# An Post left parcel with neighbour, water damaged



## wavejumper (24 Jan 2008)

Hi,

I had a parcel sent from continental europe containing vinyl records, the post man must have tried to deliver it but instead to leaving a note and return it to the depot for me to collect (as it normally happens) they left it with a neighbour I don't know (further down the road, not the next house).  This was 2 or three days ago.  The neighbour evetually handed over the package last night but the contents are water damaged.  I don't know how it got wet as it was not immediately apparent that it was wet inside when handed to me and also I felt that the guy might not know and it might not be fair to ask as he did not look happy having had to look after the parcel.

So today I sent an e-mail to their customer service demanding exaplanations and a refund for the damaged items (about 50 euro).  Is there anything else I can do to short of firebombing my local post office to press at home that it is not an acceptable way of doing business or of taking care of items left in their care.  Luckily these were new records and not rarities (which I also regularly get mailed).  I normally always use my work address as my local office always manages to be 3 or four late with deliveris.


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## Spock (26 Jan 2008)

Funnily enough I had a similar-type situation with An Post a few years ago: I had won some records in a competition in the UK and came home one evening to find the package had been delivered, through the letterbox -yes the postman had neatly folded the record in half in order to get it through the letter box!

(I tried it once, it's damn hard and it makes an almight bang when it snaps)

Several letters to my local sorting office produced a response along the lines of (paraphrased) "We have no record of the incident from the delivery man on that day, it was sent by regular post anyways so you can't claim anything"


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## kellysayers (26 Jan 2008)

We had postman deliver registered mail to someone else while we were on holiday. The mail was for a tenant who had moved out and postman gave it to another neighbour who knew us but did not know the tenant. I reported it as surely a registered package should a least be delivered to the address on the envelope or returned to the sender. Never heard anyting back from them!!


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## cmalone (26 Jan 2008)

Strictly speaking you are correct- registered post items should be delivered to the exact address and not to a neighbour- but having such post with a neighbour saves so much hassle! So i expect your postmen/women are trying to be helpful and save you having to visit their sorting offices etc- if you genuinely think they are not, then make a note to the local Sorting Office and they'll know how you feel for future.

All in all, i think the staff at An Post do a great job- and get very little praise! p.s. i am not an employee of them or related to anyone working with them.


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## wavejumper (28 Jan 2008)

here's a reply I got today.  While they acknowledge the breach in procedure it seems I now have to write a letter to "the manager"...

Dear Mr ...

Thank you for your email. We are sorry to learn that a parcel was left with your neighbour by the Postperson and was subsequently received by you in a damaged condition. As you are aware and from the details provided by you the ... Delivery Office in Dublin ... have failed to comply with the correct delivery procedures on this occasion. Where an attempted delivery has failed a delivery notice should be left at the address instructing the addressee to collect the mail from their local delivery office. We will be reporting this matter to the Delivery Services Manager at the ... Office without delay so the matter can be brought to the immediate attention of the relevant Post person. He will then be advised of his obligation to apply the correct delivery procedures with delivery of the mail in the future.

In the meantime you should write to The Manager, An Post Customer Services, Freepost, GPO, Dublin 1 detailing this matter which led to the damage of the contents. The matter will then be subject to further inquiry and any claim would be then considered at that juncture.

May we sincerely apologise, once again, for the damage caused to the contents of the mail and the inconvenience that this matter has caused.

Yours sincerely


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## z104 (28 Jan 2008)

That sounds reasonable.


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## aircobra19 (28 Jan 2008)

Recently the our tickets for a show into a neighbours door who was on a fews holidays. We had to get new tickets re sent, only found about the first set after the show! Another bugbear of mine is they never try to deliver parcels of any size. Even the smallest parcel they just drop a "missed you" note through the door without even ringing the bell.


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## ClubMan (28 Jan 2008)

Last time I dropped down to collect a parcel that could not be delivered the bloke on duty apologised for not being able to find it (it was post _Xmas _so I would imagine that things were still a bit chaotic). He took my mobile number in case it turned up but I didn't really expect to get a call. I was only two minutes down the road (on foot) when he called me to say that our regular postie had returned and immediately found it. I doubled back and he had it for me and continued to apologise for the inconvenience. I was happy enough with the service.


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## oldtimer (28 Jan 2008)

There are quite a few threads  re complaints on the postal service and they will continue. Because of the vast amount if items they handle it is only natural some will go astray, get damaged etc. I worked for the postal service for over forty years and am well aware of customers complaints. But could I give an example of my experience. The office I worked in handled on average 100,000 items per month. We received on average 18 complaints per month.


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## Vanilla (28 Jan 2008)

oldtimer said:


> There are quite a few threads re complaints on the postal service and they will continue. Because of the vast amount if items they handle it is only natural some will go astray, get damaged etc. I worked for the postal service for over forty years and am well aware of customers complaints. But could I give an example of my experience. The office I worked in handled on average 100,000 items per month. We received on average 18 complaints per month.


 
Good point. I've complained about An Post here myself at least twice but I would agree that in general it is a very good service and some of the employees are exceptional.


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## wavejumper (31 Jan 2008)

Turns out the nighbour the parcel was left with is an An Post employee, so basically the postman left the parcel with this guy because he knew him from shop and they agreed that this would inconvenience me less than collecting it from the depot.  He called yesterday to explain his position as it seems my letter of complaint slapped a few peeps in the post office.  He said he was sure the parcel was not wet.  I told it was and showed him the water water damaged contents.  While I appreciate the good intentions of both the employees and customer service I still feel this is a bit pathetic. 

- I have to write a letter after already sending an e-mail to express my complaint.  It's 2008, they can forward my e-mail to the relevant person and stop inconvenience me, the wronged customer.

-The postman leave a package to a fellow worker because he knows him.  All very uninformal and messy, what if this An Post employee had been in a bad mood and decided to be threatning at my door step? They should really get their act together.


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## ClubMan (31 Jan 2008)

wavejumper said:


> what if this An Post employee had been in a bad mood and decided to be threatning at my door step?


What if he gave you flowers and asked you out on a date? All hypothetical so irrelevant...


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## aircobra19 (31 Jan 2008)

They need to be consistent. If they are not going to deliver parcels and also not leave them with random people near the address, (which they shouldn't) they need to have longer opening hours so that people at work can collect them. Or at least one late night.


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## wavejumper (31 Jan 2008)

ClubMan said:


> What if he gave you flowers and asked you out on a date? All hypothetical so irrelevant...



My wife would have got threatning then...fair enough, I get your point.


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## RainyDay (31 Jan 2008)

aircobra19 said:


> Recently the our tickets for a show into a neighbours door who was on a fews holidays. We had to get new tickets re sent, only found about the first set after the show!


I'm amazed at how Ticketmaster send out their tickets in a very recognisable envelope, which could well be worth €300-€400 per envelope. I'm surprised that there aren't loads of these envelopes pocketed en route.


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## ClubMan (31 Jan 2008)

RainyDay said:


> I'm surprised that there aren't loads of these envelopes pocketed en route.


Are you surprised because you assume(d) that _PO _workers in general are dishonest?


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## oldtimer (1 Feb 2008)

I think Rainyday's comment is unfair and over the top. Not the kind of comment I expect from a  Moderator.


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## ClubMan (1 Feb 2008)

oldtimer said:


> I think Rainyday's comment is unfair and over the top. Not the kind of comment I expect from a  Moderator.


The first part is a statement of fact presumably. The second is a bit unclear. I don't see what's OTT about the post generally though. Moderators wear their "normal" poster hats most of the time around here so are subject to the same posting guidelines and not different/higher standards etc. If you have a problem with a post and feel that it's objectionable or in breach of the posting guidelines then you should really use the _Report Post_  facility.


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## Caveat (1 Feb 2008)

_An Post_ staff rifling through mail certainly happens though - I'm not sure to what extent.  

It's happened to me twice and it's apparently happened at least once to most people I know.  I suppose it's not always possible to know with complete certainty that _An Post_ staff were to blame (poorly packaged/damaged letters and packages) but certainly in my case, there was a postman sacked.


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