Please would anyone in the UK make sure they do not use these guys ... "AGP COURIERS" I contracted them to pick up my lathe and deliver it to me.
I was promised that they would pallet and strap the lathe plus cover it well to protect whilst in transit. They were to use their own vehicle and the lathe was to be collected and stay on the same vehicle throughout delivery. Thereby removing the possible damage of changing vehicles in various depots along the way.
The service offered was basically a one to one personal machine delivery service to ensure no damage long the way. They were also supposed to unload and site the machine in my garage.
As you can imagine this was not a cheap service.
What they actually did was pass the job onto the cheapest carrier in the country and used a £65 service by underrating the size and weight to a fraction of the the true values.
But it gets worse ....
The delivery took nearly two weeks, I was promised two days .... but that's not it, there is more
On the day of delivery the driver rang me. He had a problem and could I come down the road to meet him. Upon approaching the lorry I was met with a horrific sight.
My lathe was half hanging through the curtain side being barely contained by the curtain itself. The thoughts of a one ton lathe dropping off the side of the lorry into an oncoming car does not bear thinking about.
I should of walked away there and then. I would have but for two reasons. One was that it was my money tied up in this fiasco and if I left them to it the lathe would have probably been damaged beyond repair and somehow it would have ended up being my fault in this no blame society we live in today.
Secondly, I'm just a nice guy and will try to help anyone if I can. (not always a good thing)
So I got a fork lift and driver from the local factory to push the lathe back onto the lorry. Trouble was the pallet they had provided was old and rotten and had collapsed. So the fork lift was not able to get under the lathe.
With the lathe back on I asked the driver to go to our local builders merchant who are a good bunch of lads that would surely help us. The driver was rather reluctant. Reason being that this lathe started it journey as the front of the lorry and was now right at the back, only stopped by a pallet of cement bags. But even they had moved when the lathe hit them.
Anyway, the driver drove slowly to the yard and the lads there did the job proud by getting an unpalleted one ton lathe off the wagon. Take my word that this is not a simple task with just a fork lift.
Now I had the lathe in the builders merchant yard but left with a slight problem. They didn't have to right gear to now load it and deliver it to me.
Next port of call was my friendly scrap man, he turned up promptly on nothing more than a phone call. Loaded the lathe onto his wagon with the utmost care I have ever witnessed in such matters (remember he is a scrap man !) and dully delivered the lathe right into my garage exactly where I wanted it.
Of course all this extra help came at a cost above the already expensive "personal and professional" delivery service I had already paid for !!
As you can imagine I contacted the original delivery guys ......... to be told to sod off and take it to court if I wasn't happy !!
I'm guessing they have been here before ......
Anyway, please don't use these chaps .... no matter what they promise you ...
Ebay listing,
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LATHE-Collection-and-Delivery-Service-UK_W0QQitemZ130357329861QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_localservices_courier_delivery_GL?hash=item1e59e6ffc5Their own web Site
http://www.agp-couriers.com/
