To be fair I use DHL a lot for UK parcel deliveries and they've been very good so far. The local pick-up and delivery drivers are excellent.

I just sent a package to my son in Rome, so we'll see... It's not desperatey urgent and I've insured it for full value.

I was put off UPS many years ago when a package we desperately needed was on the back of a UPS wagon circling Nova Scotia for two weeks because the driver said he couldn't find the street address for delivery desopite it being clearly on his paperwork.

FedEx have always been excellent but I let my account with them lapse when I stopped sending so many CDs to the USA.