Blog Detail
Shiply Blog - The Transport Marketplace
http://www.shiply.com/blog
A blog about Shiply.com - The Transportation Marketplace which helps people with items to be transported find the low cost options to get them delivered across the country and the world.
- Added on: Dec 23rd, 2008
- Country: United Kingdom
- Language: English
- Author: Shiply
- Listed in: Business Innovation
- Tags: Delivery transportation transport courier shipping
Recent Posts
Royal Mail Strike Update - 16/10/2009
As Royal Mail industrial action is a very hot topic at the moment, we thought we would keep you updated on the proposed strike.Latest movement of Royal Mail Postal Strike:The Communication Workers Union has announced the intention to proceed two nati...
When trucks can dance
Most people think about trucks as huge, powerful and noisy machines...But this video will make many of us change our minds. Hey, trucks can be elegant too!Have a great weekend everybody!...
Transport provider turns a truck pink for daughter's birthday
Normally, if we see a truck on the road, it can come in different sorts of colour: black, white, red, yellow, blue, green, mixed etc. but very rarely in pink!So it must be special if a truck is in pink and in this case it is indeed very special. To e...
Another reason for Royal Mail postal delays
We have just found out that industrial action was not the only thing which caused Royal Mail delays. It seems that being a postman is not a boring job as people say.Hope you enjoy this and have a great weekend....
Listing made easier with suggested categories
Here's another feature to make your life even easier when listing a shipment on Shiply.Previously, the first step when you listed a shipment was to select a category for your items.The previous listing layoutFrom lots of feedback and testing we under...
New feature: minimum bids
We have introduced a significant new feature to help transport providers when bidding on shipments. Our new automatic bidding system makes bidding convenient so you don't have to keep coming back to re-bid every time a competitor places a new lower ...
I regularly send large parcels and have been using Shiply for a while, but have issues
The first thing to realise is that whilst it looks a lot like eBay it isn't eBay and there is no buyer protection.
Thus once you have accepted a bid, you pay your money (to Shiply) and that is the last you will see of it, whether or not the courier actually performs.
Shiply's advice is to check the bona fides of a courier by, amongst other things, asking to see their insurance and professional association membership details. However, whilst you can do this before you pay the courier it is impossible to do before you pay Shiply! (the website software intercepts and blocks any attempt to exchange email addresses or phone numbers etc)
The only thing you can check before paying Shiply is the courier's feedback. Having been caught twice now by couriers* with apparently good feedback, I would advise caution. Feedback can be 'manufactured' by an unscrupulous courier, so I would suggest looking to see - amongst other things - whether the person giving feedback also has a good feedback score and over how long a period it has been given. If all a couriers feedback has been given within a few weeks by people with low feedback scores of their own, you could be in trouble.
Remember - if some 'courier' bids for your job, picks up the parcel and you never see him or the parcel again - Shiply don't want to know
*Experience 1. Courier picked up, delivered item to the house of a friend of his that was 20 miles from the recipient of parcel and asked friend to do the final leg. Friend's van was off the road. Courier still left the parcel and when contacted by me asked if recipient could come and collect the parcel!
Experience 2. Courier (good feedback) bid for job, was awarded it, we paid Shiply, courier did not reply to emails, phone calls or text messages. No pick up. Lost fee.
Posted: November 12th, 2009 | Report This Comment