Going Postal
A new week, and only 5 of them to go until Christmas Day, according to the man on the radio this morning.
That's a scary thought... we haven't really thought about what to buy the kiddies yet, yet alone anyone else.
One thing that often happens at Christmas in these days of the Internet, is that you can buy things online. This is a Very Good Thing. You avoid the queues, don't have to fight other parents for the last of the Must Have Toy 2006 Edition, don't spend fortunes on car parks and don't get jabbed with other people's overloaded shopping bags every two minutes. You simply sit down in your nice, comfy chair, click a few times with your mouse, type in your credit card number and a few days later the postman rings the bell and cheerily hands you a package.
At least, that's how it's supposed to happen. The first bit is always fine. Ordering is no problem. It's the delivery that seems to be the big deal here.
Recently, our postman has been taking liberties with the term "delivery". In the recent past I've had two items jammed down the side of the bin (one from Amazon and one from a book club who decided to send me something in the vain hope I'd pay for it. Hah! No chance there. I'll be keeping the book, but without an order or proof of delivery they have no chance of getting cash out of me!) Then this week the doorbell rang at about 7am. I looked out of the bedroom window to see a Royal Mail guy getting back into his van and driving off. I went downstairs, opened the door, and found, sitting on the wet, rained-upon driveway, a box of stuff Ele had ordered.
In the not-so-distant past, the postman would ring the bell and then wait for you to answer. If you did, he handed you the parcel. If you didn't, he would drop a card through the door inviting you to go to the sorting office and collect it. This was an inconvenience, but at least your package was safe. Sometimes they might leave it with a neighbour. This is risky ground, as your neighbour might not be, well, neighbourly, but this was fine for us as we have good neighbours.
Now, they seem to think that slinging it somewhere in the vicinity of your house is sufficiently good enough. The problem with leaving things on the driveway is that a) they get rained on, and b) they get nicked. The only reason I saw the ones jammed down the side of the dustbin is because I went to throw something away. If it had happened the next day and I hadn't put the bins out (which I often don't do), then the bin men might have had a nice present when they got them off the drive (which they frequently do, in a most uncouncil-like act of helpfulness).
I think I might have to do the most un-English thing imaginable, and actually complain to the Royal Mail because it isn't really an acceptable situation. I think I'll try and email them later, asking them what they are going to do to ensure my kids Christmas gifts are not stolen or turned into sodden mush.
I would write to them, but I've got no confidence that it'll actually get there.
That's a scary thought... we haven't really thought about what to buy the kiddies yet, yet alone anyone else.
One thing that often happens at Christmas in these days of the Internet, is that you can buy things online. This is a Very Good Thing. You avoid the queues, don't have to fight other parents for the last of the Must Have Toy 2006 Edition, don't spend fortunes on car parks and don't get jabbed with other people's overloaded shopping bags every two minutes. You simply sit down in your nice, comfy chair, click a few times with your mouse, type in your credit card number and a few days later the postman rings the bell and cheerily hands you a package.
At least, that's how it's supposed to happen. The first bit is always fine. Ordering is no problem. It's the delivery that seems to be the big deal here.
Recently, our postman has been taking liberties with the term "delivery". In the recent past I've had two items jammed down the side of the bin (one from Amazon and one from a book club who decided to send me something in the vain hope I'd pay for it. Hah! No chance there. I'll be keeping the book, but without an order or proof of delivery they have no chance of getting cash out of me!) Then this week the doorbell rang at about 7am. I looked out of the bedroom window to see a Royal Mail guy getting back into his van and driving off. I went downstairs, opened the door, and found, sitting on the wet, rained-upon driveway, a box of stuff Ele had ordered.
In the not-so-distant past, the postman would ring the bell and then wait for you to answer. If you did, he handed you the parcel. If you didn't, he would drop a card through the door inviting you to go to the sorting office and collect it. This was an inconvenience, but at least your package was safe. Sometimes they might leave it with a neighbour. This is risky ground, as your neighbour might not be, well, neighbourly, but this was fine for us as we have good neighbours.
Now, they seem to think that slinging it somewhere in the vicinity of your house is sufficiently good enough. The problem with leaving things on the driveway is that a) they get rained on, and b) they get nicked. The only reason I saw the ones jammed down the side of the dustbin is because I went to throw something away. If it had happened the next day and I hadn't put the bins out (which I often don't do), then the bin men might have had a nice present when they got them off the drive (which they frequently do, in a most uncouncil-like act of helpfulness).
I think I might have to do the most un-English thing imaginable, and actually complain to the Royal Mail because it isn't really an acceptable situation. I think I'll try and email them later, asking them what they are going to do to ensure my kids Christmas gifts are not stolen or turned into sodden mush.
I would write to them, but I've got no confidence that it'll actually get there.
posted by Nej at
1:25 pm
1 Comments:
Since the events of April, I have had 6 items of important mail go missing - all from different people. One was the summons to the Inquest and one was a book of Rememberance. RM said they would 'investigate'.....still nothing! Apparently when you complain, they don't inform you of the outcome.
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Anonymous, at 11:24 pm
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