To complain to the Post Office or just accept that this is their policy?

[THERhubarb]

I've bought a nice Sherlock Holmes mug for my brother for his birthday. It's not the full cape he wanted but then those things are expensive and he'd only wear it in public, making a spectacle of himself, so I settled for a mug.

I wrapped it up nicely, labelled it correctly and went to post it.

The woman behind the counter asked me what was in my parcel. Now normally, I post things at the village post office and I've never been asked to reveal what I'm posting before. This was the large town PO and when she asked, for a moment I just stood blinking, not sure how to answer.

She asked me again to tell her what was in the parcel so I refused. I said it was a gift and I didn't really think I wanted this invasion of privacy. She then explained that she needed to check that it wasn't a prohibited item. I assured her that it wasn't. She then asked if it was silver or gold as that would need to be insured.

Now I feel actually quite annoyed by this. I've looked at the prohibited list and it's fairly obvious; weapons, drugs, fake money, ice (!), animals, explosives, etc. I am guessing that if anyone was sending, say a loaded gun to someone, they wouldn't reveal that to the PO clerk. Yes you might get someone who really does think that they can send an ice pack to their cousins in the Bahamas and it would arrive in one piece, but these people but surely be in a minority? Is it really necessary for them to ask us to explain exactly what is in our parcels that we are posting?

As for insurance, well don't get me started! Prices have gone up yet again so not only do we have to pay the PO for a service but we have to pay again just in case they don't provide that service. What a con!

I can only imagine that being asked to explain what customers are sending is very time consuming (esp at Christmas) and a gross invasion of privacy - what if it's something private and sentimental? Why should you tell a stranger that? What if it's a dildo? (These are not listed as prohibited items)

I feel a strongly worded letter of complaint coming on from Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells. Really though, should I accept that this is just PO policy and get over it or should I stand up for the privacy of customers who already pay over the odds to the Post Office to deliver their mail and parcels?

Any courier will ask you to fill in what's in the parcel when you book it.

Was this because of the new Small Parcels rate do you think?

Bramshott, I've never been asked what is in a parcel I've sent.

TBH if I was sending a mug I'd be
"I'd like to post this parcel, please. It's a mug"

so that they know to be careful with it.

"

YABU. And I think the post office was right to refuse carriage if you refuse to say what it is. Your loss. And your brothers. I

Bramshott, parcels have to now fit into various sized boxes to ascertain their size. They are then weighed. My parcel was popped into a box which meant that it was classed as a small parcel. The weight was fine and then I got; "what's in it?"

At first I thought it was a rather weird attempt at a conversation, hence the started pause before she asked again, a little more assertively.

I resent having to tell the PO clerk and those within hearing distance, what I am sending by Royal Mail.

It's shit customer service to say the very least. If that is recent Post Office policy then they need to know how rude and shit that is. If it is just her then she needs to know how rude and shit that is.

I'm tired of paying over the odds to post items. Sometimes I end up paying more to send something than it actually cost to buy! From now on I'm going to get Amazon to send it or I'll use a courier, who are largely cheaper and less restrictive than Royal Mail I note.

Whatevs Vivienne. I wish I had sent him the whole Sherlock Holmes outfit he wanted now, just so I could say that it was an adult Sherlock Holmes costume for a bit of role play.

I have already ascertained that I am not being unreasonable. My fingers are in my ears at all posts which state the contrary

Our PO asks if the item is valuable/worth over X to establish whether it can go POD, recorded or special. I don't mind as I'd sooner pay that to know I can claim the appropriate amount if needed. They've never actually asked what it was.

As this is a case of new regulations being brought in recently regarding prohibited items, it's far easier for the PO to ask 'what is it?' than run through a long list of items until they establish it's not. It's unlikely unless you are a frequent Royal Mail customer that you would know of a change to their list - I wouldn't.

You were taking offence for no other reason than you could. Especially as it was hardly something personal/intimate/illegal.

lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala

Can we all say -

its a sex toy for mumsnetters

All across the country - bound to give the papers a laugh!

Hmm - I use Interparcel and you always have to fill in "contents" but maybe that's not universal?

When I worked in banking we use to have posties coming in to open bonds for tens of thousands of pounds. They could never account for when the money came from so we used to send off suspicious activity reports each time it happened. Some of them were probably stealing from the post and some probably had issues with "privacy" and so wouldn't say. Made no odds. We still had to ask and still had to report.

I can't get annoyed about being asked the value of a parcel's contents. That's sensible considering how many go walk about - you don't want to be under insured. Checking it's not a prohibited item - also fine. Asking rudely is not fine but pretty subjective really.

Of all the things that are wrong with Royal Mail or the Post Office this is probably not worth worrying about.

Storm in a teacup. Grow up.

holidaysarenice - great idea!

K8Middleton, no not the end of the world but after everything that is wrong with Royal Mail/the Post Office this was just the final straw. Having to tell a stranger in front of anyone nearby what I am sending felt inappropriate and wrong.

If that was all that was wrong, perhaps I could cope, but it's not. For me, it's the final nail in the coffin of the PO.

And for the record, yes I always get asked if a parcel I am sending is over x amount and it's ALWAYS for purposes of insurance. I have NEVER been offered an alternate service, just insurance.

Mushi thank you so much for taking the time to post your comment. It really pleased me to think I am worth the energy it took you to post that remark. I am deeply, deeply honoured. Seriously, I am not worthy of your attention!

TheRhubarb - if the question was pertinent (ie, appropriate to the transaction), which it was, you should have answered it. I suspect you found the question impertinent.

To be honest, it wouldn't have been an issue for me - it was a mug, nothing to be private about.

Ah but SDT, the question was not appropriate was it? She could have pointed to a list of prohibited items (which is not that long) and asked if my parcel contained any of them. Or she could have politely explained about the prohibited items and asked me to verify what was in my parcel. I might have then been a little more understanding.

And what if it had not been a mug? What if it had been a sex aid in fact? Or a lock of hair for a mysterious lover, or a set of willy shaped chocolates or some sexy underwear?

My point is that the Post Office or Royal Mail or anyone should not need to know the exact items you are paying them to deliver. They only need to know that they are not on their prohibited list.

And if I had been a customer standing at the next counter I might have thought "tight bitch is only sending a mug, what a crap gift".

Hmm - ceramics used to have to be sent by Special Delivery to be covered by insurance. Are they now covered by 1st/2nd class? (Or was it just insurance for the old standard parcels that didn't cover them?)

Again, I don't think you can be made to use a certain service to ensure insurance. It's up-selling. If something happens to the parcel and you didn't use the service that would have covered it, then it's your too bad, but it's not compulsory to do it.

You still get special delivery so I think you'd have to send by that. They'd ask you what was in it, you'd say "ceramics" and they'd charge you extra to send by special delivery.

Has anyone refused special delivery or insurance and managed to send it by standard Royal Mail without a fuss?

Yes - I do it often. As I say, pretty sure it's just up-selling.

I find it sad that you have to insure anything because it's unlikely to reach it's destination otherwise. You are paying Royal Mail for a service and they won't guarantee that their staff won't steal the stuff they're supposed to deliver. Not a good business model.

I hate Royal Mail too. They are incredibly unreliable. If I have to post anything I now send it recorded delivery because at least half of everything I post doesn't reach its destination. And stuff that I know for a fact has been sent to me often doesn't arrive. That's a really terrible service.

In our old address they were always delivering mail that wasn't for us. It was for people who lived at 26 X crescent or 26 X drive when we lived at 26 X road. None of these streets shared a postcode. And loads of my mail ended up at the houses in these other streets. It was a bloody nightmare. Delivering mail to the correct addresses is the basic service they're supposed to be offering. Once would have been a mistake, but to regularly deliver mail to the wrong houses is really awful.

Arbitary and Travel - these are my points EXACTLY. It's terrible customer service. They are literally saying that your parcel that you have paid for them to deliver might not get there if it's valuable so would you mind paying them a bit more to cover the cost of them having to give you your money back.

I have seen enough of Royal Mail to know how shoddy they are. I've already said about the slits in the envelopes to steal competition money that children sent in for charity and the Mumsnetters who were refused their Secret Santa parcels because they couldn't prove they were called "A Mumsnetter".

I've also had stuff go missing and I've found letters in the middle of the street after our postie has gone. I've picked them up and posted them myself.

There have been a few good points largely by individual postmen who have made the effort to deliver items to us with the wrong address on because he knew us so knew where to deliver it. But the bad experiences far outweigh the good.

I'm now royally fed up with them trying to sell me insurance and this intrusion into what I am posting is just the last straw. We already have a Customs service. They are only interested in profits and making us pay more than we already do.

I won't be using them again.

Then there's the old pre-preparing an 'oh dear you were out when we tried to deliver' card and not even trying to see if you're in trick. I usually work at home. I would hear the door. Indeed, I hear the mail being delivered. But they often don't knock. They just slip the card through the door and go off on their merry way, so I have to trek down to the depo.