Posting a laptop

[michaelf]

I've just finished replacing the screen in a friend's laptop after it suffered an unfortunate accident, of the sort to be expected in student accommodation. The problem comes however that due to a delay in sourcing the part said friend is now back at university 150 miles away, and while I'd love a few days away I doubt that I'll be able to make the time to do so for a month or so.

 

My question therefore is how best to get this laptop back to her safely without spending a fortune? How should I pack it to keep it safe without going over the top? And can anyone recommend a reasonable delivery service to use?

 

Thank you all in advance!

[mac_shinobi]

Depending on the area it may vary so you might get a varied response with regards to which service to use ie UPS, City Link, Parcel Force etc etc but I have had the best luck with DHL.

 

With regards on how to package I would ensure there is plenty of bubble wrap around the whole laptop inside a larger box - think they did a test on brainiac science abuse some time ago and bubble wrap protected the items the best in comparison to the other stuff ie styrofoam etc

 

Where is the Uni and where are you ( obviously aprox , don't need exact address / info ) as this can be sent via PM if required - just wondering if anyone on edugeek may be travelling in the right directions - just a thought.

 

Should be able to use parcel 2 go ( not used them myself but they can use any courier / arrange collection etc )

 

Courier Services | Express Parcel Delivery Company | Parcel2Go

[witch]

Lots of bubble wrap, and a tough cardboard box should be fine - I posted one not long ago using Royal Mail and it was OK

[dwhyte85]

Make sure you opt for a signed delivery. At my previous employment we setup laptops and sent them out to home based clinical workers, the biggest issue we had was that if you go bog standard delivery... they will leave it on the doorstep in some cases!

 

Make sure you insure it, no point losing a friend over a few quid.

[Domino]

Make sure you opt for a signed delivery. At my previous employment we setup laptops and sent them out to home based clinical workers, the biggest issue we had was that if you go bog standard delivery... they will leave it on the doorstep in some cases!

 

Make sure you insure it, no point losing a friend over a few quid.

 

 

aye get a signed for delivery all the way - they insure at different levels too.

 

I'm reminded of a tweet from Gary Delany

 

"Just sent a letter of complaint to the Royal Mail. To make sure they receive it I've put it inside a Birthday Card"

[rad]

Some laptops come with just foam others just carboard packing.

 

Providing it is in a sturdy box and can't move around it should be fine. One reason we stash boxes.

[michaelf]

Well I've managed to get hold of a regular laptop box and some bubble wrap from a delivery we've just taken so will pack this in the next few days, just like Christmas again! I'm quite reassured that others have managed to do this before and it's survived.

 

@mac_shinobi Thanks for the link, I've just whacked some rough details into it and it's giving a very reasonable £8ish. Having said that I do prefer the idea of dropping it off at the post office rather than waiting around for someone to collect.

 

@Witch, if you don't mind my asking which service from Royal Mail did you use and how much did it cost?

[AngryTechnician]

Lots of bubble wrap, and a tough cardboard box should be fine - I posted one not long ago using Royal Mail and it was OK

 

DO NOT SEND IT ROYAL MAIL. I did the same a few years ago and they utterly destroyed it. The box looked like it had been sat on by an elephant and the screen was smashed. I tried to claim on the Special Delivery insurance. They asked for the laptop and damaged packing to be sent to a Freepost address for claims evaluation. They then lost it as packages to said address aren't tracked. I never got a penny.

 

I would second the suggestion to try Parcel2Go. They use proper couriers.

[mac_shinobi]

DO NOT SEND IT ROYAL MAIL. I did the same a few years ago and they utterly destroyed it. The box looked like it had been sat on by an elephant and the screen was smashed. I tried to claim on the Special Delivery insurance. They asked for the laptop and damaged packing to be sent to a Freepost address for claims evaluation. They then lost it as packages to said address aren't tracked. I never got a penny.

 

I would second the suggestion to try Parcel2Go. They use proper couriers.

 

same here I would personally avoid UPS ( I had the same issue with UPS as you did with royal mail ref elephant sat on the box, dented corners, all my goods were completely damaged and even though I paid top whack on insurance they refused to pay out because apparently the box I used was not good enough, even though it was the original box that was used to ship my computer case in originally to myself ) so would avoid UPS like the plague and am not too keen on city link or DPD, DHL have always been a winner for me, not sure about fedex or others though.

 

Just to give you an idea - we use UPS all the time for work because thats the courier that my work have paid for and I got a replacement hard drive under warranty from said laptop manufacturer, re installed, rejoined the laptop to the domain, installed all the software / configured it ( which took me a good half a day ) did all the paper work, added said laptop to the hardware database to ensure all the details for the laptop were correct ie specs of the laptop, serial numbers / asset tags etc etc

 

Packaged said laptop up inside a strong cardboard box, with lots ( and I mean LOTS ) of bubble wrap all around the entire laptop - the end user received the laptop and the hard drive was knackered again, making clicking sounds, the box was in tatters, all the bubble wrap must of been popped ( looking at a photo that was emailed to me ) as well as the users description and hearing the laptop being turned on just from the clicking noises due to said hard drive being totally knackered

 

They must of kicked it around, sat on it , chucked it etc etc ( as per ace ventura at the start of the movie ) so good job I bubble wrapped it really well !!!!

Edited January 19, 2011 by mac_shinobi

[srochford]

Worth remembering that all the parcel companies shift large numbers of parcels - that means that even if they have a 0.1% failure rate that's still a lot of elephant crushed parcels which is why everyone is able to say "Don't use company XXX they will destroy things"

 

Personally I've always had good service from Royal Mail and I have nothing but total and utter hatred for DHL (HP now use them for warranty stuff; it's by far the worst thing about dealing with HP who are generally amazing!)

[mac_shinobi]

Worth remembering that all the parcel companies shift large numbers of parcels - that means that even if they have a 0.1% failure rate that's still a lot of elephant crushed parcels which is why everyone is able to say "Don't use company XXX they will destroy things"

 

Personally I've always had good service from Royal Mail and I have nothing but total and utter hatred for DHL (HP now use them for warranty stuff; it's by far the worst thing about dealing with HP who are generally amazing!)

 

Find the above comment contradictory as

 

crushed parcels which is why everyone is able to say "Don't use company XXX they will destroy things"

 

Then something along the lines of

and I have nothing but total and utter hatred for DHL (HP now use them for warranty stuff; it's by far the worst thing about dealing with HP who are generally amazing!

 

I have used DHL a few times not recently ie in the last few months but have even had stuff delivered with them and it has been in pristine condition , not crushed, damaged or anything.

 

Yet I literally am forced to use UPS all the time day in and day out at work for shipping laptops for 90% of the laptops and we have to seriously pack them up really well and even then we still get laptops returned to re repair them and re image / re configure etc etc and re ship them back out again within the space of a week ( no joke )