I was talking to an online retailer today about the difficulties of delivering high value product when householders are limited for availabilty at the delivery address. He said that he thought they had solved the problem of people accusing the delivery agent of lying about the time at which they had called and had been unable to get a reply. Simple technical solution - take a photograph of the front door and driveway, add a time stamp as it is uploaded on to the internet. The evidence is there for all to see. They had a few people who still disputed the 'evidence' and accused them of lying and using Streetview pictures. But generally it worked well. Until.....
The customer rang them aggressively complaing that the delivery had not been attempted in the appropriate time slot. The customer was referred to the on line site hosting the picture and the reply came back, "that is not my house, I dont own a silver Mercedes, you obviously have been to the wrong xxxing house." A slow pause, "but the door does look familar and that registration belongs to her boss................."
Now it maybe an apochryphal tale, but it confirms the problems of personalised registration plates
|
|
A colleague once told me that the postman stuck a note through the door to say a delivery had been attempted but nobody was in and he had to go and collect it. He rushed to the door (working from home that day) and asked the postman for the package. Postman didn't have the package because he's left it at the depot because he thought my colleague wouldn't be in! Couldn't make that up. Postman was a bit sheepish.
|
Just prior to Christmas we were in the house and waiting for the Postie to call so we could give him his tip. Heard the letter box go and there was some mail and a recorded delivery card stating that as there was no one in we were to collect form our village Post Office. There had been no knocking or bell ring.
Anyway wanted to still deliver tip so I tracked him round the corner to where he was continuing deliveries and waited. He eyeballed me looking sheepish. When he got close enough he explained that he couldn't give me the package and it would have to still be collected. Anyway daft as a brush he still got his tip.
When I did collect the package I mentioned the issue and was informed that the explanation was that as it was recorded and due to it being the busy pre Christmas it would not have been delivered within target times and the Royal Mail incur heavy penalties for not meeting targets. In my case there would not have been an issue as according to them I was not in.
Couldn't make it up could you? maybe I should have given him another kind of tip but normally our Posties are pretty good.
|
|
Postie in the village we lived before was brilliant (a cocker owner and motorcyclist what's not to like about him ?) passed him quite a way up our lane, said he had a recorded delivery package for me and asked if I wanted it there and then, explained I was off for a long walk with the dog.....so I signed for it and he left it under the car for me for when I got home. Ideal - mutual trust. He was a regular on that round and knew all the signs whether we were home or not or whether my wife was asleep following late shifts. The ones in this village show common sense as well. I thnk country posties still use their noddles.
|
Indeed they do. Our postman knows everyone in the village. We moved four doors up the road last year and didn't bother with an official mail redirection, as our postie just does it anyway. I've never had to sign for a 'signed for' delivery, if we're not in it just gets delivered to my mother in law's house up the road. If we are in we hear him before we see him - he's certainly a character...
I just wish he'd shut our gate behind him. I've often thought of fitting a spring but haven't got round to it yet.
|
|
Yoddle are liars though. My wife was tracking a parcel's progress through the south of the island - we saw him drive along the lane past the lower end of our garden, I went to the door to wait for him. He reversed into our street and drove off. Guess he was doing it for GPS/tracker effect. Lied to say he'd knocked...I was actually in the street yodelling at him as he drove off.
|
There are drivers and drivers. I did some heavy multidrop for Yodel's predecessors some years back, on my first day they sent me out with 130-odd drops around Marsh Farm in Luton and were amazed when I brought back an empty van at teatime. Apparently most drivers came back with 50 or 60 if they couldn't be bothered to do the "... Walk" type addresses or if their evening in the pub was more pressing.
It was bloomin' hard work for not much money, you'd have to be certain type of person to want to do that long-term.
Last edited by: Dave_C220CDI on Fri 21 Feb 14 at 21:22
|
|
There is a Parcel Force driver in this area - goes by the name of Craig. He is the most polite reliable type, always a cheery attitude. Friends of mine have posted photos of the no-reply cards he leaves for them - always warm hearted and always with a little smily - dunno how he does it. And I'm not being sarcy !
|
DPD are excellent. You get given a 1 hour window when your stuff is arriving telling what drop number you are, and a link to a live map showing where your delivery driver is. All of it accurate.
|
Our DPD driver ran over my neighbour's cat. He was called Fluff ( the cat that is not the driver but anyway ) I saw him do it but he didn't stop. I took the dead cat and put him in a cardboard box and left him at my neighbour's back door with a note explaining what had happened. ( they were out )
I'm damn sure he thinks I ran over Fluff to this day.
|
>> DPD are excellent. You get given a 1 hour window when your stuff is arriving telling what drop
>> number you are, and a link to a live map showing where your delivery driver is. All of it accurate.
Yes I've had them deliver and an estimate that was spot on. And as you say you can track where he is. I was surprised he got so near and then went on a long detour. Respect for the drivers as they have many many drops to do per day.
Of course as well as the customer seeing where the van is... so can the employer.
|
One of the benefits of working in a place that has a 24 hour manned reception!!
All parcels delivered to the work address!
|
You've got to think of delivery drivers in rural areas and places where 'stuck up' people live.
My pet hates:
- Streets where the sat nav says there will be numbers..but..all the houses have names only. Great, where do I start?...Good example is Salcombe.
- Houses in the wilds with no name plates. Great, I now have to get out and roam around and see if I can read anything through the window (previous Royal Mail delivery through front door/ kids achievement certificates on the walls/ load of birthday cards on the mantlepiece/ etc) ..or..if I have a phone number on the delivery sheet, ring it, to see if that house's phone rings...if I can get a signal that is.
How on earth some people ever get their deliveries I'll never know.
Thank God for Zoopla 'house values'. I use that before I leave the shop if an address looks like it has the potential to be tricky, not a failsafe, but pretty good, as it points to the exact address on a map, rather than just the centre of the postcode.
|
My pet hates:
Delivering to deaf old dears. TV volume can be heard as you walk in the front gate, five minutes of ringing the bell, banging on the door and tapping the window before you get a response.
People who lock the front door and can't find the key for at least three minutes. What the hell would they do if there was a fire?
People who can't find their cheque book without searching every room twice, turn down my offer of a pen because "There's one here somewhere", then look for one that actually writes and when they do run off searching for a calender to check the date despite me telling them what it is. Yeah, don't worry love, I've got all day.
Houses with a Jack Russell. Love dogs, hate those evil little things.
|
>>Houses with a Jack Russell. Love dogs, hate those evil little things.
S'funny you should say that, there's a Radio Quornwall presenter down ere, very popular he is, in fact the most popular - for 16 years! ... he ab-so-lute-ly HATES Jack Russels, are they really that bad I wonder?
|
>> >>Houses with a Jack Russell. Love dogs, hate those evil little things.
>>
>> S'funny you should say that, there's a Radio Quornwall presenter down ere, very popular he
>> is, in fact the most popular - for 16 years! ... he ab-so-lute-ly HATES Jack
>> Russels, are they really that bad I wonder?
Oh yes. And patterdales. Gorgis tho, worse dog on earth, only fit to be made into slippers.
|
I very nearly bought a Patterdale last Summer :(
The Yorkshire Terrorist is another one to watch out for, I hear.
|
Jack Russells, other fox terriers, corgis and dachshunds are brave, ferocious, emotional little dogs bred for going down holes after fierce wild animals (foxes and badgers). Their excitability makes them iffy with children and even with their owners.
I've said before that a camera-crew relation of mine (who likes dogs and is cool with them) shot part of the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony including the Buckingham Palace sequence. I asked him specifically whether the monarch's several corgis were bad-tempered and snappy. He said they weren't, on the contrary they were well-behaved and friendly by corgi standards.
Of course anyone would be if they were as rich and privileged as those corgis.
:o}
|
Have you seen any Muggins, Sire? .. certainly new to me, and I thought I was clued up on dog breeds.
In fact if someone had said they bred Muggins, I would have presumed they were taking the pee.
www.dogbreedinfo.com/muggin.htm
:o)
|
Postman once left and expensive piece of IT equipment that I had ordered in the recycling box on recycling day.
Luckily the supplier had insurance to cover lost items!
|
|
Delivery from Amazon many years ago was found in the garden recycling bin almost by accident. No note to say delivery driver had put it there.
|
Colleague at former work lost 2 parcels on different occasions after Amazon contractors left them in her recycling box. Replaced without quibble.
But how reliant have we become on web order/home delivery? Having worked at home three days in ten from mid 2012 and being 'retired' since last November there's not a week goes by where I don't take in a delivery from one of 13 houses along road. At least two other households also have retiree/carer occupiers at home all day.
|
|
I work from home most of the time these days - I see a few delivery vans every day. One or two houses seem to have deliveries a few times a week.
|
>> My pet hates:
>>
>> People who lock the front door and can't find the key for at least three
>> minutes. What the hell would they do if there was a fire?
>>
Being one of that ilk, I'd probably have to go out the back door and jump over the fence!
|
>> A colleague once told me that the postman stuck a note through the door to
>> say a delivery had been attempted but nobody was in and he had to go
>> and collect it. He rushed to the door (working from home that day) and asked
>> the postman for the package. Postman didn't have the package because he's left it at
>> the depot because he thought my colleague wouldn't be in! Couldn't make that up. Postman
>> was a bit sheepish.
>>
Had exactly the same thing so must be in the posty training guide.
Mrs B shouted down the street after him and he confessed it was a bit heavy and he had a lot of mail that day so had left a few items at the office.
On another occasion I took the red card to the office to be told they couldnt find the item and had lost it between putting the card through my door and bringing it back. Item was gift vouchers so I called the sender and explained that the post office claimed to have lost them after attempting delivery. Guy I spoke to said he would call the sorting office, and 10 mins later they had "found" them. Said it had happened a few times, but when they ring the sorting office quite often the light fingered ones panic and "find" them
|
A cautionary tale BBD ? - rtj70
