Hi Folks,
I was just wonder what people experiences are with the AN POST postal service. Is it worth the hassle.

deleverys are they good or bad prompt or slow

lets here your experences.

Mickey

To be honest, I've found An Post to be ok. Are you talking about posting within the country or International items? Time wise, I've posted things to the UK that have arrived in two days with standard post. That's not bad at all. The only thing I find odd and people should be aware of is that the Express option, while not cheap, does not include 'signed for' or insurance unless you pay the extra 2 euro - which was never offered to me as an option when I used it. You need to ask for this yourself (guess that depends on the post office you use).

Now, I could go off on one about some of the courier services that are used here, but I don't want to get anyone in trouble (even though it would all be true).

Hi,

I find An Post pretty good too. Letters/packages get delivered within a day or two.
The Royal Mail, in my experience, might not be as reliable. Though the post generally gets there quite quickly, I have had some stuff stolen in the recent past too.
I could tell you a few 'horror' stories about some courriers. My favourite one at the moment is GLS who coordinates the shipments for zooplus.ie.

Valerie

An Post.

Where to start. I don't have the energy to type half what I would like to say and anyway, it would need to be severely edited for family viewing. A few points though.

I am not that old, but I remember:

1. A post delivery every morning before 8 and another delivery in the afternon about 4.

2. If you posted a letter by 8pm in Dublin to a Dublin address it was unusual for it not to arrive the next day. Two days for the country or the UK.

3. A parcel was delivered to the door.

The position now as I experience it:

1. It comes when it comes, that could be 10am or 4pm if at all, we never get post two days running - never. So that means two or three deliveries a week instead of ten.

2. Two to three days is the norm for Dublin to Dublin post, post to the country can take a week and for the UK ten days is not unual, though it usually makes it with a week.

3. Now I get a docket, they only delvier them every second day too as they are sent out with the postman, who does not have the parcel with him, if you are lucky enough to catch him trying to slip the docket (that says N/A short for NO ANSWER) through the letter box without ringing the bell. The parcel office used to open to 6:30pm Mon-Fri and to noon on Sat, now it's closed at 5:45pm each evening and does not open at all on Sat. So it is a mad dash from work to collect what should have been delivered.

Don't get me started on GLS.

All items via USPS from America are delivered by GLS, the have the USPS contract for most of Europe except the UK, more about that in a minute. GLS then evaluate whether excise and VAT are owed - they do this on EVERY item, not just items customs have checked. If excise and VAT are due (and they are likely to be because they are charged on anything valued over US$45) they deliver a card with a code number and the amount due which is increased by their handling fee which I think is €10 from memory. You have to call their "please hold your call is important to us" call centre to arrange delivery of the parcel when you will be available to pay the charges in cash. Then the next trick is the waiting around for, by personal experience, three days until they arrive, despite delivery promises on the two previous days.

So why don't they operate in the UK for USPS? Well they are owned by Royal Mail and you don't XXXX on your own doorstep!

Sorry about all that, but mention of An Post and GLS are enough to make my blood boil.

BTW should the title of this thread be amended to read NOT receiving items in the post

I'm not too happy with an post either. I've supoused to receive about four parcels during the last two monts but I had to colect all of them. For two out of four I did not even received the letter saying that I have a parcell waiting, I just new that they are ariving and i kept visiting them(an good option is the tracking on their site). Not to say that even the bills I soupouse to get monthly are coming maybe twice in three months. Still compared with the prices of couriers an post will still be a choice to consider.

i know the feeling and yes Daragh, i know i should have called this something different.

In the last three months i got some one else mail four times, phone bill returned to meteor, and a parcel from JohnH returned to John.

what was more annoying i seen the post man carrying the parcel but decided against asking about because there was no note in the door.

what even makes matters worse was over a recent Christmas a temp post man was someone i know to have a record for stealing from work.

One of the good things about living in the back of beyond (perhaps the ONLY good thing...) is that all of my An Post mail is delivered by the local Postman - and he's a gem! But...that's all the good I can say!!!

The week before last I was up in Roscommon to visit a couple of friends and had a small package to be posted.
I took this in to the Post Office in Boyle and did the deed, even got evidence of having posted it too.
In the middle of last week it was returned to me here in Tipp with the address scribbled over: - "MOVED AWAY"...now, the intended recipient of this has most certainly NOT 'moved away'...and I know the address was correct as I've sent mail to him there before.
So, a parcel was returned to me, having been in the system a whole week containing perishable items too!

I sent an email to the Complaints Department but we all know what the result of that complaint will be...

Actually Royal Mail and An Post must be 'in on' a further conspiracy, if I want anything sent here from Northern Ireland the sender has to use Airmail...to bring something by van across the Border??? 'Air'???
And likewise, from England to here or vice versa 'Airmail' price is demanded - it ALL comes across on the Ferry!!!

Couriers...don't even mention those! - I was sent an item from England last Christmas but the driver couldn't be bothered to bring it out here - he left it at a Farm Spares shop more than ten miles away! - but the worst thing was that no-one troubled themselves to tell me that - I eventually located it by constantly harassing the company but not until a good while after Christmas (it was a Christmas present) and then had to drive both there and back to collect it!!! Now, whenever I order anything I know will be delivered by courier I supply a mobile phone number to be written on the address label so the driver has no excuse not to contact me for directions or to just not bother at all!

Rant(s) over...

john

That's, in a way, why I have been impressed with GLS. For the very 1st delivery they had to do for me, the vendor hadn't supplied the phone number I had diligently provided on my order details. They looked for me, looked my name up on the internet, figured where I was working back in 1995 as my name had been mentioned on the Galway Advertiser for a fundraising event, and even went as far as ringing this company! I am displayed in the book under my married name and they couldn't find me. In the end, they sent me a post card, asking me to call them !...
I can't attribute that level of 'dedication' in finding the customer for many other shippers.
Since, I integrate my phone number in the delivery address as it sometimes isn't passed on to delivery organisations.

Valerie

Yeah, GLS were the ones I was going to not mention. If you follow the online tracking it sometime goes - 6:45 delivery van scan. 6:47 Out for delivery. 6:48 wrong address unable to deliver. 6:50 into warehouse for storage. So you phone them, tell them you noticed this and are concerned there might be a problem with the address (even though less than a week before the item from the same online retailer using the exact same address was delivered without any problem). When you phone they don't seem too surprised or even ask what the correct address is, just tell you that it will be delivered the next day (which it was). It baffles me how on Wednesday something cannot be delivered because of a wrong address (which isn't wrong) and on Thursday it gets delivered without anyone checking what the correct address was. Zooplus have some great deals but after my last experience I'd be reluctant to use them again. Rant over.

Also, on a good note. I ordered plants from Andy at Greenline aquatics and he sent them with Royal Mail Airsure. He sent them on Tuesday, I had them by lunch time on Thursday. The online tracking is a bit pointless though - it pretty much says 'picked up for delivery' and doesn't change from that. Oh, and Andy is sound - he sent me a few extra plants for luck. sound.

Also, Aquaessentials use DHL (as far as I can tell). You pay through the nose for shipping, but it gets to you fast.