OT - Parcels

[Tim W]

Alan wibbled on Tuesday 10 November 2009 23:38

Where are your nearest TNT, Fedex, UPS and BusinessPost depots? I bet they're not in the same town...

[The Medway Handyman]

200,000? Thats not a smal village - its a fair size town?

[Dave Liquorice]

Small village 200,000? That's a medium sized town! Small village is

200 or less...

Donno where our local Parcel Force depot is, the Royal Mail Delivery Office is in the town just over miles away.

Doesn't help with Parcel Force and would only help with Royal Mail if it is also the local Delivery Office. But I appreciate your point that they keep normal working hours and thus are useless for anyone else working the same hours. Delivery Offices do tend to open reasonably early though. Bank hours annoy me, our local branches are closed Saturdays and only open 0930-1530 (one is about to go

1000-1400) when are the kids supposed to do their banking? Push the 1530 to 1600 and they could.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I love the idea of a small village being 200,000 people, too.

[pete]

One big part of the problem is the PO's insistence on trying to deliver mail when they know that largest number of people will be out. Their service is still tailored around businesses and the idea that there will be someone in the house: presumably dutifully cleaning, cooking and sewing - ready for when the breadwinner arrives back after a hard day down t' pit.

To make this work, my local postie has to leave his house at 5:45 to get to the office for 6 a.m. and start his work (gets back home at lunchtime). If they changed the timing, so that domestic post was delivered after 6 p.m. almost all the problems of people being out would disappear. The postie's job would still require odd hours: maybe 16:00 - 23:00 (and you might object to answering the door at 11p.m.) but it would get more stuff delivered securely. You never know, it might even become a USP and revitalise the industry.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Well, it looks like we are heading back to those days as well.

Homeworking is very appropriate in times of rising transport costs and falling communications costs.

As is unemployment during a depression.

[Mark]

Some couriers will refuse to leave anything with neighbours, even if you have instructed them to do so. Citilink is the worst. You have to go to collect the parcel from their depot which is miles away.

[Mark]

Last time I asked this I was told that this is impossible "for security reasons".

[Graeme]

In message , Mark writes

Well, I have never heard that before, and it certainly sounds like bull to me. The posties here often redeliver on Saturday.

[Graeme]

In message , pete writes

A good idea in theory, but would only work for domestic properties. What you suggest would mean each round being delivered twice - once during the day for business properties, and later for domestic properties. Either the postie earns huge overtime, or two posties are paid for what is effectively one job. RM are gonna love that.

Having said the above, I do understand your point, and appreciate that the problems faced by my rural sub post office with delivery office are not the same as those faced by offices in large towns or cities.

[Graeme]

In message , Bob Eager writes

This is a geographical problem, in that not all depots are the same, so what is a problem to you is not a problem to other people.

Here, sub post office, delivery office and PF deport are all the same place, and anyone can collect anything any time the PO is open. I appreciate that does not help those who want to collect in the evening.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Davey" saying something like:

It's called Post Restante and any PO will do it for you, no charge.

You simply get the sender to addy it thusly; Mr Ivor Biggun Poste Restante Large Willytown PO Knobend Burks.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Bob Eager saying something like:

How do they know where you live? The letter arrives addressed to you, you go in to pick it up, show ID and collect it.

A fine to-do if you have to travel to the next county to collect your mistresses' underthings.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Its all covered by allowable parliamentary expenses, so not a problem.

[Owain]

Both Royal Mail and Parcelforce websites state: "For letters, you can use the service for up to three months in any one UK town. " No mention of parcels. They also both say "The Poste Restante service is subject to operational capability."

Owain

[PeterC]

Bit limited on size (aircraft luggage) and weight (23kg) and value (£300), but there's

[Bob Eager]

That's what PO boxes are for !! :-)

[pete]

Well you're very lucky indeed. Until recently my town (pop. 16,000) had _one_ sub-post office. They wouldn't deal with car tax, passports or any of the thinggs that a _main_ office dealt with. The PO opened a new main office, in a portakabin some time after xmas last year. The local PO delivery office where you have to go to collect "carded" items is only open in the mornings - it used to stay open until 5:00, but now closes at 12:30. That means workers have to wait until saturday to collect stuff. The PF distribution depot for my area is an hour's drive away, then another hour home. This is all in a reasonably populous area of the S.E.

[ARWadsworth]

Send it to your local screwfix shop:-)

Adam

[ARWadsworth]

How odd? I used to have a notice in my window that said "Do not deliver parcels to no 5 if I am not in. Please use nos 3 ,6 or 9. Thank You"

Adam