Aaron

I’ve used PartsInMotion a good few times - usually very good, especially for quick turn around. My last order had some issues which I thought are worth sharing here.

To get to the point - I strongly suggest that if you need to return an unused item from PartsInMotion, that you do the following:
- Take several picture of the entire package (preferably before you even open the shipping plastic bag) - photograph specifically any damage to the outer box
- Do not open any sealed boxes to inspect items yet. If there are no seals, inspect items thoroughly and photograph, repacking exactly as they arrived (ie orientation of part in box)
- Contact support. Share photos and ask them explicitly (do it via email for a paper trail):
— Whether you should open any sealed packages to inspect items (bearing in mind their terms and conditions say seals must be intact for returns to be accepted - so how can you inspect?)
— How the item should be packed for return (ie let them say just send it back in the packaging it came or advice extra packaging material be used)
- Follow any reasonable instructions they give on packaging
- Take photographs of the item packaged ready for return. Weigh it if you have the option
- Don’t use dodgy corner shops etc - take it to a Post Office or Royal Mail depot (reduces risk of someone replacing your expensive part with a bottle of water while it sits in the shop’s back room for a day awaiting collection)
- Obtain proof of postage

Here is why you should do this -

I ordered an alternator and another item from PartsInMotion. I ordered around 12 PM and paid for next day delivery. At 6AM the following day, DHL informed me they could not deliver the next day due to an ‘unforeseen issue’ (I suspect this was due to the barcode on the postage label being unreadable due to very faded printing).

I advised PartsInMotion before the item arrived that it was no longer required as I needed it that day. I got a positive response inviting me to return the item with a paid-for Royal Mail label. All very simple so far…

When the alternator arrived I was surprised to see it had just been shipped in its box wrapped in grey plastic. Anyone who has purchased any car part will know they come in a box with a bit of packing paper - not really suitable to survive rolling around in the van, but I guess ‘most’ parts arrive OK so they are presumably comfortable with it. As instructed, I just put the Royal Mail label on and returned it. I didn’t unseal the item (their terms and conditions explicitly state seals must be intact for the return to be accepted).

PartsInMotion contacted me a few days later to say the alternator’s connector was damaged and provided photographs showing this. No photos were taken of the item before it was unsealed or showing the state of the box. They said they would not issue a refund and said I should have inspected the item. I would have to collect the item within 7 days (from Exeter - an 8 hour round trip).

I contacted customer services who were initially resistant to assisting me (I guess they get lots trying it on, returning old/broken parts), but upon reviewing the ticket and hearing my account, decided to refund me on this occasion. My interpretation is that everyone acted in good faith and it’s just an unfortunate instance that the company stands a much better chance of resolving with their couriers and suppliers than I would…

My advice to PartsInMotion:
1) Review packaging - heavy parts with plastic connectors such as alternators are obviously going to get broken in a courier’s van. Put packing chips in the box and/or put the box into a stronger box if it’s a bit ropey (alternator boxes are designed to store the items in a stock room, not last mile shipping)
2) Ensure your label printers aren’t printing faded or distorted barcodes
3) Review your internal return procedure, T&Cs and returns policy. If you require customers to inspect unwanted items before returning, tell them explicitly what this inspection entails in any tickets. You must remove the requirement for seals to be intact otherwise your T&Cs are unfair as the part cannot be meaningfully inspected. Since you provide the return label, you are the shipper so you have to handle any damage caused Royal Mail - your customer cannot complain in these circumstances to RM.
4) Perhaps your RMA workflow could include having the customer take pictures and have an agent approve them before returns are accepted? You have a baseline to judge damage against then
5) Take photographs of incoming returns before unwrapping them for transparency. Inspect immediately after and take photos of any damage (so photo metadata can be relied upon for any complaints)

Ordered two signs which arrived quickly. One sign was great, the other had a cracked corner (you could see this is where it had been clamped); no way I could accept this. I assumed the company would send me another one after I shared pictures. I chased it for several weeks, each time I was told ‘we will sort this’ etc etc but no new sign arrived. Had to open a dispute with PayPal and return both signs at my own cost (including the perfectly fine one). Company did not engage with PayPal so just waiting for the timeouts now.

Ordered set of books from The Book Depository for £70.

They did not ship them for well over a week and it was only when I enquired that they stated their supplier had not dispatched them... Not impressed, I'm sure the wording was something like "ready for immediate dispatch". It's clear that they don't hold stock but just order and ship it. Hardly a 'depository'.

The item did not turn up. They used Yodel as a courier (but apparently did not know this and claimed they used Royal Mail) and were not able to provide me with a shipping number to follow up. The only thing they could do was to offer a refund or to ship another set of books... Hardly good for a £70 set of books, how on Earth do they deal with fraud?

I got the impression (by email) that perhaps English wasn't the first language of the person I was speaking to... The emails seemed blunt without any air of 'customer service' to them (when compared to the customer service email I got from Yodel at least). I mean I don't want to be bullshitted but an apology when I finally did all the running round and located my lost parcel due to an error on the part of their courier would have been nice.

In summary, I wouldn't use these guys again. They weren't even the cheapest! I picked them because I needed to books fast and they appeared to have stock. What annoys me now is that I get bombarded with junk email from them...

Ordered an air cleaner from Beyond Television. They had the best price by far (£195 - most others were £210 with the brick and mortars wanting £500+).

Item arrived as expected in great condition - no damaged packing or anything like that. Their courier driver rang me up the night before to confirm delivery time too. I did call customer services about my order and was able to speak to a real person quite easily.

My only criticism is that they don't have many order dates - they seemingly don't deliver everyday, only certain day so you have to pick from (in my case) Mondays or Fridays - I assume this when their courier delivers in my city. The closest date available from order was about 7 days. I was happy with this so didn't delve any deeper but a next-day courier option would be nice.

Recently took two flights with bmibaby. In general I had no problems - I got on the planes and they took me to where I had to go. For the journeys I took, bmibaby was the cheapest going.

The purchasing phase was a little convoluted and I noticed a few things I was not happy with - 1) like many budget airlines, you have to pay for anything - it's kind of like the bread in Italian restaurants - if you eat it, you gotta pay! In the case of bmibaby, the site asked you to pick a seat and then proceeded to bill you for it! It wasn't obviously that you could simply bypass picking a seat and not pay. 2) I found the online check-in/data provision stage OK *but* it wasn't clear the process needed to be completed twice, for both inward and outward bound flights. I also found the website to be quite slow (waits between each stage).

The flight itself was simple - very quick turn around - despite a late departure, we still arrived at the destination early! Very basic - kind of like easyJet but without all the corporate branding - just basic blue leather seats and simple branded aircraft. I like the fact that seats are assigned to passengers so there is no 'scramble' for the best seats like other budget airlines. Service was good although I don't think I would pay £4 for one of the 'hot' meals - looked suspiciously like a microwave meal!

I signed up for insurance using the website on my new iPad. It probably took me about two minutes, very convenient - I was sat doing it in the pub whilst chatting to friends. The fact that I could pay with PayPal meant I didn't even need to take my wallet out of my pocket (not an easy thing to do whilst sitting down).

As ever, you have to read the small print to ensure you have the right cover (as you cannot ask questions as such) but I liked the fact that policies such as the anti-fraud policy were very clearly spelt out in the documents sent out via email.

I would still like insurance sites to somehow display things which are covered in a little more detail in some intuitive format - perhaps some 'e.g's'.

In summary, easy experience although I can't speak for much more than the sign up process as I have thankfully not had the need to claim.