Which courier service do you recommend...? Thread poster: Nina Snoj
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Nina Snoj
Slovenia
Spanish to Slovenian
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Dear all,
I am sure that many of you use courier services in order to recieve or send the documents which need to be translated.
I would really like to hear your opinion on the quality of their services, your recommendations and warnings, etc.
The thing is that I just got off the phone with DHL, which despite their super-extra-high rates, cannot gurantee that the shipment will arrive in 3 days. And that's when I am supposedly paying the urgent 1-day deliver... See more Dear all,
I am sure that many of you use courier services in order to recieve or send the documents which need to be translated.
I would really like to hear your opinion on the quality of their services, your recommendations and warnings, etc.
The thing is that I just got off the phone with DHL, which despite their super-extra-high rates, cannot gurantee that the shipment will arrive in 3 days. And that's when I am supposedly paying the urgent 1-day delivery service. I was shocked at the lack of professionalism because I might expect such answer from a small, local company, which is half as developed and famous as the big DHL...
By the way, I would appreciate answers from colleagues in Spain because I work mostly with Spanish clients.
Thank you all! Now, back to work...
Bye,
Nina ▲ Collapse
| | | | Williamson 
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:39
Flemish to English
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| Other companies | Jun 29, 2004 |
The other major players are FedEx,Ups and Tnt. Did you call them?
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In Spain my experiences were (with bigger shipments from the USA and within Europe): UPS - reasonably good from the USA and within Europe. http://www.ups.com/content/es/es/resources/select/welcome10.html
Fedex - reasonably good from USA. You can check projected transit... See more In Spain my experiences were (with bigger shipments from the USA and within Europe): UPS - reasonably good from the USA and within Europe. http://www.ups.com/content/es/es/resources/select/welcome10.html
Fedex - reasonably good from USA. You can check projected transit time here:
http://www.fedex.com/TransitTime/home?cc=es&language=es&locdir=es
DHL - good from the Netherlands to Spain. but not from e.g. France.
TNT I am sure is good in some countries, but in Spain (at least in Mallorca) they work with sub-contractors, that work with sub-contractors - so our precious super-expensive, super-urgent shipment got lost on the Island here, after a whole afternoon of frantic phonecalls we were able to locate it and pick it up ourselves. What a service for EUR 500.....
We ended up working with the Express service of a national transport company for packages from France: La Guipuzcoana - Euro-Express - but I see that has been taken over by DHL as well....
http://www.guipuzcoana.com/euroexpress/esp/index.html
It probably depends on the routing - what big cities are near your client(s)in Spain, which couriers have a good network there and then which couriers have a good network in your country.
DHL did not work well for us from France, because everything had to go to Brussels first, and then to Spain and if the shipment missed the airplane that was it until the next evening! It may be different with documents though.
I think there is no standard answer, check with other businesses in your area about their experiences and then with your clients in Spain. check the theoretical transit times on the UPS and FEDEX websites.
You may have to try out a few, and hope you do not get a heart attack while waiting.
Another tip for Spain: whatever you do, do NOT use the postal service - Express mail is not treated as Express mail at all. There is also no tracking system.
[Edited at 2004-06-29 13:30]
[Edited at 2004-06-29 13:36] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Elena Simonelli
Italy
Local time: 02:39
Member (2006)
English to Italian
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| my experience | Jun 29, 2004 |
I have just spoken with a company near Bilbao to arrange to ship some books to Italy and they seemed to me very professional and not expensive. I don't know what area of Spain you need, but they have several offices in the North of Spain. The name is CargoNet, they also have a web page www.cargonet.es.
I have always been happy with FedEx too, but maybe they are more expensive (actually I never paid t... See more I have just spoken with a company near Bilbao to arrange to ship some books to Italy and they seemed to me very professional and not expensive. I don't know what area of Spain you need, but they have several offices in the North of Spain. The name is CargoNet, they also have a web page www.cargonet.es.
I have always been happy with FedEx too, but maybe they are more expensive (actually I never paid them , and deliveries were always on time) ▲ Collapse
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| I have had good experience with Fedex | Jun 29, 2004 |
I have always been happy with Fedex. The firm that I work for uses Fedex, and they seem very reliable. I have used them personally twice, and find that they have a professional attitude. You can also, from the Fedex number on the receipt, track the progress of the item online, and they write up on the same page when it was delivered, at what time, and the name of the person who signed for it.
They keep their promises regarding delivery time, and you get your money back in the eve... See more I have always been happy with Fedex. The firm that I work for uses Fedex, and they seem very reliable. I have used them personally twice, and find that they have a professional attitude. You can also, from the Fedex number on the receipt, track the progress of the item online, and they write up on the same page when it was delivered, at what time, and the name of the person who signed for it.
They keep their promises regarding delivery time, and you get your money back in the event that they don't (so they make sure they do). ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Avoid DHL at the moment | Jun 30, 2004 |
especially in Germany. They have been taken over by Deutsche Post and seem to be in a real mess right now. My father sent me over some important docs and the choice was between the post office - £5 and take 2 days, or DHL £25 overnight. DHL claim they couldn't find my address, while I was talking to them the door bell rang and it was the local DHL with a different package. The local DHL has separate offices and vans to the international one. The guy on the phone talked to the guy at the door a... See more especially in Germany. They have been taken over by Deutsche Post and seem to be in a real mess right now. My father sent me over some important docs and the choice was between the post office - £5 and take 2 days, or DHL £25 overnight. DHL claim they couldn't find my address, while I was talking to them the door bell rang and it was the local DHL with a different package. The local DHL has separate offices and vans to the international one. The guy on the phone talked to the guy at the door and confirmed the address was correct. Package was delivered after 2 days by a guy who was so laid back he was almost horizontal - he hadn't found the address at first glance but "It's ok - you've got it now".
Never again!!
What about UPS?
[Edited at 2004-06-30 03:59] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Edward Potter
Spain
Local time: 02:39
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
I just used MRW in Spain last week. Their express service (same day service) to send a CD-ROM from Valencia to a nearby town cost 19 euros! A couple of days later I sent another CD-ROM to the same place using their regular service which only cost 6 euros. It got there the next day.
So, they got the job done. No complaints other than the price a little bit.
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