Fed up of postie? Help is here... (merged)

chipmunk

I've been doing this for about 5 years now at work and it's just become part of my daily routine and absolutely no bother at all now although I suppose it's a bit different for private panellists who don't need to visit a post office every day like I do.

Average week I usually send out around 4-5 test items and receive about the same. Got loads of stamps sat in my drawer 'cos we use a franking machine at work. I usually give them to friends and relatives. The vouchers are great though. Over the years I've probably had around £400's worth 'cos I also take part in a parcel survey they run which, depending on the size of the parcel, pays around £8.00 per item and their special surveys that they sometimes operate usually generate around £12 a go. Money for nothing really.

I think the survey is mainly intended to monitor the reliabiity of Royal Mail and to be honest, in the 5 years I've been doing it, I would say 97% of mail has been delivered correctly and on time. That's very good considering the millions of items they handle each year.

Having trawled my way through this thread, I've got one or two tips for others:

You are not "employed" by Research International, you are taking part in a survey, hence you cannot be "sacked". You can however, be withdrawn from the survey if you live in a postal area that they no longer wish to monitor.

Even if you don't have any test items for that day, you should log on to the site anyway and click the link to the prize draw. If you don't, you won't be entered into that days' draw. You don't have to be sending/receiving to enter.

If you don't have a use for the stamps they send, try selling them on Ebay for a little under their face value. Have a look, there are quite a few people selling them and they usually have a number of bids on them.

For anyone still unsure what to do with the yellow stickers, read the flippin' thread!! :mad: There are so many repeats on here, it's like watching the BBC:rotfl: I know it's long but it contains the answers to almost every question that's been asked.

Lastly, anyone who is daft enough to send money in an envelope is asking for trouble. Don't do it, or if you do, don't complain when it goes missing. As in all businesses, the post office has a few dishonest people working for them.

chipmunk

misseypootle wrote: »

I get Personnel Today which is also boring but have been receiving Hello Magazine now for a few weeks and this weeks had a free t-shirt inside it as an added bonus. I am not sending that back to them

You should send it back because it doesn't belong to you. It is a test item that you record the receipt of and return, not a freebie.:rolleyes:

michellew_2

How long after signing up did you actually get started?

chipmunk

Can't remember exactly but I think it was about two weeks till I got my first test items.

misseypootle

chipmunk wrote: »

You should send it back because it doesn't belong to you. It is a test item that you record the receipt of and return, not a freebie.:rolleyes:

Sorry my post seems to have upset you, I always send everything out on time and everything received gets put on the website daily, the only thing I keep is the Hello magazine, which if they asked me to send back I would gladly return, I didnt think I was doing anything wrong by reading it myself, which is a mag that I would normally buy myself.

milk

misseypootle wrote: »

Sorry my post seems to have upset you, I always send everything out on time and everything received gets put on the website daily, the only thing I keep is the Hello magazine, which if they asked me to send back I would gladly return, I didnt think I was doing anything wrong by reading it myself, which is a mag that I would normally buy myself.

I get the GRocer every week and just takethe front cover off and send that and the plastic covering back to them and have been doing this for ages and have not received anything to tell me not to do this.

It is a good amg althoughnot as good as HEllo I want that one:mad:

Millie's_Mum

chipmunk wrote: »

You should send it back because it doesn't belong to you. It is a test item that you record the receipt of and return, not a freebie.:rolleyes:

I don't quite know why you've got your knickers in a twist about this, you can keep the magazines.

I get the TES and Private Eye and they have told me to keep them and just send the wrapper/address sheet back.

chipmunk

misseypootle wrote: »

Sorry my post seems to have upset you, I always send everything out on time and everything received gets put on the website daily, the only thing I keep is the Hello magazine, which if they asked me to send back I would gladly return, I didnt think I was doing anything wrong by reading it myself, which is a mag that I would normally buy myself.

Originally Posted by Millies's Mum
I don't quite know why you've got your knickers in a twist about this, you can keep the magazines.

I get the TES and Private Eye and they have told me to keep them and just send the wrapper/address sheet back.

Whoa, calm down dear(s) ... you haven't upset me and I haven't got my knickers in a twist! When I first started to receive magazines I asked what I should do with them and was told that they were a test item just like any other and that they should be returned intact. If they do things different now and you have been given permission to keep the mags, that's fine.:rolleyes: I was just stating what I believed to be correct.

Sorry if I rattled your cages.

lannyloo

chipmunk wrote: »

Whoa, calm down dear(s) ... you haven't upset me and I haven't got my knickers in a twist! When I first started to receive magazines I asked what I should do with them and was told that they were a test item just like any other and that they should be returned intact. If they do things different now and you have been given permission to keep the mags, that's fine.:rolleyes: I was just stating what I believed to be correct.

Sorry if I rattled your cages.

I was told i had to return the magazine as well

Peppermint_Monkey

chipmunk wrote: »

You are not "employed" by Research International, you are taking part in a survey, hence you cannot be "sacked". You can however, be withdrawn from the survey if you live in a postal area that they no longer wish to monitor.

So if we are not "employed", do we have declare any "income" as taxable? I've only had free stamps so far.