£25 rip off to deliver final 1 mile to Olympics

If you’re thinking of sending anything to the Official Olympic Sites or Westfield Stratford City think again.

No matter which courier you use, UPS is the only courier company who can freely deliver to these venues and they’re going to sting you for an additional £25.00 for handling the final mile delivery during the security lock down period. The security lock down period varies across the 111 Olympic venues, but can start as early as the 4th of June right through to the 14th of September.

“UPS is proud to be the Official Logistics and Express Delivery Supporter of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games” and “UPS can go that extra mile for you to ensure all your key shipments can be delivered directly into London 2012 venues” says the UPS marketing material, before breaking down the charge as a Final Mile charge of £5.00 plus an extortionate £20.00 additional security charge. They do give a discount on the Final Mile charge for multiple parcels, but it’s still £20.00 per parcel in the name of security.

Let’s be serious, every package going into or out of the country undergoes security checks. They don’t take your package to Heathrow airport and casually chuck it into the back of a Boeing 747 without making sure it’s not going to blow the plane out of the sky. You can send relatively heavy parcels to the other side of the world, with appropriate security checks, for what UPS are going to charge for moving your parcel a single mile. Oh and you’ll have to pay your normal courier their standard rate to drop your delivery off just down the road from the Olympic stadium. The £25.00 is on top of your normal costs.

LOCOG (London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games) do of course allow any carrier to deliver to the Olympic venues…. provided the carrier is granted the proper accreditation and the deliveries are arranged through the venue MDS (Master Delivery Schedule) controlled by LOCOG. You need a minimum of 48 hours prior to the delivery to get on the MDS and when they arrive both vehicle and driver will be subject to security checks.

Realistically no courier company can get all their drivers operating close to the 111 venues through the accreditation. They also can’t give 48 hours notice as they won’t know when a parcel will need to be delivered. The only realistic option is for most courier companies will be to pass deliveries to UPS along with twenty five quid.

The Olympics is supposed to be a showcase for elite athletes to excel at the highest levels. It’s sold to us as a spectacle not to be missed and a once in a life time opportunity. In reality it appears to be an excuse for a few sponsors to gouge the rest of the country for as much money as possible. Think “Rip off Britain” on steroids.

When the delivery services were awarded to UPS Sebastian Coe said “Having one single supplier to handle the majority of our complex transportation and logistical needs will benefit everyone”.

Will it benefit the people in the Olympic village who might need a delivery of insulin or contact lenses? What about the athlete who has to shell out £25 for a parcel from well-wishers back home filled with homely treats? Replacements for lost mobile phones, travel documents… the list is endless.