Rant time...... PDA's.. PPI.. and collection runs!

[2791dean]

I'd like to start with the fact that when I joined Royal Mail some 17 years ago I was proud to wear the uniform and felt we were well respected in the communities, seems somewhere down the line we've neglected the normal everyday customers in favour of big business (yes I know we're a business and not in it for the fun of it but the normal everyday folk we're always part of what made Royal mail a bit more personal!)

Rant time, PDA's..... when these were first introduced a few years back I asked the question "How long before we start getting disciplined on these things!?" ..... the answer I got at the time was.. " they are purely a monitoring device nothing more" seems like the monitoring device that was put in for this purpose is now a disciplinary tool! I know of a few who have lost their jobs because of barcode issues on these so called monitoring devices! (of course I can't comment on what they were dismissed for only that I know the PDA/Barcodes was the issue! It would seem Royal Mail trust their PPI using customers with thousands of pounds worth of unpaid mail (thats another story we'll get to next) than their own employees! I personally have been given a roasting on a couple of occasions due to failing to scan even though I have revisited the customer when I've noticed only for them to be closed! The problem is with the list on the PDA it isn't in orderof your collection so sometimes you can look at the screen and think you have scanned only to see the business pop up a couple of collections later due to it being below the screen and out of sequence! I have asked if the list could be put in order of what it is done in only to be told it can't!....... PDA's also fail to be able to scan paperwork at times too! which then takes several minutes of rebooting so you can get the thing back online for the next collection wasting valuable time!

PPI mail... Increasing amounts of businesses are using the PPI mail system, this from what I can see is being used and abused by the customers at hand! we are told not to collect PPI mail if no paperwork is given and yet it seems post office counters do not fall under this ruling? and an ever increasing number of PPI mail customers are dropping mail in large amounts (10 to 15 bags over a few customers!) into local post offices! (not just at one post office some of them are dropping off at several post offices which makes me smell a rat somewhere down the line! Some of these customers already have a collection aswell and are just totting up more work and clearing their decks so to speak. But the main issue is that most of this PPI seems unaccounted for? no paperwork and nothing written on the PPI labels that are tied to the bags (account number, contents of bag etc etc ?? I've even heard of a company that is photocopying the PPI labels of a company in the same building as they are and using it on their own mail etc! This system is open to constant abuse and it's impossible to put everything on check through revenue as we just don't have the time! Surely PPI should only be offered to customers who we can make a collection from? In that way we do at least get paperwork and can do a random check as we do now with them?? Royal Mail must be losing millions on fraudulent PPI mail going through the system unpaid!

I've ranted for a while now, there is more but I'm too fed up to go on about meter mail in post boxes (shouldn't be done according to contracts) over weight mail bags coming from post office counters (surely these guys should have a scale to keep a check on the bag weights! health and safety and all that) vehicles not big enough to support the duty they are covering due to volumes of mail increasing (such as the aforementioned PPI!) etc etc etc....

[GT750rider]

You're right about firms abusing PPI. I used to collect from a small town main post office, only on a Monday, and asked the staff where the paperwork was for several bags of PPI. I was told the customer always drops it off with no accompanying paperwork. So when I got back to the mail centre I handed it over to revenue protection. And guess what, some, not all, was unpaid when checked on the system. So, how many more firms are doing this ? Royal Mail, get your asses in gear and instead of persecuting posties, go after these guys and you'll save buckets loads of money IMHO.

[5plusbonusball]

pda's are the cause of most complaints and bugs in our office, rm going backwards while other companies take the lead with customers.

[PhilthyPhil]

Counters should not accept PPI without documentation. All PPI collected from counters should be sent to revenue protection whether there is paperwork or not.

[2791dean]

Phil it's impossible to send all PPi from counters to revenue, there's far too much to keep tack of to say whats what when you get into the mail center to unload........... and please don't say tag it as you go along as there just isn't sufficient time to do that we're already strtched out as it is! Our 3 evening drivers are all part time, 1 on 30 hours 1 on 27 hours and myself on 25 hours...... there just isn't time in our duties to be adding in more things to do!!


Steve