Postmen Signing Recordeds

[Jenny Manchester]

I sign them for someone I know very well on my round but I asked them to send me a E Mail saying that they gave me permission and the two names I am signing for so that way hopefully I will be covered if any comebacks.

Nope, you ain't covered

Explain why seen as you are adamant that you know?

[Silly Sarah]

I understood customers can send a letter of authority to their local office. This allows somebody else to sign for recordeds on their behalf when they are not at home. Usually this would be a friend/neighbour. Could they do this for their postman?

[fng]

I sign them for someone I know very well on my round but I asked them to send me a E Mail saying that they gave me permission and the two names I am signing for so that way hopefully I will be covered if any comebacks.

Nope, you ain't covered

Explain why seen as you are adamant that you know?

Because the person sending the item is R.M's customer not the person getting the item. What the person getting the item wants has very little if anything to do with the transaction.

Also nowhere in any agreements or contracts or anything to do with royal mail does it state that an email to you from your "customer" is in anyway valid.

If the "customer" writes in to the D.O. giving permission for the postie to sign AND the DOM allows it to happen then maybe but the "customer" can still kick off to the sender of recorded saying they never got it and they didn't sign for it even tho you signed and posted it through, and there is not one jot of evidence to the contrary. The only door step that little bundle of crap is going to land on is the posties.

[banner18]

I sign them for someone I know very well on my round but I asked them to send me a E Mail saying that they gave me permission and the two names I am signing for so that way hopefully I will be covered if any comebacks.

Nope, you ain't covered

Explain why seen as you are adamant that you know?

Because the person sending the item is R.M's customer not the person getting the item. What the person getting the item wants has very little if anything to do with the transaction.

Also nowhere in any agreements or contracts or anything to do with royal mail does it state that an email to you from your "customer" is in anyway valid.

If the "customer" writes in to the D.O. giving permission for the postie to sign AND the DOM allows it to happen then maybe but the "customer" can still kick off to the sender of recorded saying they never got it and they didn't sign for it even tho you signed and posted it through, and there is not one jot of evidence to the contrary. The only door step that little bundle of crap is going to land on is the posties.

Would you be the one to refuse the little old lady who has no transport, with severe arthritus in her hands, who asks you to sign for the item? I understand about liability, but surely there are extenuating circumstances.
I still find it hard to understand how recordeds determine liability. People put alsorts of wierd squiggles on my pda, but I am no signature expert. Unless there was a photo of them putting a squiggle down, who is to say who's squiggle it is? Having said all that, someone has paid for that service, so it should be honoured.

[hampshireman]

Customers know when we do that..they aren't completely stupid.
Next time they go to the Post Office with a packet they think f**k it,why bother the extra expense,
Job done.

The customer is ... the sender not the recipient. They are paying for the packet / letter etc

I will never abuse this.

I have been asked by the duty holder (me covering) to just put the Recordeds through. He was amazed when I said no.

When i said job done i was being sarcastic.
Both the sender and the recipient are likely to know if we don't get a sig.
Neither are likely to feel inclined to continue to use a service that doesn't fulfill it's most basic criteria.
What i should have said was jobs done because they will be.
Well done for not joining in with the rush to close the business down.

Fish; was not having a go at you or your post at all. ¬And I realised that you were being sarcastic. Maybe me being lazy and just quoting ; rather than go for post reply. My apologies.

[fishtank]

Would you be the one to refuse the little old lady who has no transport, with severe arthritus in her hands, who asks you to sign for the item? I understand about liability, but surely there are extenuating circumstances.

I don't really see a problem with that,no one is likely to be conducted for something like that and business is unlikely to be lost that way....there is a risk of a complaint and you need to be aware of that but it's minimal.
But let's be completely honest here.
We're not really talking about helping little old ladies 99% of the time.
What we're talking about is lazy posties pulling off the recorded sticker or signing for it themselves and shoving it through the door because they can't be arsed and want to get home to see Jeremy Kyle....and then lying to themselves that they are only doing the customer a favour.
That's why nobody rates recorded delivery and that's why it has to be priced so cheaply because if it wasn't,nobody would touch it with a bargepole.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

A Salutatory article http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... nk#p234178" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A postman who signed for a parcel on behalf of a frail pensioner lost his job after she rang Royal Mail bosses to say thank you.

The father of two, who had around ten years of unblemished service, is thought to have put his signature to the recorded delivery when a parcel firm arrived on the doorstep as he made his own rounds.

Concerned that the elderly householder would have to trek to the sorting office to collect the parcel when she got home, he signed for her.

Orginal article still available at http://www.southportvisiter.co.uk/south ... -25689395/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[eastie]

But what about the times when you hand the PDA over to a customer and they sign it but nothing comes out on the screen after they pressed one of the buttons by mistake and they have already closed the door.
I have put an x in the box before

[Rainbow]

Slightly different take on this topic, recently we introduced leave a packet with a neighbour etc and we were told everything could be left except for specials. so therefore the neighbour can sign for recorded or tracked. surely its no different if a postman signs and posts a recorded letter?

[steve1873]

But what about the times when you hand the PDA over to a customer and they sign it but nothing comes out on the screen after they pressed one of the buttons by mistake and they have already closed the door.
I have put an x in the box before

Here is a radical thought... chap the door and explain that they did not sign it and you still require a signature, then do not allow them or anyone else to close the door until you have checked the pda to ensure a signature is present.

[Lounge Lizard]

Would you be the one to refuse the little old lady who has no transport, with severe arthritus in her hands, who asks you to sign for the item? I understand about liability, but surely there are extenuating circumstances.

I don't really see a problem with that,no one is likely to be conducted for something like that and business is unlikely to be lost that way....there is a risk of a complaint and you need to be aware of that but it's minimal.
But let's be completely honest here.
We're not really talking about helping little old ladies 99% of the time.
What we're talking about is lazy posties pulling off the recorded sticker or signing for it themselves and shoving it through the door because they can't be arsed and want to get home to see Jeremy Kyle....and then lying to themselves that they are only doing the customer a favour.
That's why nobody rates recorded delivery and that's why it has to be priced so cheaply because if it wasn't,nobody would touch it with a bargepole.

Indeed. The customer is the sender who has paid the postage so posties pulling off the recorded sticker or signing for it themselves is equivalent to them stealing the 95p Recorded Delivery fee from the customer, which surely is equivalent to Gross Misconduct.

[Postie45]

what I find most curious about recorded or special items which require a signature is the fact that it is IMPOSSIBLE to prove a signature is authentic.
First of all, I can say I have never had training on what is or isnt an acceptable signature (maybe others have ?) .. if someone just does a squiggle in the box how do i decline delivery of item on the basis that I dont think that this is their real signature ? we have never been trained or told to compare a given signature to say an official document like a passport or driving license, so how do we KNOW that this is a real signature ? Until we get told to check signatures I think the whole process is on extremely flimsy ground and I cant see any grounds for misconduct so long as the item has some kind of scrawl next to the barcode.
Even if the receiving customer says that "i didnt sign" and claims non delivery but there is SOMETHING signed in the box then it all comes to a matter of one persons word against another, so without the necessary proof against the postman in these circumstances there would be no comeback on them.

[fishtank]

Until we get told to check signatures I think the whole process is on extremely flimsy ground and I cant see any grounds for misconduct so long as the item has some kind of scrawl next to the barcode.
Even if the receiving customer says that "i didnt sign" and claims non delivery but there is SOMETHING signed in the box then it all comes to a matter of one persons word against another, so without the necessary proof against the postman in these circumstances there would be no comeback on them.

There is no proof needed.
This isn't a court of law.
All that is needed to dismiss someone for gross misconduct is reasonable belief.
That means your manager decides what he/she thinks happened based on the facts they have at their disposal.
What that usually means in reality is that the manager will maybe give you the benefit of the doubt on the first occasion but the second time a customer complains the picture changes.
Think of it like Russian Roulette with your job.

[scoobydo79]

I had a recorded delivery item and on the box was printed the instruction to" leave in garage if no reply"

[fishtank]

I had a recorded delivery item and on the box was printed the instruction to" leave in garage if no reply"

I had one today that said "Do not fly" .