Postman Complaint

annimooboo

Hi,

This is my first time posting (long time reader though!) and just wanted to post about my experience with the local postman.

We moved house in February and since this time, any large packets/parcels or any letter requiring a signature has not been delivered to us.

In the beginning, we thought it was the companies or ebay sellers not sending the goods or just getting lost in the mail however a pattern has now started emerging. At first, we contacted the companies or sellers and queried where the packages were who then in turn issued another item. When this second delivery didn't arrive was when we started to become suspicious. We went into the local sorting office who produced all of our items and advised we should have had a card through the door advising us our items would be taken here for collection but this was not the case.

It's gotten to the point now where we are now requesting any packages or recorded delivery items to be sent to our work addresses to guarantee the delivery which as you can imagine, is rather inconvenient.

I've now rang the post office complaints number to advise them of the situation as it's now becoming ridiculous and I don't think the post room at work are particularly happy with having to sign for our items!

I'm not trying to get the postman into trouble because I assume the reason why he's not delivering the packages and carding the door is either due to time restraints or the fact that he only has a bicycle rather than a van and we understand that he may not be able to carry the larger or heavy items considering we may not be home when he attempts delivery; however if he carded the door, we'd at least know we need to collect these from the sorting office rather than assuming our packages our lost and putting other people out by trying to resolve an isse where there isn't one (with them at least).

The post office have advised they will forward this complaint to the manager to ensure they're aware of the situation and try to resolve and we need to contact them again if the problem persists but hopefully this will put an end to the situation.

Has anyone else ever had anything similar with their postman and if so, what was the outcome?

Thanks

preable

My postman is great as we live in a small town and evreyone knows each other but when we lived in london we only got a few of the parcals that we orderd anything else was left in the sorting office.

Maybe try and catch him out and order somthing to your home address and when he comes ask him why he has not got your parcel if he hasnt lol. Dont do it when he is at your door wait for him to pass and not post a card ect then you can question him

cyberbob

annimooboo wrote: »

I'm not trying to get the postman into trouble

If he's not doing his job properly he deserves to get into trouble.

annimooboo

Preable - that's a good thing to do however it can be difficult as most packages/parcels don't come with delivery dates anymore and unless it's at the weekend, I am genuinely going to be out of the house. It might be best to try this with something special delivery with a guaranteed delivery date - in fact, I might even send something to myself just to see!

Cyberbob - it is frustrating and inconvenient when we're not receiving our mail as we should however, I wouldn't want him to take the brunt if it's something that the Post Office has imposed such as 'x amount of time delivery to each house' or targets to meet etc.

jacx_2

annimooboo wrote: »

It might be best to try this with something special delivery with a guaranteed delivery date - in fact, I might even send something to myself just to see!

It might be different where you live, but my usual postman doesn't deliver Special Delivery items. They come at a different time, delivered by a man in a van. So it might be a waste of £5.05. Recorded Delivery items do go in the normal post, so something posted first class "should" stand a good chance of next day delivery. However, having said that, in my experience, a LOT of postmen/women don't even bother knocking on the door to get a signature for recorded items - they just push them through the letter box! I've complained about this on more than one occasion and got a book of 6 first class stamps as compensation each time.

bap98189

jacx wrote: »

However, having said that, in my experience, a LOT of postmen/women don't even bother knocking on the door to get a signature for recorded items - they just push them through the letter box!

Ah and herein lies the dilemma. Our postie does this, and most people around here are very grateful. She also leaves parcels in the shed if they don't fit through the letterbox. It saves us having to trek to the sorting office, which is 5 miles away, and if you work, only accessible on a Saturday morning. This is against PO rules, but it's saved me a lot of journeys to the sorting office over the past few years.

barnabee

Annimooboo you have done the correct thing reporting this failure of service. A postie must leave a P739 card if no answer was obtained on attempted delivery.

Out of interest did the parcels/letters you recovered from your sorting office have any markings or stickers on them to indicate that a P739 card was left. The markings may be handwritten such as NR SL (no reply, slip left) and a date and initials.

Either the postie is failing to leave a card and has genuinely tried to deliver them or is one of the very few slackers that doesn't even bother to take them out. If the latter, then the sooner they get sacked the better Royal Mail will be and someone else desperate for a job can fill their place.

I am sorry that a company I work for has not given you the service you deserve and the sender of your mail the value of the postage they have paid for.

Velcro_Hotdog

This may sound odd but it works for me so hear me out

I collect and look after lots of inverts (Spiders, Tarantulas, Scorpions) and they quite often get posted to me. Now I had a similar problem up until the day I asked senders to write "Live insects inside". All parcels turn up bang on 8am now as the postie does not want live insects anywhere near him.

Give it a try

annimooboo

Thanks for all of the responses.

Jacx - thanks for the advice, I won't attempt to send something to myself then if it might not be the same person delivering it.

Barnabee - thanks for the response. None of the packages/parcels or signed for letters had any handwritten markings which I assume means the postman hasn't even attempted delivery but rather just left them at the sorting office. Again, I don't mind this if logistically he cannot deliver them as he's only on a bicycle but at least card the door so we know we need to collect something. I almost feel like confronting him about the situation and asking him not to bother attempting to deliver things (as Mon-Fri we're out at work) but just to card the door so we're aware we have something waiting. My only concern with this is then being subject to mail going missing completely!

Velcro Hotdog - thanks for the suggestion. I will try this for any future purchases off ebay, I don't think amazon will accept this request though, hehe!

custardy

annimooboo wrote: »

Thanks for all of the responses.

Jacx - thanks for the advice, I won't attempt to send something to myself then if it might not be the same person delivering it.

Barnabee - thanks for the response. None of the packages/parcels or signed for letters had any handwritten markings which I assume means the postman hasn't even attempted delivery but rather just left them at the sorting office. Again, I don't mind this if logistically he cannot deliver them as he's only on a bicycle but at least card the door so we know we need to collect something. I almost feel like confronting him about the situation and asking him not to bother attempting to deliver things (as Mon-Fri we're out at work) but just to card the door so we're aware we have something waiting. My only concern with this is then being subject to mail going missing completely!

Velcro Hotdog - thanks for the suggestion. I will try this for any future purchases off ebay, I don't think amazon will accept this request though, hehe!

theres a lot of factors involved here that you really dont need ot get bogged down in
if i were you i would go down and request ot speak to a manager
theres no point speaking to the postie unless you know its actually them
many offices run different set ups for packets so its not always clear cut
even better if you can get the sector managers email address.i have it for the central scotland area if anyones needing it
you would be surprised how quickly that can get things moving

jacx_2

bap98189 wrote: »

Ah and herein lies the dilemma. Our postie does this, and most people around here are very grateful. She also leaves parcels in the shed if they don't fit through the letterbox. It saves us having to trek to the sorting office, which is 5 miles away, and if you work, only accessible on a Saturday morning. This is against PO rules, but it's saved me a lot of journeys to the sorting office over the past few years.

But the whole point of the service is that the delivery is RECORDED. The sender paid for that service because they want proof that the item has been delivered, and to just put it through the letter box can cause problems. That's the only point of the Recorded Delivery "service", because apart from that and proof of postage (which can be obtained for free), items go in the normal post so are not secure like Special Delivery. It shouldn't be about making life easier for the postman/woman or the recipient. (And you don't have to make a trip to collect it, you can also arrange redelivery).

I've actually had postmen/women put recorded items through the letter box when I was at home - I know for a fact that they didn't even bother to knock on the door and at least try to get a signature - and I have friends who have had the same thing happen. It's just laziness.

I sold an item on ebay and sent it recorded delivery. That was for MY benefit, so I had proof of delivery. The buyer turned out to be a con man who tried to get a refund - claiming he hadn't received the item - because his postman/woman didn't bother to get a signature. He opened a Paypal dispute against me. Luckily I called his bluff, as I found out he'd done it before with other sellers, and he admitted he had received it. The fact that he had been able to do it before shows that his postman/woman must also make a habit of not obtaining a signature.

annimooboo - If a parcel is to big for your normal postie on his bike, then I would have thought it should be delivered by van, along with special delivery items. Again, that's what happens where I live. If they're not that big that they don't warrant a van delivery, then it sounds like he's just lazy.