Lad fumes after postie left £270 Nintendo Switch parcel out in torrential rain

[Barnacle]

For those that must "safeplace" everything all the time...

With the year moving into more and more bad weather why not... nip down to your local cheap shop/supermarket (B&M, Home Bargains, Pound- [add word here], etc.) and buy a roll of two of the cheapest bin bags going. Honestly it must be a quid or two for loads of them. Really no great outlay for the piece of mind.

Then, when you're on a parcel duty and it's royally p*ssing it down (or snowing - we'll quickly get there too) just have a few crunched up bin bags in your storm jacket pocket. Pop the parcel in a bag and pop it where you like and it's protected and hidden. For the fractional cost you're happy to be rid and the darned parcel, the customer is happy (and thinks you have gone the extra mile), and you can keep on clearing those parcels.



P.S. If you're a complete Ebenezer Scrooge when it comes to buying anything for work - ignore this post entirely! Just save the quid, 739 the parcel, and take it back the next day where they won't be in again.

Also, if a customer has selected a safe place on the PDA, you can reject it and select ‘Safeplace not safe’, then just 739 them.

But the weather report isn’t always correct and a postie doesn’t always know that biblical rain is about to fall so mistakes can happen.

[LouBarlow]

It seems a bit odd the customer is complaining about the parcel being left out in the rain and also the game is missing, as you'd expect that to be inside the packaging, it all sounds like a try on to me as there;'s no mention of him trying to use the game console and finding it wouldn't work, it would take a lot of rain to get inside most companies packaging!!

It doesn’t matter if it is a try on or not if the postie has left a parcel out in the rain, even if it is an allotted safe place, the fault lies with them. There is no excusing such a dumb decision as this.

There is an excuse of sorts as the company now is continually trying to encourage posties to deliver every tracked item first time, they are even giving out prizes for posties who bring zero parcels back each week/month, you can virtually guarantee they are not all being delivered in accordance with RM's safeplace policy.

That is true, but still use some common sense. If it is clothes in a waterproof bag, then maybe leaving it behind a bin is acceptable, but a cardboard box, nah. Even in the bin would be better in that scenario, though not ideal. Until RM give me more than a stupid icon on my scanner for delivering parcels, I’ll still be 739-ing.

[SpacePhoenix]

Given the value of the packet, why didn't he get it sent Special Delivery?

[kazardaimenu]

Well what does he expect? He ordered the console to be delivered to his house where he wouldn’t be. He could provide a storage box or get it delivered somewhere else to collect.

[LouBarlow]

Well what does he expect? He ordered the console to be delivered to his house where he wouldn’t be. He could provide a storage box or get it delivered somewhere else to collect.

Or the postie could do their job and card it and return it to the office to give the guy opportunity to rebook delivery for when he will be in?

[Basildon Bond]

Well what does he expect? He ordered the console to be delivered to his house where he wouldn’t be. He could provide a storage box or get it delivered somewhere else to collect.

Or the postie could do their job and card it and return it to the office to give the guy opportunity to rebook delivery for when he will be in?

True. However, it's probably a plain anonymous cardboard box. The postie probably thought, with the absence of hindsight, that he was doing the guy a favour. Did the guy live miles from the DO? Is the caller's office closed most of the daylight hours?

So it turned out that the box should have been carded - who knew - but that's with all the benefit of hindsight and we were not there.

One tiny f*$k up in the system; then there is a new story about it; and then we're all jumping over it with what's best. Let's move on people. Sh*t happens. Probably happened a dozen times today but there is no news story about it.

[yellowbelly]

For those that must "safeplace" everything all the time...

With the year moving into more and more bad weather why not... nip down to your local cheap shop/supermarket (B&M, Home Bargains, Pound- [add word here], etc.) and buy a roll of two of the cheapest bin bags going. Honestly it must be a quid or two for loads of them. Really no great outlay for the piece of mind.

.............

Or even better grab some of the large Royal Mail branded ones that damaged items are put in when the proper damaged bags
are too small for the damaged items.

[TopperGas]

For those that must "safeplace" everything all the time...

With the year moving into more and more bad weather why not... nip down to your local cheap shop/supermarket (B&M, Home Bargains, Pound- [add word here], etc.) and buy a roll of two of the cheapest bin bags going. Honestly it must be a quid or two for loads of them. Really no great outlay for the piece of mind.

.............

Or even better grab some of the large Royal Mail branded ones that damaged items are put in when the proper damaged bags
are too small for the damaged items.

The problem with black bags is somebody thinking it's rubbish put out for the bin man and then blaming RM when it disappears on bin day. My own postie has got clear plastic bags with the RM logo, assuming they've not had them printed themselves then I assume RM must supply them?

[yellowbelly]

For those that must "safeplace" everything all the time...

With the year moving into more and more bad weather why not... nip down to your local cheap shop/supermarket (B&M, Home Bargains, Pound- [add word here], etc.) and buy a roll of two of the cheapest bin bags going. Honestly it must be a quid or two for loads of them. Really no great outlay for the piece of mind.

.............

Or even better grab some of the large Royal Mail branded ones that damaged items are put in when the proper damaged bags
are too small for the damaged items.

My own postie has got clear plastic bags with the RM logo, assuming they've not had them printed themselves then I assume RM must supply them?

Yep, that's the ones, you have to go searching for them sometimes! It's usually - What do you want them for? Someone might need them!

[Hitbox]

parcel should have been p739 really if a safeplace wasn't agreed both unofficially and officially via PDA....

i seen this tiktok video and the arrogance of this customer knows no bounds......

plus it takes 5 to 10 seconds to write a note on the window inside saying dont leave parcels outside, please take them back i'll sort out a re-delivery......

by the looks it was a tracked sig item so he would have got an email the night before with an expected time of delivery- no excuses- he knew the value of the item and chose not to put steps into place......

Postie also needs to learn to apply abit of common sense of if you want to do a customer a favour, use other types of safeplaces such as BBQ cover area, sheds if thats okay with the customer 1st.

Always make sure that the customer is happy to do that and if not, simply state that you'll return it back to the office with a card pushed through.

[Barnacle]

parcel should have been p739 really if a safeplace wasn't agreed both unofficially and officially via PDA....

i seen this tiktok video and the arrogance of this customer knows no bounds......

plus it takes 5 to 10 seconds to write a note on the window inside saying dont leave parcels outside, please take them back i'll sort out a re-delivery......

by the looks it was a tracked sig item so he would have got an email the night before with an expected time of delivery- no excuses- he knew the value of the item and chose not to put steps into place......

Postie also needs to learn to apply abit of common sense of if you want to do a customer a favour, use other types of safeplaces such as BBQ cover area, sheds if thats okay with the customer 1st.

Always make sure that the customer is happy to do that and if not, simply state that you'll return it back to the office with a card pushed through.

Didn’t know there was an accompanying TikTok
I feel fir the postie because they are being absolutely rinsed for something they have probably done a zillion times for this customer and now it has gone wrong.

Hope from this day on, they sign for no one and card if they’re out. Only way to be sure.

[ted_e_bear]

Here's the guys tiktok video
https://www.tiktok.com/@tomstoys95/vide ... 1646211360

[Barnacle]

Here's the guys tiktok video
https://www.tiktok.com/@tomstoys95/vide ... 1646211360

So from watching that, I get the impression that the postie left the item behind the bin and then someone else stole the item and that is how the packaging is destroyed and sodden.

I still feel for the postie because they could not have imagined a biblical downpour plus the item going missing. I hope they keep their job with a warning only, and card anything in future.

[ted_e_bear]

I suspect this character will never get anything safeplaced or neigbour'd ever again, well he wouldn't on my watch.

[Basildon Bond]

There seems to be a break down between a "normal" parcel they/you/we order and an extra special pls pls pls look after it! "Pretty please!" order. "It means the world to me!". We might bluntly see that as either "it's a special" / "it's not a special" but the customer does not.

Some parcels are boring/ everyday items. Ten a penny things but cheaper online so "pls deliver it for me" . Somethings are precious to the customer. For the postie it's all brown cardboard (or similar). So how do we tell?

I still maintain that it's a freak issue. Otherwise, sure, the customer should plaster the front of their house with "return to DO if not in/ don't safeplace" signs in an attempt to stop the delivery person leaving it tucked in a corner.