Advice please

[royalmailslave]

Was called into the office this morning following a few complaints,as follows.

Two tracked items not scanned...I could've swore blind I'd scanned these tracked items ...I remember delivering them ...the latter of the tracked items ...this morning on opening up my PDA I'd made the mistake of not pressing the "send" button ...so this morning the item number was still there on PDA awaiting further option ....I sent it,fair enough my mistake....the other apparently has not been scanned...

A number of complaints have come through over the last few months .....one being an elderly couple who says I never rang the bell....which I did...left a p739 card

A guy who complained I didn't shut his gate....

A guy who complained when I put a parcel through his window when he wasn't in (thought I was doing a good turn..and saving him a trip to the office) but said customer has come in all guns blazing claiming I've invaded his privacy...a tad over the top in my opinion .....anyone would be thought I was sat at his dining table eating his Weetabix ...

And a tracked item which I p739'd when customer wasn't in ..despite parcel saying leave worth neighbour ( I referred to an earlier manager on a previous date who said I should leave parcels at my own descgression) thought the safest bet was to return item to office to cover my own back


Now...said Line manager has pulled complaints up from around 12 months ago and is using these...plus the recent ones to possibly take me down the conduct code.....my question is can theses old complaints be used against me or should they be discredited after a certain period of time?

I argued that I pressed the couples bell and if they didn't hear me or it was broken then why should that be my fault? Regarding the guys gate...couldlve been somebody after I had been to the address...yet I'm being blamed

The parcel through window complaint I think is ridiculous and has really wound me up especially as I though I was doing him a good turn..something I've done hundreds of times over the years and the customers have been gracious of it .... And the the tracked which I never left at a neighbours .... Make of that what you will

I've got almost 17 years service in and the way I was sat down this morning and spoken to you'd of thought he'd of just caught me stealing....

He's told me I have to undertake a coaching session addressing all the correct procedures in which I should undertake and tomorrow he may issue me notice of a formal interview ...


Any advice is greatly received -cheers

[wacko74]

Can't really offer any advice but I would say you must be extremely unlucky to have registered so many formal complaints from customers... I'm ''guilty'' of all of the above on probably a weekly basis and have never been hauled in for it.

[royalmailslave]

Well...exactly they are all aside from parcel scanning ones ....real petty complaints but said manager seems to love his position of power....and is using all these petty complaints .....and ones from 12 months-ish ago to possibly drag me down the conduct code....he never seems happy unless he's getting into someone ribs....

[Straight4ward]

If you have been asked to go through a coaching session then that will probably be the end of it.

What is more of a concern is why your lino is dragging up a number of very minor infractions from the past. Is there an element of bad blood between you?
All you can do is abide by the rules and let the dust settle.

Oh, and one last thing - - - next time you lob a packet through a customer's window, make sure the bloody thing's open before you do it!

[bustedflush]

Bad luck. I've done all those things at least once and nothing much more was said. I've had the same gate arguments (I always leave the gate as I find it - open or shut) and 'I was in when the slip came through' blah-blah. I've also done the PDA mistake of scanning one and not sending it so the next one doesn't work, and just told the lino when I got back, nothing more said.
I think it comes down to whether people ring the local office up and bitch and moan, in which case the DIM butters them up (or sometimes makes YOU butter them up as once happened to me, I had to ring them back and kind of admit I'd been a bell-end lol...) OR they ring the national complaint number which means the complaint is logged and then faxed to the DO in which case he has to act.
I take it you may have had more than one national-number complaint? This may be why the DIM is getting shirty. He'll probably pass it by when he's distracted by the next dog-bite or needs O/T.

[royalmailslave]

Bad luck. I've done all those things at least once and nothing much more was said. I've had the same gate arguments (I always leave the gate as I find it - open or shut) and 'I was in when the slip came through' blah-blah. I've also done the PDA mistake of scanning one and not sending it so the next one doesn't work, and just told the lino when I got back, nothing more said.
I think it comes down to whether people ring the local office up and bitch and moan, in which case the DIM butters them up (or sometimes makes YOU butter them up as once happened to me, I had to ring them back and kind of admit I'd been a bell-end lol...) OR they ring the national complaint number which means the complaint is logged and then faxed to the DO in which case he has to act.
I take it you may have had more than one national-number complaint? This may be why the DIM is getting shirty. He'll probably pass it by when he's distracted by the next dog-bite or needs O/T.

I guess so regarding the national number complaint ...what will be will be but I'm interested to know my stance on these petty complaints because surely common sense must prevail but he seems hell bent on bringing the gavel down.....surely it's possible that someone else left the gate open after I'd been to the address and it's possible the bell was broke or the old couple never heard it.....shouldn't he be saying " look i can't prove you've done any of these" rather than dragging me down the CC?

Also is he allowed to use complaints against me from 12 months ago? These old complaints were mainly made whilst we were on our new duties and P&L was bedding in......

So in theory someone could make a complaint and fabricate an entire story and you'd get done for it...I feel like the most in-justiced guy right now



.....we can't prove you've murdered this guy but f**k it we'll do you anyway

[clashcityrocker]

For what exactly does he think he is going to take you down the conduct code?
In that list there isn't anything that warrants the use of the CC ......yet.

In theory, after retraining, if you continued to make mistakes with scanning, he could possibly claim you were incompetent.
But given that you haven't yet had the (re)coaching, the threat of the CC is nonsense.

[royalmailslave]

For what exactly does he think he is going to take you down the conduct code?
In that list there isn't anything that warrants the use of the CC ......yet.

In theory, after retraining, if you continued to make mistakes with scanning, he could possibly claim you were incompetent.
But given that you haven't yet had the (re)coaching, the threat of the CC is nonsense.

In the past when said mistake was made.....he said are you aware of the correct procedure in scanning this item/writing this p739/etc ....to which I said yes....and signed a form stating so

I've had no re-training on anything at all as of yet....but he said that the culmination of all these petty complaints could (he'll let me know tomorrow) result in him inviting me for a formal interview which could result in me being taken down the CC

I'm just at a loss as to how he can count the aforementioned complaints....bell/gate etc without any solid proof it was me who did it or was to blame ( in the case of the bell).....he cannot PROVE I didn't ring that bell nor can he PROVE I left the guys gate open(someone else may have knocked on his door for example after I'd been) so I'm at a loss to understand how these can be taken into consideration given there's no solid prove I've done anything wrong

[clashcityrocker]

It's not a court of law.
He doesn't have to PROVE anything.

[Iain25]

Tell him the jobs hard enough, you don't need twats like him hanging around you.
Seriously, EVERYONE makes the odd mistake. The fact he's acting like a knob dosent surprise me though buddy.
Good luck dealing with him!

[coxie]

The bell ringing one can't be upheld as a valid complaint to be used to conduct you. I guess the rest can, do your job properly and you can't get in trouble, if that means taking extra time to ensure care whih results in cutting off that's not your problem.

[Lazycarton]

People are a*rseholes of the first order! They (the public) are so unhappy with their pathetic little lives that the only way they can get any pleasure is by making other people unhappy and making pathetic allegations about those they just happen to come into contact with. "you didn't ring the bell" "you left the gate open" WTF. I get paid to deliver mail, not close gates that do not work properly when you pull them behind you. "If you had a gate that was not falling to bits or had had some proper maintenance over the last 30 years we would not be having this conversation - you TW*T"

Sadly you have a DIM that is of the same mind set as the sad barstewards that are trying to do you in!

[rehabron]

Apart from the recent issues of failing to scan the tracked items the remainder is frivolous and involves customers who have nothing better to do than make mountains out of molehills. In relation to failing to scanning the tracked items may involve counselling, re-training or a rap on the knuckles but nothing more than that. For your DOM to bring up past history from 12 months ago he is clutching at straws knowing that what he has on you with the recent complaints is not enough to be processed under the conduct code and furthermore if he has not written advising you at the time that these complaints could along with further complaints result in disciplinary action then your DOM doesn't have a leg to stand on. For your own protection would suggest that you are accompanied should it come to a formal interview.

[royalmailslave]

It's not a court of law.
He doesn't have to PROVE anything.

So on that basis....assuming your my postman ...I can call your D.O....and claim I asked you to shut my gate and you told me to f**k off...and gave me a right mouthful...and your Dim can take you down the CC without any further investigation ? Are you going to accept that ?

[royalmailslave]

Apart from the recent issues of failing to scan the tracked items the remainder is frivolous and involves customers who have nothing better to do than make mountains out of molehills. In relation to failing to scanning the tracked items may involve counselling, re-training or a rap on the knuckles but nothing more than that. For your DOM to bring up past history from 12 months ago he is clutching at straws knowing that what he has on you with the recent complaints is not enough to be processed under the conduct code and furthermore if he has not written advising you at the time that these complaints could along with further complaints result in disciplinary action then your DOM doesn't have a leg to stand on. For your own protection would suggest that you are accompanied should it come to a formal interview.

So...he was to inform me in writing ...that the culmination of all there petty complaints could possibly result in him inviting me for a formal interview which in turn could result in me being taken down the CC?

As of yet he's only told me the above face to face in the office this morning(and he never issued me with a letter 12 months ago with the said complaints)