Post Office and Royal Mail

[Stoogey]

very late in on the topic but, has any one actualy followed up by checking the actual laws? the post office isnt a law agency, as such they cant actualy set laws.
they can say pritty much what they want on their web site etc, but if it contravines the actual law...taint worth the paper it's written on.


i.e. if they arnt backed by the law for real they are indeed tampering with the post.(which i beleive is against the law?).

[angrybear]

very late in on the topic but, has any one actualy followed up by checking the actual laws? the post office isnt a law agency, as such they cant actualy set laws.
they can say pritty much what they want on their web site etc, but if it contravines the actual law...taint worth the paper it's written on.


i.e. if they arnt backed by the law for real they are indeed tampering with the post.(which i beleive is against the law?).

OK well you show me a law that says they must carry any particular named product!!

The Post office is simply the company that runs a number of "shops" where services are booked & paid for, Royal Mail & ParcelForce are the companies that carry the goods from A to B, they are independent companies who themselves have to comply with international law on shipping "dangerous goods" which is why they cannot over rule the CAA (civil aviation authority) over what can & cannot fly as unaccompanied freight. (and unless you have worked within aviation rules you will have no idea just how petty those rules can be).

As the company who carry the goods both RM & PF can also decide what they will or will not carry,
for those of you who don't know they did try to ban guns completely (2005 iirc) but a case was put to the ombudsman that they were the only company providing such a shipping service to the public & they were ordered to continue to provide it, but even that is not a law.

It is within their contract that a suspicious package can be inspected, and stated in their rules that any prohibited item found may be destroyed without recourse to the owner.

[Johnson3392]

very late in on the topic but, has any one actualy followed up by checking the actual laws? the post office isnt a law agency, as such they cant actualy set laws.
they can say pritty much what they want on their web site etc, but if it contravines the actual law...taint worth the paper it's written on.


i.e. if they arnt backed by the law for real they are indeed tampering with the post.(which i beleive is against the law?).

The carriage of Dangerous and Restricted Goods by is covered under current ICAO/IATA regulations. The Post Office do not set the law, as you have pointed out, but they do have to apply the law. That means asking questions about contents and packaging. It might appear jobsworth and time consuming but there are serious penalties for post office staff if they don't abide by this.

If a customer refuses to disclose the contents (or doesn't know - common when people ask to post things on their behalf) then we can and will refuse to accept it. If a customer lies then it is their responsibility. Once a package enters the RM system behind the post office counter, then it cannot be interfered with unless there is clear evidence of it being hazardous and a risk to people, propert and 'planes.