Smooth and efficient was TNT, although we were asked: "Is
Page 42
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Mallaig in the UK?" We were quizzed for details and if the package was ready for collection. The telephonist was unsure if TNT could guarantee a two-day service and said she would ring back. About an hour later she did so, and asked the size and weight of our parcel and told us TNT would call us back again.
We waited. After lunch TNT phoned again. "Hello there love, we can do it. Can't guarantee Friday AM though; it's a long way away from our nearest depot in Stirling. We could guarantee to deliver before 12:00hrs but it costs more than £100 extra." said TNT. Now all we could do was wait for the parcels to be collected.
THE COLLECTIONS
Only one firm arrived before lunch. At exactly 11:40hrs the smartly uniformed Datapost driver turned up in a liveried Royal Mail van.
However, he admitted this was the first Datapost parcel he had ever collected and was not sure what to do. He said he had no idea how much money he was supposed to charge: "Just give me £20," he said, and then said he had nothing to write a receipt on.
He gave us back the parcel and said: "Can't you go up to the Post Office and send it there?" Eventually he reluctantly took back the package and said he still wasn't quite sure what to do next.
About half an hour later the Post Office rang Wheelbase to say we had not given them enough money for the parcel and owed another £1.20. When we said the driver had little idea of what to do, the Post Office representative replied: "He is only a postman."
She asked if we could go down to the Post Office to pay the extra money. When we explained we could not leave the office she replied: "Don't worry. I'll fill the form in for you but we are short-staffed. Please give the extra £1.20 to the postman next time he comes."
At 14:08hrs City Link rolled up in a slightly battered liveried van. The driver was smart, efficient and very friendly. He apologised immediately about the state of the vehicle saying: "We're a bit short of vehicles. We've had a lot of prangs recently."
He told us we would be invoiced later and asked if we had any paperwork we would like him to sign.
While we were waiting for the next firm we had yet another call from TNT asking us what time the office closed; 17:30hrs, we said. "Oh, we will be there by then," we were promised.
Interlink turned up at 15:25hrs in a rental van. The woman driver was friendly and also apologised for the van. She said she was with a new franchise and liveried vehicles would be introduced soon. She wrote out a receipt but did not have change. We went back into the office. "I'll come with you," she said. "No point you going all the way up and then having to come back down again to give me the money." There's thoughtful for you.
Half an hour later Red Star turned up — but it was a local taxi driver in his cab. He did not say which firm he was with and gave us a City Link receipt "because I've run out of Red Star receipts." He put the parcel in the boot and drove off.
At 16:55hrs a scruffy, scratched Federal Express van arrived. The driver was equally scruffy. He asked if we had any paperwork to fill in and after some prompting told us that an invoice would follow.
Fifteen minutes later Parceline arrived and we were immediately asked to fill in a form detailing the package's details and destination. The driver was fairly friendly and uniformed, but he left his van blocking a little street for about five minutes, much to the annoyance of two car drivers.
Finally, at 17:20hrs, we were only waiting for TNT.
As there were only 10 minutes left before the office closed we decided to call TNT. After a very long pause on the phone while the telephonist looked up our details, we were told the van would be with us within the next ten minutes. We waited. Eventually at 17:50hrs Wheelbase Steel Wheels had to close. TNT had still not arrived.
THE DELIVERIES
Mallaig has only 1,000 inhabitants but it's the biggest prawn port in Europe, says Andy Race, the fish merchant whose