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Posted on: Monday February 6, 2017 at: 7:06 pm
As we are continually on the move (well, more or less) you may think this makes dealing online for purchases and important letters is a problem. In fact, it is not a serious difficulty, but does require a bit of planning.
There are two main ways of receiving things we have bought online or over the phone. The first of these is using a system called “Poste Restante”. This involves having things sent to an appropriate Post Office that we can get to from the canals, addressed to me and marked Poste Restante at the address of the PO. It might require a bit of a walk, which is no bad thing, or a bus ride. So far, we have had impressive success with this. Out of four purchases, three of them have turned up without any trouble and have been easily collected (thanks Post Office Counters). The one that recently went wrong was down to the delivery company. The company in question sent me an email saying that my parcel was out for delivery between 17.30 and 18.30 on the day in question. Not many Post Offices are open at 5.30 in the evening. So, I used their system to re-arrange for the delivery to be sent instead to a designated pick up point. In this case a Sainsbury store. This meant staying an extra day where we were, but that was not a problem. However, all the next day, I monitored where my parcel was on their website. It seemed to be sitting in their depot and not out for delivery as promised. In fact it suddenly changed and seemed to be on its way TO the depot. It was the same the next morning, so a phone call to the supplier ended up with the purchase being cancelled and a full refund.
The second, and I hate to say it, more reliable way to buy things is using Amazon. I hate to say it because I thoroughly disapprove of their tax arrangements, but needs must. Amazon have, to be fair, an extraordinary range of ways you can have stuff delivered. As well as numerous “lockers” in all sorts of places, they deliver for pick up at many Post Offices, and have loads of local small “pass my parcel” locations, all over the place. We are never very far from one. It does mean you have to buy from Amazon and not one of their other suppliers. It also, as with Post Offices, needs you to have a rough idea of where you are going to be. We get over that by using Prime next day delivery. That means we only have to stay put for a day and maybe only half a day as they deliver their own stuff with amazing speed. You may have had problems in the past (as I have) with booking next day delivery only to discover your item is coming form overseas or will not actually be dispatched for several days. That will be because it is a separate supplier and not Amazon themselves.
So far, the Amazon method has proved totally reliable. On the whole, so has Poste Restante although you need to try and make sure items are sent with a reliable carrier, or better still Parcelforce.
The last time Iwas up the Amazon was in 1978 and I had trouble with my parcels too. xxxx