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First Luggage Review: My experience using a luggage delivery service

First Luggage Review: My experience using a luggage delivery service

Today I’m sharing my First Luggage Review. First Luggage is a global luggage delivery service. They will collect your luggage from your home and deliver it to your accommodation anywhere in the world. I used them from a trip to the USA.

My suitcases were collected from my home in Chester and delivered to my hotel in Miami three days later!

Here’s some more info and my First Luggage Review…

As a serial over-packer, travelling without luggage is a completely new concept for me. Even when I go to the gym I seem to be weighed down with a heavy bag packed with clothes and accessories for every possible occasion!

When First Luggage invited me to try their luggage delivery service I really couldn’t say no.

No more navigating the London Underground with a heavy suitcase. No more tutts and angry muttering as people fall over my bag (this is London, no one will actually say anything, they just angrily roll their eyes.)

No more long queues to check-in my bag at the airport. No more waiting around at the baggage carousel and then navigating another public transport system in a foreign city with a heavy bag.

This was going to be a breeze!

First luggage review

First Luggage Review: My trip

I used the First Luggage service during my recent trip to the USA. I was camping for the majority of the trip and needed to pack for lots of different occasions and climates. Despite my best attempts to pack light, I ended up with a very heavy case so this was the perfect trip to be luggage-free.

Our suitcases were collected from our house four days before we were due to leave.

First Luggage usually collect in the afternoon but I knew I wouldn’t be home so they happily arranged a pick-up at 8am. There was a large tag to place on the front of the bags and an envelope to give to the driver and that was it. It really was that easy.

I received an email three days later saying that my bag had been delivered successfully.

When I arrived at the Metropolitan by COMO the bags were waiting in the room wrapped in protective film.

It was just as easy on the way home as I placed a new tag on the front of my bag and left it with the hotel concierge.

There was nothing of any real value in my bag other than three-weeks worth of laundry so I wasn’t nervous about leaving it and travelling without a heavy case was well worth it.  My suitcase followed me home quickly and was at my front door within two days.

As always, I came home with extra clothes, souvenirs and duty free bargains so using First Luggage for my return journey was particularly useful. It would have been impossible to navigate the London Underground with all the bags I ended up with!

Bags packed and ready to be collected

Bags packed and ready to be collected

Pros and cons of using First Luggage

Pros

  •  You don’t need to carry your bag!
  •  You don’t need to wait in line to check it in
  •  You can arrive at the airport a little later
  • No waiting for it to be unloaded from the plane
  • No public transport with a heavy bag
  • Great if you have excess luggage and need to fly out an extra case
  • It’s ideal for people who struggle with heavy baggage
  • It would also be good for young families who seem to travel with everything but the kitchen sink
  • You know you’re in great hands and can trust First Luggage to pick-up and deliver your case on time. I’ve scoured for reviews and almost all of them are from happy customers who give a positive, 5* review.

Cons

  • You need to pack your bags a few days earlier because they’ll be collected from your home about 4 days before you’ll arrive in your destination. This might not be a big deal for most people but there are a few everyday items that I had to take in my hand luggage. Things like hair straighteners, makeup and power cords that I’d usually put in my main luggage.
  • The price. As you’d expect, having your luggage collected from your home to your hotel and back again doesn’t come cheap but this is a more affordable option than many other alternatives.

Conclusion

When I told my boyfriend we’d be using First Luggage he was confused. “Why would someone collect my bag when I can just carry it?” he asked.

For a strong, young guy he has a point. He never has a problem with his bags because he packs light and he’s strong enough to throw it on his back like it’s filled with nothing but cotton wool and fairy dust.

For me though, it’s a completely different story.

It was impossible to pack light for a 3-week camping trip so my bag was pretty heavy.  I’ll happily accept that I’m a weakling but I’m not the kind of girl that wants a guy carrying her bags for her so First Luggage was a luxury solution.

First Luggage were a breeze to work with. Everything was made really simple and all instructions were easy to follow. They were happy to pick-up my bags at a time that suited me and everything was collected and delivered without a glitch. The customer service staff were great too, giving me a quick call or email to update me on the process of my bags and to confirm I’d be home when they were collected.

Now the only problem is that I’ll ever want to carry my own bags again…

First Luggage provided me with a free trial but, as always, all thoughts and opinions and my inability to pack-light are all mine.

Tvik

Thursday 23rd of February 2017

I started to book a luggage shipment with First Luggage. They only give you the option to ship express on their website. So I called and sure enough they had a much cheaper rate but you would not know it from their site.

I gave them partial information regarding my shipment including my credit card, which they said would not be charged until the order was completed. They required further information that they were gong to request by email. So at this point the order had not been completed and nothing had been confirmed. They could not complete the order as they needed a copy of my passport and other information. I called back within minutes and told them I would not be competing the order.

Then the trouble began. The agent informed me that I would be charged the full amount of the shipment because they had already reserved space and would have to pay for it anyway. First, I don't believe that the space was re severed that fasts and second they ship though DHL and DHL would not charge them if they cncelled on launch short order.

When I told them that was unacceptable and I would dispute the charge with my credit card company the agent said he misunderstood his supervisor and they were only going to charge me a service fee of £25. So after a long diatribe of how they could not cancel the shipment like magic that all went away.

If I had book this online I would have been given the opportunity to confirm or cancel the order like every other website. I would have also been given a link to their terms and conditions and had to acknowledge reading them and accept the terms. I would also not have even gotten to that point if all my information had not been completed. Aside from all that, if you book a flight on an airline or order something from Amazon and contact them within minutes of completing the transaction they will cancel it with no charges. In this case none of that happened. The order was never completed or confirmed. They did not have all the necessary information. I was told they don't charge my card until everything is complete. I was never informed of their policy because if I was I would not have given my card info until everything was ready. Their policy is also vague.

The did charge my card but for the full amount of over £100 not the £25 cancellation fee. Basically, once you give them you card info they feel they have the right to charge you whatever they want.

This is a deceptive, unscrupulous, short-sighted company that would rather get a fee from you one time than have good relations and promote their business. If the agent had simply misunderstood his supervisor he would not have went on such a long rant about there is nothing he could do they have to pay for it anyway. This agent was very knowledgeable and it was not his first day there. I doubt he even spoke to anyone. If you call DHL or FEDEX and cancel a shipment they have not even picked up they will not charge you. Period.

This is what they state on their site:

"Please don't keep the First Luggage experience a secret - we grow our business through referrals."

Don't worry, I won't keep this a secret. Stay away, you have been warned.

Tamsin

Tuesday 9th of September 2014

I have a suspicious feeling that they might have pulled out the red carpet for you as they knew you would blog about your experience. My experience with them has been as far from straightforward and pleasant as you can get, and after looking for reviews of the company I can see I'm far from the only person with a complaint. Please read my blog entry about the experience I had, and am still having with them. Thanks :)

Nancy

Monday 1st of September 2014

This sounds like a great idea, I can just imagine the feeling of freedom you get in travelling without luggage.

Fanny

Friday 9th of May 2014

It does look like a good solution for some occasions! I'm actually moving from Mexico to Belgium in a couple of days and had I not paid for the over weight already, I definitely would have considered this :-) Who knows next time!