Thieves in RM

[analogsynthman]

Hi everyone, i've been a postie for five years, but yesterday i experienced the saddest day in that time.
I went to my parents house as it was my mums birthday and she showed me 3 birthday cards she'd had delivered by her postman.
All 3 cards had been opened prior to delivery, 1 had been sliced open along the top edge and the other two just blatantly ripped open.
I'm pretty sure it's nothing to do with her postman, he seems like a genuine nice bloke, but whoever it is doing this within RM is giving us all a bad name. They want hanging IMO. Very sad.

all the best to the honest hard working folk on here, analogsynthman.

[Indy]

Sad indeed! but the ripped open ones could/might have been mangled in a sorting machine... have seen it happen myself.

[analogsynthman]

I know what you are saying indy, i've had loads that have got trapped and ripped but these 3 all looked dodgy.
Is there no way these people can get caught out?, i've not really spent much time at a mail centre so i'm not sure about security there, But i've heard all sorts of things about items getting nicked at MC's. Some MCs use agency staff too, which is'nt a good thing when you're dealing with peoples private mail, bank cards ect. Of coure, not all temp staff are bad but there is a minority that have no morals.

[Wessex]

An envelope slit open,perhaps the thief takes an ornamental letter opener to work with him lol.Almost certainly the card in transit has moved up and down gradually slitting the envelope.Surely in your 5 years you must have seen this before.It happens especially when people put a few photos into an envelope which is not reinforced.
Cards and their envelopes arriving damaged at the do is most likely damage from machinery as Indy states,when your letters are stolen the thief is not going to put them back in the system in my opinion.Hope your mum had a nice day despite this.

[Indy]

Is there no way these people can get caught out?

Think about the odds.. a dodgy postman can open a letter with a flick of the wrist in a second and its not that hard to do 'away from' the cameras. RM would and I suspect do keep records of all reports of theft and potential theft. By cross referencing these and looking for hotspots they target their (no doubt meagre) resources to those areas. If they suspect 'Ashley on walk 17' then the only way they can confirm it is him/her is to sit there and watch him for the 4 hours he's in the office... think of the tedium! Once they've got reasonable cause they can then do a 'sting' (letter with marked notes in it) without it being entrapment. Hopefully then a bad apple can be ejected from RM.

I do believe that RM do their upmost to catch these people but thankfully its like looking for a needle in a haystack.

[kingofmcr]

i hate delivering birthday cards that have been slit open ..in the last few weeks i have noticed that a few look like they have been steamed open...im guessing this happens in the big sorting depots at night ..

[Indy]

i hate delivering birthday cards that have been slit open ..in the last few weeks i have noticed that a few look like they have been steamed open...im guessing this happens in the big sorting depots at night ..

Steamed??? isnt that a speciality of Mi5 =8O

[Dorset Plodder]

Hope your Mum didn't lose any cash Anal....(you'll have to change that name it a bugger to shorten ) No Postie is stupid enough to nick stuff from his own customers, and as we've discussed before no-one should be sending cash through the mail. I know that look they give you as if to say, "You Thieving Bastard you've nicked my money" always make sure you put it in a "Sorry we've Trashed your mail" bag. However one problem we now have is PT Posties on Delivery Only. They pull the bundle out and have no idea what little surprises it includes! The guy who preps it may not want to waste his valuable time by popping the damaged card into one of these!

[Indy]

Anal....(you'll have to change that name it a bugger to shorten )

No kidding!

No Postie is stupid enough to nick stuff from his own customers

You'd be surprised... one guy here was sacked after he nicked (some items) from his own walk admittedly with quite a number from other peoples with the line "like I'd be stupid enough to nick off my own walk!"

[Dorset Plodder]

See what you're saying Indy. If mail was disappearing from everyones walk apart from his it would seem a bit suspicious! The psychology of the Tea Leaf eh! Mind you having watched America's Stupidest Criminals anythings possible, did you see the one where they didn't have any masks? They decided to draw them on their faces, in Permanent Marker, as show in their Mug Shots. Unbelievable.

[krussel]

I ve heard of a couple of slit cards arriving at our place last week

[chunk]

i hate delivering birthday cards that have been slit open ..in the last few weeks i have noticed that a few look like they have been steamed open...im guessing this happens in the big sorting depots at night ..

Unlikely as most mail centre coffees 95% come from machines
your only likely to find a kettle in the main kitchen/ canteen area or in small specialist rooms such as the specials locker or
revenue protection.. arguably these people are our most trusted people.

i think we should adopt the attitude no-one is above suspicion
from the fist one that emptys the post box till the end of the chain.

a recent posting claimed that the disclosure required to work for rm is only a basic one
whereas a schoolteacher has a full one?
we hold peoples lives in our hands, their banking, legal dealings,health ie doctors and hospital appointments etc.
maybe full disclosures would be in order.

[pokos27]

sometimes, its further up the chain, you just have to report the item to the management.
I think its disgusting why idiots would risk their job, just to steal someone elses item,
the punishment should be far harsher, and the culprit should pay back royal mails investigation costs.

[RedBagMan]

However one problem we now have is PT Posties on Delivery Only. They pull the bundle out and have no idea what little surprises it includes! The guy who preps it may not want to waste his valuable time by popping the damaged card into one of these!

One reason I always carry a couple or three "damage bags" with me at all times ... together with an A-Z, some "Sorry I shoved it thru the wrong door" cards and a roll of sellotape for crappily wrapped packets on a wet day ... and those very smart "P739 left" stickers - and a bar of chocolate

[kingofmcr]

i hate delivering birthday cards that have been slit open ..in the last few weeks i have noticed that a few look like they have been steamed open...im guessing this happens in the big sorting depots at night ..

Unlikely as most mail centre coffees 95% come from machines
your only likely to find a kettle in the main kitchen/ canteen area or in small specialist rooms such as the specials locker or
revenue protection.. arguably these people are our most trusted people.

i think we should adopt the attitude no-one is above suspicion
from the fist one that emptys the post box till the end of the chain.

a recent posting claimed that the disclosure required to work for rm is only a basic one
whereas a schoolteacher has a full one?
we hold peoples lives in our hands, their banking, legal dealings,health ie doctors and hospital appointments etc.
maybe full disclosures would be in order.

who knows what goes on at night ..a cheap kettle .enevlope held over .open ..half sealed back up ..then they start to come apart on delivery..looks better than letters being slit open maybe in their minds