Sending your parcel for Christmas delivery

We just took a phonecall from a lovely lady looking to send a present abroad. We explained that at this time of year, it takes longer as EVERYONE is sending parcels, and most parcel carriers see a surge in their normal capacity.
As a customer that means you need to send your parcel abroad right now. You cannot delay, at Christmas it may take twice as long as usual. Whatever service you select, make sure the parcel or package can be tracked. Quite simply you need to know whether the parcel is in the UK or at the port of another country awaiting customs clearance, without tracking you have no idea who to ring to chase your parcel.

Parcel Force delivered a package to Spain last year for us. It was posted on the 2nd of November and it arrived on Christmas eve. It was the tracking that enabled us to locate where the parcel was and what we could do to help.

Which leads me to - Packaging. Make sure your parcel is package well. It's going to get transhipped and thrown about even if it's fragile. Strong brown parcel paper with thick tape works best. It may not look like a Christmas present, but it will look ok when it arrives. If you are not sure how something is going to look after being thrown about, wrap it in extra bubble wrap just to be safe.

And remember - send it now, the last minute means it will arrive in January!

Sarah