Pensioner claims Post Office staff destroyed perfume for dying friend

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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Maureen Price says she resents being quizzed by staff in her local Tesco store every time she sends a present

Pensioner Maureen Price claims staff 'destroyed' a small bottle of Yardley perfume she was sending to a dying friend who loved the smell of bluebells in the Forest of Dean.

The disabled 72-year-old claims she was told she was banned from her local Tesco after getting into a row with the in-store Post Office over whether the bottle of English Bluebell scent conformed to parcel regulations.

And the retired legal secretary, who can only walk with the aid of sticks, says she is fed up of being 'interrogated' every time she tries to send a present from the newly revamped Post Office inside the Tesco Express store at Coleford.

Miss Price first fell out with staff after they refused to let her post a Christmas present to a friend because she admitted under questioning that the small clock had a battery inside.

On Monday she was turned away again after she admitted that she did not know the exact volume of a small bottle of perfume which was in the original packaging inside a padded envelope.

When she unwrapped the present at home and found it was only 50ml and the regulations allow up to four 150ml bottles in one parcel, she was furious and returned to the Post Office to argue they could have used common sense.

After angrily putting the perfume, receipt, opened birthday card and everything needed to wrap a parcel on the counter she told the staff member to check everything was in order, read the card and post it all on.

“I couldn’t believe it when I was told the perfume had been destroyed,” she said after learning what had happened.

“It was only a small, £9.99 bottle of Yardley that I had bought for my friend’s birthday. She is very, very ill and loves the smell of bluebells.

“It’s ridiculous, what’s the point of a Post Office if you can’t send parcels? They ask you all these questions but nobody is going to say they are sending drugs through the post. Maybe I’m too honest.”

But when it did not arrive at her friend's she returned to Tesco to do her shopping and asked about the parcel.

“I don’t know what I expected but I was shocked when they said they had spoken to head office and they had advised them to destroy it,” she said. “Then they said to me ‘You’re banned, goodbye’.

“I only wanted to send a present to my friend but I was made to feel like a common criminal. It’s ridiculous.

“I could have said anything but I told the truth. When I opened all the wrapping it was well within the regulations anyway."

She says she has sent parcels from other branches without being quizzed about the contents and says it only happens at the Coleford Post Office which opened with a fanfare in March when bosses boasted that it would be better for customers because it would be open 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

Miss Price was so angry she tried to report the matter to police for criminal damage.

Tesco chiefs have now reassured her that she is not banned from the supermarket where she does her usual shop.

According to Royal Mail regulations perfume can be sent through the post as long as it is packaged properly and the volume does not exceed 150ml per item. Up to four perfumes or aftershaves can be sent in any one package.

A Post Office spokesperson said: "We are urgently looking into the issue, and always strive to ensure high quality of customer service right across our network of over 11,500 branches. We also expect staff serving in branch to be treated with respect.

"We are required to ask questions regarding the contents of parcels to avoid potentially dangerous goods, which can include items such as batteries and perfume, being sent by post without the right packaging.

"We are speaking to our branch and also trying to contact the customer to advise that they are welcome back into the store at any time."

[Lounge Lizard]

Either Post Office staff are doing their job correctly or they are not doing their job correctly .
That a customer is a "Pensioner" is an irrelevance as is that Maureen Price was sending something "to a dying friend who loved the smell of bluebells in the Forest of Dean".

[NWpostie]

It sounds like the staffs have got it in for her and lacked common sense.

You can send perfume in the post only within the UK, unfortunately you can't send it abroad.

Ironic really as I've had aftershaves sent to me from abroad again no problems, once it lands and delivered to my house via surface mail no problems, no planes have fallen out of the sky because of it.

She can send it via MyHermies, they will carry perfumes.

[Lounge Lizard]

But is “the retired legal secretary” really “'interrogated' every time she tries to send a present” ?
“Miss Price first fell out with staff after they refused to let her post a Christmas present”, later “she was furious and returned to the Post Office to argue they could have used common sense” and then “after angrily putting the perfume, receipt, opened birthday card and everything needed to wrap a parcel on the counter she told the staff member to check everything was in order, read the card and post it all on”.
It is not clear from this report whether or not the counter staff acted correctly but falling out and being angry and furious surely isn’t the best way of seeking the best service from them.