Royal mail special delivery by 1pm guaranteed postal grey bag question ?.

TOP_CAT

I need to send a single baseball cap on thurs 30th july which must arrive by friday 31st july .
Its going from london to surrey .
I will use my local post office branch and at present was thinking of using  special delivery guaranteed by 1pm as the best option at £7.50 
My question is will the post office give me one of those free grey plastic bags for this or do I have to pack it up in my own  box or large letter envelope ?
Not sure how this works

unforeseen

Not a chance. Both Rm and Parcelforce have withdrawn their next day guarantee . It's all best effort.
https://www.royalmail.com/coronavirus
https://www.parcelforce.com/coronavirus

TOP_CAT

Oh thats not positive news although it could be RM covering themselves and still doing ones best ie best effort as you say .
Hope is all I have then.
I will send it anyway 1st thing in the morning as the ebay buyer  and myself have no option .
Do they still supply the grey bags in the post office for the Special Delivery by 1pm service ?
Anyone know !

in_the_Cotswolds

Special Delivery times for Royal Mail are as follows during CV19.  9am is now before 1pm same day.  And 1pm is now before next day 9pm. I've always delivered 1pm Special Delivery is the same day just not before 1pm. Although this depends on where they are on my round.

They will give you a bag. I asked and got given various sizes.

mimi1234

They normally have the grey bags if you are sending special delivery.  You normally have to ask for one and they bring one out of the back.  However, don't be too surprised if they have run out and have not had any deliveries.  I went for some 20p stamps and was told they hadn't had any in ages at 2 different PO's.  

TOP_CAT

Appreciate the help above and new 1PM  timing explanations are really helpful as I will pass this on to the buyer .
 Ive been digging and actually found a larger RM 1PM  grey bag possibly a C4  or C3 bag  it doesnt say its size but if its too big it shouldnt matter ?
If its wrong hopefully the PO will have another suitable size in branch .
Im new to all this packing ,sizing and delivery type so the above advice has helped .

Elmer_BeFuddled

mimi1234 said:

.........  I went for some 20p stamps and was told they hadn't had any in ages at 2 different PO's.  

Yeah, I went to the PO the other day and they'd run out of penny blacks.  I must by stamps more often.

TOP_CAT

The buyer messaged me saying received package before 1pm and is happy so RM,s best covid19 effort worked well .
Im happy for the buyer as they paid the higher SD by 1pm cost
 
Now... how to camoflage one of these very light  SD 1pm grey poly bags for a std 2nd class large letter item ?

soolin

TOP_CAT said:

The buyer messaged me saying received package before 1pm and is happy so RM,s best covid19 effort worked well .
Im happy for the buyer as they paid the higher SD by 1pm cost
 
Now... how to camoflage one of these very light  SD 1pm grey poly bags for a std 2nd class large letter item ?

I really wouldn’t misuse supplies, they take a dim view of it. Plenty of plastic mailing bags on eBay at very little cost. 

TOP_CAT

Yes I had thought of this as a bit naughty .
Ive only really just discovered poly bags may be a better option and hadnt even considered them for large letter items vs paper bubble envelopes .
Aside from this.. .
Which magazine sent me a magazine in what looked a plastic bag... but it was made from potatoe starch or some such biodegradable !
That opened my eyes I thought it was a very good effort at actually doing something positive .

in_the_Cotswolds

TOP_CAT said:

The buyer messaged me saying received package before 1pm and is happy so RM,s best covid19 effort worked well .
Im happy for the buyer as they paid the higher SD by 1pm cost
 
Now... how to camoflage one of these very light  SD 1pm grey poly bags for a std 2nd class large letter item ?

I've seen it done many a time.  I have to do a double take and look extra carefully to make sure it is being used as a "normal" parcel and has correct postage on it.  These were reused ones with everything crossed out.  I've sent some to be surcharged before now.