Who is the most reliable courier for UK Deliveries

[Sweets And Treats]

Hi, I'm looking for a bit of advise from other peoples experience with couriers, We ship around 80-100 orders per week, So not a huge amount by any means however we currently send items on a Next day service however they keep getting delayed in transit.

Can anyone recommend a reliable courier?

 

[Paul Norman]

You are going to get a lot of different answers, as people's experiences will differ. Personally, at that volume I would consider the post office (get a business account), or DPD (reliable, but potentially pricey. I would definitely avoid Hermes (high failure rate, though cheap). In between, much of a muchness, and if you are getting a substantial delayed volume that would be unusual, and a reason to speak to your account manager.

If you have no account manager, you need to change courier.

 

[SamStones]

What size and weight are you shipping? Who do you use and what do you pay so far?

Does it need to be next day?

 

[Bushman]

Not the cheapest but we have found UPS to be the most trouble free service and we have tried most of them over the years. The extra we pay UPS more than compensates for the time sorting out problems and loss of customer goodwill when using a cheaper service.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

We have tried them all over 12 years and only one stands out Royal mail Tracked service, we label them using their software bag them up and RM van picks up every day and send email or SMS to customer about delivery

Biggest problem with couriers is the use of freelance drivers at many locations and over worked drivers, they don't have time to care and cannot afford the time to get into flats and deliver

For a small number of drops a day Royal mail is not for you but commercial customers its good prices and service

 

[LowedgesWebDevelopment]

In my opinion most reliable in uk is DPD

 

[roydmoorian]

We find iPost Pro from UKMail to be as reliable as any within the UK.

The basic iPost Parcels does seem to have a few problems for some users so I would recommend you try for the Pro access.

You will hear horror stories about all the Overnight Distribution systems but if you keep away from the cheap & cheerful Hermes and Yodel then there is really not that much to choose between them.

You do however need to make sure that the customer details, Name, Address, Postcode, and Telephone number which you put on the shipping label are actually correct - It can make all the difference to a successful 1st time delivery.

 

[Henry Simons]

From personal experience I'd avoid Yodel, not heard many good things from others and own experience has never been a good one. Always had a good experience with DPD and National Express - both provide really good updates to your end customer.

Hope this helps

 

[AMS79]

We've tried most over the years too and:

The Good - DHL Express, DPD, Interlink Express (part of DPD), UPS

Reasonable - TNT, FedEx UK (was franchised now pretty much corporate - haven't used since the change)

The Bad - ParcelForce (terrible claims service, charges through the nose for everything), UK Mail (constant routine delays), Tuffnells (poor handling and claims process)

The Ugly - Yodel and Hermes. We do use Hermes for non-urgent deliveries and to be fair to them, over the past 12 months their service has improved. Their claims process is also easy and provided you send in photos and have packed the goods properly they don't resist. ParcelForce for example will argue until they are blue in the face and put up enormous resistance to paying out for putting a hole in your package and goods. They are owned by Royal Mail so there's no surprise there.. Anyone that's had to deal with P91 denial of receipt letters from Royal Mail will know

 

[deniser]

Interlink are consistently reliable for us - the odd one goes wrong but they do work hard to sort it out if there is a problem. We tell our customers 1-2 working days rather than guaranteed next day and this helps a lot as there are occasions when the parcels miss the plane/train etc or the van breaks down or the driver locks his keys in the van or the motorway is closed etc.

The RM special delivery service has the highest success rate for next day delivery but is very expensive. In 10 years of internet trading they have only ever delivered one special late and lost none.

 

[plymgary]

I've always found Fedex to be very reliable. I've recently started using Interlink but have had a few problems with deliveries being late. However, they are cheaper!

 

[Red18 Media]

It depends on your needs - Do you need tracking? What size/weight are the parcels?

I have used pretty much every courier in some way, shape or form over the years and whilst some are better than others, it is all about what you need from a courier. Unlike most I have never had an issue with myHermes but have had issues with Yodel. I have used Interlink quite a bit and their service is usually very good.

I also used Royal Mail OBA for parcels which did not require a tracking or were letter/large letter sized as these prices cannot be beaten.