Spectos/Royal Mail Monitoring and Posting Panel

Saetana

bdark2755 said:

HonestJohn said:

Saetana said:

Money_Grabber13579 said:

NBLondon said:

Gail333 said:

Unlike the letter bundles though, there are no codes on either of the parcels to report so I don't understand how I am supposed to report that I've posted them. On the letter that came with one of them it said to "remove the band" before posting but there is no band, it's just a box that contains a dvd (says this on the letter that came with it) with five first class stamps on it.

Turn the Posting Plan over Gail.    The barcode to scan at time of posting is on the back (same is it would be on the band round a bundle of letters).  This is the case whether you have a DVD box (cardboard mailer) or a Jiffy Bag or a mailbag.

Gail333 said:

The second one is in a drawstring bag and I have no idea if I'm supposed to open this bag or just give the whole thing to the post office. This one also comes with  documentation that I think I'm supposed to give to the post office staff.

Read Saetana's response above.   The Manifest is the one with RM logo at top left and long barcode at top right.  Look at the red or green tag which is zip tied round the neck of the bag.  If this is blank copy the details from the manifest as Saetana said, if it is already completed or stamped - just take the manifest with you to the PO.   The PO clerk should scan the long barcode from the manifest and then tell you what to do next.   1) They might keep the manifest and tell you where to leave the bag  2) They might ask you to attach the manifest to the bag by tucking under the zip tie (I have a big elastic band ready for this) or do it themselves.

If you have taken the Posting Plan with you, then you can report it like any other bundle.  

OR - if you have a parcel postbox convenient  to you (this is a handy website https://postboxes.dracos.co.uk/parcels/ )   then you can open the mailbag, post the parcels in that postbox, scan the barcode on the back of the Posting Plan to report.   In that case, you discard the manifest and don't need to queue up.   

I never had any intention of taking the sack to the post office as I prefer to post parcels in a post box so no one asks any questions. I therefore opened the sack and it contains 2 books which are small enough to fit into a regular post box. I wonder could I just drop them in my local post box which is about a 10 minute walk from my house rather than driving 5 miles to the nearest parcel box?

No you cannot - parcels have to be posted either at the post office or in a dedicated parcel posting box, they have to track what happens to actual parcels, not just items posted in a regular postbox.

Anybody know if an item posted in a regular postbox is treated differently to an item posted in a parcel box? The only difference will be the way they are paid for. What is the label on these items?

I’ve posted 3 lots in a parcel box instead of post office in the 4 weeks I’ve been with Spectos  and nothing has been said yet. I had checked this out with Kantar previously and they said it was fine, when I asked what I should do with the mail bags they said throw them away! Which I don’t as it’s such a waste, so I give them back to the postie who visits my workplace every day. I’m assuming if Spectos do things differently they would have told me I’m doing it wrong. I mark the app as putting them in a parcel box so they know I’m doing it.

That is absolutely fine - you are allowed to post them in a dedicated parcel postbox.  Its just normal postboxes that are not allowed.

HomingPigeon

Thanks for replies.

Money_Grabber13579

Saetana said:

bdark2755 said:

HonestJohn said:

Saetana said:

Money_Grabber13579 said:

NBLondon said:

Gail333 said:

Unlike the letter bundles though, there are no codes on either of the parcels to report so I don't understand how I am supposed to report that I've posted them. On the letter that came with one of them it said to "remove the band" before posting but there is no band, it's just a box that contains a dvd (says this on the letter that came with it) with five first class stamps on it.

Turn the Posting Plan over Gail.    The barcode to scan at time of posting is on the back (same is it would be on the band round a bundle of letters).  This is the case whether you have a DVD box (cardboard mailer) or a Jiffy Bag or a mailbag.

Gail333 said:

The second one is in a drawstring bag and I have no idea if I'm supposed to open this bag or just give the whole thing to the post office. This one also comes with  documentation that I think I'm supposed to give to the post office staff.

Read Saetana's response above.   The Manifest is the one with RM logo at top left and long barcode at top right.  Look at the red or green tag which is zip tied round the neck of the bag.  If this is blank copy the details from the manifest as Saetana said, if it is already completed or stamped - just take the manifest with you to the PO.   The PO clerk should scan the long barcode from the manifest and then tell you what to do next.   1) They might keep the manifest and tell you where to leave the bag  2) They might ask you to attach the manifest to the bag by tucking under the zip tie (I have a big elastic band ready for this) or do it themselves.

If you have taken the Posting Plan with you, then you can report it like any other bundle.  

OR - if you have a parcel postbox convenient  to you (this is a handy website https://postboxes.dracos.co.uk/parcels/ )   then you can open the mailbag, post the parcels in that postbox, scan the barcode on the back of the Posting Plan to report.   In that case, you discard the manifest and don't need to queue up.   

I never had any intention of taking the sack to the post office as I prefer to post parcels in a post box so no one asks any questions. I therefore opened the sack and it contains 2 books which are small enough to fit into a regular post box. I wonder could I just drop them in my local post box which is about a 10 minute walk from my house rather than driving 5 miles to the nearest parcel box?

No you cannot - parcels have to be posted either at the post office or in a dedicated parcel posting box, they have to track what happens to actual parcels, not just items posted in a regular postbox.

Anybody know if an item posted in a regular postbox is treated differently to an item posted in a parcel box? The only difference will be the way they are paid for. What is the label on these items?

I’ve posted 3 lots in a parcel box instead of post office in the 4 weeks I’ve been with Spectos  and nothing has been said yet. I had checked this out with Kantar previously and they said it was fine, when I asked what I should do with the mail bags they said throw them away! Which I don’t as it’s such a waste, so I give them back to the postie who visits my workplace every day. I’m assuming if Spectos do things differently they would have told me I’m doing it wrong. I mark the app as putting them in a parcel box so they know I’m doing it.

That is absolutely fine - you are allowed to post them in a dedicated parcel postbox.  Its just normal postboxes that are not allowed.

I’m not so sure that we aren’t allowed to post parcels in a normal post box, if they will fit. The instructions specifically refer to the posting of large parcels at a post office whereas I have small parcels. I suspect it’s much more likely that Spectos just haven’t considered it as a possibility and so have assumed that parcels will always be too big for a normal post box.

The reason why a postman will deliver parcels from their van rather than when they are walking around is purely down to what is practical for them to carry but they will all be part of the same postman’s run.

Anyway, I’ve asked Spectos the question so will see what they say although not expecting a response before I need to post them tomorrow.

HonestJohn

Where you post is verifed by the GPS so you can't lie about the location. All the parcel post from my local post office goes into the same van as the mail from the postbox outside.
All my mail comes in the same van whatever it's size.
RM don't have the resources to do separate deliveries or collections.

silvercar

HonestJohn said:

Where you post is verifed by the GPS so you can't lie about the location. All the parcel post from my local post office goes into the same van as the mail from the postbox outside.
All my mail comes in the same van whatever it's size.
RM don't have the resources to do separate deliveries or collections.

  Here in suburbia, the postman wheels a trolley that he parks up and leashes to a piece of street furniture - usually a road sign- while he delivers to the road, before returning to his trolley to continue his route. The route is a circular one from the sorting office. No van is used. Parcels arrive separately by van.

NBLondon

HonestJohn said:

Anybody know if an item posted in a regular postbox is treated differently to an item posted in a parcel box? The only difference will be the way they are paid for. What is the label on these items?

What if it's sorting?

If items are posted in a parcel postbox - they may go straight into a workstream for parcels and be processed faster.  If they are in with the general mail, they may need to be separated out at the local depot and then be passed on - so adding a delay.  Which might be detected by the RFID tracking.

All the parcel postboxes I've seen have been in business rather than residential areas (my nearest is 4 miles away on a business park).  Convenient if you work there but no use to me here.

And I have had RM24 packages and parcels arriving in a separate delivery from the letter post.   It may depend on your area and the volumes as to whether it's a separate run or all in one bag.

XDA

HonestJohn said:

All my mail comes in the same van whatever it's size.
RM don't have the resources to do separate deliveries or collections.

I received 2 “something for you” cards last week, 1 was for a letter and the other was for a parcel. 

The delivery times written on both cards are 2 hours apart so I definitely get 2 separate deliveries.

NBLondon

gt94sss2 said:

NBLondon said:
  The other one also arrived today and it's one of the cardboard sleeves that they are calling a DVD box. 

If it's like the DVD package I had the other week, I found it wouldn't fit in some post boxes when I posted it

I was looking at it and thinking that it might be a bit wide...   Different model postboxes have different size openings - mine I think is the larger type but I'll have a look early just in case I have to nip down to the PO and drop it in the bag there.  Don't want it to arrive damaged if it is going to one of you here...

I have no worries about the PO staff seeing me drop off packages.  I work from home and need to send bundles of documents from time to time; I've been sending Kantar cubes for years, telling them it was electronics parts.  If they have even noticed - they will likely assume it's just more work stuff.

HonestJohn

Just posted my first sack today. Never had any with Kantar. I followed the advice on here from @Saetana and only needed to add the manifest number to the docket. Local PO took it all in their stride with no questions asked. I think it helps that there is a small industrial estate and some offices nearby so they are used to this. Still feel it is worth more than the 60p (35+25) you get for doing it though.

Annft

elsien said:

I’ve had some post come while I was away, and I forgot to report it as holiday. 

The app sFAQ say to put don’t know or give a date range, but the app doesn’t seem to allow for that -  it asks for a specific day with no other options. 

Has anyone else come across this and got an answer from Spectos? 

Hi I am in the same boat, does anyone know what we do ? mine are due to be posted today

thanks