Is something going on with Signed For

hermante

Sent 6 letters / parcels by Signed For over the past 2-3 weeks and none of them have been signed, got positive feedback on one so I know it arrived. The buyers of the other ones don't leave feedback but assume they would have INRed by now.

No compensation as I just put them in a postbox.

Also received 4 Signed For over the same period and postman just put them in my letter box without scanning. Only one of those sellers will get compensation as the others didn't go to the Post Office either.

JGB1955

I was under the impression that Royal Mail never reintroduced physical signing for packages post-Lockdown (but could well be wrong).

hermante

JGB1955 said:

I was under the impression that Royal Mail never reintroduced physical signing for packages post-Lockdown (but could well be wrong).

Regarding physical signing it seems to be up to the postman, sometimes they just sign it themselves and put in the letter box (particularly if I'm not in), other times they sign it themselves but ring the bell and hand them to me, and other times they make me sign.

However I'm not talking about that, I'm saying that there has been no scan on delivery at all, in the past 3 weeks, for both items I've sent and items I've received.

soolin

This is reminiscent of the old days where signed for (or recorded as it was at the time) was a very poor system for a while as nothing ever updated. I used to use recorded for more expensive items , always get POP in case of a claim , although most got there , it just never updated, but everytime the tracking failed to update I would claim back the recorded part of the postage cost, which used to be a separate fixed charge. 

Nowadays signed for seems to be a poor service to use when RM48 is fully tracked, has higher insurance and is cheaper than signed for. It can also be collected so sender gets a receipt in case of loss or damage.

OP, if you are sending items that require more than a standard service it might be worth looking at RM48 or RM24 , but anything needing an upgraded service really does need POP as well in case a claim needs to be made.

I do admit though that for less valuable parcels I use standard eBay postage which has delivery confirmation and just risk dropping them in the parcel post box, likewise large letters that now have delivery confirmation on occasions when labels are bought via eBay. With the short hours now at the mail centre and occasional 45 minute queues at the post office I’m happy to risk the occasional item being sent with no POP.

Paying extra for signed for seems completely un necessary as it isn’t required for most eBay items , I don’t recall off hand what the cut off on ebay for the requirement for something to be signed for but it’s certainly several hundred pounds. 

hermante

I use stamps which are free to me. If there was a way to use stamps for tracked 24/48 I would do so
Another signed for item came today which was not scanned by my postman, and the item was only £3! The seller paid real money and probably queued for half an hour too, I've used that post office before