Parcel now in landfill thanks to Royal Mail!

vacheron

I am baffled by the logic of some people.

On Thursday, Royal Mail tired to deliver a small packet to our house. We were not home so the house was locked up but we have a team of builders doing work at the rear of the property.

When we came home we found a letter from Santander and on it was written "RM Small packet LEFT WITH BUILDERS". We still have the envelope as evidence.

The builders were not on site on Friday so we asked them yesterday if they had the packet. They told us "Oh, the postman said he'd put it in the green bin and that he would put a note through your door!"

Now the "green bin" is our general waste bin, (there was also far cleaner grey recycling bin just next to it, but this is academic as both get collected on Fridays). This means that on Friday, a £35 bottle of moisturiser the missus had ordered was thrown into the back of a bin wagon and is now moisturising a landfill somewhere. :mad:

So two issues are puzzling me here:

1. Why would a postman leave a parcel in a rubbish bin when they had no idea when it would be collected or the owners would return to the property?
   
   
2. Why leave a note saying it was "Left with Builders" when you have actually put it IN A BIN!! ?

I've contacted the seller to tell them what has happened and am waiting for them to get back to us to see where we stand.

Does anyone know if RM would put their hands up to this being their fault so the seller will at least be successful in any claim for their losses?

[Deleted User]

vacheron wrote: »

1. Why would a postman leave a parcel in a rubbish bin when they had no idea when it would be collected or the owners would return to the property?
   
   
2. Why leave a note saying it was "Left with Builders" when you have actually put it IN A BIN!! ?

1) Don't know, but unfortunately it seems to be quite common.
2) The sequence of events would have been -

• postman knocks - no reply
• sees builders - thinks "I'll leave it with them"
• writes note "Left with builders", shoves it through the door
• "Hi builders - ok if I leave this with you?"
• "Nah mate. We're busy. Shove it in that bin"
• "OK - but let the bloke know I left it there ok?"
• "What? Huh? Uh, yeah."
• Postie leaves.
• "What did he say we were to tell the bloke who lives here?"
• "Dunno. Go and put the kettle on, will you."

vacheron

Deleted_User wrote: »

1) Don't know, but unfortunately it seems to be quite common.
2) The sequence of events would have been -

• postman knocks - no reply
• sees builders - thinks "I'll leave it with them"
• writes note "Left with builders", shoves it through the door
• "Hi builders - ok if I leave this with you?"
• "Nah mate. We're busy. Shove it in that bin"
• "OK - but let the bloke know I left it there ok?"
• "What? Huh? Uh, yeah."
• Postie leaves.
• "What did he say we were to tell the bloke who lives here?"
• "Dunno. Go and put the kettle on, will you."

I considered that too, but the builders are a really nice bunch of lads and in the past haven't been able to do enough for us, we've also left our shed open for them in case it rains and they need to protect /charge their tools, so they could just as easily have told him to put it in there.

I think you're probably right though that the letter has probably gone through the door before the postie had his change of mind, but whatever the reason the information RM gave us was incorrect which led to the loss of the packet so I'd hope they will admit this so the seller can get their costs reimbursed.

Carrot007

vacheron wrote: »

1. Why would a postman leave a parcel in a rubbish bin when they had no idea when it would be collected or the owners would return to the property?
2. Why leave a note saying it was "Left with Builders" when you have actually put it IN A BIN!! ?

2. As insunuated maybe the builders though it a good place to put it.

1. Bins are surely not colelcted unless you put them out. I always looks in them before putting out, and usally have more stuff to put in. So you would surely notice.

Unfortunatly looking in you bins/boxes for parcels is part of modern life as much as we would like it not to be. You could always get a parcel store.

And again regardless I always look in my bins before putting out, to not do it seems odd.

spadoosh

Carrot007 wrote: »

2. As insunuated maybe the builders though it a good place to put it.

1. Bins are surely not colelcted unless you put them out. I always looks in them before putting out, and usally have more stuff to put in. So you would surely notice.

Unfortunatly looking in you bins/boxes for parcels is part of modern life as much as we would like it not to be. You could always get a parcel store.

And again regardless I always look in my bins before putting out, to not do it seems odd.

Isnt it odd what different people consider normal and odd.

Personally id think it odd if someone considered a bin a 'safe place' My idea of safe isnt contaminating something with the amount of bacteria that would be in a bin thats been there for 2 weeks.

And id also consider it odd if people looked through their bins on the 'odd' chance that someone had put something for the owners in there. I mean if iwanted to give my neighbour something and they where out, i wouldnt put it in their bin.

Its normal if you accept it. I got some new clothes delivered and left in a bin. The package was sat atop my daughters week old nappies in the middle of summer. It got sent back. Maybe it about time delivery companies start to realise very few people consider a bin a safe or desirable place to leave an item. Thats what i would say is normal.

vacheron

Thanks to all for the replies so far.

I must admit that I don't think it odd that I don't look in my bins when I put them out for the simple reason that I know that everything I have put in there I really don't want to see ever again.

This week there was a lot of old cat litter and some rags which were used in an emergency when my 5 year old was "suddenly unwell", so I knew what to expect! :lipsrseal

Each to their own though, after all there are those people who blow their nose and then insist on... well you know the rest!



Also, we live in one of three houses at the end of the street and whichever house puts their bins out first tends to put out the bins for the other two houses as well, so in this case it was our neighbour who put them out.

What is even more baffling though is the relatively clean recycling bin right next to the green bin. There is a tray in the top for batteries and clean bottles which is an ideal place to put a parcel as you only have to reach in about 20cm to get it and it is easy to see. The green bin on the other hand is very large and deep so you would just about have to lean right over in to it to reach the package.

In the past we've had plenty of packages left in the recycling bin and with the CORRECT note through the door we have managed to intercept them in time, but an incorrect note coupled with an totally illogical location has beaten us this time!

Carrot007

spadoosh wrote: »

Isnt it odd what different people consider normal and odd.

Personally id think it odd if someone considered a bin a 'safe place' My idea of safe isnt contaminating something with the amount of bacteria that would be in a bin thats been there for 2 weeks.

And id also consider it odd if people looked through their bins on the 'odd' chance that someone had put something for the owners in there. I mean if iwanted to give my neighbour something and they where out, i wouldnt put it in their bin.

Its normal if you accept it. I got some new clothes delivered and left in a bin. The package was sat atop my daughters week old nappies in the middle of summer. It got sent back. Maybe it about time delivery companies start to realise very few people consider a bin a safe or desirable place to leave an item. Thats what i would say is normal.

Yes I agree a bin is not a safe place and the delivery companies should suffer for it but the comanies that hire them (you don't) seem not to care.

Again the looking in a bin when putting out was nothing to do with looking for a parcel, more that I would always check the bin before putting out and usually put the last bag in so would see anything in it. (The fact you would see a parcel dumped there is justa bonus).

twhitehousescat

why did the builders just not offer to put it in the unlocked shed?

vacheron

twhitehousescat wrote: »

why did the builders just not offer to put it in the unlocked shed?

According to the builders the first they saw of the postman was when he stuck his head round the back and said he!!!8217;d left a parcel in the green bin. The mystery is why he wrote on the envelope that it had been left with the builders?

I think I!!!8217;ll fire up the CCTV tonight and check it out pure curiosity!

theonlywayisup

If you haven't already you need to lodge a complaint with your local delivery office.

You also need to get in touch with the sender of the parcel to let them know it hasn't arrived.

Fosterdog

vacheron wrote: »

According to the builders the first they saw of the postman was when he stuck his head round the back and said he!!!8217;d left a parcel in the green bin. The mystery is why he wrote on the envelope that it had been left with the builders?

I think I!!!8217;ll fire up the CCTV tonight and check it out pure curiosity!

Maybe firing up the CCTV and finding out whether or not it was actually RM or the builders before coming online making accusations would be more sensible. You may be right that it was RM, but you have a way of finding out for certain and still chose to accuse first and ask questions later.