The past few days we were busy shipping out items for runners. There were race kits, dri-fit running shirts and medal hangers. Since we are shipping multiple items and in bulk, average 150 items per batch, we made use of Xend. 

Things I Like

What differentiate this from the other couriers is they will pick up the item you want to ship. No minimum requirement for pickup. We also made use of the bulk sending feature in creating the waybills. This is a faster option instead of keying in individual records. Since all of our transactions are done online, we can easily fill up the Xend waybill bulk form. The waybills were then generated and  gave the pdf version to be printed out. No need to fill up the manual way bills!

The bulk excel form has its read me tab on how to fill up the sheet and what values are acceptable for the columns. Not included in the read me tab however is the 100 character limit of the columns. I discovered this when the page returned an error after uploading the file. 

The Special Instructions section, though it accepts 100 characters, only around 50-55 characters are displayed correctly on the waybill. The rest of the characters will be truncated and you will not be able to view it in the form.

So when using this, you have to make sure that important descriptions like landmarks or how to handle the package should be in the first 50 characters.

For pickup of the packages, you can schedule via phone, text message, web transaction or thru the mobile app. Fast acknowledgement of request for schedule when you book online (via web or mobile app). Using the web, you can schedule as early as 1 week while the mobile only provides you the current day and the next day 

I usually booked late at night after preparing the waybills but  Xend picks up as scheduled, for my case, the next day.

Make sure to included in the remarks for your scheduled request that you have this number of packages for shipment. And if sending in bulk, asking way in advance for pouches you can use and pack your items is the better option as they usually send only 1 rider. 

I remember that years ago, when using Xend, though they are cheaper compared to other known carriers, you have to drop your items in their office Mandaluyong, which is not that accessible. Now, they offer free pick up in Manila and some cities outside of the metro.

Xend is cheaper and you can also trace the status of your item. For provincial deliveries, they are partnered with LBC or 2Go. You can check out Xend’s website for other FAQs and or contact them at this number: 02 806 9363.  

Things to Improve On

I just hope that the ones managing the pickup schedule requests will take note of the remarks. Courier staffs also should allot ample time to pack the packages or send an extra personnel to assist,  instead of leaving the pouches for us to pack our items, and write all the serial numbers in the pouches (which is part of the job of the rider), because they need to be in another location to pickup other items.  This is my experience when sending out items in bulk – average of 150 packs in one pickup.

It is also best to get the contact numbers of the area supervisors of the riders to make sure that if ever they leave your packages to be picked up by their vans, they will truly pick up as scheduled within the day and not on the next day.  Email support is available but takes 24 hours before you get a response. Hotline is only available from 9am until 6pm and recording will keep you waiting util someone pick ups the phone at past 10am.

They have a tracker for the sender or the receiver to track the items but most of the items I shipped, after a month or 2, no updates are posted. With this, the badge counter will not be as updated and the sender will not be able to get the discount/free voucher when you reach a certain number of deliveries. I have sent over a thousand packages, but my counter is stuck at 451 count. They do not know when they will they will be able to finish their upgrade for this to be fixed.

So, what’s the real score?

If you are sending a handful of items, which are not a priority – meaning, you have no strict target date for the item to be received, go for Xend. If you decide to use Xend, provide ample time, like 1 month for the bulk items to be delivered, just to make sure.

For items with strict timelines or for more important and valuable documents or packages, I recommend sending it over via a known courier, which can deliver the item in a day or two, so you can track the package real time. Check courier with 24×7 customer support and will be ready to assist you for inquiries.

If you want quality service, you have to pay for it. Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.