AIBU - It's London

[Griffey]

My DMum lives in Lancashire and has bid on an auction that she hadn't realised was collection only. Only until after she won the auction did she realise. I live near Heathrow, the seller lives in Romford, the other fecking side of London. My DM's opinion is "It's London". I recently visited her and my DDad and they collected me from the train station (20 miles) but I contributed to the petrol. I'm really annoyed that she expects me to treck across London to pick up some bloody photo albums because she really wants them. She has a heart of gold and quite often puts herself out for others and expects the same in return. AIBU, to say No.

Can't they just be posted? That would probably cheaper and a lot easier than a round trip.

No YANBU. That would take you AGES - it would be around a 3-hr round trip! Completely different to 20 miles on fast roads.

If you go onto a website like the AA (the car AA, not saying this has driven you to drink ), you can print out how long it would take you there and back. It would be 3 hours IF the m25 or a12 etc are kind to you, which is unlikely. If you show your mum that, she will realise what she is asking.

Addison lee etc do courier services - you could get a quote for them to pick up and deliver to your mum? An overnight courier is usually pretty cheap.

Thanks everyone. I was guilt tripping myself thinking that I was being unreasonable. I'll check out courier service, that is a better option all round.

Your DMum WBU to bid on a collection-only auction and then expect the seller to accept a courier to pick up. It means they can't get cash on collection and they have to package the items up for a courier, which costs extra money and time and carries extra risk (e.g. a dispute if the items arrive damaged).

If you advise her to go down that route then she needs to tread gently as she may get knocked back by the seller.

To be honest I live the other way round, and wouldn't think twice if someone wanted a lift to/from Heathrow airport.

yanbu. post

To be honest I live the other way round, and wouldn't think twice if someone wanted a lift to/from Heathrow airport. Nor me but that's a person. Not some second hand photo album!

i work in romford and could pick it up for you but am never in the heathrow area but let me know if i can do anything etc.

Hounslow to Romford? Erm no. It would take bloody ages and you could have them couriered for the cost of the fare.

You have to go through 3 counties plus numerous London boroughs to get there!

I suggest your mum emails the seller to ask if she'd mail them.

Just say no. And don't investigate other solutions: it's her problem to sort our!

I've done what your mum did once and decided it wasn't worth the faff so just paid for the item and asked that the seller re-list which of course he did because he got the £ twice.

It would probably be cheaper just to buy her a photo album online for delivery to her house than pay the petrol/congestion charge/waste the time.

Don't post, its ridiculously expensive. A courier is surprisingly cheap now - you could probably get this done for a fiver compared to £16+ with Royal Mail. Get a quote from My Hermes. All the other person would have to do is be in when they collect or drop at a shop close by.

A friend of mine drives me bonkers with the "it's London" thing. Norfolk and was visiting relatives in Epping for the day. She wanted me to pop over and collect something from her (literally pop in for a cup of tea), saying that it's ok, its on the central line like me. Yes, Ealing and Leytonstone are on the central line, but you'd be on it for almost two bloody hours! I think the tube especially fools people into thinking London is small.

I agree, get a courier.

She's from Norfolk that should say.

And that should say Epping - I am writing an invoice for someone in Leytonstone - it's on my brain

Yes, look at parcel2go.com .... You will need to estimate size and weight of parcel but perhaps you have some albums in the house you can size and weigh for estimation purposes.

You can then book your parcel to be collected from the seller's house so you don't have to ask them to go to the post office or dropshop, though the seller would need to parcel them up and stick on a printed out label that you send them. That's the cheapest way.... If the seller is willing to wrap, print out and label.

Other than that it's courier, but I'd expect a courier to be around £30 from one side of london to the other. Try anyvan.com, also shiply.com to list your job for quotes, then wait a few days for the cheapest quotes to come in.

I wouldn't do it either. It's a massive ask for such a small item!

In the morning, my DP leaves 2 hours to drive to a job 16 miles away on the opposite side of town. It's not just the distance - its the traffic!

why should the seller do all this for a buyer who can't understand the OBVIOUS DISTANCE INDICATION that ebay gives and the words 'collection only'. The seller is not waiting in all day for a courier!

she needs to contact the seller, apologise profusely and ask for the transaction to be cancelled.

Point out that it will take you as much time to get from Haaaaaahhhnslow to Romford as it will from Hounslow to Lancashire. Then maybe she'll understand the utter madness that is navigating the south east.