Petition launched to see parcels left at Sedgefield Post Off

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Petition launched to see parcels left at Sedgefield Post Office

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FED up of driving 18 miles to collect missed parcels, Neil Coates is launching a petition requesting undelivered items are left at his local post office.

Mr Coates, of Sedgefield, said the Royal Mail’s decision to return undelivered parcels and special delivery items to its sorting depot in Stockton-on-Tees had caused major inconvenience to residents of the town.

Up until last year, large parcels or any mail requiring a signature was returned to Sedgefield Post Office on Front Street if the recipient was out.


The Royal Mail, which is reviewing the changes, offers a redelivery service to the same address or an alternative property on a day that suits the recipient.

But Mr Coates, 47, says this is not always convenient for him and having become tired of making the journey, he has joined with Sedgefield postmaster Richie Parry in launching a petition to revert to the old system.

“My heart sinks when I come home and there is the dreaded red ‘failed delivery’ post form on the doormat,” said Mr Coates. “This round trip of about 18 miles is not only expensive, but also very environmentally unfriendly, as well as extremely inconvenient.”

Mr Coates, a project manager at Husqvarna, in Newton Aycliffe, said the opening hours at the Stockton depot were inconvenient for people who work full time.

“In our busy modern lives, where more and more items are purchased via the internet and delivered by mail, surely there must be a better solution to this problem than the current one,” he said.

“I am fortunate to have a car and can drive to Stockton.

“Many people in Sedgefield do not.”

Mr Parry, who has been postmaster in the town for almost eight years, said he could not understand why the changes had been introduced.

“The old system worked really well,” he said. “We rarely had problems with storage and it was convenient. It is very frustrating for people.”

Royal Mail spokeswoman Felicity MacFarlane said: “Customers do not have to travel to collect parcels as Royal Mail offers free redelivery to their address or another address within the same postcode area on the day of their choice.

“The decision to move all parcels to Stockton Delivery Office was due to capacity issues because of the increased numbers of parcels that Royal Mail is handling.

“However, we are reviewing the situation to see if we can reintroduce parcel collections of non-signed for items from Sedgefield post office”.

The petition is available to sign at Sedgefield Post Office.

[houseoflords]

Stop ordering off the net or make sure your in, no answer=form left red card, simples.

[UnhappyGremlin]

Thing that gets me is, why don't people have parcels delivered to them at work?

When I mentioned it to one customer who was moaning about receiving a P739, she said the reason she didn't have parcels delivered to her workplace, was because she was worried what would happen to her parcel when on holiday. Told her don't order stuff when she knew she was due on holiday but....
Pointed out that she would be at work 47/48 weeks out of 52, so it is simply logic. Looked at me like I was mental.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Thing that gets me is, why don't people have parcels delivered to them at work?

Many reasons I think. The first and probably the main reason is some sites and companies will only deliver to the registered address, or the card holders address.

Also before I became a Postie I did have some stuff delivered to work, it became a pain because then I became the subject of discussion - "Did you see Teebs got another parcel today, wonder what was in it", etc. Most workplaces are probably the same.

Of course, if everyone did have their packets delivered to their work addresses, we would have less to deliver and they would have more reason to extend the duties.

[rjack]

I deliver 12 miles from my sorting office and royal mail have given me p739 cards with my local post office address on them. it shows it can be done.