[jim]

Hi buddy, Its not a bad paid job over here and you get to have a great diecast collection.

Originally Posted by parsig9

Postal service is a well paid job here in the US so we have people competing for those jobs and waiting in line if someone screws up.

[timbo]

When I was back visiting in th UK a couple of years ago there was a huge (and I mean huge) scandal going on because some investigative jouno's had blown the lid off a lot of this bad Post Office service. They went under cover with TV cameras and got a job in the sorting rooms.

Apparently there was an extreme amount of theft going on esp with check books and new credit cards. Of course the public releations of the PO were saying it was just a few bad apples.

[Lofty]

Originally Posted by panzercommander

In regards to lost packages...

As if being a felony wasn't enough, I cannot believe that any modern postal service seeks to defraud its customers. Before accusing the post office, I would ask myself do I really believe the package was sent to me in the first place? In any case where a package sent to me was "lost" there has always been doubt as to whether the seller even sent it. Any package that I have sent, home or abroad, has always reached its destination, maybe worse for wear and late, but it got there. Now I'm sure things disappear every now and then but I wouldn't call it a conspiracy, more likely some scumbag took your money and ran. Just my $0.02

Er....you really need to experience Royal Mail.......truly they are experts at losing things.....had several outgoing and incoming go "walk about".
Its a bl**dy nightmare trying to get your compensation sorted....

[panzercommander]

Have had many, many, many packages sent to and from UK w/o problem. Sent two to UK Friday and buyers have already informed me they arrived A-OK. I maintain my position, point the finger at the seller before the postal service. I hear what you're saying but if confidence was that low it would cease to operate. We'll have to agree to disagree.

[Hornchurch]

Originally Posted by von hitchofen

well, she is German I suppose


in the Uk Royal mail parcel delivery "service" is caled Parcelforce, but is usually more often known as Parcelfarce

Wide of the mark on both COUNTS (pun-intended !)..... Von H !!!!!!!!

She's English as you like (she's my Gt. Nan ), BUT she does admittedly have Deutsch decendency........
GOTHA-SAXE-COBURG - how suave is that name ????

German enough to change it to WINDSOR (during early WW 1).


Geezer - If you actually KNEW about Parcelforce, then your above quote
would read LIKE the proper name...... BUT with the 'P' removed, the 'e' substituted for an 'o'

We're not allowed to use the word (preeceeding 'force), but the Yanks use 'ss' before the (h) 'ole'

[bsmith13]

I have been fortunate that none of my dealings with the UK have resulted in lost packages.

Knock on wood.

[Hornchurch]

Originally Posted by jim

Yer dont live in the UK huh? I forget how many packages are lost in the Uk every year. Hundreds of thousands. Every week I read in some newspaper or other that a postman has been arrested and bags of undelivered mail has been recovered from his house. All of the models sent to me that did not make it came from trusted dealers that replaced them. I have had many battles with the local post office about the dreadfull service. It took me several phone calls and letters before the postman was stopped from just throwing my mail over the wall at the back of my house. Soggy mail every time it rained. Believe me it make you really really mad after a few days of that.

Oh yes and the other trick in use is if the postman is in a rush just take the package back to the depot. It sits there until someone ,either the dealer or me rings up to enquire if they know anything about a package. .Maybe in the US you have a better service ,I hope so.

Jim, you & Lofty must live out in the wilds, where your Postie's are numbskulls & skag-heads.
No such problems here in the CIVILISED part of England

English Postmen are duty-bound to leave a 'P.739' through your door, to inform you they've made an attempt.

Numerous attempts are made, with each & every parcel & letter.

R.M. get the most badly scrawled hand-written addresses & are still expected to deliver.

Poorly packaged parcels have to be re-packaged, often by staff, who are working under management that expect blood-out-of-a-stone delivery targets that are IMPROBABLE at best - (Collections & Deliveries).

Try re-packaging a metal 'kid's slide', that has burst it's box & EXCEEDS THE P.F. WEIGHT LIMIT (it says two-man lift on the side of the box) & when you arrive near the gate, there's only one of you & the woman at home can't assist (bad back/lazy/still in pyjama's !!!!)........AND YOU CAN'T PARK your long-bodied 7-1/2 ton Truck anywhere nearby (HELPFUL

ParcelForce drivers WON'T want to re-deliver 'A RETURN', on a second or third attempt - it wastes time, & eats into target figures

Busy spells (Oct till first week in Jan) mean delays, as backlogs occur through MASSIVE increase in workload, with NO INCREASE in staff.

Folks who knock R.M. & P.F. often do so blithely, without any knowledge or experience of what goes on behind the scenes.
Both (especially R.M.) have their own internal police-ing that frequently arrest & charge miscreants that thieve or delay post.

Your die-cast parcels (dear forum-members) are just a drop in the ocean of never ending deliveries, which are, mainly sucessful.
85-90% of my die-cast collection came through the post..... so does most of everything on E-bay (except my 900 Honda - too heavy, I rode it home)
NO BIAS, I HAVE NO COMPLAINTS WITH THE U.K. POST (R.M. or P.F.).

Like PanzerCommander said, if confidence was low it (they) would cease to operate.
I sympathise with those that have stuff go 'missing' - but 17 Years experence (before going back to the 'other side' of the fence) allows me to make a better judge than many, on here.

[jim]

And another thing, When the sender checked up on a lost parcel and found it was sitting in the depot for the last 2 weeks he asked why and they said oh we have tried to deliver it!! So why didnt they leave a card and why didnt they try again? So when the dealer called to tell me i rang the number given on said card from the last time this happened AND GUESS WHAT. 47 phone calls later over a period of 5 days ( line engaged)I got through to a human voice. I repeat 47 phone calls ( I kept notes) I spoke to someone and got the parcel delivered. Another time I found the little red slip floating around the back yard to say an attempt at delivery had been made and failed.(we were both in at the time) I rang them and after a further battle to get through i arranged delivery in 2 days. My good lady sat outside every morning all morning for the next three days (it was summer and nice weather) and watched the post van go past without stopping. I rang them again and they said they had tried to deliver and we were not there!!!! So that time I went to the depot and collected it. I have registered 3 strong complaints about the bad service but to no avail. Honestly chaps when you have to go to the post office in person and raise hell just to stop the postman throwing your mail over the wall its a bit much!! To give him some credit he did put an elastic band around it all. This is my last Post on the subject, i have made my point i think but the battle continues, And another thing why was it that last Christmas I had over 70 cards from friends and family and only one that i know of went missing?? YEP the one with the £5.00 in that my dear old mum insists on sending even though I am 58 years old bless her. All the above is true and factual. If you chaps have no problems then bless your good luck. It must be a plot against just me They must have picked on me and nobody else Paranoid what me naw. And another thing why ............

[SKUNKY]

I think the best thing for you to do at this point, jim, is simply to kiss and make up with the numbskulls and skagheads..Easier said than done,I know, but it should cut down on the incidences of soggy mail by about 40 to 50%....Worked for me..

BTW -A very nice lady by the name of "Mum" from the U.K.(whom I don't even know) sent me £5.00 last year along with a beautiful card and I don't know why....but I'm happy to report it arrived dry and unscathed...Long live the U.S. Postal Service!

[Aircrafty]

I've only lost two parcels over the years (via Australia Post) and only needed to complain once when the postman left letters on the ground twice during one week. He hasn't left any on the ground since, but he no longer waves to me - but I can live with that And no there wasn't to much mail in the box, he was just to lazy to lean an extra six inches from his motorbike.

Btw, customs have caused some delays for me, so it's not always the fault of the postal service.