[Query] How to calculate Speed Post rates

[pimpom]

This is meant to help those who'd like to be able to estimate the charges they'll have to pay when shipping something by Speed Post. I wondered if I should post it in the thread "Poll: Courier Service Feedback", but it didn't seem to be quite appropriate, so I'm posting it separately.

One common concern for both seller and buyer in the Bazaar section is the shipping charge. There are many national couriers to choose from and their rates vary widely. Experiences with a particular courier regarding speed and safety vary from region to region and from person to person. So there is no best courier for everybody everywhere.

Speaking for myself, I've been using Speed Post for many years and am well satisfied with their service, both for sending out and for having things sent to me. They have a simple pricing structure based on distance and actual weight plus taxes. No volumetric weight, fuel surcharge, etc. as practiced by most other couriers. Shown below is a screenshot of their rates as of today, the 25th July, 2011. It has remained the same for four years now.



For weights above 50 grams, taxes are 10% service tax plus Re.1 education cess. Here's an example of how to calculate the charges:
Most major Indian cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai are all within the 1000-2000 km zone from each other. Suppose you were to send a package weighing 1.85 kg from Kolkata to Delhi -

1) 1.85 kg will be counted as 2.0 kg
2) Charge for the first 0.5kg = 70/-
3) Charge for the other 1.5kg = 3x30 = 90/-
4) Basic total = 160/-
5) Service tax = 10% of 160 = 16/-
6) Educational cess = Re.1
7) Grand total = Rs.177

For distances which fall into the 201-1000 km category, like Hyderabad to Chennai, the total charge for the same package will be 45 + 3x15 + 10% + 1 = Rs.100 exactly.

Mumbai-Pune is less than 200 km, so the charge for that route should be 40 + 3x7.50 + 10% + 1 = Rs.69.75. They'll probably round that off to Rs.70.

Note: In my experience, they weigh the packages accurately to within 5 grams. I occasionally weigh the parcels I send and receive and the readings I get on my kitchen scale always agree with those of the Post Office.

[it_waaznt_me]

Not to turn this into a courier service feedback thread, I'd like to add that I've had some bad experiences with Speed Post losing my mark sheet in transit and not to mention the great customer service experience you get in Post Office..
From what I've heard, for services in Bombay - Surat belt, (local shipping included), Vichare's service is quite good ..Personally I prefer Aramex and Bluedart .. Even Madhur guys are also fast and cheap ..

[pimpom]

As I said, experiences differ from person to person and from place to place.

Too bad about Speed Post losing your mark sheet, but to be fair, there wouldn't be a single courier in the world that doesn't occasionally lose a shipment or otherwise fouled up in some way, which is why insurance services exist.

Re your remark about the customer service, I assume that it was meant as sarcasm. It's another example of differing experiences. Over here, the Speed Post people are among the friendliest and most helpful people of any public service. I've also despatched a few parcels to myself from Bombay P.O.s and they were always very nice to deal with.

Another example is that some people in TDF and in eBay forums consider Aramex to be one of the worst couriers in India. Blue Dart seems to receive mostly positive comments. They should, considering that they are among the most expensive. But even they have received some criticisms.

[kartikoli]

i am expecting my WIFI modem through them and i never faced any problem with them

[ganesh_2218]

Speed Post is the best and equals to Speed of Couriers and can reach remote places better than couriers. Their price is the lowest and unchanged unlike stupid couriers who have higher prices simply saying hike in fuel prices and they have different prices even in the same city. Only that we need to pack it well. There are some times products get broken or lost that's 1 in 10,000. I have sent pulsar cowl to cuttack from chennai and reached it in 3 days without damage and also lots of Electronics to Metros which reaches in next day. There are sometimes the parcel gets delayed or just holded for no reasons even if is metro that happens for 1 out of 100 shipments sent

[agyaat]

I sent one of my applications/documents through DTDC. They did not give any tracking on their website at all.

Bluedart did not have any realtime tracking info.

In Speedpost, some times the tag numbers are recycled. So if there is any tracking information on their website, it is sometimes of two packages traveling some years apart with different from and to addresses .

Hyderabad to Bangalore took 5 days in Speedpost, and it stayed 4 days idle at Bangalore GPO. It could have been delivered the next noon! Some town in MP received the package in 3 days with one holiday in between!

DTDC said it could not deliver to the pincode in Aizawal even though their website mentioned that they would deliver there. Speedpost delivered it in 10 days, once again delaying the package as it traveled first internally in Kolkata, then from Kolkata to Guwahati and back to Kolkata and then went to Aizawal. Even this time, the package could have been delivered the next noon or the day after.

As for the disgruntling service, every company has many aggrieved customers. I still have to receive my money back from Speedpost for the delays they caused so long ago! At least, they responded promptly to my emails about the package getting delayed, and recorded my complaints at the P.O. and acknowledged the receipt of the complaint at the main Speedpost center. As with how Government things sometimes work, it takes some pestering/reminding them(even though ideally it should not).