Packlink.es - Comparison site for shipping services

[Update on 26th July 2012: I've been told that a friend of mine has entered into a legal dispute with this company after they lost her suitcases. The cheapness turned out expensive in the end... You can still read my recommendation below, but I'll end by recommending sinmaletas.com which although is slightly more expensive, has many more positive reviews and causes less frustration. Ultimately, the decision is yours. ]

Hi everyone. Today I want to talk to you about the company I used to send half my life back to Spain when I came home from my Erasmus exchange.

Since we all know that Ryanair charges extortionate prices for hold luggage, I needed to find the cheapest company to send my remaining 50kg of stuff home, as I'd only booked 20kg of hold and 10kg of hand luggage for my return flight.

I had been looking at the website sinmaletas.com, and the problem was that on there you only have the option of 20kg or 30kg. What happens if your suitcase weighs 22kg or 24kg, like mine did? On sinmaletas.com, two 20kg suitcases would cost me 135 euros with VAT included, and I still had things I couldn't fit in. Then I found my saviour while scrolling through forums: packlink.es. They're a Spanish company who compare shipping services and can find you the cheapest option for getting your package to its destination. An advantage is that you can input the exact weight of your package. My final price was 88 euros with VAT included for two packages weighing 20kg and 25kg each.

The disadvantage is that you enter into a contract with a Spanish company, who then put you in touch with a British one who in turn have a sub-contracted service operating in the Aberystwyth area (where I was living), so organising the pick-up time and the reference number for my package was a bit chaotic in my experience. Packlack gives you the option of an evening pick-up, but people in the UK work until 5pm, so in the end I actually wasn't able to select this option. If you choose a morning pick-up, keep an eye on the delivery schedule. My advice is to book the pick-up a few days before you leave, since there was a mistake with the date of my pick-up and I had to leave my package with my landlord for the courier to pick up.

I rang the Spanish company (who were very kind and efficient, it must be said) and the British company too, but they had no record of my Spanish reference number, and there was no way of finding out the new one. In the end, I had to get on the train to the airport praying that my landlord wouldn't need to leave the house just when the courier arrived. In the end though, my package was picked up.

I'm still waiting for my packages to arrive (it's only been four days though, so I'll wait a few days more and let you know), though a friend of mind who had used Packlink before received his packages safe and sound exactly four days later.

My conclusion is that I got a mixed impression of this company, though perhaps this was my own fault for booking the pick-up not long before I left, and not having the packages ready the first time they called to pick them up (three days before the date I requested, which was a bit pointless). The Packlink customer service team were great though, and the savings I made were really good despite the problems with the pick-up (the guy from the British company was a git... ).

I'd say that I'll be 90% satisfied with the service when my packages arrive safe and sound. :D

http://www.packlink.es/es/

[Update on 5th June 2012: My packages have arrived safe and sound! Judging by my experience and that of a friend, all I can say is that your packages take a few extra days to arrive, and this is mostly due to the British agency. It's up to you which company you choose. ^^]