Royal mail help

RedLetter

MrB wrote:

Father_Adi wrote:

I got absolutely soaked today and had an unsigned special with me, but there's no way in this world i would've signed for it and posted it through just so i could save some time by going home.

QUOTE]

How did you have an Special Delivery with you AND get soaked. They only go out with the vans. Thats called security, you know, kept in the back of the van so no body can nick them.
For the record, I too take pride in my job. I dont mind getting wet, as I have this wonderful waterproof skin. I also will not sign for any recorded or special deliveries, and take the time to take them back to the office, but then I'm also good at my job, can get out on time, organize my walk efficiently and get back in good time to return the items I have not delivered. Many Posties aren't as lucky as that and are thrown on unfamiliar walks and feel the need to doorstep items as their pouches are full to the brim and overweight. You must have your head in the sand if you think that the pressure they are under to deliver on time doesn't affect them. Every week I read about another Postie being prosecuted because of the mail they have taken home, failing to deliver. Every week I see more and more casuals on the walks to cover those of sick with stress. The walks in my office are an average of 700+ houses and we do well to get the job done

Does no one work in a Rural Office, you have to take out your Special Deliveries on your walk, not with a driver and his van.

Up until last year all the walks in our main delivery office had to take out the Special Deliveries. That only changed because the signatures had to be back before the delivery office shut.
The drivers now average between 20 - 30 Special Deliveries + Recorded + Packages + Dropping off other staff and bags per day.
Now that is stressful

user051105

The postie probably signed for it.

Father_Adi

QUOTE]
How did you have an Special Delivery with you AND get soaked. They only go out with the vans. Thats called security, you know, kept in the back of the van so no body can nick them.[/quote]

Specials only go out with the vans, which easy life planet are you on, ALL our walks take specials with us, only the bulky ones go on the van, the rest are added to our workload and must be kept in our pouch at all times until delivered or taken back to the delivery office. We generally have at least two or three per round plus all the rest of the recordeds and packets. Plus we also average 700+ houses.

mah_jong

My posties do a fantastic job!

I remember years ago posting my wage packet in the letter box (those were the days when you were paid in cash ....) and they emptied the box for me and gave it back!

They still do a great job and tell me at work ( my previous job and current) that a parcel has been put in shed etc. SD 's come to my work. I live in a small rural community and our posties have been there for years..... and the new ones will stay for years!

dougk_2

Father_Adi wrote:

It's statements like that that really gives Royal Mail a bad name without much in the way of factual evidence, "more regular than you can imagine", what proof could you possibly give to this? Unbelievable.

Sorry I agree with the statement!
At all three of my last addresses posties have "signed for" recorded deliveries and simply posted the item through the letterbox.

Luck would have it that fortunantely none of my deliveries were delivered to the wrong address. Don't get me wrong often its a great help but it does leave room for "Human Error".

MrB_2

dougk wrote:

Sorry I agree with the statement!
At all three of my last addresses posties have "signed for" recorded deliveries and simply posted the item through the letterbox.

Luck would have it that fortunantely none of my deliveries were delivered to the wrong address. Don't get me wrong often its a great help but it does leave room for "Human Error".

Yet another case for my arguement here. Sorry, but the whole arguement regarding what Royal Mail SHOULD be doing and what Royal Mail ARE doing does seem to be going in my favour. As a Postie I know what procedures are meant to be followed and I can say that I follow them, more or less, to the letter. But I also know other posties who will do anything to cut corners to get the job done, thats their choice and sooner or later it will catch up on them.
Maybe Father_Adi should be reporting his Line Manager to higher authorities as one of Royal Mail's directives is that all Special Deliveries are to be secure deliveries, how can a postie on the walk be secure when pouches get stolen/left unattended/left at bag drops etc. Something VERY suss going on there.

dougk_2

My view on how this should work is as follows:

Recorded delivery a signature at the address (anybody)

Special delivery - The named addressee only can sign for it with proof of identity (the same as you need if you go to collect it from the sorting office) at the request of the sender (i.e. an option on the special delivery form).

Father_Adi

MrB wrote:

Maybe Father_Adi should be reporting his Line Manager to higher authorities as one of Royal Mail's directives is that all Special Deliveries are to be secure deliveries, how can a postie on the walk be secure when pouches get stolen/left unattended/left at bag drops etc. Something VERY suss going on there.

There is nothing SUSS about it, we simply keep them in our bag when we leave to do a walk then either it's signed for or delivered back to the delivery office, there is no leaving them at drops etc, just kept in the bag from start to finish - ie on person. However i am interested with your comment that only your van drivers deliver specials. I would love that to kick in at our office, van drivers would have a blue fit if they had to take our specials as well as theirs and it would make our job that bit easier.

The whole point of me trying to make a point on here, albeit not probably very well, is that i get sick and tired of royal mail tarnished by the bone idle, lazy, actions of the few when so many of us really do a good job.

I cringe when i see yet another postman making the headlines in papers or on the web for the wrong reasons. TNT announced today that they are looking at getting a COMPLETE final delivery system in place within 5 to 10 years time, and if we dont start pulling our finger out, royal mail will just sink and our jobs with it.

My advice to customers would be, if you havent an agreement with the postie for getting your things signed for by them, report them and follow it up. The sooner the crap posties are weeded out the better.

My advice to posties would be WAKE UP, smell the coffee - chickens will come home....... if you dont do your job properly.

MrB_2

We do agree on this . Royal Mail has been lethargic for too long from the management down, but need solid ideas and planning to survive the next few years untarnished. We need to weed out the chaff, the thieves, the institutionalised idle posties who think they can hide behind their seniority and the union. We need the public opinion of us to change, and as two posties together, we can make a start.

RedLetter

MrB wrote:

We do agree on this . Royal Mail has been lethargic for too long from the management down, but need solid ideas and planning to survive the next few years untarnished. We need to weed out the chaff, the thieves, the institutionalised idle posties who think they can hide behind their seniority and the union. We need the public opinion of us to change, and as two posties together, we can make a start.

Make that three.........in our office the Van Drivers DO take out all Specials, the excuse was, the Posties didn't return the signed cards back to the office in time! Unions didn't say a word!
Even the managers (ex posties) still believe in seniority, just glad annual leave isn't based on it anymore.