Gah! Post office staff & posting air pistols

[Rich]

After having done some work on a stock for someone I went to send it back to him, PF48 and asked to increase the insured value to £200.

"Before I do that, would you mind telling me what's inside this parcel?"

A piece of wood.

"It must be bluddy expensive wood if it's worth £200"

[bighit]

Fine saying sporting goods until it goes missing and you then tell them it was an airgun

Seeing as airguns have their own regulations.

[Rapidnick]

Why did you bother to tell the clerk details of the contents? My understanding is that all you have to do -and then only if specifically asked- is to certify that what you want to send isn't against regulations. The best thing to do in the real world is to call the item in the box is 'engineering parts' or 'sporting goods' whatever you choose to say.

[lew07]

Why did you bother to tell the clerk details of the contents? My understanding is that all you have to do -and then only if specifically asked- is to certify that what you want to send isn't against regulations. The best thing to do in the real world is to call the item in the box is 'engineering parts' or 'sporting goods' whatever you choose to say.

This exactly.They are to make You aware some goods are prohibited. They should have a list.You then answer Yes or No. The exact contents of Your parcel are none of their business.

[angrybear]

Why did you bother to tell the clerk details of the contents? My understanding is that all you have to do -and then only if specifically asked- is to certify that what you want to send isn't against regulations. The best thing to do in the real world is to call the item in the box is 'engineering parts' or 'sporting goods' whatever you choose to say.

This exactly.They are to make You aware some goods are prohibited. They should have a list.You then answer Yes or No. The exact contents of Your parcel are none of their business.

They are a private company taking responsibility for transporting & delivering your item, so they are 100% entitled to know what they are carrying,
If you don't like their terms...don't use their service.

Apart from that it's pointless to lie or misrepresent your item, it's legal to send a low power airgun, or parts of one & if you need to claim the compensation you're still going to have to prove what it was & what it was worth, at which point the rules for a gun will apply.

[Geezer]

The odd thing is that RM and PF have really complicated regulations, that their staff don't seem to know and get twitchy about. But then you have other couriers, like My Hermes, who doubtless ban all shooty things, but just turn up and take a parcel, no questions asked, and deliver it. So RM/PF quibble over air pistols, but their competition would apparently deliver a bazooka, no questions asked.

(NB - I do not own, and have not owned, and nor have I had someone courier on my behalf, a bazooka.)

[Rossi2k]

I can sort of understand why RM and PF have some concerns / issues carrying a PCP or bottle due to the pressurised cylinder. If one was sent that was faulty, cracked etc. and the way that some of the parcels are treated in transit, it's a potential accident waiting to happen.

But when I comes to spring powered rifles and pistols, I can't see an issue. As long as what is inside the parcel is not written brazenly on the outside and packages sufficiently, how would anyone know what was in there during transit? The only people likely to know are the person sending it, the receipient and (possibly if told) the person taking the parcel from the sender at the post office. And what damage could they possibly cause?

I understand the insurance side of things, but this is the post office not wanting to pay out loads more on th parcels they loose / damage. And I have had a few of these instances in the past.

ATB

Ross

[Shed tuner]

(NB - I do not own, and have not owned, and nor have I had someone courier on my behalf, a bazooka.)

Nah, but that RPG you sent me last month made it through no probs, heh

[distantcamera]

I escalated the complaint with the Post Office and they refuse to admit they are incorrect, even though I send them the response from Royal Mail.

Thank you for your email.



I have looked into this further for you, to make sure the information we are giving to customers is accurate and current. I can confirm that Low Powered air weapons, are only accepted by Parcelforce Worldwide and must be sent using express48 via the Post Office.



This information is found on the Royal Mail website, and was updated in January 2017. The link to find this updated information is: http://www.royalmail.com/sites/defau...an-30-2017.pdf






I apologise that you have had conflicting advice, and I hope the information will clarify which service you need to use to send your item.




I would recommend that you contact Royal Mail and raise your concerns with them, as the information you have received is incorrect. You can contact Royal Mail directly:


By telephone on: 03457 740 740
Or you can use their online “Contact Us” form: https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/contact


If you need further help please feel free to get back in touch.

If you need any further help with Post Office® products and services you can access information at www.postoffice.co.uk.

Kind Regards,

Nichola Barber

Customer Service Advisor

Textphone: 03457 22 33 55 (For the Deaf and Hard of Hearing)
Email: customercare@postoffice.co.uk
www.facebook.com/postoffice
www.twitter.com/postoffice

I have sent all the correspondence to BASC who have now raised it again with the Post Office.

[distantcamera]

They are a private company taking responsibility for transporting & delivering your item, so they are 100% entitled to know what they are carrying,
If you don't like their terms...don't use their service.

Royal Mail and the Post Office are not the same company. The Post Office were stating different rules for the Royal Mail than what Royal Mail publish on their website.

Apart from that it's pointless to lie or misrepresent your item, it's legal to send a low power airgun, or parts of one & if you need to claim the compensation you're still going to have to prove what it was & what it was worth, at which point the rules for a gun will apply.

Agreed. And you shouldn't have to lie or withhold facts in order to use a service in the way that it is advertised by the service provider.

[PaulR]

Fine saying sporting goods until it goes missing and you then tell them it was an airgun

Seeing as airguns have their own regulations.

The regulations actually allow this method of posting air pistols - not all post office employees know this and I got fed up with arguing the toss. When I did argue and they checked they accepted it! So in the event of a claim I will simply use the same argument.

[bighit]

The regulations actually allow this method of posting air pistols - not all post office employees know this and I got fed up with arguing the toss. When I did argue and they checked they accepted it! So in the event of a claim I will simply use the same argument.

I know they allow posting airguns . What I said was in relation to saying it was sporting goods. As Angrybear has stated above , they are firearms.so they go under the royal mails firearms regulations.

So if it goes to belfast and gets destroyed ; who gets blame for it? The sender.

Yes it would be great if every post office workers knew the regulations but it does not help when people lie as to whats in the parcel.

if you send it as sporting goods and it gets destroyed then tough poop.

[jonnyovy]

I have a print out of the parcel force policy and have highlighted the appropriate text. I simply take it with me and be honest.

When you see Veronica's eyes light up and monotone voice starts with 'we will not accept..' i simply say 'i rang customer services to check this morning, you do carry low powered airguns, they directed me to their website, which, as advised, i have printed out and brought with me to save any confusion with post office staff'.

Veronica's face will look slightly stunned, her smirk will drop and she will start to mumble a bit and shake her head whilst reading the print out. Then to save looking like a fool, she will turn into your best mate mode, take your parcel and make comments like 'well i wish they told us stuff like that'

[angrybear]

I just put the box on the scales & say,
"Hello, it's a low powered airgun so as I'm sure you already know, royal mail rules state RMSD or PF48 service only to send these"

It cuts them off before they have time to think, and also makes it clear to them that you know the rules,
If you also casually hold a copy of the restricted items leaflet (so they can see the title) they also know you come equipped for an argument.

They usually give you the evil eye, but just smile, nod & say "yep, I send a few so I'm used to explaining"

[Aimstraight]

I do similar to AB above.

As far as the misconception that only PF48 can be used, I once had to wait for the PO counter staff to make a phone call to confirm the RM/PF Rules; after which they were helpful by recommending RMSD because it was slightly lower cost than PF48!

That was for a small package (pistol) below 2kg; above that weight the cost of RMSD increases significantly.