Reliable courier (door to door) from UK

[leela3000]

Hiya
I need to send my friend's camera to him in Singapore. He's only in the country for a couple of days, so we can't afford for anything to go badly wrong. The last thing I couriered to him ended up in a post office after the courier just put it in the post at the end, and didn't let him know or give him the new number he needed to collect it!

We'll be arranging with the hotel he'll be staying at, to receive it, and obviously don't want to cause them any problems either. It won't be subject to customs charges as its value is under the limit.

The best value couriers here are coming up as DPD and Parcelforce. If I have to spend more to get a more reliable service, then I'm prepared to.

[Strong Eagle]

The only companies with a reasonable guarantee of getting your friend's camera to Singapore on time are DHL, UPS, or FedEx. And I'd question DHL's commitment.

UPS and FedEx push the packages through customs and they deliver to the door. If you don't select a company that does this, you risk sitting on a shelf in customs or, as you said, at the post office.

And yes... they are pricey.

[leela3000]

Thanks
I could have been clearer, though. My friend is in Singapore for a couple of days in mid-August. So it has a couple of weeks to get there. We just need to be confident that it will be delivered to the door reliably so that it's there when he arrives, and not lost somewhere in the system or sitting in a Post Office, as he won't have time to try to track it down.

If any of these couriers have collection points in the city, that would be fine too (possibly better as we wouldn't have to ask a favour from the hostel)

So does that affect any recommendations? Unfortunately UPS/DHL/FedEx are two to three times the price of DPD/ParcelForce/TNT etc

[Strong Eagle]

You missed my point. You can have it reliable. You can have it cheap. Finding the two in combo is a roll of the dice with no guarantees.

[x9200]

Thanks
I could have been clearer, though. My friend is in Singapore for a couple of days in mid-August. So it has a couple of weeks to get there. We just need to be confident that it will be delivered to the door reliably so that it's there when he arrives, and not lost somewhere in the system or sitting in a Post Office, as he won't have time to try to track it down.

If any of these couriers have collection points in the city, that would be fine too (possibly better as we wouldn't have to ask a favour from the hostel)

So does that affect any recommendations? Unfortunately UPS/DHL/FedEx are two to three times the price of DPD/ParcelForce/TNT etc

There is always a risk even with these more expensive companies. If you or him can not do the tracking then you have no reliable option. Otherwise:
1. Send it on such date so it will be scheduled for delivery beginning/mid of the week, otherwise, depending on the service type you may have an over weekend delay.
2. Track the package few times a day and call them if anything suspicious.

This is the only way regardless the courier.

[leela3000]

Thank you.

I've discovered that DHL has lockers for collections. Is there any problem with someone collecting an international parcel from one of these? Last time I couriered something (to Indonesia) I was told that for customs reasons, the package needed to go to a residential address. Again, the package will not need duty paying on it.

[Strong Eagle]

There should be no issues with using a locker and DHL. Call and confirm. Again, DHL is the agency that will see your shipment through customs and into the locker.

This is the important piece. A lot of cut rate shippers will guarantee delivery only into customs... you need a local broker or yourself to get it back out. Much more complicated.

[leela3000]

Thanks. I'll give DHL a call. The locker option would be useful.

[archcherub]

DHL and fedex works for me. but extremely expensive.
I paid USD $100 6 mths ago for a small parcel wallet sized to be ship to me securely, they had it in tamper proof plastic bag, then wrap again.
but $100 is really expensive