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.

As we are in the present posting season please remember that perfume and aftershave have a high % alcohol. RM cannot put these on planes (too flammable) so they are destroyed. (Planes not trains these days.)

I live abroad. It's been taking months for Royal mail stuff to get here. My mum was supposed to come over but her f!nights got cancelled.

She sent everything she was bringing over via DHL because she didn't trust Royal mail. She put clothes, sweets, toys and books on the label of each box but they still opened each one and repackaged it. I'd rather they question the content before it's sent than decide to open it and re-pack it in transit.

I'm sorry it got a bit serious LongDistance, it just annoys me that the counter staff get so much shitty attitude for doing their job properly 😁

Every so often I get rid of my kids' junk modelling by packing it up in a box and sending it to my mother as a 'gift'. I get an odd look when I say that I am posting a bag of rubbish.... sometimes I say 'cardboard and stuff' which also gets me an odd look... At least I have a very clear answer when they ask if it's valuable!

@LongDistanceClaret

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.

If you say clothing we are meant to ask if it's inflatable safety wear as they contain a type of explosive 🤣 I dont think I've ever checked unless its horseriding stuff or skiing clothing.

The strangest thing I ever sent was a brick and yellow pages to a political party using their freepost return envelope.. I had to check with the powers that be but we had to let it go through 🤩

If you say clothing we are meant to ask if it's inflatable safety wear as they contain a type of explosive

They don't, they contain a small gas canister containing carbon dioxide, that's very robust and designed for safe transport and containment of the gas.

I believe you can transport a small amount and it's below the requirements for transporting dangerous goods. This is the problem. The Post Office are applying dangerous goods regulations that are designed for bulk transport and generally don't apply to the amounts sent by members of the public to all shipments, probably because they think it's easier to ban all dangerous goods rather than ask how many of such items are in the parcel.

Books, DVDs, clothes or cycling accessories are generally sufficiently benign decoy answers to avoid further questions or having to admit to posting something embarrassing.

They have to ask and should be. PO worker for 4years until recently. Batteries is one of the main reasons they ask. Anything flammable, even nail varnish you aren't allowed to send if there are more than 3 bottles. Also if you're sending to different countries they have different rules too.

I bet the clerks love you coming in @FallonsTearoom with your 'long hard stares'.

I can imagine they press the people who defensively say 'nothing I'm not allowed to post' and are being rude because most people wouldn't be so cagey if they were just sending a pair of socks or a cuddly Iggle Piggle.

When you use self-service to send a parcel there is a screen asking if it contains any prohibited items - all fine - select 'no'

People with poor literacy (or no reading glasses) don't want to be asked about a long list of prohibited items, very much faster to ask them "what's in it" then to ask them a million questions about what is not in it.

Also, when giving list of prohibited items, you're asking for ability to identify what is a truly not allowed item, it's a tougher question to get correct.

Last time I posted anything I had to tell them it was a package of hair, which it genuinely was. That got a bit of a look.

I enjoy a lot of banter at my post office. The 'just two kilos of cocaine today' normally raises a smile.