great central Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 A couple of weeks ago my son ordered some new headlights for the Jeep, the existing ones are losing their reflective coating so the beam isn't what it should be. Delivery by Royal Mail on Thursday was scheduled. Our postman is usually pretty good but because we're on a rural round it's often lunchtime before it arrives. I was on afternoons and the last one to leave the house about 12.00, nothing had arrived by then. Wife gets home about 14.00 to find a card through the door, our parcel has been left in a safe place, namely the 'ash bin', we have a solid fuel stove. Presuming the card means behind it, she goes to look, hoping it's not behind as it's been raining all morning, nothing there so she rings me to tell me. I suggest she looks inside the bin. 'They wouldn't put it in the bin surely, cos I emptied the ash pan this morning' she says. I have heard of such things I told her. Anyway on looking inside the bin there is a slightly singed box, which promptly bursts into flame when it gets some air She then carried the heavily smouldering box into the kitchen and puts it in the sink, turning on the tap to put out the fire. Headlights are ruined of course, the plastic back having melted. Fortunately, the delivery note was still intact and she rang the suppliers to tell them about it. They were very good and despatched some replacements the next day, after asking for a couple of photos so that they could complain to RM, The lid of the ash bin is usually quite warm to the touch and often bone dry apart from in heavy rain, you'd have thought having written 'ash bin' on the card postie might have had second thoughts about leaving a cardboard box in there, wouldn't you................................... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium ELTEL Posted January 31, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 31, 2016 Was that Royal Mail or Hotmail - I know get my coat! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny Emily Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 A good while ago RM in Durham left my partner's delivery in our black bin. The bin was out, because it was bin day. It also was the stinkiest filthiest thing at the best of times. We only know it was left there because of the card through the door telling us so; by the time we got back the bins had been emptied, parcel and all. The RM manager at the depot tried to claim that their posties would never leave parcels in a wheelie bin, but we had the card to show that one of the special individuals under his employ had decided that common sense didn't apply to them. And a little something I saw earlier today online: http://www.kappit.com/img/pics/201601_2134_hgbdd_sm.jpg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 All my post gets put in the council food waste bin! It was fixed to my gate at the posties suggestion some years ago, and works very well. The bin men haven't cut the cable ties holding it in place and emptied it yet! My food waste gets composted on site. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Makes you despair, doesn't it!?! Believe it or not, these 'people' don't need licences or anything, in order to breed! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumblestripe Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 When I joined Royal Mail in 1982 we were still providing a "Service" we were lectured about our responsibility to provide a service. The position of Postman/woman and Postmaster/mistress was a responsible one and we were expected to try our utmost to get the mail through. We took pride in tales of postmen delivering parcels and cards to remote farms in the Dales. Often getting through uncleared and untreated roads. A Postal SERVICE. But the Government in its infinite wisdom decreed that the postal service must be "competitive" because, well, that's a good thing isn't it? So Royal Mail was hobbled to make sure that other companies could compete. So, for example, RM would deliver the letter to Stornoway for the same rate as round the corner in Birmingham whilst the competitors could just hand anything costly to RM. But this would be a GOOD thing because the service would be improved through the competitive forces... Does anyone believe that the service is better? Do you prefer your post turning up randomly during the day instead of before lunch and often before breakfast? Does anyone find it cheaper? I haven't worked for RM for over ten years now, but I occasionally meet former colleagues who still do. The RM they describe could not be more alien if it were staffed by little green men. The only people who have gained from this pseudo privatisation are the likes of TNT, UPS etc. Who, lest we forget, we managed perfectly well without previously. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
YesTor Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 The only people who have gained from this pseudo privatisation are the likes of TNT, UPS etc. Who, lest we forget, we managed perfectly well without previously. Hmmm, although in 1982, or indeed even in 2002, there wasn't anywhere near the volume of parcels being delivered compared to what there is now due to the exponential increase in online shopping. The market here has increased beyond recognition during the past 10 years or so. With regard to Royal Mail, if "managing perfectly well" equates to waiting for almost an hour in a Post Office queue, clutching a red card, only to be told, "I'm sorry, we cannot find your parcel... maybe you could come back tomorrow?!", which has always been a common occurrence from my own bitter experience and for as long as I can remember, then I for one do not share what may perhaps be a rose-tinted view of times gone by? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
t8hants Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 For a long time I had a postcard which was posted in Cowes I.W. addressed to Sandown, a distance of about 15 miles. it was posted at 10:30 (on the franking mark) in 1901 the message read "Will be late home for tea expect me about 6:30pm". In the age of the steam train and horse, the sender had every expectation his card would arrive in time, that was a service! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cromptonnut Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 My "postal record" was from years ago when I lived in Somerset, and my "local" shop was Hendford Halt in Yeovil. One day I ran out of fishplates but not feeling a journey of 40+ miles round trip worth it just for that, I phoned Pete up and asked if he could pop a pack in the post and I'd settle up with him next time I was in. No problem he said. They finally turned up seven weeks later - with the original franking mark of the date I spoke to him - and I'd been to the shop three times since. The envelope was in a plastic "sorry" bag and the envelope itself had several sorting office marks including at least one in Scotland. Quite where this thing had been is anyone's guess. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumblestripe Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Hmmm, although in 1982, or indeed even in 2002, there wasn't anywhere near the volume of parcels being delivered compared to what there is now due to the exponential increase in online shopping. The market here has increased beyond recognition during the past 10 years or so. With regard to Royal Mail, if "managing perfectly well" equates to waiting for almost an hour in a Post Office queue, clutching a red card, only to be told, "I'm sorry, we cannot find your parcel... maybe you could come back tomorrow?!", which has always been a common occurrence from my own bitter experience and for as long as I can remember, then I for one do not share what may perhaps be a rose-tinted view of times gone by? Oh I'm not so blind that I could not see that not everything was far from perfect in my early Post Office career. There were always incompetent employees and a system of promotion whereby if you waited long enough you got promoted regardless of aptitude. "Dead Men's Shoes". And you had a system that was largely reliant on humans and humans make mistakes, letters going to the wrong Newcastle or in my then home address letters would regularly go to a similar address in a nearby town. Perfection it was not. But, and this was the question that I raised, has the presence of UPS, TNT etc. in the home delivery market made it any better or cheaper? Because that was what "Competition" was supposed to achieve! You quote having to go to your local sorting office to pick up a parcel, have you ever had to go to the depot of one of the other courier? You are lucky if they are withing 30 miles of you and there is still the possibility that the "parcel is still on the van". Oh and the parcel market was always open, remember "Red Star" at your local station? The Royal Mail monopoly only extended to letters. In the 80s I worked on the project to separate parcels deliveries from letters. (This was the creation of Parcelforce). What used to happen was that posties would come in from their early letter deliveries and to complete their shifts would go out again to deliver packets and parcels in vans. There were obvious savings in this system but there was a need to invest in parcel handling as everything was done by hand. RM didn't have the money to invest in mechanisation so the proposal was to divorce the parcels service to sell it off. (This was after the first rush of "privatisations" in the late 80s) For various reasons this never happened (memory fails me now) but Parcelforce was born. Progress? I don't think so. I useful service sacrificed by reason of economic dogma. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold JohnR Posted February 2, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 2, 2016 Not as bad as the OP, but yesterday we had another poor experience. I had ordered a Mouse and a book from a well known internet retailer. As it happened, my wife was sitting in our living room - the path to our front door goes right by the window. She sees the postie walk up, hears some letters put through the front door and walk away. When she goes up to collect them a few minutes later, she discovers that one of them is a red card - parcel too big. The postie had never even attempted to knock or ring. Just straight in with the card. I collected the parcel this morning on my way to work, and the box used was out of all proportion to the contents, but from what my wife said, there was no way the Postie was carrying it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium mezzoman253 Posted February 2, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 2, 2016 Not as bad as the OP, but yesterday we had another poor experience. I had ordered a Mouse and a book from a well known internet retailer. As it happened, my wife was sitting in our living room - the path to our front door goes right by the window. She sees the postie walk up, hears some letters put through the front door and walk away. When she goes up to collect them a few minutes later, she discovers that one of them is a red card - parcel too big. The postie had never even attempted to knock or ring. Just straight in with the card. I collected the parcel this morning on my way to work, and the box used was out of all proportion to the contents, but from what my wife said, there was no way the Postie was carrying it. I don't suppose for one minute the postie had any say in the matter. "Management" would have decided that and he was told to do it. We had the "large box syndrome" issue with a parcel from Amazon. The item inside would have gone in a small jiffy bag and through the letter box. All the cost savings are the service providers, as you have to go and retrieve said parcel. Progress, I think not. Rob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jol Wilkinson Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Where I live the Royal Mail beats the couriers of whatever hue hands down every time. Worst so far has been DPD leaving items "signed for" on the back doorstep at a nearby address that is usually unoccupied as it is someone's holiday home. We have had little problem with deliveries from Amazon although I have a "Do not use unless no alternative available" policy with them That is due to their attitude to the charity my wife supports with their on-line s/h book sales through Amazon. They do everything to make life difficult, the latest being they are withholding payments to the charity's bank account (while permitting sales to go ahead). For over a year they have been changing their demands for personal details of the charity's trustees and now want passport details! I understand the need to comply with financial industry and government security requirements, but their communications procedure is a farce. Does competition in a free market improve things? I don't think so when lowest price is the main requirement as it drives overall performance to the lowest level. Likewise any "multinational" that ducks and dives to reduce employment and tax costs (Amazon - USA run, Irish base for Europe, call center in South Africa) that gains an majority position in international trade seems able to write it's own rules for its own benefit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted February 2, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 2, 2016 Not as bad as the OP, but yesterday we had another poor experience. I had ordered a Mouse and a book from a well known internet retailer. As it happened, my wife was sitting in our living room - the path to our front door goes right by the window. She sees the postie walk up, hears some letters put through the front door and walk away. When she goes up to collect them a few minutes later, she discovers that one of them is a red card - parcel too big. The postie had never even attempted to knock or ring. Just straight in with the card. I collected the parcel this morning on my way to work, and the box used was out of all proportion to the contents, but from what my wife said, there was no way the Postie was carrying it. Fortunately our postie is very good, we know him pretty well and he wouldn't resort to that kind of behaviour. But if some other postie did that, out of sheer laziness, or worse, if encouraged by 'management', I'd complain in no uncertain terms until I got some kind of a positive outcome, certainly an apology. On balance, however, give me Royal Mail every time, I've no time for some of the more dubious practices of these Johnny-come-lately courier firms. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cromptonnut Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 On balance, however, give me Royal Mail every time, I've no time for some of the more dubious practices of these Johnny-come-lately courier firms. I once had notification that my parcel had been delivered yet there was no sign of it so I phoned the company who contacted the courier who told me that it was 'left in a safe place' at the rear of the house. This was news to me as I live in a third floor flat. Some investigations deduced that it had been delivered to the same number, in a similarly named street around the corner. I knocked on their door and the owner said he was just about to bring the parcel round to me (the right address was on the parcel). Unfortunately the "safe place at the rear of the house" that the driver meant was actually "lobbed over the side gate, and was retrieved from floating in the pond by the wrong house owner". He was most apologetic but it was hardly his fault for not being in at the time a parcel he wasn't expected was delivered to the wrong property... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanuts Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Oh I'm not so blind that I could not see that not everything was far from perfect in my early Post Office career. There were always incompetent employees and a system of promotion whereby if you waited long enough you got promoted regardless of aptitude. "Dead Men's Shoes". And you had a system that was largely reliant on humans and humans make mistakes, letters going to the wrong Newcastle or in my then home address letters would regularly go to a similar address in a nearby town. Perfection it was not. But, and this was the question that I raised, has the presence of UPS, TNT etc. in the home delivery market made it any better or cheaper? Because that was what "Competition" was supposed to achieve! You quote having to go to your local sorting office to pick up a parcel, have you ever had to go to the depot of one of the other courier? You are lucky if they are withing 30 miles of you and there is still the possibility that the "parcel is still on the van". Oh and the parcel market was always open, remember "Red Star" at your local station? The Royal Mail monopoly only extended to letters. In the 80s I worked on the project to separate parcels deliveries from letters. (This was the creation of Parcelforce). What used to happen was that posties would come in from their early letter deliveries and to complete their shifts would go out again to deliver packets and parcels in vans. There were obvious savings in this system but there was a need to invest in parcel handling as everything was done by hand. RM didn't have the money to invest in mechanisation so the proposal was to divorce the parcels service to sell it off. (This was after the first rush of "privatisations" in the late 80s) For various reasons this never happened (memory fails me now) but Parcelforce was born. Progress? I don't think so. I useful service sacrificed by reason of economic dogma. what you also fail to mention is that when all the private companys TNT YODEL DPD etc have too many parcels to deliver as they have over planned guess where they get to dump them at no charge to them ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 employed postie in red marked van - expensive self-employed driver in unmarked white van - possibly no (business) insurance, possibly not even registered as self-employed (depending on courier company's requirements) some are very good & fully compliant legally just one of the benefits of the "improved" world of privitization, others may disagree Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 ....."safe place at the rear of the house" that the driver meant was actually "lobbed over the side gate, and was retrieved from floating in the pond by the wrong house owner". .... Does anyone remember that CCTV video of a courier lobbing a box containing, I think, a flat screen telly, over a garden gate? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanuts Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 employed postie in red marked van - expensive self-employed driver in unmarked white van - possibly no (business) insurance, possibly not even registered as self-employed (depending on courier company's requirements) some are very good & fully compliant legally just one of the benefits of the "improved" world of privitization, others may disagree requirements for "casual " delivery staff for all courier company's are van must be long wheel base transit/sprinter type vehicle in plain white no more than five years old .owner must have full business insurance and be registered for v.a.t. .a lot of people have lost their redundancy money through complying with these requirements due to pittfull rates from the companys as it is now illigal to pay but the drop so is based on milage Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 30801 Posted February 2, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 2, 2016 Does anyone remember that CCTV video of a courier lobbing a box containing, I think, a flat screen telly, over a garden gate? No. But I remember this one: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3328577/Overly-enthusiastic-delivery-man-surprises-customer-leaving-parcel-waiting-ROOF.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derekstuart Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Perhaps the postman was someone recently sacked from Yodel. It isn't just delivery people doing stupid things like that. Last Christmas my neighbour (nearly 90 yr old) left a crate of lager for the bin men.... in the bin. Needless to say what happened. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Peanuts, not all the self-employed couriers round our way have to conform to these requirements, agreed a lot do & can suffer if "disposed of". We still have a number in any old van or car, one in particular has her car so filled with parcels that she can't see out the passenger front or back windows, I tend to keep well clear of her . It is not a replacement vehicle, it is her usual one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 ...But, and this was the question that I raised, has the presence of UPS, TNT etc. in the home delivery market made it any better or cheaper? ... Yes to better, in my experience. Endless occasions standing in line collecting parcels which 'couldn't be delivered' (the postal service didn't even try) over the decades before private competition took off. The private guys really do try, and the online tracking services work, often to within minutes. Had just one parcel (from overseas) that went via parcelforce last year. Had to go the sorting ofice twice and queue as they lost it for three days in the system. 100% fail against perfect private courier performance. Cheaper? Probably, competition is good for that. But I don't object to what is charged, since the service is good. Adverse: I would expect that the above is more likely to be true in the more densely populated areas. Live in sparsely populated regions and it probably doesn't work as well. In my view swings and roundabouts: urban/suburban environments have one set of advantages and disadvantages, rural locations a different set. Pays your money and makes your choice. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny777 Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Oh I'm not so blind that I could not see that not everything was far from perfect in my early Post Office career. There were always incompetent employees and a system of promotion whereby if you waited long enough you got promoted regardless of aptitude. "Dead Men's Shoes". And you had a system that was largely reliant on humans and humans make mistakes, letters going to the wrong Newcastle or in my then home address letters would regularly go to a similar address in a nearby town. Perfection it was not. But, and this was the question that I raised, has the presence of UPS, TNT etc. in the home delivery market made it any better or cheaper? Yes. I posted my father's Christmas presents in a parcel weighing 1.5kg and about the size of a 6-bottle wine box. The Yodel driver picked it up from my house (Somerset) on the Thursday morning 17th Dec (48hr delivery, although I would allow them extra as it was so close to Christmas), and I had a message from my relatives to say it had arrived in Lincolnshire by 2pm the next day. All for a fiver. Can RM/Parcelforce do that just one week before Christmas for less than £15? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derekstuart Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 I think everyone is going to quote one example that has happened to them and assume it applies equally. I wouldn't use Yodel after being messed about in the past, and yet when I ordered a new computer for work it never occurred to me that the retailer would send a £1500 computer via Yodel- and it turned up the next day, un-damaged with a "good morning, package for you Sir..... Have a good day...." There are good and bad workers in all companies. Even that channel bore programme yesterday showed one or two conscientious workers being filmed in a Yodel centre. I think everyone is going to quote one example that has happened to them and assume it applies equally. I wouldn't use Yodel after being messed about in the past, and yet when I ordered a new computer for work it never occurred to me that the retailer would send a £1500 computer via Yodel- and it turned up the next day, un-damaged with a "good morning, package for you Sir..... Have a good day...." There are good and bad workers in all companies. Even that channel bore programme yesterday showed one or two conscientious workers being filmed in a Yodel centre. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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