Regarding recent mention of a film delivered by Hermes.
Last week I was expecting a 3-reel 16mm feature. Hermes tracking said that my parcel was due to be delivered that very day. I was in the house during the morning and at late morning went outside and there by the door was the package.
The website tracking said it had been delivered at 9.25am, and the method of delivery was "letter box". There had been no knocking at the door, nor any slip pushed through the letter box. Most unsatisfactory.
Do other members have this same occurrence for large items being delivered by Hermes?

All that i have had from them from Ian fairly regularly and by others on occasions, have all been delivered by an agent called Jacky for my area. Every area seems to have one and they use their own vehicles to deliver the parcels from a central depot for each city.

If you receive from Hermes again Maurice, try to have a word with the actual delivery agent as they hand over the goods to you. They are certainly not supposed to leave parcels on a doorstep etc and they are required to receive a signature from the correct recipient by all accounts.

Chances are the agent who delivers to you next time will be the very same person who has dealt with this package in a shoddy manner.

My only issue with Hermes service is that you cannot go and a collect a parcel you have missed. You rely entirely on chasing it up yourself with the agent at a convenient time for both which like this recent one of mine, took a few days before a time was suitable to both myself and the agent for the area.

Andrew, a noble suggestion.

But it would mean that I sat in the front room by the window with eyes skinned for quite a time. From previous experience with the "white van" delivery driver in my road is that he almost runs from his van and back again for a quick drive-off.

However, from what you say about contacting them about a non-delivery, perhaps it's better that things are left on the doorstep as I would not leave the house until delivery was effected.

Have to say i wont use them myself anymore. How stuff is sent to me is beyond my control but heres my beef,
Had one film i sent take three weeks to get to london as thay lost it, eventually found in a wharehouse, my Son recently send a parcel and after 3 attempts was told he would have to pay for it to be returned so i took over the phone call and told the rude and ignorant indian or pakistani guy on the other end in no uncertain terms to return it fee free. We paid for a service and got shit, if they dont have a holding depot for recipriants collections thats not our problem. They are cheap for a reason and you get the second rate service you pay for. These people have hit the headlines more than once and there prices are no longer quite as cheap as they use to be. Parcel force now do good deals.
However, if hermes works 4 anyone out there then you are of course doing good, it gets my back up when the assholes you speak to thinks they can talk like shite to customers, this was one asswipe who met his match with words once he talked like that to my Son.
End of rant

Tom makes the point when he says "How stuff is sent to me is beyond my control". Delivery by Hermes seem to be favoured by many sellers on eBay, presumably of their possible lower charges.
As such, a buyer can do little to alter the situation, just crossing fingers and hoping all goes well.

Funnily enough Maurice, the customer in London during the first problem of delivery did say to me via email that if they knew i was going to use hermes they would not have bid on it due to issues thsy had with them previously. On that occassion i apparantly clicked that i was using parcel force which when i checked my own listed i did. That was an error on my behalf which could have resulted in bad feedback had the film, (the last command) not been found.

I would never use this courier and hate to get things delivered by them as they damage stuff so easily and delivered by someone in a car/van who is self employed and wants to do as many as possible in a day to get the money ,i to have had stuff left on the door step by them ,and if no one is in they leave with anyone you dont evern know down your street or leave a card if your lucky ,just talking from experience ,i only use parcelforce or ups as more reliable .oh and if a film gets nicked from your door step its not like lots of things that can be replaced our buys are mostly one offs .

As Ian uses this service all of the time for his own convenience, I have had many parcels delivered to me by them.

I can honestly say none have ever been damaged or left on my door step. I always get a card through my door if I've missed delivery from them and the card always has a contact name and telephone number on it.

I know all agents are different and so the service will of course vary wildly no doubt, but aside from a little inconvenience of trying to get a new delivery date suitable to both if I've missed delivery, I have no complaints personally.

Don't get me wrong, do I prefer things being sent RM signed for delivery? Then yes of course I do, but as said, I cannot have any complaints so far for Hermes regarding their handling of my delivered goods.

Andrew
It sounds that you have been very lucky with your experience of Hermes. Certainly does not sound at all like my delivery person' s habits.

I agree Maurice, by the sounds of things here, I ought to be very very grateful that this district is served by Jacky and her husband/ partner on occasions.
(Her spelling of her name btw, not mine lol)

Defiantly,
When we bought our Waterloo feature on 16mm it was done via the ebay postal whatever they call it form a seller in the states, i received it OK, but guess who delivered it to me here in the UK via the global ebay postal service, yes, Myhermes, i had a card in my door stating it was left under the front bush in my front garden. It had pissed down with rain all day, thank F*** it want 8mm films in cardboard boxes, these were 4 x 1600ft spools in metal cans. I was not impressed at all, when i emailed them to complain they said the alternative was to return it!!!!!! This company does not give a damn.
Amazon also now use these spastics because they are cheap, i ordered from Amazon a new laptop for my Daughters 18th Birthday and myhermes, (yes Amazon use this crowd as well), tossed it over the garden wall at the rear of the house, the funny thing about this one was they said i had signed for it. I complained and asked Amazon to show me the signature which they obviously couldn't do and all Amazon came back with nothing but "sorry about that".
Andy, so far you have been lucky and i hope this will be always the case but just beware buddy.

As said Tom, it certainly wouldn't be a service I would choose to send goods out to people, but I've been lucky with what I've received so far at least.

I tend to try to ask Ian or whoever to post out to me only when I'm off work so this also helps reduce any risks in what happens there after.

On occasions, like what happened recently with Viva Las Vegas from Ian, I simply cannot guarantee that I'm home, then I have to start re rearranging another date to deliver, which is never straightforward I have to admit.

My latest e bay purchase,noris sound projector,delivered by hermes,and despite box looking ok,projector is badly damaged. the framing knob shaft was bent and seized up,large split in the case plus other damage,and it no longer works!
the seller seems decent,and I have sent pics,which hermes have asked him for,so I do expect a full refund.
this item must have been thrown around the depot to cause damage like this. I would never ever use this courier.
the seller has 100% good feedback,and based on the listing pictures,have no doubt hermes caused this damage.

Sorry to hear that David, as said this company has made the news more than once, they load up the drivers so much, (like many other couriours these days) the only way for drivers to get it done in a day is to work fast and furious.
Even Royal mail/parcel force are like this these days. When i wrap one of mine up it in bubble wrap three for four deep,then in a box with at least two layers top side and bottom.
Next time i send one away i will document how i do it. There is no other way.

Tom,
yes it was a real shame,lovely projector now just junk! At least the seller is good,he has just given me a full refund,so I hope he gets his claim sorted with hermes.
I must say its hard to imagine how this level of damage is caused by the drivers. I wonder what goes on in the depot.

I have to say, for delicate equipment being transported in the same country nowadays, the real only safe and satisfactory way to do so, is to carry and collect it yourself.

I've done this with only one exception once, ever since first collecting my favoured projector and I'd never transport it by courier ever again.
I even first collected it from the seller by meeting them half way along the very long distance that separated us both.
It's just too risky in this era now and it's just not worth it.

For the sake of taking a couple of days out of your life to ensure 1/ it gets there exactly as you want it to and 2/ you know it will return home with you in one piece and with all of the engineers work and efforts in tact, it's a no brainer to me to imagine there is any other way to guarantee you a perfect working machine for many years to come.

Why risk undoing all that great work or damaging that perfect example you've just found?

Your precious lump of projection perfection is nothing more than a heavy lump of pig iron to all others outside of our hobby.

David
Would you say that the Noris was adequately packed by the seller?

it was well packed Maurice,and the box looked fine.
I think for the level of damage,it wasnt just the driver mishandling,this has been dropped from a great height.
of course there is no way of proving this,and the matter is out of my hands,since I have a full refund.
Andrew,i agree with what you say. normaly,i do deliver projectors myself. this was just an e bay purchase and collection wasn't on offer.
maybe after this,he will,bur as I say,no complaints with the seller,who has been very decent.

yes David, of course I was speaking idealistically and of course this option isn't always a possibility, especially when you're buying something new, not ferrying your own equipment around.

This happened to myself also when I purchased my last machine, the Fujicascope SH 30. I wasn't given the option to collect it even though, despite it being a very long journey, I would have been prepared to have collected it in person.

It had all of its own original packaging and Styrofoam inserts in this case, so I took a chance, but still the micro switches were troublesome on arrival, suggesting it had received something of a rough ride during transit.
The box showed no signs of any damage to it though thankfully.

Luckily everything settled down again shortly afterwards and since it has performed impeccably on each and every occasion I'm pleased to report.