Apparently there's an option for Parcelforce deliveries to get deposited at the local post office if there's no-one home to receive them. Is it just me or is this a ridiculous concept?

At the very worst I thought I'd have to drive 8 miles to the depot to collect my parcel tonight so I could have it today, as it is I may not ever receive it. I can't pick it up during P.O. opening hours as, surprise surprise, I'll be at work. With work being over 1/2 an hour away I can't just pop back and get it at lunch time. Add to that that I'm heading to France early Friday for a week and it looks like my order may get sent back to the shop before I ever get to collect it. (they keep it for 2 weeks). I could arrange redelivery but as it's at the P.O. I'd have to pay for it and it'd take 3 working days.

And to think I did mail order because my local shop didn't have it in and I wanted the stuff for the (last) weekend. If the servers at the shop hadn't gone down Thursday afternoon . . . . .

Just feel like 😥 ing

P1$$ed off of Cheltenham

I like it going to the post office. With no car it means I have no way of getting to the local depot so PO is handy.

BTW (I think) you can choose which PO to have it delivered to – call and ask them to deliver it to one closer to work.

This happened to me last week, but I thought it was a good idea!!

My local post office is a couple of miles away, my 'local' Parcel Force depot is 25 miles away. I was much happier that the parcel was left with the Post Office and not taken back to the depot.

Have you no friends or relatives who could pick it up for you?

They did that to me with a folding ladder. would be a bitch to carry as no parking around the local post office also full of chaves half pissed getting their giros. Went to the local parcel force depot and the manager could not see a fault in their thinking. Another public funded pile of idiots cannot wait till they pull the plug on them and the sunlight comes streaming through their windows. Oh and i never got the ladder they sent me a refund.

did that on friday with my 48hr delivery my arse just over a week and he had a choice of 3 po's to go to and they only went a chose the furthest one away

Moan moan bloody moan!

Yes it just you.

I'd have to pay for that and it'd take 3 working days – I'm off to France for a week Friday and I wanted to fit the bits before I went really.

I can see why some people that live closer to work may want it but for me it's just a joke.

Moan moan bloody moan!

Yes it just you.

I'll try looking on the bright side then shall I? 🙄

Could you not have it delivered to where you work??

What a cracking idea I can pick any parcels up on my way from dropping the eldest off at school. That's of course if my nice neighbours weren't in or they didn't take it to the sorting office which is about the same distance away.

Crackng idea ordering something when your not going to be in.

Theres a multitude of options if you atually looked.

If a customer isn't in on the first delivery then the driver takes it to a local Post Office.
Saves carting it aroung all day.
Means no wasted fuel/time the next day delivering to an adddress that no one in at.
Parcelforce deliver on 2 consecutive days if nobodys in. If it can't be left at a P.O.
Depots are normally on a remote industrial out in the wilds.
Most People are closer to their Post Office.

On the whole i think there is a lot of praise for the service………..can't please everyone.

Another public funded pile of idiots cannot wait till they pull the plug on them and the sunlight comes streaming through their windows

Might be worth mentioning that to the driver when you see them.
Strange how people are very aggressive down the phone "you wait till he gets here" blah blah blah.
Go very quiet when you walk down the path

I find Parcel Force/PO are usually very helpful.

The post office still haven't managed to get their collective heads around the idea that attempting home delivery of mail order items to an economically active population needs to take place OUTSIDE THE HOURS THAT THOSE PEOPLE ARE AT WORK.

They've been doing it for years;

'Oh, you weren't in'.

'No, because I was at work, that's how I can afford to pay for the things that I mistakenly assumed you would attempt to deliver at a reasonable hour to the place where I live, which, incidentally is seperate from the place where I work'.

I did attempt, many years ago, to ask my local PO about this, and got the reply that they were 'looking into' the idea of evening deliveries….

That was in 1998.

Dimwitted, perfect, example of British institutionalised muppetry masquerading as a public service.

When it all does go private, those in management at the PO have only themselves to blame.

Classic example; it took the PO longer to deliver a motorbike shock from my local depot than it took said item to get to the UK from Japan.

Think their private competition is better?! Initial City Link are diabolical, I and several people I know have been at home waiting for parcels and had "sorry you werent in" notes sneaked thru the door. I'm sure they were on Watchdog as theyd pretty much been rumbled for sending out a couple of empty vans with "sorry" slips, rather than go to the time and hassle of, you know, actually delivering stuff.

Our local ICL depot is 15 miles away. If I discover vendors are using ICL I wont order from them.

I appreciate the O.P has been frustrated by a policy, but many of us live near P.Os (and parcelforce depots for that matter) and I dont see better service from the private competition (at least not for comparable cost).

So you know your not in when they deliver but still go ahead and order, then it's the PO fault you weren't in?

The general public still haven't managed to get their collective heads around the idea that attempting to order items by mail order REQUIRES THEM TO BE IN TO TAKE DELIVERY OF SAID ITEMS!

So you know your not in when they deliver but still go ahead and order, then it's the PO fault you weren't in?

a) I don't know if I'm in or not, because the PO don't give any indication of delivery times, do they?

b) I go ahead and order because, short of opting for the flying monkey delivery, I am unfortunately stuck with using the PO.

c) The idea of any kind of indication of delivery time is one which has, strangely enough escaped the main purveyor of parcellous items in this country. I suspect this shoddiness is in some way related to the monopoly that has existed for many, many years.

The general public still haven't managed to get their collective heads around the idea that attempting to order items by mail order REQUIRES THEM TO BE IN TO TAKE DELIVERY OF SAID ITEMS!

BUT THE COCK MONKEYS CANNOT GIVE A TIME FOR DELIVERY!

DO YOU WANT ME TO RESIGN FROM MY JOB WHILE I WAIT FOR THE CHUBBY NUMPSTERS TO ARRIVE?

If you order stuff on the 'net, then expect to make arrangements to your own schedule to be in/collect the item from the PO or Depot. If you know you're not going to be in, then get them to deliver to work/neighbour/mum. Use your noggin – its pretty easy really!

My experience is that RoyalMail are pretty good and a whole lot better than Initial City link, fedex and those in the turd coloured vans.

a) I don't know if I'm in or not, because the PO don't give any indication of delivery times, do they?

But you say your at work when they deliver so must know when your working.

I know when I'm working.

I don't know when the PO will try to deliver.

It could be today.

It could be before lunch.

It could be after lunch.

It could be tomorrow.

It could be before or after tomorrows lunch.

If you have any experience of mail order goods, you will appreciate that delivery time option is not available, and, therefore, to arrange to be in after ordering said goods will require a window of anything up to 5 days.

Internet mail order a la CRC is an excellent service, but is let down by the lack of imagination on behalf of the PO.

Loads of expierence they deliver to my house usually next day depending when it's been dispatched, RO is usually from 9.30am but no later than 12pm. PF deliver about 1pm and always check with the tracking number to see if it's on the way.

Can you not get stuff delivered to work?
Half the post that arrives at our place every morning is from Amazon, Play, Laithwaites… (or in my case Sideways Cycles, CRC and 7dayshop)

Internet mail order a la CRC is an excellent service, but is let down by the lack of imagination on behalf of the PO.

WTF is that supposed to mean?
You can choose any delivery address you like….you can specify a pre 9,10 or 12 o'clock delivery.
What more "imagination" would you like?
"Evening Deliverys"……… Deliverys after 6, were trialled. But the drivers didn't want to work till 9 at night. Some customers weren't too happy in the darker months getting knocks at the door when its dark. Others didn't want to pay for the service.
Due to lack of demand it was stopped.
So you want an entire company to restructure the way its worked for decades, just because you can't figure out how to get your item to your place of work, or your partners-friend-parents-work-relatives-colleagues address. Who may be in.
DHL are happy enough with the service that a large amount of their incoming european traffic-for rural addresses-is passed through us to deliver.
Not even thay think they can do it!
Try the alternatives, then you'll realise how good the service is. Especially for theose who rely on the service for medical supplies and the like. Those who live in the Rural parts of the country and can't get out.

So you know your not in when they deliver but still go ahead and order, then it's the PO fault you weren't in?

I don't know if i'm going to be in when they deliver, because they don't tell me the day the parcel will arrive, if i could choose the day for delivery then that would be ok!
I was on nights last night, 1800-2200 today, 1400-2200 tomorrow, 1400-1800 wednesday 0600-1400 thursday and friday!

You can choose any delivery address you like….you can specify a pre 9,10 or 12 o'clock delivery

Not with every mail order service.
Not with those that will only deliver to the card holders address.

But the drivers didn't want to work till 9 at night

Awww, Bless. I work any hour of any day, public service, innit?

the way its worked for decades

Exactly…. It's not the 1950s anymore, with little housewife in all day…

Try the alternatives, then you'll realise how good the service is.

…and this seems to be an excuse to never ever even consider the idea that the service could be improved. Yep, that's the idea, never change, never innovate, never improve the service you can offer because you've got the monopoly and the competition is rubbish.

I despair.

My point is simple; why attempt to deliver domestic parcels when the majority of people are out at work?

I think the Royal Mail and Parcel Force do a good job, and I would hate the idea of privatisation from both a political and moral point of view, but the service is lacking because of the above, and as soon as someone can do better, it's bye bye.

It's funny I work shifts but seem to able to work out when to have a parcels delivered around those shifts. If I'm not going to be in I can rely on them leaving it with a neighbour, in a place the regulars ones have worked out to leave the parcel safe or take it to the sorting for me to collect.

Problem is drac, I don't know what my shifts are until the thursday before the next week, and they can be changed (and very often do) at short notice! 🙁

I really don't mind them taking the parcel to the main sorting office though as i work about 100 yards away from it! Does annoy me when i get home though and the little red slip is sitting on the mat! 😉

The post office and parcel farce are not great but I prefer them to every other courrier company I've ever dealt with.

Your nearest post office may be inconvenient but when I was down in Somerset the nearest courrier depot for one place was 60 miles away. In Newcastle it is at best very inconvenient.

My sorting office opens at 6am so I pass on the way to work, the post office is open till 5.30 which is just enough time for me to pick something up on the way home.

Still a 7pm delivery would be a decider as to who I used.

Blimey that's rubbish I can work out 95% of my shifts years in advance.

I get an extra 18% of my wage to be flexible though so i can't complain!

OP is moaning about a choice?

FFS

My PF depot is 9 miles away, my PO 1 mile.

simples!

Blimey that's rubbish I can work out 95% of my shifts years in advance.

Lucky you.

Can you definitely, 100%-ly, absolutely, surely, without questionably, even jeffing probably, determine when your parcel can be delivered?

No.

…and even when I've been in, I've had the misfortune to be sat on the bog, heard the door bell, run down with a **** turtles head poking out, toilet paper in hand, only to see the PO van driving away.

See?

They don't even take account of when I have a poo!

There has been a constant trial of new initiatves.
No doubt you will have heard of the changes that Parcelforce have, and Royal Mail are going through.
But people are not willing to pay for deliveries at that time of night.
The post office is a 24 business, people therefore work thoughout.
This doesn't mean you want to be delivering high value goods through the night, assaults are too high as it is.

There appears to be enough scope for everyone else to get their deliveries quickly and safely.
Other couriers charge for the second delivery and do not have acccess to the extensive Post Office network.

I get an extra 18% of my wage to be flexible though so i can't complain!

Errrrr! ………….No it doesn't matter.

Can you definitely, 100%-ly, absolutely, surely, without questionably, even jeffing probably, determine when your parcel can be delivered?

No but if it's late or delivered then no sweat.

They don't even take account of when I have a poo!

Poo outside.

Thats a load os s**t

I'm another one who prefers Parcelforce over most other delivery companies (UPS are better, but only because so far they've always delivered before I leave for work – normal postie is also better as he will leave stuff on the doorstep, but people who don't want that may not be so happy). Not like DH Hell, who want to charge 8 Euros extra to collect/deliver to my home address rather than my work address (where it's impossible to arrange collection, a pain to get delivery) – who appear to be my only choice for Suunto warranty return.

The thing is, you undoubtedly want a cheap service – if you want them to deliver at a specific time which is convenient to you, then be prepared to pay for it.

Why not get it delivered to your work in the first place. Where you knew you'd be.

Hands up who'll be first to comlain If crc prices go through just so that we can be given a 1 hour timeslot!

The fellas who deliver my stuff hide it in the porch for me.

Royal Mail can if its a standard parcel.

All Parcleforcedeliverys need a signature………..unless the company has an exemption in their contract.