Children answering doors.

norris9 · Post by **norris9** » 10 Aug 2019, 15:56

What is the procedure when children answer the door? Nothing was mentioned about this to me in training or the induction.

Is it ok to hand parcels to them? should we only give parcels to children over a certain age? can children of only a certain age and above sign for things?

On one hand it seems irresponsible to hand over parcels to children sub maybe...8 years old, but on the other hand we post small parcels through people's letterboxes which could have knives, superglue, corrosive substances, tablets etc in them and a child could get access to them.

I guess the obvious answer is to wait for the parents, or if the parents aren't in....leave a docket?.... possibly call the police too. Anyone ever found a young child home alone and had to call the police?

clashcityrocker · Post by **clashcityrocker** » 10 Aug 2019, 16:45

As long as the parcel crosses the threshold your job is done.
If they can sign their name I deem them old enough to sign. It is a judgement call though. I don't think there is a hard and fast rule.
As for calling the police .....you would have to have some serious concerns. I would talk to a neighbour first.

Scama_bug · Post by **Scama_bug** » 10 Aug 2019, 17:26

Why would you call the police for ?

If they answer the door hand them the parcel and move on, it's not your problem what's going on in that house.

norris9 · Post by **norris9** » 10 Aug 2019, 17:35

clashcityrocker wrote:As long as the parcel crosses the threshold your job is done.
If they can sign their name I deem them old enough to sign. It is a judgement call though. I don't think there is a hard and fast rule.
As for calling the police .....you would have to have some serious concerns. I would talk to a neighbour first.

ok. A 5 year old girl was home alone today. Answered the door - said her parents were out, sorry but I was worried for her. I didn't bother calling the police, no.

sirchewey · Post by **sirchewey** » 10 Aug 2019, 18:50

I have been led to believe RM are bringing in age and recipient restricted deliveries as of October/November time. We will be asked to get ID at the doorstep before handing over.
This should minimise any issues with age restricted items and items only intended for certain individuals.

Dindin · Post by **Dindin** » 10 Aug 2019, 18:57

sirchewey wrote:I have been led to believe RM are bringing in age and recipient restricted deliveries as of October/November time. We will be asked to get ID at the doorstep before handing over.
This should minimise any issues with age restricted items and items only intended for certain individuals.

any link?

bmccoll · Post by **bmccoll** » 10 Aug 2019, 21:21

sirchewey wrote:I have been led to believe RM are bringing in age and recipient restricted deliveries as of October/November time. We will be asked to get ID at the doorstep before handing over.
This should minimise any issues with age restricted items and items only intended for certain individuals.

And are they are going to build this extra time into the workload? Thought not.

sirchewey · Post by **sirchewey** » 10 Aug 2019, 22:42

bmccoll wrote:
sirchewey wrote:I have been led to believe RM are bringing in age and recipient restricted deliveries as of October/November time. We will be asked to get ID at the doorstep before handing over.
This should minimise any issues with age restricted items and items only intended for certain individuals.
And are they are going to build this extra time into the workload? Thought not.

Doesn't matter, not our problem. If it takes me half hour over every day that's another half hour of work I'll have to bring back lol

noggin1969 · Post by **noggin1969** » 10 Aug 2019, 22:57

How are we supposed to know what is in the package , to know if it's age restricted ? Or is the sender putting a sticker on or will the bar code flash up on the PDA like the tills do in shops ?

fed_up_postie · Post by **fed_up_postie** » 10 Aug 2019, 23:10

noggin1969 wrote:How are we supposed to know what is in the package , to know if it's age restricted ? Or is the sender putting a sticker on or will the bar code flash up on the PDA like the tills do in shops ?

We have been told there will be stickers put on the parcels stating they are for over 25's only,if the person looks under 25 we have to ask them to provide id, if they can not provide id we have to write a docket out and take the parcel back, the items will require valid id at point of sale as well

Post by **eric the viking** » 11 Aug 2019, 01:38

noggin1969 wrote:How are we supposed to know what is in the package , to know if it's age restricted ? Or is the sender putting a sticker on or will the bar code flash up on the PDA like the tills do in shops ?

At parcelforce, we already have this. when you scan the barcode it tells you there is an age restriction. If they look the right age you can deliver it.

Ozzvaldo · Post by **Ozzvaldo** » 11 Aug 2019, 01:51

fed_up_postie wrote:
noggin1969 wrote:How are we supposed to know what is in the package , to know if it's age restricted ? Or is the sender putting a sticker on or will the bar code flash up on the PDA like the tills do in shops ?
We have been told there will be stickers put on the parcels stating they are for over 25's only,if the person looks under 25 we have to ask them to provide id, if they can not provide id we have to write a docket out and take the parcel back, the items will require valid id at point of sale as well

If and when this comes in, I wonder how long it will be before one of us gets threatened and/or assaulted by somebody we refuse to hand a package to while we are busy writing out a P739 in front of them? I speak as somebody who has previously been assaulted for refusing to hand out mail in the street.

clashcityrocker · Post by **clashcityrocker** » 11 Aug 2019, 07:07

norris9 wrote:
ok. A 5 year old girl was home alone today. Answered the door - said her parents were out, sorry but I was worried for her. I didn't bother calling the police, no.

You are right to be worried but the thing about kids is they sometimes lie.
Or the parents might be out. She might be in the house on her own. Because granny is in the garden.
Social services might be a better option than the police.

Newbie001 · Post by **Newbie001** » 11 Aug 2019, 11:43

Ozzvaldo wrote:
fed_up_postie wrote:
noggin1969 wrote:How are we supposed to know what is in the package , to know if it's age restricted ? Or is the sender putting a sticker on or will the bar code flash up on the PDA like the tills do in shops ?
We have been told there will be stickers put on the parcels stating they are for over 25's only,if the person looks under 25 we have to ask them to provide id, if they can not provide id we have to write a docket out and take the parcel back, the items will require valid id at point of sale as well
If and when this comes in, I wonder how long it will be before one of us gets threatened and/or assaulted by somebody we refuse to hand a package to while we are busy writing out a P739 in front of them? I speak as somebody who has previously been assaulted for refusing to hand out mail in the street.

Yeah that's gonna be fun. Trying to explain to the junkie who's never drove or been abroad that they're not getting their new phone till they provide valid ID.

Dindin · Post by **Dindin** » 11 Aug 2019, 18:03

Newbie001 wrote:
Ozzvaldo wrote:
fed_up_postie wrote:
noggin1969 wrote:How are we supposed to know what is in the package , to know if it's age restricted ? Or is the sender putting a sticker on or will the bar code flash up on the PDA like the tills do in shops ?
We have been told there will be stickers put on the parcels stating they are for over 25's only,if the person looks under 25 we have to ask them to provide id, if they can not provide id we have to write a docket out and take the parcel back, the items will require valid id at point of sale as well
If and when this comes in, I wonder how long it will be before one of us gets threatened and/or assaulted by somebody we refuse to hand a package to while we are busy writing out a P739 in front of them? I speak as somebody who has previously been assaulted for refusing to hand out mail in the street.
Yeah that's gonna be fun. Trying to explain to the junkie who's never drove or been abroad that they're not getting their new phone till they provide valid ID.

any links?