[Londoner]

I have just ordered a few bits from Ro-man and their basic charge for sending you anything is over £12 ! Even if its only a pack of filters.

This is a bit excessive in my opinion. Last time I ordered from cleantech I was a bit miffed at their charges as well although it wasn't £12.

Has anybody else got any similar stories? I think its about time we did a bit of naming and shaming.

[niceandclean]

I have also noticed that RO Man have put the price up on delivery. In April i ordered 2 filters and a bag of resin, shipping cost was £5.00. I went to order the same products again in August and the delivery was £20.00. The thing is i have never had a problem with the service or quality of goods, so i ordered double the amount to get free delivery.

[Davie T]

You have to look at suppliers to see if they have an order value threshold for free delivery with perhaps a  reduced delivery for a more expensive order value.

Even Viking the all office equipment suppliers have a price for delivery up to £30.00 net order value and free thereafter.  You get nothing for nothing !

[DASERVICES]

Let me tell you a little secret, there is no such thing as free shipping.

What happens here is the shopping cart which suppliers use does not allow you to add shipping costs for each individual item. So what most tend to do is add a price say £4.99 for anything under £30 which the shopping carts will allow you. Then orders over £30 they factor in the shipping costs into the final price.

Shipping costs include courier costs, packaging costs (boxes, labels, etc..)

What most couriers do is give you a price of say £9.00 to deliver anything upto 20kg. They don't charge less if it less than 20kg, the price is fixed.

Couriers are now being cheeky in adding fuel surcharges. That's the way it works, hope you have a better understanding.

[Londoner]

I don't expect to get something for nothing but I do expect that the charges are proportional to what it costs to send the goods.

Say its something small that will go in a jiffy bag and only requires a 50p stamp. Then why charge me ten times the cost of a stamp and a jiffy bag? I don't want filters or O rings delivered by courier.
Least of all a courier who won't leave it if there is nobody in. At least the postman shoves it through the letterbox

The order I am complaining about was for over £100 and I don't want it next day. Next week will be fine.

Whats wrong with giving the customer a choice?

[Peter Fogwill]

Hi Vince,

Just for the record before I start, I only ever charge what it cost me to send.  First class for the smaller lighter items, and next day courier for the larger items.  I am probably doing it wrong though.

What you have to consider is its not just the cost of the postage, you have packaging, picking, paper work, and the time involved with these along with, arranging the courier, or going to the post office.

You wouldn't charge someone having a bathroom window cleaned a tenth of the price the customer next door was charged for cleaning 10 windows.  Not the same I know but it works along the same lines.

Peter Fogwill
www.window-tools.com

[DASERVICES]

Hi Vince,

Couriers are a pain to us all, where a parcel is not delivered then the supplier is then charged for the return delivery.

Totally agree with what you say about parts that are sent in the post. I for one will have only a deilvered price as shopping carts do not allow for this function unless you pay for it. This can be expensive which of course the price will be passed onto the customer.

But where a supplier is charging you £12 for delivery and sending it in a jiffy bag then the supplier seriously needs to look at his set up. Agree with you on that one.

[Glyn H]

Supplying one bag of resin has cost us over £120.00 !
The first bag lost by couriers but customer didnt contact us for two weeks to say resin hadnt arrived. Courier phone us to say they have found resin and will deliver it. Six weeks !! later customer calls to say the resin hasnt arrived. Now too late for us to claim insurance from courier or for the courier to bother to check if the customer is in fact correct and hasnt forgotton he had it. So we send another bag of resin and pray it arrives.

what we should have done is tell the customer that his claim for non delivery was too late - but then it would likely be posted on the forums that we had cheated him!

[Londoner]

Peter,    I agree there's more to sending goods than just the cost of the materials but anyone who is running a mail order business must accept that this is part of the cost of doing business not charging it as a hidden extra.

Its like giong into Sainsburys and buying a can of baked beans for 50p then getting charged extra towards the shop rent, council tax, staff wages etc.

I am happy to pay reasonable and proportional shipping costs but some suppliers are taking the micky.

Also, while I am having a moan, some couriers are the pits. Most of the time our house is empty during the day but our neighbours are pretty good at taking in parcels. Also if I am expecting something I will leave a note on the door saying "please deliver parcels to number 113". Do they?  No. "We are not allowed to"  Says who?

Sometimes I have orders delivered to my mothers address. Same problems, she lives in a flat with a door entry and a mailbox in the entrance.
She has waited in all day then gone down to find a non delivery note in her mailbox.

[simon knight]

Few years back we ordered a PS2 on-line as a Xmas present for our daughter. Came home from work a few days later to find the box sitting on the doorstep in full view to the world and his wife.

[DASERVICES]

The courier I use I can input special instructions on the delivery note, also if you are not in they should contact you on your mobile phone asking where to leave the parcel. This is one of the reasons I chose them, but there are a lot of couriers with bad service out there.

Glynn,

You need to get tough on your courier, there is a standards of service which they never publish. You as the customer have the right to claim if they do not meet it. 

[Paul Coleman]

Few years back we ordered a PS2 on-line as a Xmas present for our daughter. Came home from work a few days later to find the box sitting on the doorstep in full view to the world and his wife.

I always find it easier to try and find a supplier within a reasonable driving distance from me (not possible for some items).  I live in a flat with a timelocked entry system too.  If the courier could gain access to my letter box, at least they could leave a card so that I could collect from their warehouse.  The problem with delivery to a friend's house is that when collecting from a courier, my ID has the right name but not the delivery address.  The friends's ID has the wrong name but the right address.  It can vary as to whether the goods are released to me or not.
Delivery charges may be expensive but it's cheaper than collecting it oneself - especially with the lost time.