Returned Special Delivery

[tony123456]

If I send an item by Special Delivery and for whatever reason it's not signed for by the person it has been sent to and is then returned to me should I (the original sender) then be required to sign for it on receipt? I know that in the past they've just been delivered with the rest of my mail but of late I am being asked to sign for them - just curious if this is the norm/change of policy. Thanks.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

I was told to do get a signature in those circumstances when I first joined 10 years ago. It sounds like you have someone is starting to do the job properly and/or you have a more professional postie now.

[tony123456]

lol - yes maybe, though in this instance a bit of common sense might be more appropriate.

[crazyshrew]

I always get a signature for RTS recorded or specials, was never instructed to but in my head it's sort of confirmation that the item is out of the RM system

[TrueBlueTerrier]

I always get a signature for RTS recorded or specials, was never instructed to but in my head it's sort of confirmation that the item is out of the RM system

That's how I think of it.

[UnhappyGremlin]

If there's no signature against the item it will be 'unresolved', and as such the sender could make a claim.

[fishtank]

That's got to be the best customer complaint ever.
Posties following the rules.....
It's a disgrace.

It's not a change in policy so much as a change in the monitoring of existing policy.
Lots of things that were accepted in the past are no longer acceptable,partly because that should always have been the case and partly because the internet driven growth in the use of tracked and signature items has brought with it some unsavoury types who make more money from fraudulent claims against Royal Mail than they do from legitimate business.

[TeeferTiger]

In theory the signature service is only for the recipient's address, as that's the service that was paid for. However, as SD items always travel separately to normal mail, they'll always be treated as a SD. So I'd expect an SD to be tracked and accounted for until a signature is received (or it's sent to RLB) but not so much for a RD. I used to scan anything that had a barcode regardless of whether it said signature required on it. If the PDA didn't like it or didn't want a signature, then fair enough, but I covered my back by doing it. RM want any excuse to get rid of staff, I wasn't going to let them sack me.

[Lounge Lizard]

In theory the signature service is only for the recipient's address, as that's the service that was paid for. However, as SD items always travel separately to normal mail, they'll always be treated as a SD. So I'd expect an SD to be tracked and accounted for until a signature is received (or it's sent to RLB) but not so much for a RD. I used to scan anything that had a barcode regardless of whether it said signature required on it. If the PDA didn't like it or didn't want a signature, then fair enough, but I covered my back by doing it. RM want any excuse to get rid of staff, I wasn't going to let them sack me.

I get signatures for returned Recorded Deliveries too, otherwise a fraudster can send it to a non existant address and then claim for loss because there's no signature in the syatem.

[TeeferTiger]

In theory the signature service is only for the recipient's address, as that's the service that was paid for. However, as SD items always travel separately to normal mail, they'll always be treated as a SD. So I'd expect an SD to be tracked and accounted for until a signature is received (or it's sent to RLB) but not so much for a RD. I used to scan anything that had a barcode regardless of whether it said signature required on it. If the PDA didn't like it or didn't want a signature, then fair enough, but I covered my back by doing it. RM want any excuse to get rid of staff, I wasn't going to let them sack me.

I get signatures for returned Recorded Deliveries too, otherwise a fraudster can send it to a non existant address and then claim for loss because there's no signature in the syatem.

I used to, too. As I said, I'd scan anything with a barcode