General Chat

I also have handed a letter to a postman
I was going to post a letter just round the corner from me and the postman was already at the postbox , i shouted to him and he said
dont run stay there, then he got into his van and came up beside me and took my letter i thanked him, he said thats o.k. no problem .
Hazelx

well I think he could have handled it quite differently - if instead of coming out with all that he did, if he had just said I'm sorry, I wish I could but it's not allowed for security reasons that would have been the end of it - I was not "shouting him down" to the security man, I was just canvassing his opinion

Never mind, :-( if you complain you never know they may send you a book of stamps,that could be worth a few bob at todays rates :-D :-D

It has NEVER been allowed. Nor are postmen allowed to give you back an item you may have posted in error.

It is the Rules they have to work to. Nothing to do with 'elf & safet' but the security of the Queens Mail.

Complain to Royal Mail by all means, try to get this postman in trouble for merely doing his job. Why not he is an easy target.

As said before, you did not see him actually empty the postbox so you had to assume he was the real postman and not some 'oddbod' just dressed up (this does actually happen, I can assure you). If this had been the case and he took the letters which would never have been dellivered you would then be able to complain about Royal Mail deliveries and letters going missing in the post.

Damned if they do and damned if they dont.

However, once it is all privatised and a box is only emptied once a day (yes I know that some in certain quiet areas now are only cleared once a day) and in rural areas you only get mail a couple of times a week. Then you will have something to moan about. By which time it will be far too late to go back to the good old days.

When I worked at Royal Mail a woman was regularly phone in to complain that the pillar box she could see from her front window was never emtied. Aftter lots of investigations it turns out she was looking at a Lewisham Borough waste bin which at the time were also red!!! The pillar box was about 10 yards away and she could not see that.

to be honest it's the rule I am angry about not the postman - though if he was as concerned about security as he professed to be then he should have had the letters he collected in a sack not in his hand - anyone could have snatched them out of his hand and he was not fit enough to have done anything about it - in my opinion he was a jobsworth

I fully understand that people will have different points of view, of course they will, but it's just my take on it

Stand for 1 hours in this mans shoes

Not a job I ever would consider. Jobsworth or not he was merely doing his job. Yes he should has been using a mail sack, and if he had been mugged he would have been severely reprimanded for not carrying out his job properly. This would in all probability been by a manager who had never worked as a postman, a direct entrant who has read the books and therefore knows the jobs inside out.


Why be angry about a rule that is a couple of hundred years old!

annoyed really because this is the first time I have come across it - having handed letters to a postie in the past with no probs

A lot of companies, the PO included, carry out integrity tests of their employees. They do this to ensure rules and policies are being applied and obeyed.

Obviously, the employee has no idea whether or not the person is testing him or if it is genuine. .

point taken Eldrick - always good to get differing points of view and I have learned quite a bit from this

Mind, he might just as easily have been a jobsworth in a bad mood!

well he didn't come across as a happy soul :-)

maybe his corns were giving him gip. ;-) :-D

I think it depends on the individual postman.

I live in a rural area, some way from the nearest postbox, my postie always greats me with a smile & has been known to take the odd ready stamped B/Day card to post for me.

I have yet to meet an unpleasant postman - the ones who deliver to me are more like friends

Our village postie would take letters from me at the house and make sure they were posted. OH could also stop him on the street in his van and get any post if he saw him. Not of course, in the 'rules' but then neither was him not turning up on match day :-D

Similar thing happened to me not long ago..The postman was emptying the postbox and I tried to hand him my letter but he wouldn't take it..He said I had to put it in the box...Bearing in mind he had the box open so I put it in the box and he took it out and put it in his sack :-S :-S

daft innit!!!!

we were getting insurance letters for a name that didnt live in my house. gave it back to postie marked not known here.next week got the same letter back..this went on for several months, eventually a letter arrived with the name of a private hospital group on the back.
on the off chance, there is a private hospital not far away.......took it there and showed it to the receptionist asking, could this name be a patient of yours?

it was..but wrong address..............by law the postie HAS to put it through the letterbox even though HE knows its wrong!!

When I was a manager in Royal Mail, I had to do regular checks on postman clearing boxes in the afternoons.

And I know counterparts who did the same for deliveries and morning collections.

As said if a postman was seen to be doing something 'wrong'. It would be reported back later that day and the postman would be interviewed. Do it once too often and the dole queue was in sight.

This seriously needs addressing! :-D