U.K. Couriers for binoculars (1 Viewer)

I would appreciate advice as to which/any couriers that will transport, fully insured, binoculars for individuals.

I have not found any and so use Royal Mail. Most couriers have exclusions for carrying glass and this seems to include the glass in optics.

Dealers regularly send binoculars but they will, I suspect, be private courier account holders or use Royal Mail.

They may also carry the risk themselves.

I find Royal Mail special delivery to be the best.
Sometimes 500 miles ordered 4p.m. delivered 10 a.m. next morning.
Maybe sent to the Midlands by air then road.

I used to get binoculars from Barra overnight by aircraft landing on the beach there. Maybe via Glasgow small twin engined aircraft then Midlands airhub.

It is the shop staff that mess things up, no packing material or just useless burst bubble wrap.
As well as staff with nil knowledge about binoculars.

I don't use Amazon but a neighbour does. Everything about Amazon to me seems cheap including delivery.
For many people the lowest possible price is everything. Not for me. Too many disappointments, hassle and trouble.

Ummm. I don't know if there is much to choose between the courier companies. I have not had any optics sent that way. This is a rural situation, the postcode covers 8 houses spread along about 3/4 mile of road, so if the driver cannot locate his target in x seconds its back to the depot for the parcel, the last one for here the driver turned in the driveway beside a name plate, but still could not find the place . I receive parcels of bare root plants very tightly and securely packed through letterpost Royal Mail, they know where to deliver to without reference to a computer, perhaps that would be the way to send optics.

JIm

Hi Jim,
I suppose only pocket binoculars could fit through the letterbox or maybe a self assembly binocular in a small flat pack.

If the plants were Trifids they could walk there if they knew the postcode.

Regards.

P.S.
I just tried posting the 8x32 BA through my letter box.
Too big. It doesn't fit.
The letter box only takes 25mm binoculars, possibly 28mm.

The main post office letter boxes used to take bigger items. I used to have to go there when the red pillar boxes wouldn't take bigger items.
They were going to close this very busy post office.
The local residents became anarchists and threatened to destroy the substituted supermarket private post office.

The Post Office backed off and we still have our Post Office.

TNT are very good here but I don't know if they insure glass.
City Link went bust.
One sees their old vans here bought privately with faded City Link on them.

The 25x70 Celestron came completely loose from Manchester but survived City Link.
The salesman promised to pack it well. Some hope!
A Russian 15x50 was completely bent with both barrels almost touching.
I got an oil filter wrench and managed to get the totally bent barrel off. Then I carefully managed to screw it back on its somewhat destroyed thread.
It came back into excellent alignment and performs very well indeed. A strong binocular but weak joints if really bashed.
In other cases binoculars are wrecks after poor carriage.

P.P.S.
I have used a trusted minicab firm.
Also my Saab engineer who happened to be going to the correct town 60 miles away.
I have in the past driven 130miles, 260 miles round trip ending at 3 a.m. to deliver a 120cm f/7 Zeiss triplet aspherised rare and brilliant c.1918 or 1920.
I drove another 130mile trip, 260 miles in all to get a TTH 8inch f/1.5 lens from a professional photographer. I left home at 11 p.m. was given tea and a snack, left him after 1 a.m. probably got home about 3.30 a.m.
A lesser journey to get a Minolta X500 and Vivitar 600mm f/8 solid Cat. Camera used for two rolls only. He showed me 10x8 transparencies of models. Unbelievable quality. He charged £2,000 a day for his work in the 1980s.
A train Journey to Anglesey to get my 150mm f/10 Maksutov. Took all day. 450 miles maybe.

Don't use DPD. When I sent my binoculars back for a check up, I got an email back the next day to say they received a vacuum cleaner!!!

P.s. just for reference I didn't send a vacuum cleaner at all!

Hi, Binastro, these parcels are up to about 8x6x10 in. boxes and are left in an outside box ( to defeat the dog), but the important thing is that they are delivered by our regular postman, items that are sent parcel post are prone to end up back at the depot 15 miles away, rather than the local delivery office at 3 miles.
The driver who turned in the drive but could not find the place was , surprise, surprise , DPD, it was an unmarked van (no livery) I understand that the drivers are paid 50p. per delivery and are part of the gig economy, having to finance the vehicle out of the 50p.s , hence the reluctance to do more than look at a computer screen to find the delivery point, if more than a few seconds its on to the next one.

Jim.

Some of the Amazon deliverers use their own cars, older vehicles and turn up at 8pm or 9pm even on Sunday. I finally told my neighbour I was no longer willing to take the parcels and he must remove me as an alternative delivery address.

He has Amazonitis. A nasty complaint.

Like several megalomaniac companies, what they are interested in is making more billions and treat people very poorly.

I actually talked to the chief of Talk Talk directly when they insisted I owed them £15 when I didn't and they pursued me repeatedly.
Similarly, when I had no T.V. I was pursued about 15 times a year by scoundrels acting for the T.V. company.
Luckily they were stopped eventually by government.

I suppose in the past people had to cope with highwaymen, and pirates on the sea.
These are just the modern version.