Posties Who leave a card but don't have the parcel

[Thorby Bislam]

I had a different take on this situation today. Previously the householder had asked me to just leave a card if she had any parcels as she believed some of her mail was being pilfered. (a big house sub-divided into 4 flats, communal stairwell and only one AP, letterbox in front door). So as there was a packet for her, I signed it into the callers office before I went out and just delivered the 739 card.
However she must have been waiting behind the front door, because she came out before I'd got next door. Of course, I reminded her she'd asked me to do this, and actually she was quite nice and cheerful about it. but it occurs to me that I could leave myself open to a complaint doing this, so I'll get a letter signed before doing it anymore.

[pony]

You sometimes get a customer who's never in.They haven't been in for 5 years apart from saturdays and xmas.
So you write a card out and assume they aren't in.But this week its their week off and you get stubbed out :)
But if this happened i'd go back to the office and fetch it back out straight away.

[Judgee]

Back a few years when we were actually able to deliver parcels before people left for work. I knocked on a door with a registered parcel at around 8am. Two minutes later the guy answered and gave me about 5 minutes worth of verbal abuse and foul language for waking him up. Another guy complained when I closed his front gate behind me because he lets his dog run lose and he couldnt get back in the garden. Both these situations ended up with the opposite reaction from customers that I would normally expect. Now my point is this, postmen are only human and not psychic. It is impossible to please all of the people all of the time. If the chances are you are not going to be in, please have it sent to your work adress or to neighbour who will be in. Check your doorbells and if you have any special requirements for deliveries then speak to your postman in person, most will be more than willing to help! Going back and fourth with the same parcel day after day only to find that the would be recipient is always in but never hears you is both frustrating and a waste of everybodies time!

These are tough times for posties, time is tight and we are all doing our best to please as many customers that we can as often as we can.... in a time when Royal Mail bosses prioritise profit over customer service, it is left to us in the front line to try and gets things done and keep everybody happy. Please help us to help you

[kwf166]

Back a few years when we were actually able to deliver parcels before people left for work. I knocked on a door with a registered parcel at around 8am. Two minutes later the guy answered and gave me about 5 minutes worth of verbal abuse and foul language for waking him up.

I would of just walk on none of us have to put with s**t like that and when I got back I would explain exactly what happen,and if you feel threaten delivering to that door, we can refused to delivered, let the silly idiot in future pick up his parcels at the calling office

[jokerman]

report it to his manager

he is not doing his job properly and should be warned about his conduct

[moleygoldpaws]

I'm new. This has happened to me a few times and it really does my head in.

I'm sat here waiting on a Signed For parcel, it's urgent and the person sending it should have sent it Special cos I knew this would happen.

In which circumstances would a van bring it out?

My local delivery office has also closed so if I get a dreaded card, I either have to go the the new one which is miles away in an industrial estate (I don't drive) or pay 50p.

Shouldn't the postage cover the cost of taking the item to the person?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

I'm new.

Welcome

This has happened to me a few times and it really does my head in.

It does my head in but regretteabkly is usually caused by people struggling to cope with their workload and either not able to ask for help, or management unwilling to help.

I'm sat here waiting on a Signed For parcel, it's urgent and the person sending it should have sent it Special cos I knew this would happen.

A special should have been delivered by now so check on the Track and Trace http://track.royalmail.com/portal/rm/tr ... entication" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and it may give you an idea where it is.

In which circumstances would a van bring it out?

If its too large for the walking postie, late into the delivery office or if local policy is for van drivers to deliver it.

My local delivery office has also closed so if I get a dreaded card, I either have to go the the new one which is miles away in an industrial estate (I don't drive) or pay 50p.

You can rearrange delivery on line at http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/cont ... d=37000673" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Shouldn't the postage cover the cost of taking the item to the person?

Yes and if use redelivery (Max 3 attempts I think) then it will


Hope it all helps

[firestarter1]

no we do not deliver to people.only addresses
and specials cannot be delivered to an alternative address

[TrueBlueTerrier]

no we do not deliver to people.only addresses

and specials cannot be delivered to an alternative address

A few things why quote the whole post it gets messy - we ask people to only quote relevant parts to make it easier for follow on posts.

The above 2 lines not sure why you got a as they did not ask either question in the post I quoted. Just want to clear up any misunderstanding.

[firestarter1]

Shouldn't the postage cover the cost of taking the item to the person?

it sounds to me like she means us to run around town till we find her
was answering this portion,and i think you gave it misleading /wrong info

[andy2007]

Did you get the parcel yet Moleygoldpaws?

[main frame fuse]

Well id never use the 50p collect from local PO as for the 4 times previous that i have arranged my items to be at my local PO they have given me the run around...either the sorting office have not picked up the e-mail or something, i vowed id never do that again!

[outandabout]

Are these some of the reasons that there seems to be many more of these "sorry you were out when you were in" experiences?

See these comments made in response to a newspaper article

"I am a Postie in Gloster'shire. The reason for the card scandal is simple. Postmen only have to take packages up to a certain size, oversize items are put out for a van driver to deliver. Packages posted have doubled in recent times due to e-bay etc but drivers jobs have not, infact jobs are often cut. The Post office pay outside workers (Parcel Force etc) £1 per item to deliver these excess items but are under extreme pressure to stick to a rigid budget which most offices are running way over at all times. It is not in the interest of the postman to write out these cards as he doesn't have to deliver them anyway but the cards are written out on his delivery frame every morning at the start of his shift. You work it out.

- Matthew, Cheltenham, 18/10/2009 1:42"

"I actually saw what happens with parcels. Two postmen were at the side of a post van taking the parcels out of the bags and writing the sorry you were out cards and then chucking the parcels into the back of the van. The cards were then put with the letters and the round was started with no parcels in the post bags. Thats why we have to go and pick our parcels up."
- Paul, Rochester, 17/10/2009 17:48"

"I've stuck a sign on the door before, saying that a) I am in, and b) they should ring my bell and I will come out for my parcel.
Every time, I've still been carded.
This is a farce, Royal Mail.
- Tim, Liverpool, 17/10/2009 16:55"

"The 'Sorry' card has been delivered here more times than I can count! I have opened the door and spoken to the postman as he is shoving it through the letter box. On one occasion I was waiting for a pair of specs to be delivered which I had inadvertently left at someone's home. The person had sent them by special delivery as I desperately needed them but all I got was the 'Sorry' card. I asked why he was delivering this instead of the specs and he said, 'Because quite often you are not in!' I informed him that he should go back to the office and collect them to which he replied, 'I can't - I am playing football in an hour!' However, he did give me a mobile number to call which put me through to an irate sorter who told me that the postman was only supposed to use this number in emergencies eg personal attack! I said that this for me was an emergency and that I wanted my specs delivered immediately or I would contact the papers. 10 mins later a sorter delivered them by car.
- Marie, Glasgow, 17/10/2009 12:34"

"This has happened several times when I was in. On the last occassion I watched the van driver come up the drive without a parcel, with the card already made out. When challenged the driver's excuse was "Most people are out at work during the day!!" I reported this to local management. I am still holding my breath waiting for an answer.
- James Gregg, Stockton on TEES, 17/10/2009 16:36"

"This happened to me today. The postman had tried to deliver my parcel yesterday and I was in fact, not in. But instead of leaving the card then, he left it today instead...after the sorting office had closed for the weekend. I now have to wait until Tuesday for the packet. I know exactly what they do because I used to work for them. He couldn't be bothered standing and writing out the card on the day, or forgot to bring cards with him at all, so filled out the card at the end of his shift and left it in the frame for the next days delivery. Shambles! There are so many lazy people and corner cutters in Royal Mail it's a joke. And whats with the office only being open between 0700 and 1215???! How am I supposed to get there in that time with a full time job? ARGH! SO ANNOYING! I might go get my old postie uniform and burn it.
- Nick, Glasgow, 17/10/2009 15:09"

"My brother was a post man and he has often told us that if he does not want to carry too many heavy parcels he leaves them at the sorting office and posts the sorry note, then when he gets back to the depot he moves the items and says that the people were out. The reason is he can only carry so much and has to make too many trips in his shift to deliver all the post on some days. All for minimum wage and if he works over to go back out again he was not paid overtime and so gave it up.
So yes I know it happens.
- brad 17/10/2009 14:21"

" My friend worked for Royal Mail and he knew of several posties who, if they wanted to finish even earlier, took the remainder of their delivery home and brought it back out the next day.
- Marie, Glasgow, 17/10/2009 12:59"

"Let me try and clear up a few things - I used to work for the Royal mail/Parcelforce and when i joined them they told me that I would be doing 60-75 drops a day and a few collections ( drops means address/location that I would have to visit ) during normal working days. But during peak that could go up to 90 plus collections.
Right from day one i was doing 80 drops a day on average and 5 regular collections, what they didn't tell me were all the ad hoc collections that had to be done every day on top. And yes they allowed for the regular collections but not the ad hoc ones. Which meant it was a fine balance trying to get everything done in the time they had allotted to my route, which was 10.5 hrs ( 8:00 - 18:30 )
I ended up starting at around 7:15 in the morining and all unpaid so that i could be at my area at 8:00.The fact is that we were told that we just needed to try and deliver the item and they would get paid.Hence the cards .
- Ethan, Birmingham,West Midlands, 17/10/2009 13:38"

"This is a known problem, parcels and packets that is: As an ex Postman i can say fairly confidently that the Royal Mail is not resourced to cope with the increase in parcels and packets brought about by e-bay and other internet auction and shopping sites.
Delivery postmen are only `supposed` to take a packets not exceeding the size of a shoe box on a delivery walk using foot and cycle. A shoe box size packet takes considerable space in a bag. Posties want to deliver them, but the number of packets has increased dramatically. A lot of people order them for delivery to home during the day, but, are out at work. so the postie takes the packets out knowing they cant be delivered. A total waste of time, bag space and effort and money.
A few Christmas ago i drove around like a man possessed with little hope of delivering all packets and parcels unless i simply left them, as far as i could, at the doorstep, yet out of sight. What happend? Complaints. So i left cards instead.
- Free man of Wessex, Hampshire, UK, 17/10/2009 11:42"

"I work for Royal Mail & I deliver all my packets, Recorded Deliveries Special Deliveries. ThisThursday I worked a 10 hour day because of the volume of packets & mail etc. Luckily I know most of my customers & their neighbours as my walk is in the area I live, I don't bring hardly any packets back. I do, unfortunately, have to bring back Recorded Delivery & Special Deliveries as they cannot be left without a signature. I too, have also had cards left in my door when I have been in & I agree fully that is very very annoying. All I can say in their defence is that they are overwored, but, nevertheless, they should still knock & try to get someone to answer the door. I can usuall.y tell if someone is in. We have to strike to protect the service which is being whittled away by management. Royal Mail do not care about the public, nor do they care about their staff & their safety, all they care about is making large profits so that them at the top can receive fat bonus
- anonymous, Bristol, 17/10/2009 13:25"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ow-in.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


These posts seems to give the answer on how to resolve the issue if people suffer from it regularly:

"I do have an idea of what I am talking about as I am a postman myself & have been for a number of years. I am also fully aware of the rules & regulations regarding delivering mail/packages each day & in not doing so correctly comes under Royal Mails code of "wilful delay" which is a sackable offence. If an individual is making no effort to deliver an item then it should be reported directly to the office manager to be dealt with.
Unfortunately as previous stated Royal Mail now employ so many untrained/poorly trained/casual workers that the SERVICE suffers horrendously & gives the rest of us a bad name.
- Steven, West Yorkshire, 17/10/2009 15:11"

"Do what I did, set up a small CCTV camera and you'll have all the proof you need that they neither knock or ring the bell - my CCTV showed the card was already written out and just put through the letter box - Royal Mail gave me a 'good wil' payment of £50 for my inconvenience in having to go to the sorting office - now they knock every single time!

- Mark, Manchester, 17/10/2009 13:52"

"A couple of months ago we watched, from an upstairs window,the postman come to our house He just put the, 'Sorry you were out card,' through, he did not have the parcel. He had left it in his car to save carrying it round our estate. We rang the sorting office, they rang him on his mobile and made him bring us the parcel. If we had not seen this happen it could have been 2 days before we got our parcel as the postmen take the parcels back to the post office at the end of the round and they are returned to the sorting office the day after. The sorting office is only open until 12 noon so we are told we have to wait for 2 days before we can collect post from there. The parel was exam papers which my husband was marking on a tight schedule.
- Jules, Preston UK, 17/10/2009 13:15"

[jim1911]

Many posties have been told to do this by management , so they can save money by not sending out vans to deliver parcels. Customers should then phone their local office and give a time or day when they will be in. They will have to deliver it then. It's just another way of boosting their bonuses. My sincere apologies on their greedy behalf.

[bitchface]

i cant see that filling out cards at the office saves any time,more like cost time for postie.i get rid of most of my parcels during the day ,only having to fill out a few on delivery.how can it save me time to write out cards for all my packets..mad suggestion.

it can only benift managment who dont then have to send out vans with oversized parcels.
of coarse im in the camp of sending all undelivered parcels back or charging them a surcharge for storage.now thats a positive step for royal mail profits