Phantom Couriers Shipping FAQ’s Part 2

Mark: Hi It's Mark from Top Local. We're here with Mark Huggan, Phantom Couriers in Vancouver. Vancouver's favourite and best known and the most wonderful courier company. One of the top 100, fastest growing companies in the province of BC and of course, Mark Huggan's the owner. How're you doing today Mark?

Mark: Doing really good thanks. How're you?

Mark: Good. So shipping FAQ's. Frequently Asked Questions. The second instalment of this. What's the fastest shipping method?

Mark: Well the same day. So if we're talking about national, like anywhere, like say we're going out of the Vancouver, the GVRD area it would be same day. Like hot shots. Not like the local same day but out of the area, would be our hot shots same day.

Mark: And it doesn't really matter what, I guess it depends on what it is. If it's a container load, a semi tractor trailer or if it's small stuff. That's always a consideration in how fast it can be shipped?

Mark: Yeah it is, it's a consideration. But you can do almost anything. If you put your mind to it, we could get a tractor trailer to Nanaimo same day. No problem. Just a matter of being on time to be on that boat. And we fly places all the time too. We have same day flights to Seattle, Nanaimo, Victoria. We go up north to Bella Bella, Bella Coola. We don't go to the Queen Charlottes same day but Prince Rupert, we can be up there and then we can manage to get it picked up next day. It's just a logistical thing for that area. But yeah, definitely same day. You give us an airplane, give us a fast car or truck and we're gone.

Mark: And how does next day delivery work?

Mark: Well a lot easier. You just order it up, tell us what time you want it delivered tomorrow, we'll get it there. It could go through any one of our channels. It could be done by a local courier. It could be done by any of our contractors in the interior of British Columbia. Or it could be delivered by another contractor anywhere in Canada, Untied States or the world, on next day.

Mark: How does the cut offs for that work?

Mark: Generally, we don't... You could really do a cut off at 5PM but it kind of works against the courier. So we like to have all of our cut offs by 3PM. It gives everybody a chance and it's fair on both sides. Call us by 3 it's there by 5. No problem.

Mark: So how much more of a premium is there for same day shipping?

Mark: A lot. It's not that I want to discourage economy and overnight shipping but I do employ people who have to make a living. So if they're doing a mass volume of discounted pricing, it's not really good for them and I want to see them succeed. So our next day shipping is a moderate savings. A lot of people are like, 75% savings, but we're about 20% savings. So you save money but it takes a lot longer. We're really a same day, on demand company for local freight and courier.

Mark: So I'm sure this never happens, but what does a failed delivery attempt mean?

Mark: Failed delivery attempt? You mean like we don't make it?

Mark: Yeah

Mark: Hey it happens right. Like bad addresses, mixed up this and that. A lot of times you know, people might have an old address list they're sending something. We might end up at your house and you're like, "What, Mark moved out a year ago." Things like that happen all the time. If we fail, we quickly do some research and find where it's supposed to go, what happened and fix it quick. I like it when we have failures within the service time, so we can be on time and get it done. But if it's on the end of the spectrum, where we're running out of time and we get there and, "What they moved". Then it's like, oh, you have to regroup quickly, figure out what's going on. We don't loose anything so that's good, so no fail there.

Mark: Have you ever failed to deliver because of bears or seagulls or escaping chickens?

Mark: Crazy people, not so much animals in our way. Well we did actually have to stop, we were delivering to Swaneset Bay Golf out in Pitt Meadows and bears were on the road and Adam was videotaping them. And it was like, bear is not going anywhere and there were deer there too. So Swaneset a couple times for wildlife. We've had crazy people, threatening to put a bomb in a building lobby. All sorts of, there was the time that that guy was stabbing people on West Georgia, and yeah we couldn't do our deliveries. People were asking us why and us telling them there's a guy outside stabbing people and they're like, "What? Really?" Car upside down on the front stairs of a hotel, that was an interesting one. Couldn't deliver that day either. So crazy people more than just rather random animals. Oh, and an owl. An owl smashed into a building, fell down by the Van City on Hornby and everybody was standing around it. It was stunned. So they were like, "Don't come into the bank, the owl, we don't want it to die". So one stunned owl. It was pretty tall. It was cool. I was there, I got to see it. I got called and I ran out to take a look.

Mark: So have you guys ever left a parcel on the roof?

Mark: On the roof? No. I mean, where's my package? On the roof. I don't know if anybody's asked us to put it on a roof. Could of been hidden. do a lot of garage drops, back yard drops, stuff like that, never a roof, back patios. I don't know about the roof man. It's going to come now, you said it, it'll happen. I'll do it though. You ask and I'll do it.

Mark: Well it wouldn't be my first choice to be honest.

Mark: Yeah, me either. It's like huck it on the roof. Maybe if it was like a divorce or something was going totally awry. You know, huck it on the roof, see what happens.

Mark: You guys will actually go to the bank for people. You'll actually go to, in difficult situations, like you mentioned divorce, or to a lawyer or do those kind of pickups. What are some of the wild kinds of things that you've done?

Mark: The divorce was pretty, we do that a lot, people serving. We had a woman crying on one side of the door and I heard on the radio, Lindsay, the courier talking, "It's ok you know, life will go on." So our courier was actually like a therapist. Finally signed the documents, got her calmed down, it was pretty crazy. A lot of banking will be like pick up a cheque at a law firm, take it another law firm, get a second signature, take it to the bank, get it certified, after it's certified take it to the vendor. We do like four or five part cheque certifications that are pretty difficult. We do that a lot. Always going around. Or settlement payouts for lawyers that need to be witnessed by another person in a third party somewhere. So we're always waiting in line. Getting there on time. Waiting to go. So there's a lot of complicated couriers. It's not point a to point b as much as I'd like it, or think it is, you know. When I go home, they're like, "What did you do today?", I'm like "Oh, nothing." Meanwhile, like 400 crazy stories happen and I just have to remember them. What actually really did.

Mark: So there you go. If you want a courier that's going to go way above and beyond to get your package delivered. They guys to see are Phantom Couriers. You can reach them at 604-899-5447 in Vancouver. You've got to call them and book ahead because they're always super busy. Everyday. But they'll get it done. And what's the thing Mark?

Mark: Oh, any package anywhere, Phantom Couriers gets it there. Even on the roof if you want it and I'll do it. Just take a picture.

Mark: Thanks a lot.

Mark: Thank you.