bloody delivery drivers

Pssst

dougk wrote: »

When will delivery company / couriers / royalmail / Parcel force get there act togethr and modernise their businesses.

They should all be offering evening deliveries for residential customers so those of us that normally work can receive parcels! Its not good business sense to try to deliver things when they realise noone will be in and then try again exactly the same time the next day. Its not environmentally sound either (loads of wasted fuel). In todays climate there must be thousands of people willing to work evenings for some extra cash driving a van around. I doubt they would even have to pay higher saleries.
At least the supermarkets have worked this out with home deliveries!

As someone who goes a calling at peoples' homes i can say it works both ways. I spend plenty of time knocking on doors early in the morning,say between 0800-1100 and i find a large proportion are either

(1) Out
(2) Still lying in their pits
(3)pretending they are not in
(4) Are stone deaf retards who have music blaring so loud that they have no chance of hearing the doorbell.

Mind you,i do operate in a slightly more challenging environment than new sofa deliveries !

custardy

Pssst wrote: »

As someone who goes a calling at peoples' homes i can say it works both ways. I spend plenty of time knocking on doors early in the morning,say between 0800-1100 and i find a large proportion are either

(1) Out
(2) Still lying in their pits
(3)pretending they are not in
(4) Are stone deaf retards who have music blaring so loud that they have no chance of hearing the doorbell.

Mind you,i do operate in a slightly more challenging environment than new sofa deliveries !

no,no we were in,we are always in,you musnt have rung the bell/knocked as the dog would have barked

Unity

custardy wrote: »

lol if youre talking about the pre 1 delivery system then things have changed just a touch
eg posties dont leave the office until a good 3-4 hours later than they used
the routes will be a good 50% bigger(or more) now
packet numbers have risen year on year
plus dutys have been changed massivly,you may have originally been at the tart of a smaller route,now at the end of a larger route

Thanks for clearing that up and I'm not being facetious here, it's a serious question - but why is the post here earlier when he's away on holiday and someone else is covering?

custardy wrote: »

however to show the flip side of your 'efficient' postie
when i got my last foot duty i had a complaint put in about me in writing to the managers
the complaint was that i didnt stop and talk to an old lady on the duty
you see,you cant win;)

You are indeed correct - you're sort of damned if you do talk and damned if you don't, how awful that someone would complain like that, that's just despicable! It'll be one of those old dears that go to their GP because they fancy a chat. Awfully poignant that they are so lonely.

BTW Love the avatar :T.

Unity

Pssst wrote: »

(1) Out
(2) Still lying in their pits
(3)pretending they are not in
(4) Are stone deaf retards who have music blaring so loud that they have no chance of hearing the doorbell.

Mind you,i do operate in a slightly more challenging environment than new sofa deliveries !

Did you ever think that those "Still lying in their pits" may well have put in a challenging night-shift in say one of the emergency services? What would you do if you needed one of these and they'd all clocked off at 5 p.m.?

As to those "Pretending they are not in" - they may well have had enough of hawkers, tradesmen, religious organisations, double-glazing salesmen, utilities salesmen and any number of other annoyances, I know I have! I already have double-glazing, my gas and electric were sorted after coming on this site and I have absolutely no wish to be converted to any other religion. In fact when asked if I would like to "Talk about God?" - I reply that I never discuss close personal friends with total strangers - as She wouldn't like that!;)

They may also be disabled, relying on a stairlift and crutches, or caring for someone who has been up all night with anything from croup to a terminal illness. By the time they get there - the person has gone, which is just as frustrating.

I remember one particular meter reader, where it didn't matter if you opened the door immediately when he'd knocked, he would have already started walking away. There was me thinking that "Knocky nine doors" was a game for eight-year-olds :rotfl:.

Calling people "Deaf retards" is just insulting :eek: - many have sacrificed their hearing in heavy industry, due to illness - or it may just have been their bad luck to have been born that way, it's still no reason to take the p!!!

I personally find that it doesn't matter how good a doorbell you have (e.g. one that rings right at the back of the house) - you will always, always get someone (I'll resist similar name calling here:doh:) who can't figure how to operate that one button:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: and insists on just knocking on the door, which is not guaranteed to be heard further than six feet away.

Like Custardy says: "You just can't win" and it cuts both ways.

BYALPHAINDIA

dougk wrote: »

When will delivery company / couriers / royalmail / Parcel force get there act togethr and modernise their businesses.

They should all be offering evening deliveries for residential customers so those of us that normally work can receive parcels! Its not good business sense to try to deliver things when they realise noone will be in and then try again exactly the same time the next day. Its not environmentally sound either (loads of wasted fuel). In todays climate there must be thousands of people willing to work evenings for some extra cash driving a van around. I doubt they would even have to pay higher saleries.
At least the supermarkets have worked this out with home deliveries!

Driving a van is 'BARELY' safe in the daytime, So you don't want to be driving at night do you?

I once got my van taken just as it was getting dark - My timing was wrong that day and I was lucky.

What and not finish at 2!!
We used to 'Race' back as early as possible for an early finish.:j

But we started at 5.30 - 6.15 knocking on doors delivering, The customers expected you as early as possible so they could get their work done before the school run.

I remember working for one company, And you were in deep S**T if you arrived at the depot after 4.45 pm.

he used to shut the depot at 4.55 pm and leave at 5 pm.

He often said 'If you come back after 5 don't bother coming back at all'

One lad didn't.

lemontart

dougk wrote: »

When will delivery company / couriers / royalmail / Parcel force get there act togethr and modernise their businesses.

They should all be offering evening deliveries for residential customers so those of us that normally work can receive parcels! Its not good business sense to try to deliver things when they realise noone will be in and then try again exactly the same time the next day. Its not environmentally sound either (loads of wasted fuel). In todays climate there must be thousands of people willing to work evenings for some extra cash driving a van around. I doubt they would even have to pay higher saleries.
At least the supermarkets have worked this out with home deliveries!

the only thing is that as classed as unsocial hrs it would attract higher wage and those sending the items will either past that cost to us or prefer not to offer it as do not want to pay for it in first place.

smcaul

dougk wrote: »

When will delivery company / couriers / royalmail / Parcel force get there act togethr and modernise their businesses.

They should all be offering evening deliveries for residential customers so those of us that normally work can receive parcels! Its not good business sense to try to deliver things when they realise noone will be in and then try again exactly the same time the next day. Its not environmentally sound either (loads of wasted fuel). In todays climate there must be thousands of people willing to work evenings for some extra cash driving a van around. I doubt they would even have to pay higher saleries.
At least the supermarkets have worked this out with home deliveries!

This has been trialled by ParcelForce a few years ago, it died a death as there was not enough uptake of the service. People were not prepared to pay the extra for the service. They offered a 5pm to 9pm slot in most major towns/cities but it costs more to offer the service as you need additional drivers and vans. Don't forget that the majority of parcel traffic is still going to commercial property's rather then residential, so thats where the parcel companies aim their structure towards.

BYALPHAINDIA

smcaul wrote: »

This has been trialled by ParcelForce a few years ago, it died a death as there was not enough uptake of the service. People were not prepared to pay the extra for the service. They offered a 5pm to 9pm slot in most major towns/cities but it costs more to offer the service as you need additional drivers and vans. Don't forget that the majority of parcel traffic is still going to commercial property's rather then residential, so thats where the parcel companies aim their structure towards.

Parcelfarce also said that the 'Insurance risk' was also greater concerning their drivers and goods etc.

5pm - 9pm is the greater risk of getting robbed!!

BYALPHAINDIA

Lol - When you are a Delivery operative you will come across:

Deaf people:o
Dead people
Cats Rats n Dogs:eek:
Gates In Your Face
Slippy Footpaths.WHOOOO:o

The Cat Litter Tray that sticks to your shoes.Lol:o

I regularly delivered to a house with a dog, Too many to mention, But one perticular Dog was too much of a Guard dog and knew what time you were calling.Lol

One day it came up behind me and ended up with it's paws on my back, No harm done but frighteneing to say the least.

Anyhow, I got my own back, And on a further visit took the dog some bait, A nice piece of 'Haddock' and I then made the dog jump!!!:rotfl:

I crept up the path like a tiger!!

You also encounter houses that are cleaner on the outside - wipe your shoes on the way out.Lol

SandC

It's a good job that you hadn't had a half day off work to get this delivery. That's one of the major problems when they can't get to you in time.

I've found it a lot easier in recent years. The last larger thing I ordered delivered on a Saturday (yay, and they don't ever want to work a full day so pretty much guaranteed it'll arrive in the morning). The cooker I had they phoned me at work half an hour before they were due to arrive so I could nip out and meet them.

I'm lucky I work quite close to home as this has been my ideal solution. Hurray for mobile phones!