve ordered coffee that way because I’ll be in and out of my home). Pity.


I've used Parcel Motel a LOT over the last few years, 100+ times I'd say.  Only once had a parcel go missing and it was eventually found, and only once received somebody elses parcel.  They're not perfect by any means, but I wouldn't let a small number of bad experiences put you off if it's of use to you.

Though it is worth noting that under the covers this is just Nightline couriers, and few courier companies have sterling reputations so expectations should be managed accordingly.


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## Blackrock1 (30 Oct 2020)

i used to use parcel motel until i discovered parcel wizard, same service but they deliver to your house, much better for me personally.


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## Thirsty (30 Oct 2020)

Parcel motel has the benefit of a UK delivery address.  

I see today that they are increasing their charge for Nov & Dec, bit smart given they are surely seeing a significant uptick in profits already.


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## MugsGame (30 Oct 2020)

Thirsty said:


> Parcel motel has the benefit of a UK delivery address.



Parcel Wizard's UK address is in the same town as Parcel Motel's but they offer delivery to a pickup point, or DPD to your door.

An Post have a "competing" service whose one advantage is a UK mainland address.


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## MrEarl (31 Oct 2020)

Thirsty said:


> I see today that they are increasing their charge for Nov & Dec, bit smart given they are surely seeing a significant uptick in profits already.



I actually think that is a shameful move, by Parcel Motel. Pure greed! 

They know that it's peak season, and that a lot of people may be compelled to shop online, due to Covid - 19 restrictions etc. 

Its not like they weren't making a profit margin at their standard pricing and likely to do very well this winter, given expected increased activity. They could have easily hired some additional temporary staff, put additional "post boxes" out at various pick up locations etc.

I'm a long time, regular customer, but now seriously looking at their competitors, with Parcel Wizard having been mentioned to me a couple of times, in addition to them getting a mention in this thread.


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## Blackrock1 (31 Oct 2020)

MugsGame said:


> Parcel Wizard's UK address is in the same town as Parcel Motel's but they offer delivery to a pickup point, or DPD to your door.
> 
> An Post have a "competing" service whose one advantage is a UK mainland address.


Yep 

in my experience of the three pw is quickest by far , I use pm to send things the odd time but it’s slow, and use address pal if I need a uk mainland address but again it’s slow generally


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## MrEarl (1 Nov 2020)

Hi,

I'm reading more and more positive comments about Parcel Wizard...

Any negatives, particularly if buying goods from the UK?


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## Blackrock1 (1 Nov 2020)

Not all places treat Northern Ireland the same as mainland uk so either won’t post or charge more for it, that aside my experience (and I use them weekly it seems) has been great


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## Branz (1 Nov 2020)

you can b uy additional cover





						Parcel Motel Portal
					






					my.parcelmotel.com
				



will be closing my acc with the price gouge for Nov dec


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## Leo (2 Nov 2020)

MrEarl said:


> Its not like they weren't making a profit margin at their standard pricing and likely to do very well this winter, given expected increased activity. They could have easily hired some additional temporary staff, put additional "post boxes" out at various pick up locations etc.



I'd have thought they would have been better leaving the price as it was if you collected within a certain time. The last couple of years there was significant delays delivering items as they waited for boxes to free up. 

Installing additional boxes would likely have involved the planning process...so time consuming and expensive. 

I wonder how they have been impacted this year. I've used them less as I'm now WFH.


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## POC123 (3 Nov 2020)

I've been using DPDs Parcel Wizard for a few years now and I find it great. Never had a single problem with a delivery and I love the hourly slot and delivery options. Good value at for €3.85 a pop. Their website is a bit clunky. Had a problem changing my inbound delivery address a couple of times but eventually got there. Had to contact customer support once and they replied pretty swiftly. All in all a completely different experience from the likes of Nightline who I have found to be just awful over the years.


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## Nutso (4 Nov 2020)

I've also been using DPD Parcel Wizard for a number of years now.  It suits me as I've worked from home for the last number of years.  Service is top notch, with text confirmations along the way.  I've only had one issue where the DPD parcel wizard number was not included on the delivery address.  I rang after a week or so of no updates and they found the parcel immediately once I described the seller and the product and had it shipped to me immediately.  I can see how PM might suit people if they worked outside the home but for me it's DPD all the way.


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## Alkers86 (4 Nov 2020)

Thirsty said:


> Parcel motel has the benefit of a UK delivery address.
> 
> I see today that they are increasing their charge for Nov & Dec, bit smart given they are surely seeing a significant uptick in profits already.


I'm not so sure about that, many people are working from home and it's no hassle to receive a package when you're there to answer the door. That's a significant portion of their business model


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## Leo (4 Nov 2020)

Nutso said:


> I can see how PM might suit people if they worked outside the home but for me it's DPD all the way.



Yeah, I used PM for deliveries as back in the good old days there was no one home. I avoided a couple of companies who used DPD as I had problems with them. Their driver gave a parcel to a builder working on a house up the road, took a few frustrating calls to sort that out.


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## rustbucket (20 Nov 2020)

Just got an email today from DPD saying their virtual address in NI will cease operations from 11th Dec due to customs issue


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## MugsGame (20 Nov 2020)

The Brexit dividend


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## MrEarl (22 Nov 2020)

rustbucket said:


> Just got an email today from DPD saying their virtual address in NI will cease operations from 11th Dec due to customs issue



That seems like a strange notice period...


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## Nutso (23 Nov 2020)

Thought it seemed short notice too.  Maybe they just don't need the extra hassle in the run up to Christmas and the chances of parcels arriving later that expected and then customs/duty being due on them.  I've some stuff due Nov 30 - Dec 10 so hope none of it is late, as it was all ordered before the notification.


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## SparkRite (23 Nov 2020)

rustbucket said:


> Just got an email today from DPD saying their virtual address in NI will cease operations from 11th Dec due to customs issue


I was going to change from Parcel Motel, as they have now increased their price by nearly 14% to €4.50, to DPD PW and if they are giving it up, they are keeping it well hidden on their site.
Or at least I couldn't find any reference to it ( just had a quick look around ) and they are still making it very easy to sign up.


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## MrEarl (24 Nov 2020)

Has anyone else received the notification?

I've not seen it mentioned on any other social media, only here and by one person.


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## rgfuller (24 Nov 2020)

I've not received it myself but it is mentioned on boards retro forum.









						I'd buy that for a $: Retro bargains - Page 54
					

Haha, Awesome! :)




					www.boards.ie
				




And the update from anposts addresspal about incoming customs costs.









						I'd buy that for a $: Retro bargains - Page 54
					

Haha, Awesome! :)




					www.boards.ie


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## DazedInPontoon (24 Nov 2020)

MrEarl said:


> Has anyone else received the notification?



4 days ago I got the email saying "*We will no longer be offering our Virtual Address Service from December 11th 2020."*


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## MrEarl (25 Nov 2020)

I wonder where does that leave everyone who has credit on their Parcel Wizard accounts?


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## DazedInPontoon (25 Nov 2020)

The email said:


If you have an *unused balance* on your Virtual Address account after the service ceases, this will be *refunded directly to you via SagePay before the end of January 2021*. You don't need to take any action - the refund will be automated.


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## Thirsty (19 Dec 2020)

Parcel Motel stopping virtual address also from 31st Dec.


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## SPC100 (19 Dec 2020)

"suspending" them is what the email I got said.. I guess they have to figure out how to do customs, and what customs they will need to do...


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## Saavy99 (19 Dec 2020)

I noticed in the email, they omitted to say they will be an option of returning the credit customers have in their Accounts.


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## Thirsty (19 Dec 2020)

Didn't see an email - first I saw was in the papers. 

Nothing on the website.  

Might as well cancel Amazon Prime as well. It was good while it lasted!


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## RedOnion (19 Dec 2020)

Re Parcel Motel, for anyone who didn't get the email
[broken link removed]


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## MugsGame (19 Dec 2020)

I've a package coming from Paris to Newtownabbey - fingers crossed it arrives before that!

I'm happy that PM UK will reject from 28th until the new regime is clearly in place. I and most others wouldn't want to pay customs and VAT when they import it down here, and they wouldn't have an accurate customs value anyway.


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## Saavy99 (20 Dec 2020)

Thirsty said:


> Didn't see an email - first I saw was in the papers.
> 
> Nothing on the website.
> 
> Might as well cancel Amazon Prime as well. It was good while it lasted!



Will we no longer be able to purchase from Amazon UK :-(


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## MugsGame (20 Dec 2020)

We will.

Amazon UK already apply Irish VAT, and no other duties are due on packages under €150. Packages under €22 might even be cheaper than at present, as technically no VAT is due when importing small packets (exemption expires July 2021).

Also, goods coming from an EU warehouse will still be duty free, and possibly accessible via Amazon UK.

The above is all assuming of course that the UK exits the customs union, which is far from clear.

I'd prefer to support Irish businesses, but not at delivery times that are 5-7 times slower. I finished some last minute Christmas shopping on Amazon yesterday afternoon, and some of it arrived today!


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## Saavy99 (20 Dec 2020)

MugsGame said:


> We will.
> 
> I finished some last minute Christmas shopping on Amazon yesterday afternoon, and some of it arrived today!



Amazing


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## Thirsty (21 Dec 2020)

Its the delivery aspect that's the main issue.

Lots of companies either won't deliver to ROI addresses or charge silly money.


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## Steven Barrett (21 Dec 2020)

Saavy99 said:


> I noticed in the email, they omitted to say they will be an option of returning the credit customers have in their Accounts.



I'm waiting on a package to arrive with them. I am €1.10 short of the amount required for delivery and the lowest top up I can make is €11.85. Better get a refund on the difference!


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## Saavy99 (21 Dec 2020)

SBarrett said:


> I'm waiting on a package to arrive with them. I am €1.10 short of the amount required for delivery and the lowest top up I can make is €11.85. Better get a refund on the difference!


So annoying that minimum payment thing was, it was never required initially you just paid as you went along.

I have just emailed them to ask for a refund of my credit seeing they no longer able to provide the service I signed up for. It's only a few euro but it's just the principal of the thing, they must have thousands of euro in customer credit and they never mentioned the return of it in the email they send out.


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## MugsGame (21 Dec 2020)

True, my package racing to meet the 28th December PM cutoff was ordered from a "UK" store whose warehouse  is actually in Paris, but they wouldn't ship to Ireland.


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## Leo (21 Dec 2020)

MugsGame said:


> I finished some last minute Christmas shopping on Amazon yesterday afternoon, and some of it arrived today!



Likely came from their Rathcoole warehouse.


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## Steven Barrett (21 Dec 2020)

MugsGame said:


> True, my package racing to meet the 28th December PM cutoff was ordered from a "UK" store whose warehouse  is actually in Paris, but they wouldn't ship to Ireland.



I had bought a kindle cover for my daughter for Christmas. While I was on there, I bought a cover for myself as the one I have will fall apart soon. Bought from the same company on Amazon. 

Amazon gave me the option of joining Prime for a week for 99p. Delivery to parcel motel was £2.50 so it was a no brainer. They sent my cover by Prime but my daughter's didn't qualify for some reason. I received my cover, which I'm in no hurry for 2 weeks ago. Still waiting on the one that I need by Friday!


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## vandriver (21 Dec 2020)

SBarrett said:


> I'm waiting on a package to arrive with them. I am €1.10 short of the amount required for delivery and the lowest top up I can make is €11.85. Better get a refund on the difference!


They just take the balance from your registered card,no need for a balance at all.


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## commentquery (21 Dec 2020)

It is not so easy to swap Amazon UK to other european countries.   France, Germany, Spain, Italy for example will not dispatch ECHO DOT to Ireland (or Parcel Motel NI Address).  Why not ?


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## Leo (21 Dec 2020)

commentquery said:


> It is not so easy to swap Amazon UK to other european countries.   France, Germany, Spain, Italy for example will not dispatch ECHO DOT to Ireland (or Parcel Motel NI Address).  Why not ?



Manufacturers and distributors are allowed to specify who supplies a region, simplifies the logistics.


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## Ceist Beag (21 Dec 2020)

MugsGame said:


> We will.
> 
> Amazon UK already apply Irish VAT, and no other duties are due on packages under €150. Packages under €22 might even be cheaper than at present, as technically no VAT is due when importing small packets (exemption expires July 2021).
> 
> ...


It sounds to me like you got lucky. My recent experience of Amazon is that deliveries took on average between 2 and 3 weeks (free delivery so I'm sure paying for delivery would be quicker). This Christmas we purchased a lot more from Irish companies and delivery has been excellent. Lifestyle Sports deserve a special mention, they delivered one order within 12 hours! Most Irish companies delivered within a number of days or a week at most.


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## Thirsty (21 Dec 2020)

The unique selling point of amazon in my view was the overall ease of purchase (of course, they worked very hard at this, people buy more when you make it easy).

It didn't matter if it was bird seed or power tools, I searched, clicked and paid.

I find having to navigate several different sites, 'register', remember usernames, passwords, re-enter card numbers etc a pain. 

Some of this info is totally unecessary - why do you need my address and postcode to let me buy cinema tickets?


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## MugsGame (21 Dec 2020)

Ceist Beag said:


> It sounds to me like you got lucky. My recent experience of Amazon is that deliveries took on average between 2 and 3 weeks (free delivery so I'm sure paying for delivery would be quicker).



Yes, I have Amazon Prime. I'm also in a high density area of Dublin not too far from the new  Amazon Logistics depot. Consistently I've been getting orders within 2 days, even for packages that definitely originated overseas. I tried to order a parcel to Kerry and it quoted very different delivery times!

My package racing to PM Belfast seems to be caught up in the UK border and Eurotunnel closure. Initially I read the 28th as the last day for deliveries to Newtownabbey this year (so PM have a few days to import without duty) but now I'm wondering if 28th is when they start refusing deliveries, and the last day they'll accept is actually 24th.


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## AlbacoreA (27 Jan 2021)

I'm still using the UK for small items. No issues so far.


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## Thirsty (27 Jan 2021)

> electrical items you may need converters.


A different plug perhaps, but they use the same voltage?

Agree re delivery cost, but FreeUK+Parcel motel was €4-ish and amazon.de is giving me €8, so not a deal breaker as such.

Are there any issues with using Irish bank cards?


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## Leo (27 Jan 2021)

AlbacoreA said:


> I'm still using the UK for small items. No issues so far.



Same here, but just one order so far. Amazon are forcing merchants to ensure customers won't be hit with any additional charges.


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## Thirsty (27 Jan 2021)

Zenith63 said:


> I haven't used them since Brexit, but I have ordered from the German, French and Spanish sites a few times.  For any expensive items it's well worth heading along to the likes of  and see which site is cheapest, in some cases the savings can be fairly chunky.


That was an eyeopener - tested it out on one diy type tool and prices range from €65 to €147 for the same item!


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