To complain about postie forging my signature for important document delivery?

[Speccytwit]

I was not home when I received a text informing me that my large letter had been delivered and signed for.

The photograph showed my front door and a signature ( not mine)

i arrived home about an hour later and the letter was in my mailbox on the wall next to the door ( we don’t have letterbox)

There were original birth certificates which were being returned - the sender had paid £8.35 in order that they be safely delivered to my own hands.

Obviously I was happy to not have to go and collect the letter from the sorting office - but not too pleased knowing that my valuable docs weren’t taken care of

My postie once did this with passports I was desperately waiting for. I was nothing but grateful.

This cannot be serious. They were trying to do you a favour! Would you prefer that the letter was taken back to the depot, you had to arrange a redelivery, you missed the redelivery, it goes back to the depot again, you have to schlep to the depot to pick it up in the two hours they’re open…

Of course I was pleased to get them back and not have to retrieve from sorting office or wherever .

I think you'd be complaining for the sake of it. You've got your letter ffs.

If you don't want your postie to do this then ask them not to. Don't get them into trouble making a complaint.

Anyone can order a birth certificate for anyone so it's not a big deal. Although that's not the point as postie presumably didn't know what was in the letter

Was it DWS - delivered without signature? Which is pretty standard.
How does the postie complain that (a) you went out (b) you don't have a letterbox?

The views of posties was a big awakening for me. I agree with you OP but look up any thread on this topic and you'll see the majority thinks that posties can do whatever they want, whether that be let themselves into your house without permission to drop off parcels or sign for a letter as they're 'doing you a favour'.

I agree with OP. Surely they're supposed to take it back to the office, and either try again the next day or leave a card for you to collect it. Otherwise, what's the point of signed for deliveries? Also, surely it's fraudulent in some way?

If you pay for signed for postage then that is a pretty clear message to the postie that you don't want him to forge your post and leave it in an unsafe place.

What have you got to complain about? You got your delivery. I'm a postie and we can't win. If we leave something and the person isn't in we get moaned at. If we take the parcel/letter back to the office we get moaned at too.

Everyone saying it's fine - what if someone had stolen OP's letter from the mailbox? What if it were a small package from a retailer instead? She would have "signed for" it and thus it would have looked like it had been delivered to her. This forgery would then leave her with more difficulties than otherwise trying to get the item redelivered (actually delivered to her).

What other professions do you think we should all have to ask not to do illegal things? Or just to not forge our signatures?

OP chooses to have a mailbox on the wall rather than a postbox.
That's her choice. If it is unsafe that's her fault.
Postie delivered to that point.

This...

I’m always very grateful when my postie does this. Saves me having to go to the sorting office which is never open when I can get there.

DH has been a postie for 15 years and you wouldn’t believe the petty things people complain about (and even fabricate entirely). They can’t win.

You got your documents and you were saved a trip - why would you get the postie in trouble by complaining? Just have a polite word next time you see them, then either invest in a parcel box or go to the sorting office yourself.

What is someone had broken into OP's house and stolen her birth certificate?
She needs to sort her mailbox out if she deems the point at which the postie delivers to be unsafe.

Postie delivered to that point - but forged my signature

The sender deliberately chose to have it delivered directly to OP. The precise set-up of where the post gets left at OP's home is irrelevant here, because the sender specified that the post be delivered to a person directly and paid accordingly. If OP had a door with a flap through which letters went, while this might be somewhat safer, it still wouldn't be fine for the letter to go through there, as it was specifically meant to be signed for by a person who opened the door.

You state shows a signature, but not yours.
Has the postie actually attempted to write - Speccytwit?

Our postie does this all the time and I'm quite pleased!

I might have complained had the birth certificates gone missing, but given all was well he has saved you a bit of hassle! Don't complain

Please don’t complain about this! Most of us appreciate the postie using a bit of common sense when delivering things, especially as the hours the office is open for collection is so limited.

If it was left on your doorstep you’d have reason to complain but not when it was left safely in a mailbox.

@Speccytwit please do report this postie as they've illegally interfered with the mail, that's a massive no no. This postie will continue to do this until he/she is stopped and next time it could be something important like court documents and if they go missing or get delivered to an old address but are signed for that's proof of service

As an aside. You no longer have to sign for passports. A postie can simply post them through a letterbox.

You never had to but you could pay extra to have it sent by recorded delivery, you still can