Inside the mail!

Jarvissa

I've recently started selling on ebay... and even more recently gotten myself a job as a postie! So I thought I'd share some of the things I've learnt this week - as while probably common knowledge to some (most?), it's really affected the way I'm sending out my ebay items!

[Apologies to Soolin, Fay etc - from your posts I'd guess you already know all this!]

Sending items recorded delivery is absolutely pointless in many respects. It will (if delivered!) provide you with proof of delivery, however it is no more likely to actually get there than something sent with standard postage. I used to be under the impression that recorded items were kept seperate from the regular post. Not so! In the morning when I collect the sacks of mail/parcels for my walk, the recorded items are in there with everything else. They are not tracked at any point, and I'd guess from my experience so far that most items that go astray do so inbetween leaving the post office and arriving at me - recorded items are unaccounted for this entire time.

Special delivery is another matter entirely. Posties (and I'd guess everyone who comes into contact with them along the way) guard these with their life! They have too because whenever the item passes from one person to naother, it has to be signed over. If the item goes missing and yours is the last signature on its progress sheet.... well, that does not bode at all well for you! Royal Mail really hammer home the severity of both postal theft and negligence (theft ALWAYS punishable by imprisonment and negligence usually by the sack)... rightly so of course.
Collecting (and signing for) my special deliveries is always the LAST thing any postie does before leaving the depot, because they are not to be let out of your sight/leave your possession until delivered. I don't know if this is an actual RM rule or just a practice carried out by posties who've suffered the consequences of 'losing' an item.

Some other random things I've found out:

It is Royal Mail policy to deliver to addresses not individuals. Sounds obvious I know but has some interesting aspects. Firstly it means that whatever name is on your mail (even if its your neighbours name!) it is to be delivered to your address. Secondly, say you're leaving your house to go to work, don't put your postie in the position of approaching them when you spot them further down your street and asking if they have anything for number 56.. they're not allowed to give it to you! It has to be delivered to your home!

Royal mail makes most of its revenue from mailsorts (junk mail that's actually addressed to you), and your postie gets 1.5 pence for every item of it they deliver to you (this is in addition to their normal wage).

If you ever find red rubber bands on your path/on the street, they're dropped by your postie - we use them to bundle the mail together so it doesn't fall out of sequence in the bag.

Letterboxes with brushes inside are just plain annoying! - so hard sometimes to get anything through.

I have only been in the job a week so I'm hardly a seasoned pro - but I'll post anything of interest as I learn it (that's if anyone's interested!)

I must say though that so far I have been incredibly impressed with the dedication, efficiency and integrity of everyone that I've met working in Royal Mail operations. I can't remember the last time I had a job whereby everyone was (or at least appeared to be!) so focussed on doing the job well. My faith in the postal service has increased drastically - which is something I didn't expect to experience!

ooh just realised I've written quite an essay - hope it was of interest to someone!

frivolous_fay

Interesting to have an inside view!

It's a shame that the only postal method that gets a good deal of care is SD... the most expensive one... coincidence?

I wonder what RM suggest using recorded for.

Oh... just in case this hasn't been passed along... red rubber bands are used by the RM so that they are obvious when dropped, and postie can pick them up (Doesn't happen round my way!)

magyar

Recorded delivery is proof that something got there (as opposed to a guarantee that it will) - i.e the recipient can't claim it got lost in the post.

A good example would be a letter telling someone something important; e.g. a summons.

Contains_Mild_Peril

I often pick up the red rubber bands in the close outside my flat. They'll come in handy for something!

frivolous_fay wrote:

I wonder what RM suggest using recorded for.

I'm not sure, but I've used it to send forms to the Inland Revenue, who'd developed a bad habit of accusing me of not sending things (which I had) when they couldn't find any record of my communications. I think it's also used sometimes for various legal documents, e.g. court summons, so the addressee can't use the excuse that the item must have got lost in the post.

Hintza

magyar wrote:

Recorded delivery is proof that something got there (as opposed to a guarantee that it will) - i.e the recipient can't claim it got lost in the post.

A good example would be a letter telling someone something important; e.g. a summons.

That's the way I see recorded too.

soolin

Hintza wrote:

That's the way I see recorded too.

Yes me too. When I was involved in a court case the other party kept pretending they had no record of my documents sent and their excuse was dismissed as I had recorded delivery tracking for each and every letter I had ever sent.

Soo

~cleo~

soolin wrote:

Yes me too. When I was involved in a court case the other party kept pretending they had no record of my documents sent and their excuse was dismissed as I had recorded delivery tracking for each and every letter I had ever sent.

Soo

thats how i see recorded delivery too - its a record of the person receiving the item - it is just standard post first or second class - with a proof of receipt - why would anyone think it was separate from the normal post

i think its terrible the amount of bands that are dropped outside my flats - my cat goes mad at the smell of rubber bands he loves them and at home they are all in a box but when they are outside he and the neighbours cats love to chew on these which is obviously detrimental to their health - i think the RM or the offending postie should be fined by the council for littering - do u throw ur bands on the floor Jarvissa?

tbh everything in your post i already knew - and im suprised that to get a job with the RM you didnt already have to know all that lol

zenmaster

frivolous_fay wrote:

It's a shame that the only postal method that gets a good deal of care is SD... the most expensive one... coincidence?

No, that's why it's a special delivery.

~cleo~

frivolous_fay wrote:

Interesting to have an inside view!

It's a shame that the only postal method that gets a good deal of care is SD... the most expensive one... coincidence?

lol thats exactly why its most expensive - if they took that level of time and care over everything it would cost a fortune to send anything and the mail - it so expensive because of all the admin and care involved

frivolous_fay

It's a shame that to consider your mail secure, safe, prompt, etc., you have to pay such a premium.

Despite the price rises, I doubt standard mail is considered so sacrosanct. (No offence Jarvissa) The number of losses would seem to back this up!

Jarvissa

~cleo~ wrote:

do u throw ur bands on the floor Jarvissa?

I put them round my wrist - by the time I get back to the depot I've almost cut off the circulation to my hands! It is easy to drop them without realising though. Something I got told at my induction day was that the postal watchdog thingy dept (I've totally forgotten its name) is considering fining the Royal Mail for postpeople dropping these bands.

~cleo~ wrote:

tbh everything in your post i already knew - and im suprised that to get a job with the RM you didnt already have to know all that lol

haha, I must admit I was totally clueless about everything post related beforehand! I don't think I'm quite the typical postie though (maybe wishful thinking) as I'm half the age of everyone else, a girl, and fresh out of university. tbh, I'm surprised they gave me the job at all- Surely they don't think I'll stay that long! I just accepted it as a stopgap, there's so much overtime available that although we're not paid exceptionally well, we can work pretty much all the hours god sends and make a lot of money very quickly.