Thread: The Royal Mail and Recorded Delivery

Now I'd stand with you there.


7 items sent recorded in the last fortnight, 3 of them showing as not delivered yet. I think they have though.

Royal Mail are shocking!!!

In all fairness, all my items have shown as delivered, and promptly.

This could be an issue of sloppy working practices in certain sorting offices, rather than an endemic issue. However, regional sloppiness should indicate that training is required in these offices, and it should be implemented accordingly. The next time you speak to them (if you speak to them...) you might want to raise this as a point.

Whatever you do, keep us posted.

Oh, don't get me started on the Royal Mail & Recorded Delivery/missing/delayed letters....I could recount some tales

When I have something important to send, I do it via Special Delivery now - had my fingers burnt too many times....

Cheers

Michael

I got a recorded delivery letter yesterday - through the door, didn't even sign for it!

I worked for Royal Mail for 19 years, and I'm afraid that postmen overall don't handle Recorded Delivery items with the same deference as Special Delivery items. Many do the job by the book, some don't.

Special Delivery items travel seperately to mainstream mail, and at the point of delivery the postperson has to physically take responsibility for the item. With recorded deliveries, he or she first has to declare that such items are in their possession.

Bearing in mind that a recorded delivery item might cause a postman/woman to have to journey back to their delivery office if undelivered, rather than possibly go straight home, it's obvious why such things occur. An undelivered Special Delivery item will also cause the delivery person to have to return to their office, but the potential intrinsic value of such items means that the rules are broken far more infrequently (rarely in fact).

I personally don't mind if a postman delivers a recorded delivery item if he signs for it and thereby takes responsibility for it's delivery. There are obviously some premises where this might be undesirable, but equally others regard it as the postmen doing them a favour. If it's just plonked through the letterbox as a normal letter, then it's patently not traceable, and in all probability the postman hasn't even acknowledged it's existence.

These days in particular, delivering mail is a physically demanding job. Postmen and women deliver three or four times the volume of mail that they delivered twenty years ago. In fact the sheer amount of mail is quite overbearing physically, and therefore mentally too. I don't mean to justify shortcomings in Royal Mail's service. This post is about reason, rather than excuse.

I've been a postie for nearly 10 years (and still am!). Sending an item recorded delivery guarantees nothing, except that it SHOULD be signed for on delivery and you can then prove it has been delivered. (note I say should - unfortunately some Royal Mail employees are imbeciles who wouldn't get a job anywhere else)

We have nothing to do with scanning the barcodes in, we just peel the barcode off the item and stick on the delivery card, get the signature and the next day hand it into the locker at the office. The responsibility of confirming delivery on the website/by telephone stands with the person working in the locker, not the postman.

However the system fails because RM don't really care about recorded items. If you don't hand your delivery card in the next day, no-one ever asks for it unless it has Special Delivery items on it. I suppose this is partly the postmans fault for not handing it in (can be forgotten) but is largely managements fault for not chasing up the delivery cards.

If we can't deliver a recorded item because the person isn't in, we don't have to travel back to the office. Recorded items are treated as normal mail apart from the signature and can be returned via a postbox.

I have been doing my round for a few years so know a lot of my customers, I sign for a lot of their items myself when they aren't in, and they appreciate me doing it. Obviously I wouldn't risk it if I hadn't asked the customer first if thats what they wanted. This isn't offical policy btw and RM would frown upon it, although we did used to have a special delivery service where the postman actually signed to say the item had been delivered. I've no idea why it disappeared but it was great for us as it meant no hanging around for people to get up!

And whoever mentioned the sides of envelopes being split open, it's a fairly common occurrence (well I suppose seeing a couple a day out of thousands of letters isn't THAT common!) and IS caused by the sorting machines. Envelopes with a lot of paperwork in are particularly frail, as it doesn't take much shaking for a wad of paper to rip a thin envelope.

I have never ever had a single item of mail I have sent go missing, maybe it's because I see it everyday and make sure my items are well wrapped and addressed. I always:

Seal envelopes with sellotape - the glue on many is rubbish and easily comes unstuck.

Wrap all parcels in lots of padding.

Write a return address in small letters on the back of every letter and parcel.

Don't use very dark envelopes or fancy colour pens, the machines can't read them properly and they will end up being delayed as they are rejected to be manually sorted.

ALWAYS use the postcode and write it properly - don't write say 'S2 4BP' as S24 BP' as it will be sent to the wrong place and delayed until it is manually sorted to the right area.

Simple things but I see loads of items every day with all the above not done properly, some with half an address, just a street name, some with no address at all but just a postcode! Not to mention completely illegible writing, you need a degree in cryptology to decipher some of the writing!

Lastly anything important send special delivery, I know it isn't cheap but it is the best next day delivery service in the country, tracked from start to finish and fully insured.

Cheers Rob, I think a lot of people just wanted a rant at a large entity.

I don't for 1 minute say that a posties job is easy, but like anything public facing, 1 bad employees cause a ripple affect. It's easier to pee someone off than make them happy. Todays culture of taking everything for granted I suppose.

I didn't take it personally, I know I do a good job, I also do plenty to help customers above and beyond what I am supposed to do.

Unfortunately there are some posties that while not being dishonest, are basically useless. They would get the sack from most jobs, yet nothing is ever said to them. The blame for that lies entirely with RM's management.

The job has changed beyond all recognition in 10 years, I have at least 4 bags of mail to deliver now, also since we changed to 1 daily delivery we don't even leave the office until around 8.30 (8 on a good day!), so everyone still expecting their mail before lunchtime is unrealistic, someone has to be last! (although a few of us are out of the office as soon as we can, and run round without a break to earn time for ourselves). We are paid until 1.45pm now so unless the mail comes after that it isn't late (I know some people sometimes get it at 3pm+ or later, but spare a thought for the postie who is probably doing your round on overtime to cover sickness after having already done his own!)

I think a lot of people think we just walk into the office, pick a bag up and walk out again, if only! 3 hours sorting is the norm now, we spend as much time indoor as we do outdoors, often more.

It's easy to have a go at a large corporation, and believe me we do it as much as anyone! It's only going to get worse as more and more budget cuts take effect.

As a sweetener to us Alan Leighton is lobbying the government to give employees 20% of the company in shares, which we would only be able to sell within the company. I wonder if Mr Leighton and friends would be interested in buying up all those shares and pushing RM towards privatisation, with him the majority shareholder?

Now I AM impressed - I received a letter from the bank's solicitors yesterday, and sent a reply by return of post. It went recorded delivery yesterday, posted at 16:30. I have just logged onto 'Track & Trace' - 08:20 - and I can see that it has already been delivered.

Sorry guys, Royal Mail gets 10/10 from me every time...:-|

Originally Posted by sean5302

I detest Royal Mail, with a vengeance.

I buy many items on ebay and the post and packing charge normally says "recorded delivery".

I bought a Seiko Sportura wris[EDIT - PLEASE REFRAIN FROM PERSONAL ABUSE]ch which cost an extra £10 rec. del.

I'm still waiting for it, 6 months on.
The RM agree it's not been delivered.
They wouldn't take a claim from me. I have no contract with them. Sender only.
Sender completed claim.
No joy. No insurance as rec.del. doesn't cover cash or jewellery.
So nothing.

As far as RM is concerened "have sex and travel".

Sorry, but you're the victim of a classic seller's [problem] here. Most people don't realise it which is why the sellers get away with it. First of all this is NOT the fault of the Royal Mail (even if they did lose it). You have been ripped off by the seller.

1. Even a 500g parcel - easily enough to cover the weight of a watch and it's packaging - sent by 1st class Recorded Delivery would have only cost £2.58, but maximum compensation is £32 (the same as with standard mail) and it's correct that it does not cover jewellery anyway. It's not the Royal Mail's fault that the seller used the wrong sevice to send your goods.

2. I've no idea what these watches are worth but a 500g parcel sent by Special Delivery would have arrived next working day and with extra cover up to £1000 compensation would have cost exactly £5 to send to you.

3. It is correct that you would get "no joy" from the Royal Mail, the seller has to claim because it is the seller's LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY to ensure you recieved your item. If the seller has charged you £10 he should have used the correct service, he charged you enough for it! It's not your fault that he failed to do so and as I said he is legally responsoble for your loss.

It's too late to claim from ebay or paypal if you paid that way, but you might still be able to do a credit card chargeback if that's how you paid.

What you need to do is obtain the seller's details (name and address, phone number etc., ask me if you need help on how to do this) from ebay and write to him asking for a full refund or you will enter a claim against him in the small claims court.

I agree with Seylectric here. It is the seller who should take the hit here. You've purchased the goods and can prove they have not been delivered.

The seller is in breach of contract.

British contractual law mate.

Caveat Emptor - Let the buyer beware, but until you were in receipt of goods, you haven't completed the contract.

As this was an auction, you were the offerer. You offered to buy the watch for X pounds with certain terms, 1 being delivery of aforesaid item, not just postage of item. She accepted. The only way she would be able to negate this term is if she had a condition on her ebay item stating that buyer takes all risks if insurance is not purchased (That's what I do)

She has not concluded her side of the bargain.