OT: Parcel Force failure

I'm not going to guess on that but a few years ago I had a DPD parcel due to arrive when I was going to be out, so I used their system to change delivery for a day later, but they sent it back to the sender instead. Apparently senders can specify no-redirection and mine was one of them but their system's interface with me couldn't tell me that. Since then I've always let parcels take their chance if I'm not there. Post covid drivers have been much more reluctant to take things back to depot than they were before. The Evri driver has photographed my side gate a couple of times when she's lobbed something over - no damage done. My local PO sorting office, by the way, has closed its customer service counter which tells me they aren't getting many, if any, returns, unless they are going to another, larger, sorting office.

I would have thought that a delay was just that, a delay,t he same as what I have been trying to do, not a re-direction, but these companies have their own vocabulary, unknown to the ordinary mortal, even though that is the means of communication. Our local Post Office, the location of our Post Code, has closed down and moved to a small building elsewhere. I don't know if the mail handling part of it has closed/moved or whatever.

Today's message from Parcel Farce: "Your parcel xxxxxxxx from Waitrose Ltd is due to be delivered by lee of Parcelforce today between 13:23 and 14:23."

So the idea of the delivery being delayed failed. And the driver has a lower-case first initial in his name. Although I can live with the delivery time stated ok.

It arrived at 13:24.

No problems with 6 small heavy items sent by Royal Mail over a period of

Can you enable WiFi Calling on your mobile? Depends on mobile provider, phone type, exact firmware and SIM provisioning, but if you can, it will give you good call quality in the house ...

Trains running on time? Not on any commuter line!

Summer fire hazard on our single track branch line.

Standing on the platform, you could often see coals being raked out onto the track below an approaching engine.

Fire appliance access was generally through standing cereal crops:-(

Yes indeed. I 'commuted' to school every schoolday for 7 years. Out (electric) trains were broadly on time. We used to trainspot the 'steamers' as well. They generally turned up on time, too. I am not saying they were accurate to the second - but to within a couple of minutes, yes.

The biggest problem was that commuter traffic had no slack whatsoever, so if one train were late, the option of slotting it in after one on the same track or letting the other train wait for it was a signalman's hard choice. In addition mechanical failure was always something to be aware of. But overall the staff did as good as job as they could for the limited budget available.

Until the Unions weaponised British rail.

In British industry first cull the indians rather than the chiefs and end up with too much upper and middle management with no-one to manage. Also it was often the case with voluntary redundancy that the people who had the skills to get other jobs left with redundancy payments leaving the no-hopers behind :(

The other thing mis-managed was out sourcing to a third party and then finding that the third party only did exactly what they were contracted to do with no flexibility :)

Nearly 30 years ago, a collegue, with whom I shared an office, and I were told our two jobs were being amalgamated - at a lower grade and we should both apply for it. Our boss was a bit surprised that I took early retirement and my colleague, who was a bit younger, found another department to take him on for the 18 months he needed before he, too retired. A mess was left, but that wasn't our problem.

Seems the public sector doesn't know to to write or manage contracts. That's the source of the PFI business with grass being cut whether it needs it or not, and a lighbulb change costing hundreds. The supplier turns up and says "This is our standard contract" and the fools sign it. Instead they should strike out, rewrite, and add clauses themselves. If the supplier doesn't like it they're free to withdraw.

TFTFY...

-- “A leader is best When people barely know he exists. Of a good leader, who talks little,When his work is done, his aim fulfilled,They will say, “We did this ourselves.”

― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

It seems that Parcel Force doesn't want to have you write, they publish no contact e-mail address, nor a contact 'phone number, nor even offer 'Chat'. In fact, they don't want to hear from their customers at all!