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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Today I was leaving the house as the postmas posted 3 'sorry you were out' cards through the door

93 replies

VirginMaryWearsPrimark · 11/12/2009 21:36

Not only did he not press our doorbell but he didn't even have the parcels.

Is it some cost cutting thing so they make us collect them from the depot?

OP posts:
edam · 12/12/2009 10:12

yes but RM management do give the posties more work than they can actually do, and do demand posties walk at (IIRC) 6m an hour for several hours on end etc. etc. etc. And Adam Crozier is paid more than any other public employee so I think he should be running a damn near perfect service in return.

TheArmadillo · 12/12/2009 10:22

This really annoys me.

Especially when I have rung up to arrange redelivery and they come with another fucking card.

Where we used to live there was no parking anywhere near the collection place. You had to queue outside (usually for an hour+) I can't blame them for the rain but once it was closing time (they were only open for a couple of hours) then the door was locked regardless of how long you had been waiting.

SO at christmas wait 2+ hours in the rain with the huge amount of parcels being collected and then have the door shut on you and told to come back another day

IneedacleanerIamalazyslattern · 12/12/2009 10:46

It is individual laziness not management or cost cutting.
They are actually not allowed to be carrying about pre written cards and not the parcels and can get into a lot of trouble over it if they are caught doing so.

The computer system that judges the length of a posties walk and time taken doesn't ask that they walk anywhere near 6 mph I cannot remember how fast it is will ask DH later, these are things that have been grossly exhagerated in recent times.

Whenever I tell DH or any of his mates about some of these stories I read on here they are always disgusted and TBH pissed off that these minority (and believe it or not they are the minoroty) are giving the rest of them such a bad name.

FabIsVeryFestive · 12/12/2009 10:49

Someone please email this to the PO top man and ask why they do it.

FanjoForTheMankySocks · 12/12/2009 10:57

SOmeone asked for a good tip for a postman?

How about: "Deliver the parcels and don't assume people are not in"..

FanjoForTheMankySocks · 12/12/2009 10:57

And no offence to any posties meant, ours are actually really good, I just couldn't resist a rubbish joke!

AitchTwoToTangOh · 12/12/2009 10:58

i ADORE our postie and he will be getting a big tip from us as usual, however he'd told us that he was going on holiday and for those few days our service went to hell in a handbasket. we get heaps of parcels delivered every week, and suddenly we were getting the 'sorry you weren't in' cards instead. appalling. and you simply can't ring the sorting office any more, the tel nos route to a call centre.

i moaned about it on FB and a pal of mine reported that he had actually buzzed a postie into the building and the guy had still put a card through his door.

FanjoForTheMankySocks · 12/12/2009 10:59

ours are so good that they give us parcels for our neighbours who are out at work nearly every day, which is actually a pain in the ass for us, but great for the neighbours.

PurpleLostPrincess · 12/12/2009 11:08

I feel I should mention that it IS the minority because we seem to have all sorts of different post people doing our round at the moment (and carrying out aforementioned laziness), wheras before, we had a lovely lady who would flag me if she saw me leaving the house, or we had an agreement to put the parcel in the recycling bin and put a card through to let me know it was there. Just in case I would check the recycling bin regularly too. She was lovely and did her job properly. If she was doing our round now, I would give her a Christmas tip

It's a shame these people are giving a bad reputation to those who do their job properly, so not fair!

HeffaMerryChristmas · 12/12/2009 11:16

That's terrible . Hope you complain!

Ours is great and always tries to deliver it. Sometimes he knocks on the door to tell me that there was a parcel for me, it was too big for him and that his colleague will deliver it in the van later so I know to stay in.

IneedacleanerIamalazyslattern · 12/12/2009 11:18

I know there is no excuse for the card through the door things absolutely none that is just pure laziness but posties are also damned if they do damned if they don't.

Posties aren't supposed to leave parcels with neighbours or in an outhouse or something.
The ones that do are really doing you a favour and putting their faith in the fact that you are all decent human beings that will not be on the phone next day to the sorting office saying "I got a card saying my parcel was in bin/shed whatever and it wasn't there when I got back home" while lovingly stroking afforementioned parcel and cackling quietly at getting one over the royal mail. People do this believe me so please try and remember thay are human beings with a crappy job to do and crappy management telling them how to do it and the majority of them do try and help you out by doing things like this and the minority are the bone idle don't care.

ruddynorah · 12/12/2009 11:34

our normal postie is lovely, always rings the bell and if we are out he'll leave things in the bin store. easy peasy.

when he's away it's a different story. i hate it when they ring the bell and in the 2 seconds it takes to get myself to the door i can see the postie trying to ram the parcel into the letterbox, ripping it and squashing it. 'oh i didn't think you'd be in' they say time and time again. fgs. i may well have paid best part of £5 to have that now ripped and squashed thing delivered.

dilemma456 · 12/12/2009 15:16

Message withdrawn

oldraver · 12/12/2009 21:12

I had similar happen, I was walking into the hall, saw someone through the door and the postie posting a 'while you were out card'. The door was locked and by the time I had got shoes on and unlocked door he had scooted up the road. I did phone the sorting office and moan point it out to them. I had the postie knocking on my door half an hour later saying he had to dash as he had a 'timed one round the corner'. I have actually locked myself out chasing the parcel van driver who did this as well

I now have a fab postie

ahedgehogisdueinMarch · 12/12/2009 21:34

On a similar vein we have had several recorded delivery items put through without signing for them.

We also get the cards when DH is in - he works nights and goes to bed after the postman arrives to collect parcels.

Some couriers leave things in our recycle bin and don't leave cards so I have had to ring several companies and ask for replacements due to their incompetence and some companies just leave them behind the recycle bin so things could quite easily be nicked.

AND we have hundreds of red elastic bands on our path and on our lawn (although the lawn ones are now cut up due to DH mowing the lawn!!)

addictedtofrazzles · 12/12/2009 21:38

This happened to me yesterday...and I was in...no doorbell rung and no parcel delivered, just a card saying 'you were out'. My local sorting office (in SW London) is always busy, it is impossible to park anywhere nearby and I now have to drag my toddler with me for a 40 minute wait. Whoop-whoop .

ilovemydogandmrobama · 12/12/2009 21:41

Get this. During the postal strikes, the driver of the courier company signed for the pack himself and then shoved it through the letter box

domesticslattern · 12/12/2009 22:15

They do this in my area too (London, again). You can tell they came planned for it because the cards are neatly written and clearly not scrawled on the doorstep in the rain.

Makes a change though from the time the Royal Mail carefully left our parcel in our recycling bin, with no card, so it was there all week before I put the newspapers out and discovered a £120 coat in my bin.

LoveBeingAMummyKissingSanta · 13/12/2009 08:47

BTW don't count on the redelvery service either I waited in on sat for two that were meant to be redelivered and they didn't turn up

mrspnut · 13/12/2009 09:14

Our Postie is fantastic, and we can always tell when he's on holiday.

All the parcels on the street get delivered to an elderly lady who lives about half way down and we go and collect them from there after work.

It works out for all of us, we don't have to go to the sorting office and she has lots of people visiting her and running errands.

mustrunmore · 13/12/2009 09:18

This thread is a revelation to me. Our parcel-postman put a missed parcel card through without knocking last week, which wound me up a bit, but even more so now I know its happening all over!! Argh. Luckily, our noraml postman is fantastic.

TipsyFairydifferentID · 13/12/2009 09:19

If you're all interested, Panorama are doing a feasture on this tomorrow night at 7.30pm. Saw it advertised on the news this morning.

Blondeshavemorefun · 13/12/2009 09:43

annoying

luckily we have a fab postie who knows we both work and will leave with neighbour/behing house and stick a note through door saying where parcels are

he also gets a good tip each xmas as he saves me loads of time/stress in not having to go and collect them

CremeDeMenthe · 13/12/2009 09:52

My postie is great. He leaves stuff with the neighbours & vice versa. Although I was a bit the other day when the (I think relief-) postie took it upon himself to sign for my recorded delivery letter and stick it through the letter-box. I was here at the time and saw it plop onto the doormat.

Cistus · 13/12/2009 11:10

this happened to me on Friday, I was in ALL day ( I am unwell so at home) AND GOT TWO cards 'sorry you were out' through the door. I was flipping not out. I called and they said maybe i didn't hear the doorbell! FFS its a house not an f*ing castle!