Recorded Delivery Left Unattended

[10shamrock]

Hi there,

I would be really grateful for any advice please as I think I have been an idiot. I left a customers parcel sent via recorded delivery outside their home as they were out when I called. In my defence, this is a safe area and a nice neighbourhood and I had known the customers for years (or so I thought). To cut a long story short, the customers were away for a couple of days and have complained on their return to find that a birthday present was just left outside. The parcel was not stolen or tampered with or damaged - they are upset because it was left unattended.

I was called into the office today and my line manager has said this is a sackable offence. I guess I am looking for advice on what to do next and if they can really sack me for being an idiot.

Many thanks for any advice as I am really worried.

[AnotherLimey]

Hi there,

I would be really grateful for any advice please as I think I have been an idiot. I left a customers parcel sent via recorded delivery outside their home as they were out when I called. In my defence, this is a safe area and a nice neighbourhood and I had known the customers for years (or so I thought). To cut a long story short, the customers were away for a couple of days and have complained on their return to find that a birthday present was just left outside. The parcel was not stolen or tampered with or damaged - they are upset because it was left unattended.

I was called into the office today and my line manager has said this is a sackable offence. I guess I am looking for advice on what to do next and if they can really sack me for being an idiot.

Many thanks for any advice as I am really worried.

A really stupid thing to do, but you know that already, why cut corners to save yourself a few minutes, goodluck as you will need it.

[doorstepped]

a lot of it depends on A: your DOM, and B: where the complaint came from ie: straight to your office or to customer services.

if it went straight to your office the DOM will be able to cover it and just bollock you ( if he so wishes of course ) but if it has come through customer services then you will probably be in big trouble :(

[blackadder]

if you lucky you get a 2 year serious, chances are you be sacked. not only did you leave a packet to be signed for on the doorstep you signed for it too

[clashcityrocker]

In my defence,

You have no defence.
You have breached security regulations. You have no defence.
You have to prove now that you are not a threat to the security of the mail.
You have to convince them you understand you have done wrong and you won't ever do it again.
Trying to justify your actions is pointless.

If they are looking to cut hours from your office you have handed them a golden opportunity.
If not, you are probably looking at a 2 year serious, unless you already have a chequered conduct history.

Make sure you have an Area Rep in attendance if you are formally interviewed.

[10shamrock]

Thanks for your honest replies - I had a feeling I was in big trouble.

I know I have made a huge mistake - I can't even think why I did it. Just to clarify on one of the comments - I didn't forge the customers signature - I didn't put the recorded delivery barcode into the scanner at all. Doesn't make it any better I know but, thought I should point that out.

About a year and a half ago I accidently lost a Special Delivery letter - to this day I still have no idea what happened. Anyway it was fully investigated and I was given a verbal warning but, was never given a written warning or 2 year serious to sign. I guess what I'm asking is will this make a difference to the outcome and can they have put a 2 year serious on my file without me signing it??

I know I've been a complete prat but, I need to keep my job otherwise we'll go under.

[DB1100]

You say they were away for a couple of days,didn't you notice that it was still there when you delivered the next day,the least you should have done is had a look,I used to do it with light bulbs but always made a point of checking the next day.

[10shamrock]

I left the parcel on Wednesday and then it was my day off on Thursday. Parcel was definitely not there on the Friday and I did check. Not sure when the customer was away - I am just going by what my manager said to me this morning.

[clashcityrocker]

You need to talk to an Area Rep.
What you have done is a sackable offence, but whether they sack you or not is dependant on a number of factors. Your Area Rep will be able to advise you better than anyone on here. (If someone in a nearby office has done a similar thing and received a warning, they will find it difficult to justify sacking you.) Your Area Rep will know the likelihood of any disciplinary action.
But you have to be very contrite and make sure they believe it will not happen again.
(If they let you off with a warning and it happens again your manager will have a lot of explaining to do.)

[Grinder64]

A rural driver in our office is currently under suspension due to signing for a signed-for item. Unfortunately for him the recipient rang our office to ensure that he was thanked for doing this as they'd have had to travel miles to come and collect it and the contents were time-sensitive and couldn't wait until redelivery the following week. To compound matters further his lino is a complete snake always out to climb the career ladder and score brown-nose points with the DOM and unfortunately said snake took the call. The moral of the story is don't give them enough rope to hang you, even if you know you're actually doing what the customer wishes - particularly if you're a long term full time employee.

[DB1100]

A rural driver in our office is currently under suspension due to signing for a signed-for item. Unfortunately for him the recipient rang our office to ensure that he was thanked for doing this as they'd have had to travel miles to come and collect it and the contents were time-sensitive and couldn't wait until redelivery the following week. To compound matters further his lino is a complete snake always out to climb the career ladder and score brown-nose points with the DOM and unfortunately said snake took the call. The moral of the story is don't give them enough rope to hang you, even if you know you're actually doing what the customer wishes - particularly if you're a long term full time employee.

A perfect example of the calibre of the management that has been inflicted on us,I feel sorry for the driver.

[DB1100]

I left the parcel on Wednesday and then it was my day off on Thursday. Parcel was definitely not there on the Friday and I did check. Not sure when the customer was away - I am just going by what my manager said to me this morning.

Sorry

[skull]

. The moral of the story is don't give them enough rope to hang you, even if you know you're actually doing what the customer wishes - particularly if you're a long term full time employee.

To be honest when it comes to this, people are hanging themselves. The customers who send the items have already stated their wishes by paying for the service they want. Some of our customer's receiving the item will want you to self sign or leave packets because the alternative is an inconvenience to them and probably they have nothing to lose, we do, our jobs. All these customers who tell you to self sign and leave packets here and there would tell you were to go If you asked them to sign some sort of disclaimer regarding loses.

[skull]

A perfect example of the calibre of the management that has been inflicted on us,I feel sorry for the driver.

How did the driver find out that the customer who sent the signed for item wanted him to self sign ?. At the end of the day and in most cases, posties are self signing and doorstepping packets because they can't be bothered to do the job right. If it took more effort/work to self sign or doorstep, they wouldn't do it. Most of this doing the customer a favour is bullshit.

I sell a lot of stuff through Ebay and post items regularly. If posties are self signing or doorstepping what I send, it would really annoy me. No postie has ever contacted me asking if it's ok to self sign or doorstep one of my posted items. I pay for a service and it's not up to the recipient to instruct the postie what to do.

[haddie]

as "doorstepped " says depends if it has come straight to the DO. My DOM covered for me a few years ago with same thing alhough it was not recorded and the item actually went missing.