Being asked contents of parcel at post office

FFHillbilly

Haven't had this for years as since covid I print my labels at home. but recently one member of staff (only one) insists on asking me what's inside them, even though they are pre paid.
I did say "I thought you didn't have to ask if it's pre paid, theres a record of the contents online already" but it didn't get through sadly
today I had no idea what was in them so I just made things up. 
do they still have to ask? seems unlikely if I've dropped off hundreds per year in the last 2 years and nobody's asked...

MalMonroe

I've not been to a post office since before covid began but when I did, they often asked me what was in my parcel. I did find it annoying the first time they asked. 'Nosy' I thought . .  They do have to be careful and it doesn't hurt just to tell them. Whether they are prepaid or not. There just didn't seem to be consistency though, as you say, some POs asked, some didn't bother. And sometimes I felt silly having to say 'birthday card and a chocolate bar' when it was a parcel for one of my friends but they never batted an eyelid.

Now I use the Royal Mail service where you do it online and prepay they collect from your home. At the moment it's a free service but I don't mind paying anyway. The only time you have to declare contents that way is when something is going overseas and you have an extra small document to fill out for customs. Most of those get Xrayed at some point anyway so it's always best just to say what's exactly in there. 

I don't consider it a big deal, in the scheme of things. And sometimes I used to have a bit of a chat with the PO worker. I sometimes felt sorry for them, it's a job I'd not want to do and the online system may be putting some of them out of jobs - so I do feel kind of selfish about that.  

soolin

This is a question that comes up occasionally from 2 different view points.

There is the viewpoint that it is not necessary for them to ask and potentially try and upsell but there’s also the one we get quite a bit where an item is lost or damaged and RM wont pay out as the wrong service was used. In those case sellers complain that the PO staff never asked what was in the item, so it is t their fault if they used the wrong service. 

I print mine at home but get POP at the PO, and occasionally a new member of staff, or someone in a PO office I rarely use asks me what’s in the package and I usually have to say I couldn’t narrow it down much, but it is likely to be something like XX as that’s what I sell , but it will be insurable for the service I’ve used. 

jon81uk

Most of the time they are asking in case there are prohibited items or things that need safety labels.
Prohibited goods - items you can't send through the post (royalmail.com)

martindow

There are some items that can be posted but can not travel by air (which happens even for some domestic items).  The PO puts a sticker on these to ensure they only travel by road.

If you're asked, you can answer in general terms - clothing for instance - you do not have to describe the finer details of the underwear you are posting.  Really it's quicker to answer the question than argue about whether you need to reply to it.

x_raphael_xx

I've sent the occasional tarantula through the post. (Inverts are permitted)
The horrified looks after they ask what's in the parcel, and the scrabble to check the permitted items sheet is always funny. They handle the box as if the spider is going to break out of his taped down plastic tub and tear through the insulation and cardboard to try and get to them.

elsien

I have regularly been asked when I’ve been posting parcels. I just say something vague like books or craft items or whatever. 

It’s partly around the prohibited items, but because I don’t prepay it’s also around them checking that I’ve got the right level of insurance cover for what I’m posting and trying to upsell to me. I don’t mind the question - it’s not particularly intrusive. 

tightauldgit

Yeah I always thought it's just a check to see if there's anything prohibited in them or that needs special labelling. Whenever I am asked I don't think it's even recorded anywhere so it's not exactly official and it's not as if they check that you're telling the truth so feel free to just answer 'dildos' if you really want to. 

GadgetGuru

I'm a regular in my PO and have very rarely been asked what's inside a package - cant remember the last time I was asked TBH!

I do recall in the past just saying that there are no batteries or prohibited items inside. That seemed to be enough for what they required and it went through as normal. 

cymruchris

When you buy  your postage online you tick the box to say that there's no prohibited items etc in your parcels, so that should be sufficient, but they're usually asking not to be nosey, but to be sure it doesn't include things that shouldn't be carried (such as lithium batteries not attached to an electronic device). Just be generic in your response.

vacheron

I've answered a similar question before, I used to use the same post office a lot which was staffed by two different middle aged ladies.

One used to always ask without fail, and the other couldn't care less and never asked once!