JM Couriers

Hi I live next door to racing pigeons. I have 6 cats. There was a thread about cat deterrents and the conclusion was that some work but most are crap. So, you either have to suck it and see and risk losing a lot of money, or you may just be one of the lucky ones and be as chuffed as nuts with the product. The best methods are either get a dog, get a cat or get a super blaster water sprayer, that sprays water up to 30 feet. away. Unless you have a cat like mine that loves water, acts like a dog and chases next doors dogs and likes sleeping in the pigeon loft when the neighbour is cleaning it out :-/ Julia

The main thing with being independent, is that we can always change our schedule to suit a customer. The South, London, Kent, Essex and the Midlands we cover all week long and if we have to shoot off up into Cambs, Norfolk, or anywhere else for that matter, once in a while, then its only a question of someone asking. You'll get a straight yes we can, or no we cant, thats for sure. Julia

We'd normally be going up twice a month but because Blackpool is about the time of the 2nd trip of the month, we decided to drop in on the Blackpool event to say hello instead.

5th of feb going North. 6th feb going South.

We are up that way twice a month, if thats any help to you. I never say we are too busy but try and give an available date for collection/delivery. Julia

I dont have a number for them, which is strange. Anyone can see ours as we advertise the numbers so people can contact us. A bloke rang me, who i assumed was Richard :B explaing that the site had been hacked and not to take any pms or messages from the forum as gospel but to get people to ring with the info instead, that way, the customers number is only known to us. Now i've spoke to Richard and aparently the site hasnt been hacked, so breathe easy everyone but the team are onto a culprit and hopefully, all will be revealed in good time. Julia

I dont have a number for them, which is strange. Anyone can see ours as we advertise the numbers so people can contact us. A bloke rang me, who i assumed was Richard :B explaing that the site had been hacked and not to take any pms or messages from the forum as gospel but to get people to ring with the info instead, that way, the customers number is only known to us. Now i've spoke to Richard and aparently the site hasnt been hacked, so breathe easy everyone but the team are onto a culprit and hopefully, all will be revealed in good time. Julia

I actually approached Richard with the very same question regarding sponsorship or donations. He sent me back a very nice message saying that Tauris sponsor the site but there were other options. i said i would go with option ? (cant remember exactly which) and am waiting on a reply as to how to pay for the option i chose. Julia

Kind of leading on from the thread i started, I had a phone call (which my daughter took) from Joyce Varney? Apparently, we are supposed to be doing a job for a Mr White, Mr Reeves and a Mr Rakes and Mr Reeves address is in Tyne and Wear. When i take an order i have a collection/delivery note that i fill in. I havent got one for this job and i dont remember any or those names and i have no contact number, which is something i always ask for. After the phone calls episode, i am a touch paranoid, so if anyone knows these people, or of they read this, can they please get in contact again by telephone to veify details. Julia

Would that be AM or PM Couldnt have been me, i stick to the speed limits. Just weds to sat i dont sleep......

Why do all my posts appear twice????

We are based in Taunton and have already had interest from Tiverton, as they said the same as you, noone seems to do it in this area. We have contracts in Brixham, Plymouth, Torbay, Exeter, Sidmouth and Bideford, so we are down that way all the time Mikes took the dog out but has asked me to post this for you If you want to fill his movano van with pigeons for delivery, we'll happily go off over 2-3 days and deliver the lot for you. Its nice waking up to pigeons cooing in the morning Julia

Hi all just read all of this thread , i voted no to the hub and my reasons are, 1. i think it is to big a task for anyone to take on 2. someone telling me i cant take birds to and from scotland when its not my area because we cover mainland UK and Scotland twice a month at the moment, maybe more in future. 3. myself and jules are our own bosses. we charge what we feel is a fair price for each and every job we do. we can pick up a bird in Aberdeen and take it to Dover for £25. or pick up 5 in abergaveny and 6 in truro to take to norwich for £50. (did we make a profit on it when you take into count all the other stuff we picked up in scotland and north england to deliver in the Kent area then yes we did) mike

Hi Everyone We are back from the Scottish run, met several good pigeon people and Mike drank copious amounts of tea! Funny thing was, myself (in one van) and Mike (in another van) plus my daughter who was at home answering emails and the telephone etc, all received calls from pigeon customers asking where their birds were, or why hadn't they been collected yet, as they had received calls the day before and on the day of collection/delivery telling them we would be there at certain times and of course, we weren't there at the said time because the fact of the matter is..............myself and Mike never made any such calls. All the collection/delivery orders were taken and told either collection and delivery same day, or if not same day, as early as possible the next morning. To all the pigeon customers, my apologies if this happened to one of you. On the Scottish run, its almost impossible to pinpoint a collection/delivery time to within hours. I drove over 1700 miles and Mike did nearly 3000. We hit fog, snow, the usual traffic car parks etc. Try that in 2 and a half days and see if you can give people exact collection/delivery times, then you can see why it would have been impossible for us to have made such phone calls. So, it looks like someone is playing silly beggars. I don't know who, and i don't really care. I've said before, if we can carry pigeons and help share the load so the customers arnt left waiting, then we'll do what we can but if someone thinks we are a threat and is doing this to try and put a spanner in the wheel, it wont work. We run a business, not a playschool, so lets all try to get along without the schoolyard pranks, eh. Julia

To Debs I know a bit but not a lot. I'm not one to pry. I'll PM you, as some things are not right for a public forum but just wanted to add my best wishes to this thread, as it was already here. Julia

Hi Everyone Sorry to hear about Flyin Couriers. I've not been on for a few days, so all i know was debbie was taken to hospital. Is there any more news since then?? To help you out if we can........ We are doing Launceston to London and from London to Aberdeen on the 8th (going up) and the 9th (coming back) Cant promise we can collect on the run this time as we are pretty full. Depends on how many birds, and where from and where to. If we can fit them in, we'll do pur best. otherwise the next run up to Scotland isnt until the 5th Feb but we collect and deliver in other areas during the week. You only have to ask and we'll see what we can do Julia JM Couriers

Thanks for the info. Can someone also point me towards the address and tell me ticket prices or can you just turn up and pay on the door? It would be nice to attend if its possible. julia

Whats the date for the Blackpool event? Julia

Thanks Wayne (and Debs) Best of luck in the New Year to both of you and thanks for the chat. I think :-/ I understand the pigeon world a bit better than I did before. You were very helpful. If there came a time we could not do collection and delivery of pigeons ourselves, as we are predominantly an Aquatics Courier, covering Reptiles, Snakes, Live Fish, Tanks and Equipment etc, whereas Flyin Couriers are pigeon orientated, I would have no hesitation in fowarding enquiries onto them. If pigeons need getting from A to B and we are covering the areas from A to B, then we would obviously take as much care with pigeons as we do ALL our other livestock. However, we know on occasion, for one reason or another, collection/delivery will not be possible and I have no problem telling customers that in this instance, we would not be able to do it. I hope customers won't take offence if I pass them onto Flyin Couriers but they then have the option themselves of phoning them, or of choosing a different Courier entirely. Julia & Mike JM Couriers

Chris, I like you! I'm 43 and Mikes 51 so hardly boy, girl material ;D but nice of you to think so lol Julia

So far have Aberdeen, Cupar, Edinburgh, Fife & Galashiels for collection & delivery. Some on the 8th/9th Jan, some on the 5th/6th Feb (our first Scotland run of Feb) Please contact us if your interested in us collecting or delivering for you on either of those two dates in Jan or Feb. Julia

Just letting people know our next Scotland trip will be on the 8th and 9th of January 2009. We travel up collecting on the 8th and if possible, deliver the same evening. We have delivered to customers at 1am and 2am in the morning if they wished to stay up and let us know. Otherwise, the delivery would be early am on the 9th. We cover other parts of the country during the week. Please see our schedule on news and events on our website. www.jmlivefishandaquariacouriers.co.uk We can be contacted on 01823 322538 mobile 07756 167 388 mobile 07716032470 email jmcouriers@sky.com Always open for enquiries. Daytime, evenings and weekends. If the answerphone does happen to kick in, please leave a message and we will get back to as soon as we can, or, you can leave me a PM on here (which i check frequently) Prices are £25 for up to 5 birds. The next birds from 6 - 9 are priced at £5.00 each and for groups of 10 and over, please contact us for a mutual pricing agreement. Look forward to hearing from you Julia & Mike

I live next door to a pigeon racer and i have 6 cats. When the call goes up the birds are coming in, i get my cats in to give them a fair shot of landing. We live in a built up area which has lots of cats anyway so although mine are in, there ay be a few others around that might stop them from landing. He has an audiable alarm which goes off if anything goes into his garden or near the lofts. The neighbour 2 doors down does a lot of gardening, no pigeons but obviously doesnt want the cats so he invested in a sonic alarm and according to him it does work. As soon as the cat breaks the beam, the sound only the cats can hear starts and gives em a bit of a shock, so they run the other direction. I dont know what make it is but i can find out if you would like me to. The best deterrent is a water blaster. Cats neither like the Pssst noise of when it goes off, or being drenched. The only problem with that is you need to be vigilant but if you had an audible alarm at least you dont have to stand watching out the window all day! Once cats have a taste of the water blaster its gona be a really stupid cat that goes back for more :-/ Julia

Dont forget the car kettle £20 from Halfords! Cant beat a fresh brew at silly AM and much cheaper than stopping at services where the prices are ridiculous. talk about having you by the short and curlys :-/ Got our bags from a camping shop. They are -10 and glad to say WORK. Bargains at this time of year. BOGOF deal. Take care Julia

Thanks Wayne. All the best to you too. Have a great Christmas and may you both have good luck in 2009 too. Julia