Parcelforce nightmare - please read

[Missed_dinner]

I usually 'hide' the contents usually because there is a queue and I dont need the hassle but next time I will challenge them
I have sent knives and hatchets before and as far as they are concerned they are tools, which they are....

The only other times I lie is when I am sending my partners parcels as she deals with re-usable cloth nappies and re-usable menstrual products (clean) and it opens up a whole can of questions and confused looks and I just dont have the time to stand there explaining it all! So they all her posted as 'clothes'

Chris

[MartynB]

But your local PO is great, they're friendly and everything a lot of bigger POs ought to be (but aren't)!

It is, it's a small part of the larger village shop which is very freindly anyway

[aris]

I really don't like it when they ask me what's in the parcel. I typically answer 'nothing on the prohibited list of items'. Quite frankly, it is none of their business and i'm not sure I trust them to know. If it were something valuable, how do I know it won't get nicked?

[Johnson3392]

I work 3 days a week in my local PO (ex-postmaster) and the questions are required as part of Dangerous Goods legislation. The staff have to act within this framework and it is their business to know as part of the job. We ask if the item is valuable so they can choose the right service ie guaranteed/tracked or just plain 1st/2nd. PO staff are mostly well trained (not all, I grant you) and not all are thieves.

[max headroom]

Love my post office. i had an air rifle delivered. when i went to pick it up i was asked what it might be. i never said air. i just said a rifle. she said O/K and gave it to me.
had more trouble picking up an easter egg my sis sent from USA.

[aris]

I work 3 days a week in my local PO (ex-postmaster) and the questions are required as part of Dangerous Goods legislation. The staff have to act within this framework and it is their business to know as part of the job. We ask if the item is valuable so they can choose the right service ie guaranteed/tracked or just plain 1st/2nd. PO staff are mostly well trained (not all, I grant you) and not all are thieves.

Surely confirming that nothing on the prohibited list of goods would suffice? I used to be shown a list and asked to confirm nothing the list was in the parcel.

[LancsDennis]

No it won't, because when they tried that a few years back they were ordered by the regulator to allow postage of legally held items.

There are thousands of different rules & regs PO staff have to know, airguns are NOT commonly posted items, and given that 3/4 of the people on here state they "hide" the contents when asked, most PO staff will probably never knowingly encounter one being posted so the fact they don't know the rules is hardly surprising especially when so many of the people using the airgun don't either.

If they don't know the rules then how can they possiubly say you CAN'T send it. Simple manners dictates they should enquire correctly not just ask the person next to them. They are employees and are paid to know the rules and so they should.

[Jimny4x4]

I really don't like it when they ask me what's in the parcel. I typically answer 'nothing on the prohibited list of items'. Quite frankly, it is none of their business and i'm not sure I trust them to know. If it were something valuable, how do I know it won't get nicked?

100% in a nutshell !
My local PO has people who in a previous life I have worked with .... and dislike . They and their sort never get to know my business especially as I know for a fact they have had zero professional training as PO staff . They are only 'locals' employed as p/t staff . Nobody else would take the job .

And yes I also pre-empt the awkward questions immediately when I approach the PO counter by stating ina loud clear voice "contains NOTHING that leaks or goes Bang as on the RM's Prohibited List - which You have read .... " .

Ohhh .... they don't like it up'em they don't , they don't like it up 'em !

[angrybear]

I had a first last week, an e-mail from RM telling me a parcel had been delivered to the local office for me and would be on the delivery van that day,
sure enough mid morning the beep of a car horn which is the postie's way of telling me something won't fit through the letter box or needs a sig.

[Johnson3392]

100% in a nutshell !
My local PO has people who in a previous life I have worked with .... and dislike . They and their sort never get to know my business especially as I know for a fact they have had zero professional training as PO staff . They are only 'locals' employed as p/t staff . Nobody else would take the job .

And yes I also pre-empt the awkward questions immediately when I approach the PO counter by stating ina loud clear voice "contains NOTHING that leaks or goes Bang as on the RM's Prohibited List - which You have read .... " .

Ohhh .... they don't like it up'em they don't , they don't like it up 'em !

Seems as if a few people regard PO staff with either contempt or disregard for the job they do. I'm not sure what 'they and their sort' are ( please tell us) but they are not there to either outwit or belittle in some way. I would agree that some offices suffer from a lack of training but an arrogant patronising attitude like this does not help, especially when accusations of theft are thrown in.

[aris]

Seems as if a few people regard PO staff with either contempt or disregard for the job they do. I'm not sure what 'they and their sort' are ( please tell us) but they are not there to either outwit or belittle in some way. I would agree that some offices suffer from a lack of training but an arrogant patronising attitude like this does not help.

Nothing to do with it. They don't need to know and it is none if their business. I keep my firearm ownership details close to my chest - the less people that know the better. All I need is some gossip at the post office telling all and sundry that so-and-so posted a 'gun'. I'm sure 99% are very professional - but it is the 1% which aren't - and you can't identify them. Best to keep your private business private - loose lips and all.

[Jerry Cornelius]

they are not there to either outwit or belittle in some way.

They blimmin' are in the Galleries in Bristol, and that's a crown branch. Where they think a swiss army penknife is a "weapon" that can't be sent, and look at you as if you were trying to send a fresh dog turd.

Idiots.

[Johnson3392]

Nothing to do with it. They don't need to know and it is none if their business. I keep my firearm ownership details close to my chest - the less people that know the better. All I need is some gossip at the post office telling all and sundry that so-and-so posted a 'gun'. I'm sure 99% are very professional - but it is the 1% which aren't - and you can't identify them. Best to keep your private business private - loose lips and all.

They do need to know and it is their business. If you refuse to disclose the contents then PO staff are entitled to refuse to handle it. They don't set the rules - the regulations apply internationally. If you don't want to go through this process, bearing in mind most carriers are bound by the same regulations, then don't use a post office. What's difficult about having a quiet word with the staff when posting an airgun and ask to be served out of public earshot?

Of course you can simply lie to staff but don't blame them if your parcel is intercepted and either confiscated or destroyed because it contained a prohibited item.

[Logunner]

They do need to know and it is their business. If you refuse to disclose the contents then PO staff are entitled to refuse to handle it. They don't set the rules - the regulations apply internationally. If you don't want to go through this process, bearing in mind most carriers are bound by the same regulations, then don't use a post office. What's difficult about having a quiet word with the staff when posting an airgun and ask to be served out of public earshot?

Of course you can simply lie to staff but don't blame them if your parcel is intercepted and either confiscated or destroyed because it contained a prohibited item.

Wasting your time trying to educate some on here... they would rather bitch and moan.

[Zomboid]

I often reduce description to their base component.

Scope = some lenses
Stock = wooden carving