Threatening Behaviour from Postwoman

[FloralDesigns]

Hello Again,

A few months ago I posted a request for advice regarding a few issues we were having with our post woman. I took the advice given, and I contacted Royal Mail regarding the issues. I was assured the issues would be taken seriously, and there would be no 'retribution' for my call. Within a few days, the problems greatly decreased, so I thought the problems were solved and forgot about it....Until this week.

A few days ago there was a knock at the door. I open the door and the postwoman (in uniform with the Royal Mail van behind her) steps into my doorway, shoves a package at me and starts screaming at me! She was screaming about my complaint, but I didn't understand most of what she was going on about. She was extremely aggressive and kept lunging at me as if she was going to hit me. At first I was completely dumbstruck at to what was happening and a bit frightened. I tried to speak a few times, but she kept talking over me so I closed the door. (We have CCTV and this was all captured on video.)

What was that? What was she hoping to accomplish by coming to my door to scream at me in this threatening way? I phoned Royal Mail months ago, so why is she doing this now?

Obviously, I was very upset by this. I felt threatened and 'attacked' in my own home. I phoned Royal Mail to report this incident about 20 mins after it happened. I was told my complaint would be taken seriously, that it would count as a 'second complaint following up from my original complaint' from months ago, and I would hear a response within 72 hours. However, I have heard no reply so far (it has been 72 hours), and that woman is still delivering our post. She is still coming to my house daily which shows me that Royal Mail is not taking this seriously. If I were to behave like this at my job, I would have been fired.

Her actions this week were beyond inappropriate, and I can't believe Royal Mail are allowing their staff to behave in this manor. Quite honestly, I am shocked and I am very upset and angry about both the incident and the way it is being handled. It is not acceptable. I will not open the door to this woman in future, and I am very uncomfortable with her even coming to my home at this point.

Royal Mail have not responded to my complaint, so what can I do? I would greatly appreciate any advice. Thank you.

[Sir Henry]

She sounds like she has a screw loose. Phone the delivery office and speak to the Delivery Office Manager, threaten to get the police involved for her threatening behaviour and at least have a word with the police for advice.

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

you have complained once, there is still problems, you have given royal mail a reasonable chance to resolve the issue, now a second incident has occurred this time it appears to have threatening behavior, you have contacted royal mail and they dont seem to have done anything after 3 days

now assuming you are telling the truth and i have absolutely no reason to doubt you, then i would immediately contact the police and let them deal with the issue, threatening behavior is not on.

If the shoe was on the other foot and the postie was getting grief like this i would be advising them to go to the police about the customer so i have no reason to give you different advice, this sort of behavior is not on in this day and age, you have been reasonable and given royal mail a chance to fix it they havent, time to get some professionals to resolve the issue

[FloralDesigns]

She sounds like she has a screw loose. Phone the delivery office and speak to the Delivery Office Manager, threaten to get the police involved for her threatening behaviour and at least have a word with the police for advice.

Sir Henry, thank you for taking the time to reply and for the helpful advice. Thank you.

[FloralDesigns]

you have complained once, there is still problems, you have given royal mail a reasonable chance to resolve the issue, now a second incident has occurred this time it appears to have threatening behavior, you have contacted royal mail and they dont seem to have done anything after 3 days

now assuming you are telling the truth and i have absolutely no reason to doubt you, then i would immediately contact the police and let them deal with the issue, threatening behavior is not on.

If the shoe was on the other foot and the postie was getting grief like this i would be advising them to go to the police about the customer so i have no reason to give you different advice, this sort of behavior is not on in this day and age, you have been reasonable and given royal mail a chance to fix it they havent, time to get some professionals to resolve the issue

zx135--Thank you for taking the time to respond. I appreciate your helpful advice.

I phoned Royal Mail to query why I had not had a reply from them. I was told, and I quote-- "The manager probably spoke to the woman, what else do you want him to do?"

Needless to say, I was rather surprised by this response and the fact that Royal Mail do not seem to be taking the situation seriously at all. Royal Mail told me that I was not able to speak to a manager and that they could not raise the level of my complaint until they had a response from the local manager. The local manager was suppose to respond within 3 days, but he has not. Apparently, there is no procedure to enforce the managers to respond. So essentially, according to Royal Mail, my complaint is left in limbo until the local manager responds. (After checking other sources, I have found this to be inaccurate information from the Royal Mail adviser I spoke to on the phone. I am able to raise the level of the complaint myself (Postal Review Panel) to include the additional damaging information that Royal Mail has not responded and refused to raise the complaint themselves. If still not satisfied, I can then raise the level myself to the Postal Redress Service.) I will be raising my complaint to the Postal Review Panel today and taking things from there.

I didn't want to involve the police. I was originally told that as there had been two complaints, Royal Mail typically switch the postmen/women's routes which would (hopefully) stop this woman coming to my house again and the situation could be forgotten. However, as Royal Mail has done absolutely nothing, I think I have no choice at this point but to contact the police as bottom line, I don't want this woman at my house again.

I think you make a very valid point which came up whilst discussing with friends over the weekend--If the situation was reversed and someone was verbally/phisically attacking this woman, she most likely would have already phoned the police and Royal Mail would probably be more actively involved in the situation. It's sad Royal Mail isn't taking the opportunity to nip this in the bud now to avoid police involvement/possibly bad publicity. If I were to behave like this at my job, I would most certainly have been fired immediately.

Another point worth mentioning (for information purposes), I was told by Royal Mail that they could not guarantee my private details would not be given to this woman--i.e. my house/mobile phone number, email address, etc. This is very concerning given the level of aggression I have already experienced from this woman.

Thank you again for your response, it is much appreciated.

[NWpostie]

I think if they haven't responded or did anything constructive with regards to your complaint, it sounds as if they are fobbing you off and hoping it will go away.

Going to the Police may be your only option as you did try to resolved via Royal Mail.

I had a similar situation but with an agressive customer, I knew Royal Mail would do nothing about it, so I went straight to the Police and they dealt with it, the end result the Customer treated me with a bit more respect knowing the consequences of continuing to be agressive as he is under caution and will be arrested if he carries on, my supervisor wasn't happy about it but it's my choice and my personal welfare. If you want something done do it yourself seems to be how it has to be done.

I can guarantee it will be awkward afterward, she may well be suspended pending investigation once the Police come down to the delivery office but the alternative of doing nothing is worse as she will think she has got away with it.

[fb1969]

If I were the customer in this situation I would also be reporting this to the police.

[bogstandard]

you could try this link

http://ask.ofcom.org.uk/help/post/postcomp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[FloralDesigns]

I think if they haven't responded or did anything constructive with regards to your complaint, it sounds as if they are fobbing you off and hoping it will go away.

Going to the Police may be your only option as you did try to resolved via Royal Mail.

I had a similar situation but with an agressive customer, I knew Royal Mail would do nothing about it, so I went straight to the Police and they dealt with it, the end result the Customer treated me with a bit more respect knowing the consequences of continuing to be agressive as he is under caution and will be arrested if he carries on, my supervisor wasn't happy about it but it's my choice and my personal welfare. If you want something done do it yourself seems to be how it has to be done.

I can guarantee it will be awkward afterward, she may well be suspended pending investigation once the Police come down to the delivery office but the alternative of doing nothing is worse as she will think she has got away with it.

NWpostie--Thank you for your message. This is exactly what I am thinking--Royal Mail is fobbing me off in the hopes that it will go away. I've been very surprised by their lack of response. As I said, if I behaved this way at work, I (without a doubt) would have been fired immediately.

[FloralDesigns]

If I were the customer in this situation I would also be reporting this to the police.

Thank you, fb1969. It's still surprising Royal Mail have done nothing at all. I had hoped to resolve the issues without involving the police, but unfortunately this hasn't been the case. Thank you again!

[FloralDesigns]

you could try this link

http://ask.ofcom.org.uk/help/post/postcomp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

bogstandard--Thank you for the link!

I have received Private Messages from others who have apparently experienced a similar incident to me (although in other areas of the country). So unfortunately, it seems my situation is not an isolated incident. They have also stated that Royal Mail has seemingly ignored their complaints as well. Therefore, this link might also prove helpful to others who have come to this site for advice.

(It's worrying to think this is happening around the country though! )

[franco1]

Could she possibly be an ex member of the Russian steroid taking 2012 Olympic weight lifting team??

[bogstandard]

you could try this link

http://ask.ofcom.org.uk/help/post/postcomp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

bogstandard--Thank you for the link!

I have received Private Messages from others who have apparently experienced a similar incident to me (although in other areas of the country). So unfortunately, it seems my situation is not an isolated incident. They have also stated that Royal Mail has seemingly ignored their complaints as well. Therefore, this link might also prove helpful to others who have come to this site for advice.

(It's worrying to think this is happening around the country though! )

not wishing to cause offence, and i hope this doesn't but this will happen all around the country as RM deliver to over 26 million addresses and we meet all types of people every day, some good some really not so good. i can assure you not all posties are like your one and unfortunately not all of our customers are as understanding as or try to be anywhere near as understanding as you have been. You only hear about the bad ones or the exceptionally good ones, the rest of us go un-noticed and its how i prefer. The unfortunate thing is we get tarred with the bad impressions and not with the good ones, but that i suppose is human nature.

[FloralDesigns]

Could she possibly be an ex member of the Russian steroid taking 2012 Olympic weight lifting team??

Anything is possible.

[FloralDesigns]

you could try this link

http://ask.ofcom.org.uk/help/post/postcomp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

bogstandard--Thank you for the link!

I have received Private Messages from others who have apparently experienced a similar incident to me (although in other areas of the country). So unfortunately, it seems my situation is not an isolated incident. They have also stated that Royal Mail has seemingly ignored their complaints as well. Therefore, this link might also prove helpful to others who have come to this site for advice.

(It's worrying to think this is happening around the country though! )

not wishing to cause offence, and i hope this doesn't but this will happen all around the country as RM deliver to over 26 million addresses and we meet all types of people every day, some good some really not so good. i can assure you not all posties are like your one and unfortunately not all of our customers are as understanding as or try to be anywhere near as understanding as you have been. You only hear about the bad ones or the exceptionally good ones, the rest of us go un-noticed and its how i prefer. The unfortunate thing is we get tarred with the bad impressions and not with the good ones, but that i suppose is human nature.

Unfortunately, you're absolutely right! I used to live in Hertfordshire and we had the best Postman you could hope for. I can still remember a number of occasions that he went above and beyond the call of duty; however, he and this postwoman are the only ones I remember (the two extremes). The rest of the posties I've had over the years just become part of your daily routine, and you don't pay much attention to the post or the person delivering it--I'm sorry to say. Not to say I don't appreciate them, but they do tend to go un-noticed. In all my years though, I've only had one 'bad postie' which really makes me appreciate the substitutes who fill in for this woman when she's not coming to my house. I would happily take 'bogstandard' any day to this woman!