First time using this company! Courier did not collect parcels despite re scheduling everyday for a week, adviser said I would have to cancel the collection my side, and incur a £12 charge all because I want my money back for a service I have not had. I did nothing wrong why are they allowed to do this? I am not in a financial position to pay an extra £12 on top of the courier costs. Please please look into this company they have wrongfully taken money for a problem that is theirs.

Business response: We’re sorry that our customer experienced these problems with their parcel collection and was incorrectly charged a cancellation fee. We have now agreed to a full refund of all charges. (Reviewed September 2023)

Late 2021 Parcel Hero had collected a parcel sent to a customer. The measurements were within the limit - and accurately recorded.

The item was delivered but I received an email stating that it exceeded the size limit. I queried this and they said Parcel Force measured it 1cm out, into the next size group, and incur £72 extra in charges which I'd have just refused the service).

I asked for proofs of measurements. Nothing was provided. I sent proofs of the size of the parcel before and after transit, and the manufacturers box dimensions from their own website. Apparently this was not good enough.

Why lie and charge your customers? It's clear that they will do anything to keep a sale apart from do anything to support a customer or even be transparent and open. It's appalling.

Business Response: We’re sorry that our customer has had this difficulty surrounding the measurements of their parcel. Unfortunately, sometimes a very small difference in measurements can result in a parcel attracting a surcharge.

Regarding the additional charges applied, unfortunately it appears in this case that the carrier has audited the dimensions and/or weight of the customer’s parcel as greater than the measurements entered by our customer when they were booking.

While the measurements originally entered by our customer would not put the package over a certain threshold, the carrier’s weight adjustment did put the overall package over a threshold, incurring this additional fee. ParcelHero’s site has a useful guide to correctly measuring packages to ensure that no unexpected extra charges are incurred.

On this occasion, the matter has now been settled with our customer. However, we do urge everyone to follow the very useful advice on our site, whichever courier or parcel comparison service they choose. (Reviewed August 2023)

ParcelZERO, AVOID! You have to pay them in advance and they are very efficient at taking your money. They do not tell you when the driver will collect from you, so you take a whole day off to wait for the driver at home. They have no practical means of communicating with them, they hide their contact information. You eventually find a "contact us" link but when you click on it, it takes you to a Q&A page, none of it relevant to your situation, its a joke! The courier driver then arrives BUT does not know how to read instructions so he/she leaves without collecting the parcel. I checked the tracking on their website every half hour but it says nothing about the driver EVER being there, I am not sure the tracking even works. There I am still waiting for the driver but apparently he/she had a

Business Response: We’re very sorry to hear that the customer has been unhappy with our service. We have refunded him his full booking costs. However, the customer's chosen courier has provided us with telematics data showing the driver arrived at the correct address for this parcel pick-up and attempted a collection. That means we had to pass on to our customer the cost of the courier’s cancelation fee, which our customers are advised of when they book their delivery.

We’re sorry the customer seems to have experienced some difficulty in contacting us. The ‘Support’ section of our website is clearly linked from our home page, and from there he simply needed to select the option: ‘The driver didn’t turn up to pick up my collection.’ He would then be taken to this page, which contains much useful advice on what to do if a collection appears to have failed, including a ‘Send us a message’ option: https://support.parcelhero.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360014756479 (Reviewed April 2023)

I send a large parcel based on its weight. I had not understood that "volumetric weight" is not the same as weight, so I made a genuine mistake, For this I was charged a surcharge that was five times the cost per Kg of the standard charge. I was charged an additional £71. Apparently this is as a "deterrent". Well, it certainly is. I won't be using them again and I advise others to avoid this company. What is more, they then removed the £71 from my bank account without permission. I will be checking with my bank and consumer advice as to how legal this is.

Response from Parcel Hero -
We're sorry that our customer has been unhappy with our service. Unfortunately, in this case our customer appears to have entered the dimensions of his parcel inaccurately.

Our customer's selected carrier was forced to apply an additional fee because the actual measurements materially increased the overall (volumetric) size and weight for the item.

Additionally, the carrier also has a standard 'large parcel surcharge' for bulky items over a certain size and weight. While the measurements originally entered by our customer did not put the package over this threshold, the carrier's weight adjustment did put the overall package over this limit. The carrier billed us accordingly and we then passed on this charge to our customer.

We do urge anyone sending a parcel to ensure their measurements and weights are as accurate as possible, to avoid the possibility of unexpected extra charges.

Here is a link to our prices and surcharges, the details are under Large & heavy parcel surcharges - https://www.parcelhero.com/en-gb/courier-services/prices-and-surcharges

We're sorry we were unable to help our customer further with his appeal on this occasion. (Reviewed March 2023)

There was no level of service lost over £300 and they are still trying to charge for a parcel that hasn't even been delivered!

Business response: We’re very sorry to hear that the customer has been unhappy with our service. However, there is little more that we can do as it is very clear that the item sent was not packaged sufficiently. The receiver being away on holiday, a neighbour refused delivery on their behalf, because they could see obvious damage to the item. As the parcel was refused it incurred a further return fee. The sender’s chosen courier, UPS, has sent a detailed inspection report to him. It advises that there was insufficient packaging to support the weight of the item (a
large coffee machine), and that the internal packaging was also not sufficient to protect the contents. As the product weighed over 40kg it should also have been transported on a pallet or in a wooden box. UPS has given the sender extensive advice on how to pack such items in the future. We also urge anyone sending a similar heavy or large item to follow the detailed advice on our website. (Reviewed January 2023)

Can't believe there are aloud to trade still was reading reviews on here and elsewhere and it's nearly word for word same horrendous situation as mine I.e damaged goods and then the extra high charges, taken from accounts that you don't know are continues payments
Then the same old oh sorry to here you have a problem tough getting nothing back, I contacted the company they used to send my parcel and they knew nothing about extra charges and said they wouldn't charge a month after delivery

Business Response: We’re sorry that this customer has been unhappy with our service. Our initial investigation for any damaged parcel will review the packaging upon delivery. From images we request from the customer, we will determine whether the packaging was insufficiently robust for the items contained within, and whether it adhered to our packaging criteria.

Our web site features easy-to-follow advice on how to package your items correctly to protect them in transit. We urge everyone, whoever they send their parcels with, to read this helpful guide.

Regarding the additional charges applied, unfortunately it appears in this case that the carrier has audited the dimensions and/or weight of the customer’s parcel as greater than the measurements entered by our customer when they were booking.

While the measurements originally entered by our customer would not put the package over a certain threshold, the carrier’s weight adjustment did put the overall package over a threshold, incurring this additional fee. Again, ParcelHero’s site has a useful guide to correctly measuring packages to ensure that no unexpected extra charges are incurred. (Reviewed November 2022)

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. ABSOLUTE SCAMMERS.

Bought insurance with my package. They damaged and stole some items but are refusing to pay for this. Customer services asked me to send the same pictures over and over again. Absolute useless customer services. I packaged everything securely and even the delivery image from courier shows damage. What an absolute joke of a company. I will be reporting them everywhere i can and will be taking them to small claims court. Why are these couriers not governed by a professional body?

Business response: We’re sorry that the customer has been unhappy with our service. Our initial investigations showed that some items were indeed missing from his package when it arrived with its receiver. When we examined photographs of the packaging taken before the items were sent, we initially rejected this claim as we determined that the packaging was insufficiently robust for the items contained within.

However, we have now re-opened this case and, on further investigation, we believe that there are some issues with this shipment that have not been fully explained. As a gesture of good will we are currently reaching out to the customer and we will work with him to proceed his claim. We trust this will reach a satisfactory conclusion. (Reviewed October 2022)

Scammers. Robbers.
Apparently my parcel was audited & found to be over weight. Even though I'd used the dimensions & weight printed on the side of the box. Manufacturer & retailer have both written to confirm my weights were correct. Will they accept this? No. Will only accept a picture of my box on the scales. Which of course I've already sent. They don't have any evidence they can send me so ? Refuse to liaise with UPS.
So they've charged me £197 (yes you've heard that right) & taken the unauthorised money from my account. Just like that. Helped themselves to my money.
Avoid at all costs. Customer service is a joke. Keep repeating some old rubbish.

Business response: We’re sorry that the customer has been disappointed with our service. Unfortunately, in this case our customer appears to have entered the dimensions and weight for her shipment as printed on the outside of the box by the manufacturer. These apply to the measurements of the item inside the box, not the actual packaging size and dimensions.

Our customer’s selected carrier was forced to apply an additional fee because the measurement of the packaging materially increased their overall (volumetric) size and weight. Additionally, the carrier also has a standard ‘large parcel surcharge’ for bulky items over a certain size and weight. While the measurements originally entered by our customer did not put the package over this threshold, the carrier’s weight adjustment did put the overall package over this limit.

We did ask our customer for further evidence so that we could raise an appeal with her chosen carrier on her behalf, but unfortunately, she was unable to supply any. Volumetric weight can often be confusing for people booking packages, which is why we point people to our packaging guides when they book, and feature a handy
volumetric tool on our site. Volumetric weight refers to the overall size of a parcel and is measured in volumetric kilograms. It’s a standard measurement used by virtually all international couriers. Volumetric weight can be calculated by multiplying the length, width and height of a parcel (in cm) and dividing that figure by 5000
(some carriers use a divisor of 4000).

We’re sorry we were unable to help our customer further with her appeal on this occasion. (Reviewed October 2022)

Avoid this company
Avoid this company
This is the most lying company! I sent a parcel to the USA with next day delivery, the parcel was delayed with 5 days. I asked for compensation but receive nothing from them. After 2 weeks receive a email from them that they charge me with additional surcharge because the parcel was heavier than I was declared, which is completely lying from them. They take the money directly from my bank account without my permission. Then after couple of email they don't give no evidence that FedEx ask them for this additional charge. Which delivery company deliver the parcel which is with wrong measurements usually company return the parcel or call the sender for additional payment they don't deliver the parcel. (Reviewed October 2022)

SHOCKING SERVICE.

I wish I read reviews beforehand. But like the other reviews my parcel got damaged in transit and they refuse to pay.

This company is nothing but a scam and it is no wonder they have no address or contact number.

PAY EXTRA AND GO WITH SOMEONE REPUTABLE.

SCAMMERS!!!

Business Response: I am sorry to hear that this customer has had a negative experience with us. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide a response regarding this specific booking due to no details being provided to us.
In general, customers will be able to raise a damage claim if they have followed ParcelHero’s 'packaging criteria’ and the goods being sent are not listed on our ‘prohibited’ or ‘compensation exclusion’ lists. These criteria are prompted multiples times during the booking process prior to making payment and require acknowledgement in order to proceed with the booking.
If the above claim criteria have not been adhered to, we may unfortunately be unable to proceed with a claim. (Reviewed October 2022)

Terrible company
Terrible company. Paid for
Insurance.. they damaged the package in transit and now
Refuse to pay!!! Also tried to bill me
For 40kg package which I have evidence that it weighed under 2kg. AVOID
Date of experience: 05 September 2022 (Reviewed September 2022)

This service is very untrustworthy and border line SCAM artists. I sold a kids bike on eBay and used them to deliver it - the bike weighed 5kg. 2 weeks after payment they automatically charged me an extra £75 (4 times the original amount) claiming the package had be audited and was 54kg!! A completely bogus claim. The burden of proof was put on me to send a photo of the package on scales, which is obviously impossible as they had already delivered it. To add insult to injury they dont even provide contact details or link to even make a claim. Reading other reviews this seems like common practice for them. AVOID THIS COMPANY. (Reviewed September 2022)

I sent a delivery on 12 April 2022 which was supposed to take 3 days, item never arrived at destination, no note was left at destination address. 19 May i emailed them and they said it has been returned to sender, no attempt at delivery was made and no notification of failed delivery was given i asked them to attempt again and was advised they cannot redirect, they advised they sent an email and text advising receiver to pick up but could not provide details of when messages were sent. 23 June i asked where it is and advised they have still not received it. 12 July i asked for address to serve legal claim and they would not provide address. 22 July i was asked to pay £55 so they can return my delivery i asked them to read our correspondence history as i felt they wouldn't dare ask me to pay after all this aggravation, i received a response which did not address my issue, 1 aug they asked me to pay the invoice, 9 august i was tired out they successfully exasperated me i asked for the invoice so i can pay, 10 aug i got an email saying i did not pay in time and my parcel was disposed of

Response from business: Every complaint made is disappointing and we aim to learn from each one. However, in this case the problem is around realistic delivery date expectations. The customer sent a time critical package to arrive at an address in Israel during weekday hours. We offer next day and 2-day deliveries to this destination, but the customer chose our 3 day+ service.

The important thing to note is that it is a cheaper three or more days service. It is not ‘supposed to take 3 days’ as your correspondent states. The expected timing of parcel deliveries is clearly outlined at the beginning of our booking selection process. This meant the parcel arrived at its destination in Israel at a time when the office it
was addressed to was closed. The parcel was then held for collection for four weeks, but continued to remain unclaimed. We therefore initiated the process of returning it to the sender. Once safely back at our depot, we contacted the customer to inform him a return fee was applicable to ship the item all the way back from Israel. Once this has been received, the package will be returned to sender.

Our strong advice to everyone sending a package that is time sensitive is to take care in selecting the appropriate delivery option. Express services do cost a little more, but if timing it is critical, it is better to pay the extra rather take the risk that the delivery arrives too late. (Reviewed August 2022)

Booked a delivery via Parcelhero of 2 identical parcels going to the same address on the 1st July for delivery on the 4th of July.
One parcel was delivered one is missing.
Firstly I am told they only picked up one parcel then get extra charged for the parcel they claim they didn't pick up. Interestingly even though these were identical in weight and size I am told unless I can prove otherwise I have to pay excess charges on one. Surely they should prove that to me? Im a woman and could lift them to give the driver. The weight and size they supposedly declare would be impossible for me to lift and a complete untruth.
AVOID this company as after weeks of email chat they are completely uncontactable on the phone
I'm out of pocket for the item the delivery cost and the untrue excess charge.

Business Response:
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to respond to the customer's review

As soon as we became aware that one of the customer's two parcels had not been delivered, our
Customer Care team promptly raised an investigation with TNT. This investigation is currently
ongoing at this time, and we are engaging with the customer for additional information to assist
with this investigation.

Investigations unfortunately do take time, as thorough searches of the network are taking
place. We are of course aware that any delay in delivery would cause inconvenience to all
parties, and for that we do apologise.

Once TNT have completed their investigation, we will update the customer with the outcome.
We fully understand receiving any additional charges is a point of frustration for our
customers. Every shipment that travels through our network is audited whilst on route. When
the courier audits the parcel size and weight and finds it to be higher, they charge us for the
difference, and we have no choice but to pass those charges on. However as there is
currently an ongoing investigation, the additional invoice has been placed on hold. Should the customer's parcel not be located by TNT, we will of course waive this invoice.

It is very disappointing to read that the customer feels that she did not receive the level of
customer service that we would expect. We understand that it can be frustrating waiting for
response to a query, however our Customer Care team do have to wait for feedback from the
carrier, in order to provide the customer with an update. (Reviewed July 2022)

Attempted to bully into paying extra for unaudited claim of excess parcel weight. After many emails issue was resolvedly me sending measurements and weight evidence. Then today took unauthorised payment of £55 from my credit card. On no account use them. (Reviewed June 2022)

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY

Measured and weighed my parcel, sent with this company in January.
In May got a bill for an extra £100 for volume billable expenses from FedEx. Then they took the money direct from my bank account
Nobody to speak to (Reviewed June 2022)

I used parcel hero who in turn used UPS. There driver arrived on Monday 21st Feb. Could not take as no labels printed. Spoke to ups on same day and was told I had to wait 28 days for refund, spoke to them again on 25th March and was told they refunded parcel hero on the 18th March. But still not refunded to my account. I have tried to contact them on three numbers. All these numbers are not obtainable.

Business response: We were sorry to hear about this problem, which has now been resolved. Printing labels is sometimes difficult for customers, which is why we include No Printer options for most destinations. We recommend anyone who thinks they may have difficulty accessing a printer chooses one of these services.
In general, the best way to contact our customer services team about issues such as billing enquiries is by using the form on our contact page. They will prioritise enquiries about existing orders. https://www.parcelhero.com/en-gb/about-us/contact-us
We also advise that customers contact us directly, rather than approaching their selected carrier, as we can assist them in amending their booking or requesting a refund.
We have now cancelled the booking and issued a refund. (Reviewed March 2022)

Booked a delivery to arrive Tuesday, waited in all day, no delivery, same on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday - no idea where the parcel is, their tracking website says its been delivered, the last subsequent email from them said it would be delivered 'tomorrow', . Biggest problem is that this business has no working telephone number- all publicly available telephone numbers don't work - they have clearly decided not to provide customer service via telephone, unfortunately they have now stopped responding to emails, so I have no way to contact them apart from via post.

If you are lucky your delivery might go smoothly, but if not, good luck, as you are unlikely to get a response from their customer support.

Do they care about their reputation? (Reviewed January 2022)

Hiding behind unfair and hidden (had to argue about the difference between "hidden" and "made clear") terms to avoid paying liabilty (£50) for a damaged item.

Copy and paste responses offering a paltry £15 voucher for a service/company I would never trust to use again.

Avoid like the plague (Reviewed November 2021)

Parcelhero is a scam - they are impossible to contact by phone and email responses are cut and paste time and time again. Customer services make no attempt to assist with queries. I have been waiting for a parcel to arrive for almost three weeks and parcelhero refuse to help.
There is no way this business should be marked with "Buy with confidence" - they need to be removed from this register. Customers simply should not use this company.

Parcel Hero's Response: At the time of placing his booking with Parcelhero, the customer inadvertently added the incorrect values for the items being shipped. This resulted in the Duties & Taxes, applied by customs in France, being significantly higher than expected.

Our Customer Care team revised the value on the customs invoice for him, and forwarded this to the carrier. However as payment for the Duties & Taxes had not been received within the seven day time frame, his shipment was unfortunately processed for return back to the sender’s address by the carrier.

One parcel was delivered back to the sender on 26th July 21 and second parcel, which was slightly delayed in transit, is now at the local depot waiting for redelivery, as this was unsuccessful on 28th July 21.

It is very disappointing to read that the customer feels that he did not receive the level of customer service that we would expect. We understand that it can be frustrating waiting for response to a query, however our Customer Care team do have to wait for feedback from the carrier, in order to provide the customer with a update.

In this instance, having reviewed the case, we have decided that as this appears to have been a genuine error on the part of Mr Lascelles , we will process a refund of the booking fees on this occasion, as a gesture of goodwill.

ParcelHero CS Management Team (Reviewed July 2021)

Terrible service.

I booked the service for a pick up of machinery. Whilst the courier itself turned up in the wrong van, damaged my machine beyond repair and then sent me a surcharge of £70 for an audit which incorrectly found the package over weight, I am more upset with the way Parcel Hero have dealt with the complaint.

Having paid for £200 compensation, I followed their reporting/complaints process to the letter. They flatly refused to process the claim as they said courier assessed machine to be incorrectly packaged. I asked for evidence of this - no evidence provided just the courier's say so. How can you ever make a claim if this is the case? Moreover, my machinery was dropped from height bending a 15mm steel rod - no packaging would have prevented that. Terrible.

Response from ParcelHero.com:

At the time of the customer's initial appeal, we thoroughly reviewed the images sent by him. Unfortunately, looking at the images he supplied, we do not believe that the protection offered by the packaging he used met the minimum criteria given on our site.
At the time the customer booked his shipment and selected enhanced cover he was shown a text box explaining the cover does not include: ‘Goods not packaged in accordance with our labelling and packaging criteria’.
The shipment was of machinery and weighed 60kg. Looking at our criteria, we state items over 40kg need to be shipped using a rigid wooden box or pallet. While the customer correctly used a pallet, he did not follow the instructions to use ‘adequate cushioning material, and completely fill the box with packaging material, so there is no movement or space inside the box.’
Our packaging criteria also states, ‘If you're sending large fragile items such as electronic equipment or machinery, the product should be fully suspended inside the box, using moulded polystyrene that’s specifically moulded to the product you’re shipping.’
Regrettably, the photographs we received do not show any kind of packaging other than a polythene sheet, which would not protect the item on its journey. We did ask the customer to supply any further supporting evidence that the item was correctly packaged, but so far, we have not received any further information.
We strongly advise all senders to follow the packaging instructions given on our site to both protect their items and to ensure their enhanced cover is valid if they opt to take it.
(Reviewed May 2021)

Booked a collection and the parcel was not picked up. Was advised to rebook, did so and no collection. Refund not received and was charged for the cancellation

Response from Parcel Hero:

Having reviewed this case, unfortunately it seems that there were two failed collections by the customer’s chosen carrier.

• The customer booked a Hermes collection and delivery service via our website.
• Unfortunately, the collection failed on the 30th December, 2020.
• The customer then rebooked the collection, again using Hermes, for the 5th January, 2021.
• Sadly, Hermes again failed to collect the item.
• Our Customer Services team then advised the customer that, as an alternative, he could take his parcel to a local drop-off point. This would eliminate any problems with the collection.
• The customer then requested we cancel the booking, which normally incurs a cancellation fee.
• By way of a goodwill gesture, this fee was waived and a full refund was processed on the 12th January, 2021
(Reviewed January 2021)

Collection and delivery was as arranged, but 2 weeks later contacted us with a bogus 'volumetric weight' dispute and said they WOULD TAKE a nearly double the original payment for a 6.56kg difference. Their own numbers didn't even add up to the service we'd purchased. Impossible to contact and will be avoiding in future.


Business Response:
"ParcelHero is extremely sorry that a significant invoicing error resulted in our asking our customer for payment of a sum considerably in excess of the small surcharge that should have been requested. The error was introduced after a carrier's weight correction triggered an incorrect charge in our system. We have apologised directly to our customer, refunded him for the entire invoice in question and have also placed a £25.00 credit on his ParcelHero account for any future shipments he may wish to send.
We have entirely reviewed our carrier weight correction surcharge processes and systems following this case, and we also now implement additional checks on all invoices before they are issued to any customers, to ensure we never have a repeat of this incident.
We would like to point out that we did not, at any point, debit our customer's card for this surcharge. Our customer disputed the invoice; and we worked alongside him to ascertain the correct audited dimensions. No additional payment was ever taken from our customer, as we never take payment from a customer if the invoice is in dispute until all parties are happy the case is resolved.
ParcelHero ships over 200,000 parcels a year across the world. We pride ourselves on the service we offer, and we are passionate about customer care. We very much value feedback and continually strive to improve our offering. We are mortified that this significantly incorrect payment request was ever issued, and we have taken significant steps to ensure there can never be a repeat."
(Reviewed July 2019)

lost my parcel - AVOID USING THEM
lost my parcel, doesn't respond, hiding behind an uncontactable company. wait weeks for any kind of contact, shocking service (Reviewed May 2018)

Attempt to strongarm customers into taking further payment for parcel deliveries by using bogus 'volumetric' weight calculations not described in the parcel shipping purchase process.

Illegal, inconvenient and immoral. (Reviewed July 2017)