Oba Account Help!!!!

[dynamic08]

Hey guys royal mail are not answering there phones.

need some quick help please I have logged into oba and want to send out some mail on ppi.

I have created a new order and put in the code CRL but am now lost anyone help me pretty please?

 

[dynamic08]

Arr done it!

whats the difference between 01 and 02?

 

[Christiane]

01 02 First Second class

I wouldn't worry too much if you're late, we sometimes print the sheet after our mail has been collected. They don't actually need a hard copy. Unless you don't get a collection and you're taking the post to the PO or depot?

When I first got onto OBA I had a guy calling me once a week to make sure I was okay. It looked complicated but a doddle once you get used to the interface, and slowness of the system...

 

[dynamic08]

Thanks! I sorted it in the end thankfully! I take down to the depot! £600 for a collection and they want it upfront! Bit steep really.

 

[fulfil_co]

The 01 02 option doesn't do anything, it's a legacy field from when they had the system built and they haven't got round to removing it. OBA is a terrible system. Do you like how it refreshes the whole page everytime you make a selection? If you've had enough of it then you may want to consider outsourcing to a fulfilment house like us.

 

[kulture]

The 01 02 option doesn't do anything, it's a legacy field from when they had the system built and they haven't got round to removing it. OBA is a terrible system. Do you like how it refreshes the whole page everytime you make a selection? If you've had enough of it then you may want to consider outsourcing to a fulfilment house like us.

LOL nice plug!

A better(!) alternative is despatch express. You have to buy a zebra printer (about£150) but from there on all stationary comes from the RM. You put in the customer name, street no and post code and it brings up the rest of the address. You push a button and out comes your pretty PPI label, and best of all it fills in the OBA order for you!

 

[dynamic08]

kulture than seems very long winded.

Fulfil_co the oba is a little dated but it saves us money and loads of time im really happy with it!

One simple thing they could do is work out the average weight them selves though.

 

[fulfil_co]

Good for you. We setup a spreadsheet to do the average weight calculations to start with, then moved to an automated warehousing system. You can do away with OBA and use Dispatch Express once you're spending over £10,000 per annum on any combination of the following products: Special Delivery™ Next Day, Special Delivery™ 9am, Recorded Signed For™ and/or International Priority Services. Now we find Royal Mail are more expense on most services so we are using them less and less.

 

[kulture]

Who do you use? I have never been able to find a supplier cheaper then Royal Mail for items under 2Kg

 

[fulfil_co]

Who do you use? I have never been able to find a supplier cheaper then Royal Mail for items under 2Kg

We've just switched to TNT for 2nd Class. Using my account I can broker you better rates and a lower daily collection volume if you want me to. If you're sending below ~180 items per day then you may be better off outsourcing to a fulfilment house like us. If you send 180+ per day then we can quote you better rates than Royal Mail for 2nd Class collection from your premises.

 

[kulture]

Thank you for your offer. Unfortunately we do not yet do 180 parcels a day (expect of course in November/December). Also our products do not lend themselves to fulfilment. They come in mixed cases, the manufacturers "helpfully" change the mixes with no notice, the items although different have the same EAN codes, and the differences can be very subtle BUT the rare variants can be worth double or more. You have to know the product range in detail to avoid packing errors.

 

[dynamic08]

The same for us kulture! So many mixed offers etc that an FH would cost us more money in cockups.

I make the occasional cock up and I know what im looking for.

 

[SamStones]

I certainly agree with the comments about the average weight... you could put in the total weight, and the number of parcels, one calculation and it does it... grr.

That system for the labels does sound rather complicated! We just click a button and it prints out on a thermal printer with the customers address, the postage symbol, name and code for the item as well as its warehouse location. Simples!

If anyone does find someone cheaper than royal mail please do let me know!

 

[kulture]

I certainly agree with the comments about the average weight... you could put in the total weight, and the number of parcels, one calculation and it does it... grr.

That is how despatch express does it. It even keeps the count of parcels so all you need to put in is the total weight.

That system for the labels does sound rather complicated! We just click a button and it prints out on a thermal printer with the customers address, the postage symbol, name and code for the item as well as its warehouse location. Simples!

Absoultley. Our system interfaces with Despatch express so all we do is bring up the order, press a button, and out comes the label. The great thing is that it has automatically recorded the postage, allocated a bar code(if recorded or, say airsure) and fills in OBA etc for you. No more need to fill in any books for specials or recorded, no need to fight with OBA, no worries about proof of postage. Saves hours every day.

 

[SamStones]

The first part is easy enough to include in our current system, we just don't do it (yet) , but as the volumes increase I can see this being a necessary step!.

We only use the second class, non recorded, no tracked so don't need any of the other stuff currently but I'll certainly bear it in mine for the future if we start doing tracked items.

 

[fulfil_co]

iIf anyone does find someone cheaper than royal mail please do let me know!

How many items are you sending per day? We have cheaper options available than Royal Mail. To collect from your premises it would need to be 180+ items per day.

 

[arcon5]

How many items are you sending per day? We have cheaper options available than Royal Mail. To collect from your premises it would need to be 180+ items per day.

Your a fulfilment company, you want his business... we got it the first time.

Geeze!

 

[fulfil_co]

I'm not talking about fulfilment in this case but using our account to get one of our downstream carriers to collect pre-packed mail directly from you like Royal Mail would.

Is offering to save someone money a crime? If so, shoot me now. Geeze!

 

[dynamic08]

No but spamming is!

 

[fulfil_co]

I'm not spamming, I'm answering the question that was posted. If you go to downstream providers yourself you'll pay more.

 

[dynamic08]

Question!

whats the difference between 01 and 02?

Answer:
using our account to get one of our downstream carriers to collect pre-packed mail directly from you like Royal Mail would.

 

[fulfil_co]

Correction!

Question: whats the difference between 01 and 02?

Answer: The 01 02 option doesn't do anything, it's a legacy field from when they had the system built and they haven't got round to removing it.

My answer that you refer to is to the question posed later by SamStones. Reading glasses needed I think.