Best Courier To Use

I am sending my Marantz cd-63 KI Sig to get modded and upgraded and as you all know I dont want it lost or smashed in the post so who would be the best courier service to use?

 

Have used postvan.com to good effect. Also Royal Mail special delivery have never let me down.

Who is doing the mods for you?

Darren

 

guy on ebay called audio_excellence0

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CAMBRIDGE-AUD...oryZ3272QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

He is doing the mods for me

Il try postvan.com and have a look at spec delivery too

 

I use www.pharos-international.co.uk who use UPS, no problems and I've sent all sorts, computers, even a record deck and nothing even scratched so far.

Cheap too!!

Andrew

 

A good indicator for selecting a courier for any type of product is to take a quick look at what the trade for that relevant industry uses.

I personally would not use any of the Royal Mail services for shipping audio products, UPS and FedEx are not bad but can be expensive.

Forget companies like DHL (the industry oftens refers to this company as 'Dump it, Hide it, Lose it', for good reason).

I used Amtrak and Yellow Freight in the past but another thing to bear in mind too is that many courier companies are franchises, and these often change hands quite quickly, so in effect you are dealing with an independant operator working under the banner of a large brand name.

It is a minefield out there when it comes to couriers, just make sure you do your research and get it insured!

 

I second Pharos-international, though they have put their prices up a bit recently and when the website wasn't working they wouldn’t let me book by phone. Apart from that they have been great on about 25 or more times I have used them. The UPG guy who comes to collect is great too.

 

Just checked out Pharos myself. They are very cheap, less than half the price of doing it directly through UPS.

 

Another vote for Postvan. Cheap & reliable.

 

I've used DHL parcel2go.com about two dozens times now, and for turntables too. Absolutely no problems with them whatsoever.

DT

 

Funny that...a lot of hifi shops use TNT. Not a company I would associate with carrying a delicate cd player!

 

OK, I'll take that back - Parcel2go.com are absolutely useless and I'm never going to use them again. Wasted two days at home waiting for them to collect my turntable and NO SHOW.

Expletive time **** **** **** ****

Never going to use these cowboys again.

Looks like I'll be giving Pharos & Postvan a try then...

DT

 

I used Addison Lee when I sold my Naim AV2.

No problems to report, guy got it the next day with no problems.

 

OK, booked through Pharos and their website crashed my computer. Also, their whole system is a bit complicated. Not a cheap as parcel2go when it comes to insurance though - Pharos charge 1.5% of content value. Ouch.

Not sure if I want to use them again, given the problems with the computer crashing and things not printing out. Nightmare.

DT

 

You could try phoning pharos, they are very helpful.

If you have a lot of trouble, drop me an email and I can book it for you if you want (I have an account with Pharos)

Andrew

 

I don't think you can book over the phone if you don't have an account. I found if I just make sure I run their website in IE it is okay.

 

bogbloke, how was your mod?

bit late on the posting i know, but I've used postvan once and a ups van turned up. i believe they are a sort of delivery brokerage, filling up slots with any company that is in the area and can collect that day, if there is no-one around then the will book directly with a company. so you never know who will be turning up.

 

I suggested pharos to a mate who sold a £800 guitar on ebay after seeing Andrew's recomendations. He got a quote from ups for ~£60, I think pharos did it, via ups, for £25 fully insured. Every was fine, cheers Andrew!

 

This might be of interest to people who own big beefy power amps or speakers. Was organising shipment of my SPA2-150 that weighs 33kg (including the wooden crate). Many couriers have a 30kg single parcel weight limit, like Pharos.

But when I phoned Pharos, they told me that you can go above 30kg "...provided you don't take the mickey". Seem like a good company to deal with.

 

Just a postscript to my last post. Pharos (UPS) managed to deliver my amp to England even though the UPS system showed it as 35kg (5kg overweight).

Also, UPS managed to "loose" the item in their tracking system for about a day (hadn't been properly scanned) but Pharos were great to deal with. You get straight to an actual person when you ring them - no bloody pick call centres to deal with.

Thoroughly recommended.

 

You do have to be a bit careful with over weight parcels in that if it happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and gets noticed by a jobsworth you'll get a nice big surcharge at best. My friendly PF drive advised me that there's a couple of depots in the UK with that sort of person.