Post Office questioning - Lighthearted

[LongDistanceClaret]

My Post Office has self-service tills as well as cashiers. When you use self-service to send a parcel there is a screen asking if it contains any prohibited items - all fine - select 'no'. But when you use the tills, they always ask what's in the parcel.

Does anyone find this a little bit Stasi like or is it just me? I try to spend my time while queuing thinking of the most generic word possible for what I am sending. Occasionally I forget and blurt out what it is - recently this was body massager (don't ask!) which I am sure amused the cashier a bit.

I just don't know why they can't show you a sheet with the stuff you can't send and ask if the parcel contains any of those things as per the self-checkout.

I have a theory they do it for fun to see what the most most random thing anyone has ever said when they asked the question.

I think they also want to sell you insured services which is one reason they ask what it is - often followed by asking you the value.

I've always answered ”nothing that I'm not allowed to post” and left it at that. A long hard stare works too. I do post a lot of parcels and they want the queue moving so they don't query it.

Of course, you could just say ” it's not mine, a strange bloke in a car just asked me to post it for him” and watch the reactions

I genuinely don't understand why people don't want to disclose the contents. You want a company to deliver your item, of course you should declare the contents so that they can check it isn't going to have an impact on their operations. Every courier I have ever used also asks, its not just RM.

Yes, I know this was light-hearted, but responses like FallonsTearoom puts the clerk in a difficult position. The PO regularly mystery shop their counters, and your smart-arsed reply or 'hard stare' could mean they get a disciplinary.

If you don't want to abide by RMs t&cs by declaring the contents, don't use the service!

But, Pink, you don't have to say what is in the parcel at self-service, only what's not in it. Why is that?

"A long hard stare works too."

Bloody hell, how ludicrous. The cashiers ask a simple question because they have to, they're not fair game to be ridiculed.

I was surprised when my local post office didn’t ask me. Had a nice chat once about that bloke who posted bombs to London.

I hate it too. I just use Hermes now online or buy postage myself online - much easier and cheaper!

I don't know why you don't need to declare it at self-service, but I do know that it's not the counter clerk's fault, and it's certainly not on to put them in a difficult position by refusing to answer the question.

I always hear about people being asked about the contents of the parcel but I've never been asked at my local post offices. Last week I was sending off some of my secondhand reusable nappies and was secretly hoping they would ask so that I could get some weird looks.

SEX GLOVE

www.thepoke.co.uk/2019/05/01/epic-tale-public-embarrassment-anyone-taken-parcel-post-office/

Yes I find it unnecessarily intrusive when I’m asked what’s in my parcel, and I reply, “nothing that is on the prohibited list” but my local post office nosey paker says “oh but we need to know exactly what’s in it...so what’s in it?”
“Just a birthday present for my nephew... nothing on the prohibited list”. This is not sufficient and she will refuse to take the parcel until I have disclosed exactly what is in it!
Even saying “Toiletries” wasn’t enough once and I had to detail soap and a facecloth which was a present for my mil.
She’s an older lady and quite prim and proper, I’m always so tempted to say “butt plugs and nipple tassels”.
I don’t send parcels now through the post office.

I have thought that, I have a click & drop account and when I am doing the online postage at home I just click to confirm no it does not contain any prohibited items but It the PO is doing it they would not ask that as a question they would want to know what was in it. I go into great detail on the rare occasions I buy postage at the PO eg "a black wool mix cardigan, size 14, hardly worn with attractive pearl buttons" after a few parcels they revert to "anything prohibited?"

I found out last Christmas that there are issues with sending alcohol. They wanted to know exactly what percentage volume the alcohol was. Apparently over certain amount it can't be sent via Royal Mail.

We ended up having a big discussion about the strength of gin liqueur. Not sure we got the definitive answer but she let me send it eventually.

The lady is just doing her job though Jodri, this is what the PO requires their staff to ask. It is not the clerk being nosy. Toiletries can cover anything from soap to aftershave. If you had been a mystery shopper she would have failed by not asking!

When they first started this malarkey they used to show you a list at our PO and ask if anything on the list was in your parcel. Now they ask the contents and how much it’s worth. I reckon they’re just nosy! 😁

I presume that everyone who doesn't want to comply wouldn't have a problem if someone else didn't declare the contents correctly and subsequently damaged your parcel in transit?

Post office counter clerk here 😬😬 we have to ask 11 billion questions. The "whats inside question" is to do with the safety of transporting the parcel. We can actually be closed down if we don't ask it.

The how much is it worth and where is going are to make sure that the customer has the correct service. If you sent a mobile phone worth £500 standard 1st and it got lost you would get your postage back and you would probably be at my counter complaining that I didn't offer the right service.

We know ourselves we sound like the Spanish inquisition and I really do ask those questions in my sleep 😂

I've always answered ”nothing that I'm not allowed to post”

The thing is, people will say that when the item is restricted because they don't know it is. Or because they do know it's restricted and want to send it anyway.

Perhaps some staff are a bit nosy about it, but that's why they want to know what you're sending.

I usually just say "An item of clothing".

I used to have to send samples of my pony’s poo to a lab to check for worms. Although the prepaid envelope could be put straight in the postbox, at times I was tempted to take it to the counter just so I could say “horse shit” when asked!

I want allowed to send crackers to my family one year - as they are explosive! Wouldn’t mind but I used them and not one actually banged!

@TurnipFish

I used to have to send samples of my pony’s poo to a lab to check for worms. Although the prepaid envelope could be put straight in the postbox, at times I was tempted to take it to the counter just so I could say “horse shit” when asked!

I live in a rural area so that and dog shite is completely normal for the worm counts...and human poo for the bowel cancer screening.

"An item of clothing" is a perfect response..."nothing restricted" doesn't help us and we will press for more info..I wouldn't send it if you wouldn't tell me what exactly was inside...a mobile phone can be sent domestically but not to certain countries..the same goes for cash, clothes and other random objects.

It's nothing to do with the PO clerk what is in the parcel. As long as they've asked you to confirm that there's nothing prohibited inside it, that's where their entitlement to know finishes. I couldn't give a flying fuck if they don't like the public knowing their rights.

Plus with Royal Mail Click and Drop you can print postage at home and drop your parcel in a parcel post box without ever seeing a single member of staff to interrogate you about your parcel’s contents.

I deliberately put lighthearted because I didn't mean for this to be a clerk-bashing thread. I know they are doing their job.

I find it odd that it's one rule for self-service and click and drop (RM clearly are happy to post your parcel without knowing the specifics), and another when you go to the cashier. I'm a fan of consistency, me.

But I do wonder if it's just the most efficient way for them to get to the nub of it. E.g if you answer clothing, they don't need to ask about batteries etc (or maybe they should if it's a Christmas jumper ). Or if you say 'tea towel', they don't need to ask about the value being more than £20, etc.