Page 1 of Royal Mail packages going missing : Some info that might help

We recently ordered Buffy series 6 from play and waited patiently for it to arrive.

A week later it still hadn`t turned up so after remembering stories of packages going missing / disshonest postmen and so on I expected the worst. Mind you I have beed ordering from play for nearly 3 years now and this is the first thing to not arrive so better luck than most have had.

One morning just on my way to work and the posty is walking up our drive, he`s a nice enough bloke and been delivering to us since we moved in 5 years ago so decided to ask if things went missing often or if there was a un-deliverable property section, incase the address label had been damaged or something.

He said he wasn`t sure but suggested I ask at the local sorting office as he was on holiday the week before and knew the person who stood in for him was a bit lazy and wouldn`t carry packages if he thought he could get away with it, bag to heavy raining etc..

Basically he said this person or group of posties would just leave the packages at the un-delivered desk in the sorting office and just post a ready filled out calling card through your door wether you were in or not.

I said we didnt get a card and he went on to say that it happens quite often, maybe they forgot to put the ready filled out card through your door, or if honestly did try to deliver maybe their pen wouldn`t work, didn`t have a pen or cards, couldn`t write on cards because of rain or whatever reason but he said to go down the sorting office and see if it was there.

Sure enough on my home that afternoon I called in and just said that I have been waiting for a package that should have been delivered a few days earlier and hadn`t arrived and just wondered if it was there and sure enough it was, package hadn`t been opened or tampered with in any way.

Just think it might be worth a try, you never know do you

Ger.

There are all kinds of places in the Royal Mail system where packages go missing, and maybe we all should remember that the next time we start slagging off an etailer (unless they`re Spl*shDVD).

Dishonest and lazy posties are few and far between. More likely to cause delays is bad management of resources, failure to plan ahead and diabolical worker relations.

If anybody`s interested, lost parcels end up at the Returned Mail Centre at Portsmouth, and lost letters and birthday cards end up in Belfast. 99% of the stuff ends up there because people can`t address properly or legibly. 72 million items in 2002, including a wooden leg.

J Mark Oates

Was it Heather Mills` leg?

This item was edited on Thursday, 5th June 2003, 00:39