i can't remember who posted this link first - but well done them - i've just had 2 parcels delivered via Parcels Please
they collected from my parents in Nottingham friday lunchtime, did all the paperwork for them, delivered to my door in middle of nowhere Tarn 81 tuesday lunctime - i make that 2 working days. 15 kilo's each... £30... i now have two boxes of christmas waiting in the hall - yey!
x teresa
I use the Book Depository for books. Their shipping charges usually match Amazon.fr. I mainly do it to encourage diversity in the supply market though!
My husband and I ( or my self) do hope that this frightfully important post will not be derailed.........
Now now children let's stop being silly - I've got two upstairs who are doing that already :-O
Oh Teresa, don't be so daft! I'm not having a go at you or anyone else for that matter - as a part-time sociolinguist and full time languages teacher and translator I was commenting on the wide usage of "I" when "me" should be used... alright I did then go on about adverbs and adjectives but that was having a pop back at americans - Lisa ;-D
and isn't it customary on SFN to take a thread and go way off subject
à +
Andrew
hello andrew and lisa... i'm thrilled you feel it necessary to correct my grammer, my typing, my social standing when all i've done is post a limk that has a positive vibe for once and doesn't descend into a rant as many on this site seem to find it an outlet now...
how did a link about post become a racist slur?
shame on you.
i'm not english, i'm irish actuallly, english is not my first language, and i'm typing on a french keyboard... oh, and i didn't use the spell check wiether.
I think it's pretty much pot luck Lisa. I receive lots of packages from the USA and a few from the Far East, where I would expect to pay customs duties, and for the most part none are requested. Maybe it depends whether lunchtime is approaching when the dounaiere is looking at your parcel! The part that really rankles is their own "frais d'administraion" which is rediculously excessive - but who ever sair the functionnaires were fair?
Sorry I didn't make it clear - I was talking about the use of I instead of me being a way of trying to sound posh. the use of myself all the time is daft tout court. as for apostrophes and the miss use of it's -v- its and showing possession generally...! got to go the kids are playing up :-O
hi i checked out parcels please and rang them as well; they WILL ship to many places outside the uk but one has to call them directly for a quote and it is more exp. than if to or from the uk. they were very helpful.
thanks, roy! also, does any one have any clues as to when the douane charges or not? sometimes i pay a fortune, sometimes nothing, from countries outside the e.u. - and i can't tell if it is worse at christmas or not, that is, if they are more out to get you and/or less competent due to temporary staff. i wonder, too, if there is more theft during holiday periods...
hi andrew
yes, the 'sent it to henry and i' etc drives me wild; NO ONE will say 'me' at any cost. but IS saying 'myself' a way of sounding posher?? i would not have thought so; again, i attributed it to avoidance of the 'i'/'me' conundrum...in this case, remove 'suzanne' and one is left with 'myself posted'...but again, no offence intended! it is the common spoken language in the uk.
yes, we do know the difference between adverbs and adjectives of course which is why apple or whoever misstate it on purpose - sort of like 'every little helps'. continuing on the grammar theme - and remember, the uk is the home of that popular little grammar book 'eats shoots and leaves' - you guys can't decide if you are going to continue to use the apostrophe or not; it changes from building to building, street to street. - no wonder the french screw that up so badly!! the other thing brits seem not to use any more is the semi-colon, substituting the comma. i used to tell my students that punctuation is free ;)! - and speaking of the above book, in the usa all book titles are underlined; as this is not the case in the uk it is often hard to see where the title begins and ends...this must be a fairly new change, no?
speaking of adjectives/adverbs, many people also get wrong 'i feel badly' which should be, of course, 'i feel bad'. the former refers to the ability of people to feel; the latter, HOW they feel, eg, well or ill...
it's a way of trying to sound posher that has become standard English (I'm an English teacher too and get annoyed at ... "he sent it to Henry and I" type phrases, remove "Henry" and "...they sent it to I" :-O
But what about you Americans who don't know the difference between an adjective and an adverb... HP or PB's advert
"Think different!" ;-)
On Amazon, look very carefully beneath the price of the item and see if it states "Sold by Amazon.uk" or "Sold by Amazon's Preferred Merchant". If it is the latter then follow it through and you will find whether this is a Chennel Islands company or not (Indigofish is a common one for DVDs for example). If it is the latter then watch out for grumpy French douanières - I'm sure they take great pleasure in charging you for this anomoly.
Other companies operate from Jersey/Guernsey too - Play.com springs to mind - where exactly the same warning applies. It is all caused because Jersey/Gurensey do not charge VAT on goods purchased in the Channel Islands, and a special arrangement exists betwen the UK and the CI that allows the UK purchaser to be exempt from VAT. No such arrangements exists with France however.
I always thought that VAT or its equivalent was charged at the prevailing rate in the country in which the goods were purchased. Apparently not so, at least not always.
Hope that helps!
so they DO ship to the usa? i thought someone said they only shipped to the uk...
hi nick. i have often bought from them through amazon, but presume you are saying one can buy directly from them, and the shipping must be cheaper than amazon?? i buy tons of books from amazon uk but the shipping is terrible!
hi david. i, too, need to post to other countries. does the company you mention post to the usa or only between the uk and france?? thanks! also, is this company cheaper than parcels please or parcel2force, do you know?
oh, no! more b.s.! please roy, how does one tell exactly?
i have to laugh! as an american former english teacher, i wonder why brits always say 'myself' instead of, for example, 'both suzanne and i posted'?? or,' she gave it to henry and myself', instead of 'me'.(i am also married to a brit.) is it because they so often confuse 'i'' and 'me' that they want to avoid the possibility of mistake? on british news i note the talking heads regularly make this mistake, saying 'they told the story to john and i' for example, avoiding 'me' at all costs. indeed, the only brit i ever hear say 'me' is...the queen, lol! one would never say 'myself posted' so i am curious...no offense at all intended, please understand;) ps thanks for the tip!
thanks Susan... a lot cheaper than Royal Mail too... my mother in law sent my husband box of crisps (don't ask) for his birthday - Royal Mail International Signed For - (again - she's nuts!) It cost her £48 ! about twice as much as the crisps i should think... But it got lost, and ended up at the Mairie about 5 weeks later... very squashed and sad
i have used parcel2force successfully, but it only works from the uk to europe as far as i can tell. i need to ship a lot of stuff TO the usa and hope parcelsplease can do this. i too get angry about the uk only small print; i tell the companies that i am subsidising the free shipping within the uk and the least they can do is give a reduced rate to us. as for amazon, it brings tears to my eyes when the shipping is added on - thievery! also, i take gardener's world mag, and it touts free plants, bulbs, tools, etc for ALL subscribers! - see sm print: unless they live outside the uk. not fair and deceptive! i wd be willing to pay a couple of euros for additional postage. lisa in the yvelines