FAQ's
A: SMC Express Couriers was created in 2007
A brief history:
The creator of SMC Express started working for interlink express in Bristol in 1983 as a motorcycle courier and worked for between other courier companies including ICS and nightspeed until an arm injury stopped any long distance motorcycle riding and carried on as a courier in vans and trucks.
After a move to Salisbury,SMC Express couriers was formed in 2007.
In 2013 an illness led to the incorporation of SMC Express into MK Bikes of Milton Keynes until the end of 2014 and then a permanent incorporation into Ralph Logistics.
A:
As we mainly use motorcycles we can often keep up good average speeds, roadworks, traffic queues, city congestion is all a minor hiccup for an experienced motorcycle courier, in a van it can mean your package comes to a standstill if the roads turn nasty.
By motorcycle, if your package can be transported a large part of the way by motorway then an average for the whole trip of 60mph is a good basis to work out the time it will take.
Salisbury to central London(95 miles) in 90 - 120 mins. Milton Keynes to London 45-90 Minutes.
Southampton to Bristol (80 miles) no motorway miles will usually take 90 - 120 mins
London to Paris usually 5-7 hours and similar times to Amsterdam
A: Anyone, some couriers turn away real people and just accept work from businesses, not us, we'll help out anyone who has a need for our services.
We can take that box of forgotten tablets to cornwall for mr joe bloggs or the multi million pound tender to london for a multi national blue chip corporation
A: Paying has been made as simple and painless as we could make it. We can accept cash, and most credit/debit cards (not diners or american express) including visa, mastercard, solo, maestro etc and on-line with Paypal
We can also set up an account for businesses and regular users with up to 30 days credit after an initial first job, payments from account holders by cash, cheque, postal order, BACS, Paypal or standing order
A: Simply, because it costs us more to provide a quality direct service, is so much faster, secure and generally much better all round.
Our couriers collect your package and take it directly to where it is going, it cannot get lost, doesn't get damaged or left in vehicles anywhere. Most packages are handed to the receiver in minutes or in a few hours over longer distances.
Parcel carriers collect your package, often thrown into a van with hundreds of other packages, squashed into trucks then shipped to the Midlands to be sorted, kicked about and crushed before being sent to a depot local to delivery point the next day if you are lucky where it'll be put into another van and driven round until it finally, maybe reaches the address it is intended.
That is all of course if it doesn't get destroyed or "lost" by the carrier company who have already charged you more money for insuring your parcel against their incompetence and dishonest staff.
Quite simply, if it MUST get there, in one piece, fast or at a specific time, call us, we have never lost or damaged a customers parcel.
Q: Why use SMC Express?There are people that will offer you a cheaper and much lower quality service, no proper insurance, no proper documentation and pile your items into a van with many other deliveries, leaving them open to damage, loss and theft.
channel4 shipping-wars is a fly on the wall series showing just what you will get with a cheap, low end service.