Grumble Thread

[LMcD]

[QUOTE=Petrushka;n1352224]

You could, if you have a printer, print off the email showing the QR code and present that as additional proof. Failing that you can take a photo and take that along. Either should be perfectly acceptable./QUOTE]

They are, in my experience.
Tesco Mobile assure me that they don't offer dumb phones - just smart phones and basic phones.

[oddoneout]

[QUOTE=LMcD;n1352233]

You could, if you have a printer, print off the email showing the QR code and present that as additional proof. Failing that you can take a photo and take that along. Either should be perfectly acceptable./QUOTE]

They are, in my experience.
Tesco Mobile assure me that they don't offer dumb phones - just smart phones and basic phones.

But neither is an option, so it'll be interesting to see what happens tomorrow.
The Tesco phone I have was always in their basic category, but the definition of basic has changed in the years since I bought it!

[Serial_Apologist]

[QUOTE=oddoneout;n1352234]

But neither is an option, so it'll be interesting to see what happens tomorrow.
The Tesco phone I have was always in their basic category, but the definition of basic has changed in the years since I bought it!

Let us know, Pet. Down here, if one is "out" when parcels are delivered, (too often the delivery person doesn't bother to ring the bell or even knock to check ), the practice is still to drop a message through the letter box stating which collection depot it should be collected from. So far proof of identity is sufficient there.

[Petrushka]

[QUOTE=Serial_Apologist;n1352241]

Let us know, Pet. Down here, if one is "out" when parcels are delivered, (too often the delivery person doesn't/knock. bother to ring the bell or even knock to check ), the practice is still to drop a message through the letter box stating which collection depot it should be collected from. So far proof of identity is sufficient there.

Since retirement six years ago I've nearly always made sure to be in when deliveries are made. Amazon have my alternative 'safe place' if I am unavoidably absent. DPD, like most, provide tracking and I've always found that to be very good. The ideal scenario is to be in, follow the tracking, look out of the window and intercept the driver before they even ring/knock. I've never had a problem with any delivery since retirement and very little before it. One other thing is to make sure that your house number or name is clearly visible. The numbering on this road is somewhat eccentric so it helps delivery people to get the right house.

[oddoneout]

I have my box of books. The lady on the PO counter wasn't too familiar with the process I think so there was a false start but then, having double checked that I had ID, she went to a side room and came back with it. Town was in chaos so not only could I not park outside the PO(which is often is as there are only 3 spaces, and delivery vans for the two fast food shops complicate the issue by using them) but the small car park round the corner was full so I had a hike with my 4kg box to the next available one.
Even allowing for the combination of planned and emergency roadworks, which had cut off some bits of the town centre, there seemed to be an awful lot of extra traffic around on a day when it wouldn't usually be expected and so buses and lorries were getting stuck, adding to the mess.

[Pulcinella]

I have my box of books. The lady on the PO counter wasn't too familiar with the process I think so there was a false start but then, having double checked that I had ID, she went to a side room and came back with it. Town was in chaos so not only could I not park outside the PO(which is often is as there are only 3 spaces, and delivery vans for the two fast food shops complicate the issue by using them) but the small car park round the corner was full so I had a hike with my 4kg box to the next available one.
Even allowing for the combination of planned and emergency roadworks, which had cut off some bits of the town centre, there seemed to be an awful lot of extra traffic around on a day when it wouldn't usually be expected and so buses and lorries were getting stuck, adding to the mess.

Sounds just like every day here in York!

[LHC]

My worst experience with a delivery was with DHL a few months ago.

I received the standard email from DHL stating that my parcel would be delivered between 4 and 6 pm on the expected day. As I was going to be out that afternoon, I changed my plans to make sure I would be back at home before 4pm so that I could receive the parcel

Around 3pm and when I was out I received an email stating the order had been delivered. I thought this was odd as it was well before the delivery timescale and my Ring doorbell app showed there hadn't been any attempted deliver at my house. When I got home I checked the delivery location shown on DHL's website. The delivery location given was a random house about a mile away from my own. The accompanying photo showed the parcel being left inside the doorway of this other house. As I wanted to make sure I could get the parcel, I set off to walk to the other to to see if I could retrieve my parcel. However, the houseowner told me that the parcel had not been left there and to the best of their knowledge there had been no attempted delivery. He had, however, seen a DHL driver wandering around and then returning to his van holding a parcel.

From this I deduced that the DHL driver had taken a photo of himself leaving the parcel at the property, then picked it up and returned to his van, presumably because he realised it was the wrong address. Apart from that, I had no idea what to do next as DHL claimed to have delivered the parcel, but I had no idea where it had finally been left.

Happily for me, a few days later a kind lady brought my package to me. It had been left outside her house in the next street to mine on the original day of delivery. Although her house had the same number as mine, it was a completely different street name.

So DHL had managed to deliver the parcel to two wrong addresses on the same day and it was only thanks to the person living in the second wrong house that I received the parcel at all!

[LMcD]

[QUOTE=Petrushka;n1352242]

Since retirement six years ago I've nearly always made sure to be in when deliveries are made. Amazon have my alternative 'safe place' if I am unavoidably absent. DPD, like most, provide tracking and I've always found that to be very good. The ideal scenario is to be in, follow the tracking, look out of the window and intercept the driver before they even ring/knock. I've never had a problem with any delivery since retirement and very little before it. One other thing is to make sure that your house number or name is clearly visible. The numbering on this road is somewhat eccentric so it helps delivery people to get the right house.

The first house on the odd-numbered side of our road is Number Three.

[Petrushka]

[QUOTE=LMcD;n1352338]

The first house on the odd-numbered side of our road is Number Three.

The even numbered side on this road jumps from 64 to 138 for no apparent or logical reason though there must be some historical explanation for this bizarre anomaly. There's no possibility of getting enough properties between the two numbers. It may possibly have something to do with the different eras in which building took place.

[Serial_Apologist]

[QUOTE=Petrushka;n1352354]

The even numbered side on this road jumps from 64 to 138 for no apparent or logical reason though there must be some historical explanation for this bizarre anomaly. There's no possibility of getting enough properties between the two numbers. It may possibly have something to do with the different eras in which building took place.

I once had a letter delivered wrongly to my home address. The correct address was more than a mile away, and the house or flat number had a B appended. On arrival I could find no Flat---B, and to seek guidance had to ring the doorbells for the "parent" property. Eventually a very irate resident informed me that Flat ---B was in the basement and only accessible via a back entrance, reached along a mews to the rear of the terrace. Fortunately I counted the many numbers I passed on my way to the entrance to the mews, because none were showing on any of the rear entrances. On reaching what I had to assume to be the correct property I was confronted with a locked door, only accessible by dialling an entrance code, and no letter box. Goodness knows how the postie manages to deliver there! In the end I decided to retrace my steps, and posted said letter through its letter box, in the hope that some kind intern would get it to the recipient. All the while I was thinking, no wonder people living there did not take kindly to enquirers!

[oddoneout]

[QUOTE=Petrushka;n1352242]

Since retirement six years ago I've nearly always made sure to be in when deliveries are made. Amazon have my alternative 'safe place' if I am unavoidably absent. DPD, like most, provide tracking and I've always found that to be very good. The ideal scenario is to be in, follow the tracking, look out of the window and intercept the driver before they even ring/knock. I've never had a problem with any delivery since retirement and very little before it. One other thing is to make sure that your house number or name is clearly visible. The numbering on this road is somewhat eccentric so it helps delivery people to get the right house.

I can make arrangements - but only if I know I need to!
Finding the house number isn't an issue, the previous occupants put up a smart engraved granite plate on my house and also, being nearly all blocks of terrace houses it isn't difficult to work out if a number isn't displayed - but they all are anyway. There are a few houses at the bottom of the road that only have names, the numbering starts with the terrace houses which is a bit odd. What does sometimes cause problems is that there are about half a dozen roads all with the same name but differing in whether Close, Avenue etc, and spread out on both sides of a (same name)main road. Sometimes the correspondent knows the house number but not the correct road, but I've now worked out that only one of the side roads has the same house number as mine, the others don't have that many houses.

[LMcD]

[QUOTE=Serial_Apologist;n1352360]

I once had a letter delivered wrongly to my home address. The correct address was more than a mile away, and the house or flat number had a B appended. On arrival I could find no Flat---B, and to seek guidance had to ring the doorbells for the "parent" property. Eventually a very irate resident informed me that Flat ---B was in the basement and only accessible via a back entrance, reached along a mews to the rear of the terrace. Fortunately I counted the many numbers I passed on my way to the entrance to the mews, because none were showing on any of the rear entrances. On reaching what I had to assume to be the correct property I was confronted with a locked door, only accessible by dialling an entrance code, and no letter box. Goodness knows how the postie manages to deliver there! In the end I decided to retrace my steps, and posted said letter through its letter box, in the hope that some kind intern would get it to the recipient. All the while I was thinking, no wonder people living there did not take kindly to enquirers!

Just before Christmas last year I had a parcel delivered which had somebody else's name, but my address, on it. I mentioned this to a friend who said she'd check on Facebook, and 20 minutes later she'd found the right house number. She also discovered that the people for whom the parcel was intended were on holiday, so I left it behind a wheelie bin in their garage, which was open, and popped a note through their door. My friend also told them what had happened via Facebook. Neither of us heard from them, even though they only live 100 yards or so from my house. If the same thing happens again this year, I'll take it to the post office round the corner and let them deal with it - well, Mr & Mrs XXXXX might have moved and not told anybody, mightn't they?

[Petrushka]

Could someone tidy up the mess with the quotes on a couple of recent posts as it looks like the original posts have been misattributed. Thanks.

[oddoneout]

[QUOTE=LMcD;n1352366]

Just before Christmas last year I had a parcel delivered which had somebody else's name, but my address, on it. I mentioned this to a friend who said she'd check on Facebook, and 20 minutes later she'd found the right house number. She also discovered that the people for whom the parcel was intended were on holiday, so I left it behind a wheelie bin in their garage, which was open, and popped a note through their door. My friend also told them what had happened via Facebook. Neither of us heard from them, even though they only live 100 yards or so from my house. If the same thing happens again this year, I'll take it to the post office round the corner and let them deal with it - well, Mr & Mrs XXXXX might have moved and not told anybody, mightn't they?

Did they put a big sign up on the door as well saying ' We're on holiday until xxx,help yourselves'?

[Serial_Apologist]

Here is a very vexing situation. A good friend, who is on long term disability payments for acute ME, and lives alone in a low-ceilinged basement council flat, is having serious problems with his upstairs neighbour. These have been going on for some years, starting with loud, frequent drumming, apparently on the floor directly above my friend's bedroom, though the noise percolated throughout his flat. After remonstrating with the tenant, it turned out that he is certified for acute autism and ADHD, and in regular attendance at Marsden's psychiatric unit, just a few minutes away. Back in August he was taken into care there for observation and possible treatment. In the meantime his mother has moved into the man's flat, and appeared at first to be undertaking household cleaning duties to obsessive lengths. After a week of this my friend started experiencing strange physical symptoms, including breathing difficulties and a strong metallic taste in the mouth, which abated once out of the premises after a few minutes, and noting an odd smell. By the time he phoned me his voice had a croak and he was coughing so violently he had to move back from the phone.

From a conversation with the mother in which my friend had complained and enquired about the necessity for such daily cleaning exercises, he learned that both parents ran businesses either making or dealing in industrial chemical substances, and from this he deduced that they were trying to drive him out of his basement by leaking dangerous fumes through various skirtings, boxed in service pipes and ceiling cracks. At this point my friend rang up the police, who initially replied that this was a domestic dispute outside their remit, and only after my friend made repeated urgent appeals for help sent a uniformed officer, who said that he could not detect anything unusual, but at least offered to accompany my friend to his local surgery, which my friend gratefully declined as it was outside visiting hours! In desperation my friend phoned the fire service, who attended but likewise could find no evidence or cause. I should also mention that my friend had put in a complaint to the council, who had said they would investigate, but nothing further had been heard. He had then put in for a transfer, which is then okayed or not, I understand, but it is up to the tenant to themselves to find a swap, which can be within the Authority, between councils, or nationwide, which usually takes longer. He now invited me to visit and give my opinion. There is, and always has been a chemical-type smell in my friend's flat, the result of accumulating quantities of substances related to his art work, and possibly the numerous exotic instruments he uses as part of his past work as a musician in an Afrobeat band, and now in music therapy sessions he conducts at a nearby care home, for which he receives and declares a small income to INLRA. Then 3 weeks ago he rang me declaring that his flat had been broken into, he was quite sure by these neighbours, who had moved items around and left, among other things, mouldy used yoghurt cartons bearing the Sainsbury's label, which my friend never buys. He thinks they are putting the frighteners on him, rather than threatening his life, by deliberately leaving evidence my friend would have to prove was not his own doing. Somehow, either they had managed to obtain a key to his front door, or had broken in via the rear door, needing a similar type key, or through one of the old, single-glaze Crittall windows. This was really scary, and my friend felt he could not possibly remain in the flat until the problem had been sorted out, so a month ago I put him up here for a couple of nights, after which he said another friend in Rotherhithe would accommodate him.

That arrangement has now broken down - apparently this friend's place is a dump - and while for a time the issue seemed to have abated it has now returned. I went down there this morning to get better first-hand knowledge of the situation, and found my friend's flat is some disorder, which had not been the case on any previous visit. We talked in whispers while listening to sounds from above of furniture being moved around, sniffing perhaps too soon for odd smells, as the noises had only just begun, and looked and sniffed in vain in various corners and crevices. One gets too familarised to characteristics and peculiarities one has habitually overlooked to be definite about anything of this kind, and I could not afford the time he thought necessary to experience for myself the physical effects of longer exposure. My friend is just not the type to imagine this stuff up - by contrast my own reaction would probably have been clumsily confrontational, which, as he says, would undoubtedly jeopardise the diplomatic relationship with the council necessary to expedite any tenancy swap, and the Law in any who-is-to-blame scenario. So with myself wanting in useful advice my friend comes back to stay with me from tomorrow for a week. Unbelievably there seems to be nowhere to turn and no one in authority to turn to in situations such as this.