The post office

[Angst]

well said sjstuart.

i recently had to go to a diff. p.o. from normal with a load of parcels of varying sizes and shapes....bit of a bag demanded 'whats in it?'.....to cut a longish story short....on top of the icy stare she got, with goatee'd chin stuck out and in a slow deliberate tone dripping with sarcasm, with about ten customers watching and me leaning forward right up to the glass, i grunted....''packet of biscuits''...(i believe it was a leather patch in a normal white envelope)....there was a pause, silence, then on she carried, the world moved on again...next parcel....''and this one?'' (if i recall it was a golok machete sheath that i'd sold for in excess of 100gbp and was packed up like a tank)....''packet of biscuits''.....and so on....

i paid and with a big smile on my face and in a loud voice, i said...''could you put extra fragile stickers on for me please....i ran out, and wouldnt want all my biscuits to arrive broken...thankyou!''. i turned round to leave and there were smiles all along the queue behind me....

theres quite a few of you on here who know what i used to do as a job.

revenge........lolol!

a

 

[swotty]

My gripe with the post office is that I can order an item from Carlisle and it will arrive next day in Bristol. If however I'm not in I have to allow 48hrs, yes 48, before I can collect it from the sorting office 3 miles away how does that work? If you go there before that 48hrs (and they can be bothered to serve you in the limited hours they are open) period they go mad!
I've also now had several items dropped on the path away from my home (including a bank card) that fortunately honest neighbours have delivered to my door.
I have no confidence in the Royal Mail!

 

[BILLy]

I always say now "Nothing restricted or prohibited". I refuse to be grilled about the contents of my Post by the RM Stazi! I even made an official complaint to RM about this constant automatic infringement of my privacy, them just asking annoys me. I got the usual stock feeble reply.

More people should kick off about their rudeness and asking what is contained in our post all the time, it ain't bloody British. Asking if it contains any prohibited or restricted items and pointing to the poster is one thing, asking you what is in it is none of their bloody business and it should stop. Not that I feel strongly about it of course!

WELL PUT THAT MAN!!
Couldn't agree more!
I have posted quit a few parcels of late, and I hate going in there, every time I get to the hatch I get a Huff! As if to say what do you want now attitude! I ask if I can post this parcel and she asks what's in it? ( cheeky mere) I feel like saying "none of your business" but I just answer nothing over the value of £40. again she said but what's in it? I don't have the balls to tell her to mind her own business, so I just say "material"
Then she struts off to get the template, and just shows it to it rather than try and push it through the hole, "arr it won't go through" of course it would just push it!!!!!
So now the price rockets up, it does my head in, in fact that's it now, I am not using them again, they have shot them selves in the foot with me.
😬😡😡

 

[Midnitehound]

My goodness, I found out today that the Post Office has come out with another size of Small Parcel! Anything up to and including 35cm x 25cm x 16cm and 2kg. That is much more acceptable. I asked if there was a sizing template I could buy and the cashier went and got me a net of the 'Small Parcel exception size guide' and gave it to me gratis telling me not to tell anyone! They had one spare it seems. It is a more sensible size for squeezing objects into.

See size and weight guide on here:

http://www.royalmail.com/prices-2013#UK Standard

 

[Midnitehound]

I just posted a load of LL packets of Dyneema today and the new girl, the others know better, demanded to know what was in the packets. I said "Nothing prohibited or restricted". "I need to know what is in the packets" she says, "No you don't" I said. She looked like I had just slapped her in the face with a wet kipper. "We have a legal requirement to ask you under the Civil Aviation Act blah blah blah" she said. "I don't care, anyway, they aren't going by plane", "It applies to air and road" she says. That is a new one!!! Legal requirement, rollocks!!!

"I am getting fed up of being asked to reveal what is in my PRIVATE mail and so are a lot of other people it seems, it isn't on". "I'll have to show you the laminated list" she says and then struggles to find it until I point it out. "Nope, nothing on there, like I said, nothing prohibited or restricted and if you put the card in the window you could just point to it and ask if it applied to people's post without infringing their privacy. I know you are just applying policy but please pass it up the chain that this needs to stop, we are customers not prisoners."

I will go with the 'Secondhand sex toys' next time or perhaps 'Bubble rap'! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMBZDwf9dok A good one if the item is heavy 'Feathers!'. It may be slightly amusing but it isn't as effective as clearly pushing back and refusing to have your privacy infringed. For those that think it is all reasonable and for our own safety, I have some chains and cotton wool for you gratis, I hope the chains rest lightly on you, the cotton wool adequately cushions you and fills the void between your ears and we forget you were ever our Countrymen!

“If you love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; May your chains set lightly upon you and may our posterity forget that you were our Countrymen.”
― Samuel Adams

 

[Stringmaker]

I have a small packet to send shortly; I shall report back on the encounter...

 

[ozzy1977]

I must be lucky, my post office does not ask what I am posting, they know its none of their business. the one in Hadleigh I some times have to use make you put your own label's on and leave them in a cubby hole at the end of the counter, they don't touch them until the cubby hole is full, nothing stopping people walking in and helping them selves.

In 5 years of using Hermes, through interparcel I have only had 1 go missing and compo was paid with in a week, cant say fairer than that. probably over 500 parcels to

 

[dwardo]

Should we all come up with a shared term or description? See if it makes it back to head office or the press?
I like the idea of the adult toys response but maybe something more confusing and less provocative? On the lines of my garden gnomes, something hard to argue with but still they know its rubbish.

 

[Whittler Kev]

I now feel so lucky.
Always polite and helpful staff at the sub PO. I send my squirrel cookers by RM but larger stuff here (http://www.interparcel.com/quote/) loads cheaper. A fire tripod 5' tall and a squirrel cooker with no problems and I reckon sub £30 (over £60 with RM)

*Just checked 20kg and 2m by 10cm by 10cm next day delivery for £9.49 +vat with TNT *

 

[Midnitehound]

Should we all come up with a shared term or description? See if it makes it back to head office or the press?
I like the idea of the adult toys response but maybe something more confusing and less provocative? On the lines of my garden gnomes, something hard to argue with but still they know its rubbish.

That one deserves some thought until we hit a eureka moment. 'Uncompressed rarefied air' perhaps, perfect for sending via Airmail! It needs to be something that will spread and get noticed. How about 'Dehydrated Brains', we could send it to our Politicians.

Or 'Empty batteries', "no it's alright dear, they aren't restricted, they're empty!"

'Used nipple clamp watch!' "How long should it take, it is time sensitive?!"

Or 'Bauxite', "Can you put a fragile label on that for me please love?"

Or "It is a packet of Common Sense!" or even 'Common Incense.' or a packet of 'Common Nonsense'.

Or a roll of 'Surveillance Tape'.

Any other suggestions?

 

[udamiano]

Must be lucky. We never get any of these problem at our local

although she did ask about this one

 

[rancid badger]

Unfortunately, what is in parcels is the person behind the counters business. This does not mean they have a right to know what you are posting, merely whether it appears on the "list".

Someone, somewhere has decided that the following:http://www.royalmail.com/personal/help-and-support/Tell-me-about-Prohibited-Goods is all "prohibited".

Some of it is obvious, some of it is debatable. A utility knife is not a weapon, neither is an axe or a saw etc, flick or butterfly knives are prohibited fairly simple really.

What about a paraffin stove however? what about the tiny amounts of fuel that might be lurking inside it, or in fuel lines, bottles etc? much more tricky!

So you can either tell porkies, in which case if anything goes wrong, you face the consequences, or tell the truth and find a different carrier.

 

[Whittler Kev]

Must be lucky. We never get any of these problem at our local

although she did ask about this one

 

[BearInTheWoods]

Given that they're already illegal to possess, it seems a bit pointless to prohibit the carriage of such items as kiddie-porn, machine-guns and heroin. A person is hardly likely to own up to posting them given that their mere possession is a grave offence, are they?

Yet more laws passed for the sheer hell of it.

 

[joejoe]

just had a discussion with a manager today ,,pointed out that the sign was wrong . knives are not weapons. his answer anything could be a weapon. so iasked why are your staff refusing to accept 2 inch penknives. reply igot was we have to stick to the laws

 

[dwardo]

Given that they're already illegal to possess, it seems a bit pointless to prohibit the carriage of such items as kiddie-porn, machine-guns and heroin. A person is hardly likely to own up to posting them given that their mere possession is a grave offence, are they?

Yet more laws passed for the sheer hell of it.

So far as I remember flick knives, butterfly, gravity knives etc are not illegal to own just carry and sell.

 

[onfire]

MyHermes have been shocking for me. I have had parcels due for delivery at home and at work. Some get lost but most get left outside the door as the local courier only gets paid for a single delivery attempt by MyHermes. My worst experience was when they left the parcel outside my door (on a busy street) and then, when it was stolen, denied it had been left and even forged my signature to try to prove I had signed for the item. eBay refunded me the item cost but the seller was livid and never got a penny back from MyHermes (I know what happened as my neighbour saw the delivery, saw the item propped against the door a while afterwards but it was gone when I returned home)

yep no problems for me either. 10+ parcels now and all have been delivered fine