I need to rant to someone about my postman!!!

We have a brilliant postman in this rural area, he's local so knows everyone, that's a real bonus when it comes to some of the way out spots and very odd addresses!
However a parcel posted on December 7th in Canada arrived yesterday, last year one posted in late November 2020 didn't arrive until March 2021!
I think the British postal system is pretty good when taking everything into consideration.

I can beat that!! Just before Christmas an order of some very expensive boots arrived by so called 'royal' mail parcel I was IN car on drive etc. Then went out to shops.returned and noticed card shoved in letterbox but stuck between inner and outer flaps saying 'parcel blue bin' WTF!?!?!? failed to mesh. BIN DAY!!! Parcel? Nope! Bin empty? YEP!! boots? GONE!!!. Luckily sender I wired and Resent I tried to contact post office and spent25 minutes looking online for contact!?!? None other than phone number so reluctantly then spent another 25 minutes holding on without answer In Queue! Disgusting and cannot see how to get round it. I told supplier what had happened and that they're really taking a risk using royal mail as they're worse than other carriers. They were unperturbed. Know will only use sellers who use either for DHL or Hermes etc NEVER use those using postal service. I had another allegedly "signed for" shoved in letterbox sticking out yet my DS had paid for services it was gift card what I'd it had been stolen from letterbox? P.O. had said that I HAD signed even though I never did. They're a bunch of idiots imo

Ele19

No one seems to have mentioned the ease of going online to get your parcel redelivered on a day you know you will be in rather than trek to sorting office?! Have nothing but good to say about my posties here & get fair amount of parcels, maybe they like ringing doorbell to catch me in my dressing gown!

Really? Funny as I have done this and delivery came three days later, granted it was at the time slot but we weren't in as it was two days late!!! As I've said they're a bunch of lazy idiots!

Plus if I'm ACTUALLY IN why on earth would I change the delivery date???

My regular post woman is great, leaves parcels in our agreed safe place and gives me extra time to get to the door. Obviously I don’t have this relationship with her reliefs but when parcels are returned to delivery office there’s always the option to rearrange delivery. Some areas of Sheffield have been experiencing lack of mail deliveries with this being explained as due to staff shortages. On the whole no complaints

gillybob

He probably didn't have the parcel with him Craftycat! Its a sneaky trick but some of the posties (not mine he's brilliant) don't bother to bring the parcels out with them. It used to happen to me all the time when I lived in my last house. Our sorting office is the same. There is no-where to park without paying extortionate charges in the town centre.

My house is sometimes like an Amazon mini sorting office as the postman knows I am normally in on a friday afternoon (early finish) and gives me parcels for what seems like the entire street (mostly young people out at work). i don't mind 'cos he's lovely and I feel sorry for him humping them around.

We've had this happen too, my husband opened the door as the postman was pushing the card through saying he'd missed us and the postman had to admit he didn't have it with him. For many people Royal Mail don't offer a parcel delivery service at all, just a collection service from your sorting office, which often isn't local. In Dorset it can involve an expensive bus journey to pick it up, or parking fees higher than the cost of delivery. No wonder people prefer couriers.

I had four late Christmas cards in January this year, all correctly addressed and posted well before the last posting date.

Nannypiano - I used to share a milk round with my former husband. I changed batteries in smoke alarms, light bulbs, posted letters (well, you'll be passing the box anyway won't you dear?) helped complete forms for benefits claims (it was going to help them pay our bill after all!) and provided entertainment to the lads on a local farm where I reversed the car and trailer to turn round at the end if my little bit of the round. They used to strategically park their tractors to make it more difficult then watch from the barn doorway! I enjoyed those times, but it was not a job, it was a way of life with very long and antisocial hours. BTW, we are 'mourning' our lovely Post lady - she got a new job! But we did wish her well ... grudgingly!!!! Hermes here - very good and Amazon too. When we first moved here we had a few parcels 'delivered' over a 6ft wall, despite being marked Fragile!! Thankfully those days are long gone.

If you don't want to go to the sorting office just go online to royalmail.com and book a redelivery.

I tend to avoid ordering from companies that use Hermes for deliveries as I've had bad experiences from them. I usually find the post office very reliable.

Some years ago I came home from work and found the postman/woman had left a parcel in the middle of my dining room. It turned out we'd left the door unlocked and he/she had gone round the back to find somewhere to leave the parcel and found the door unlocked. I worked out how it had happened and realised that the door had been unlocked for weeks! Needless to say I was very grateful to that post person!

At my old house the postman constantly stepped on my wall to climb over it to get to next door, he didn't want to walk down my drive (1 car's length) to next door. The wall eventually collapsed. I was able to get a picture of him climbing over the wall to next door without him knowing. I complained to the post office and they questioned him. He said "I have never climbed over that wall."! A manager came round to argue their case, but on seeing the photo, they paid for the wall to be re-built! And I never saw that postman again. So complaining can get you results, just got to get irrefutable evidence. Little old me beat the Post Office, good feeling.

Our Postie is really nice, as was the one at our old house; both really helpful. Thank God. However, if we are not at home, the collection point is miles away, horrendously difficult to find and impossible to get near, let alone park near. I feel particularly sorry for anyone who does not have a car as it is nowhere near a bus route. I honestly don’t know how they got permission to close the old collection office and replace it with this one.

Jaylou

At my old house the postman constantly stepped on my wall to climb over it to get to next door, he didn't want to walk down my drive (1 car's length) to next door. The wall eventually collapsed. I was able to get a picture of him climbing over the wall to next door without him knowing. I complained to the post office and they questioned him. He said "I have never climbed over that wall."! A manager came round to argue their case, but on seeing the photo, they paid for the wall to be re-built! And I never saw that postman again. So complaining can get you results, just got to get irrefutable evidence. Little old me beat the Post Office, good feeling.

Did you ever ask him not too climb on the wall, before taking his photo and complaining.
He has probably now been sacked from his job.

I did, and there was a sign. He wasn't a nice person either. I didn't mention he had to walk over my flower bed to climb over the wall. I have no sympathy for him, he damaged my flower bed, broke my wall, lied to his managers, left post hanging out the letterbox, if he couldn't do the job properly he shouldn't have become a postman. Maybe harsh of me, but he did pea me off.

My post woman is a complete joy, her name is Vicki, she goes out of her way to be helpful and if I am not in she hides my parcel and puts a note through the door so I can find it.

Our postie sometimes comes round twice. Once in his van with bigger parcels and then again a short while later with the letters and small carryable items.

Our regular postman Bob is absolutely brilliant. I have even said if there is no reply he can open the door and leave the mail on the stairs, I completely trust him….(there is nearly always someone in because my daughter-in-law works from home but cannot always answer the door obviously)

Our postman doesn’t do parcel deliveries. It’s a separate round done by a postman in a van. He does a much larger round with his van full of parcels and doesn’t put cards through Willy nilly.
Our town has 50,000 residents so maybe that’s why they do it this way?

It depends. They obviously are only allowed to carry an overall weight for health and safety reasons. Yours won't be the only parcel for delivery that day. Its like beat the clock to so they have to complete all duties within a given time. Add to that any back or other injuries he may have whilst pressurised to work when unfit. Remember the days when postmen just delivered a few letters but still have 2 deliveries a day. Sorting staff as well as delivery staff? Different ball game now. Well I won't name my delivery company which dropped my packet streets away and ran over it to. Delivered by a member of the public and it wasn't Royal Mail. The government took 85% of all RM profits even after they allowed other companies to cherry pick the best profitable parts off. I know which delivery company I trust. Notices were put up because staff get effed and cc at. Assaulted and even wished cancer on their children by public. Most customers thankfully are very courteous.

If airmail isn't paid for then overseas parcels and letters ho by surface/sea and the timescale is 3 months as a rule provided no stores force them into harbours

Exactly or ring them up.

This thread was started 5 years ago, not sure if things have changed.
We live 15 miles from central London but havnt had a daily delivery fir a long time. Generally post comes every 2 or 3 days, never anything personal. I do miss getting handwritten letters.

Know how you feel .., but not Postman or DHL etc all fine
But Hermes ugh!
Even though we’re in a secure dockyard and fortunate to have outside our locked on wall letter box and a separate large parcel box
The only problem we ever get is if it’s Hermes delivering
Seems they are incapable of telling the truth, they say the same ‘we were out,’ ‘we missed them’
if they had really called they would’ve had to go through gated security and at house seen these boxes available
They drive us mad we’re even sitting waiting for them..
And they still blame the customer for missing them
We try to avoid Hermes deliveries, but it’s not always possible..,

If I was you I’d complain to the office.

My current postman is great. My Yodal and Hermes delivery drivers are great too. But I cringe when I rider something and see that it is going to be delivered by DPD. I live in a ground floor flat and none residents have to press the buzzer to gain entry. I was expecting my new glasses from the opticians, the buzzer rang I pressed to let him in and then I heard a thud. He had literally thrown my glasses through the door into the entrance hall. He’s done this with several parcels. I had a fresh food parcel that was obviously too big for him to throw so he just opened the outer door and slid it in. Anyone in the block could have fallen over it or stolen it. And recently I bought a vacuum cleaner that needed to be returned, the retailer arranged collection with DPD ? I was sent notification on for occasions of a time and date for collection by DPD and was in on each occasion. It was never collected. The first time apparently the driver couldn’t find my address, the second time apparently it wasn’t ready for collection and on the third and fourth times apparently he was told there was nothing to collect ?‍♀️. I asked the retailer to use a different company and it’s gone today with UPS (hopefully)!