UK Mail workers damage packages from Marks and Spencer, Tesco and Dell...

[DJ OD]

Caught on camera, the private postal staff who drop, throw and kick your online parcels

• Undercover footage from one of UK's largest couriers filmed for Channel 4
• UK Mail workers damage packages from Marks and Spencer, Tesco and Dell
• TV investigation found there were rarely any managers on the depot floor
  

Chaos: Packets fall off a crowded conveyor onto cluttered floor at UK Mail depot

Staff at one of Britain's largest courier companies have been secretly filmed dropping, throwing and kicking customers' parcels.

Many of the packages being damaged by workers at UK Mail were labelled 'Fragile' and came from leading internet retailers like Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Dell.

Despite a slogan promising to deliver 'quickly, safely and securely', packages at the depot were seen falling from crowded conveyer belts before being mishandled.

The shocking footage will confirm the fears of many web shoppers that their expensive purchases are being lost and mistreated by private delivery companies.

Across the online shopping industry, problems with deliveries cost businesses an estimated £851million a year.

An undercover reporter for tonight's Channel 4 Dispatches programme saw parcels being mishandled every day at the UK Mail plant in Bournemouth.

One even narrowly missed his head when it was thrown by another worker.

Robert Hammond, from campaign group Consumer Focus, said: 'This shows people quite blatantly, quite openly throwing around items without the least care and consideration.

'This is chaos – as simple as that. There is really no proper management going on in this depot.'

Richard Headland, editor of Which? magazine said: 'A lot of us suspect that this kind of thing goes on. To see footage as graphic as that is quite shocking.'

On another occasion, depot workers were filmed discussing the possibility of selling bottles of wine from a damaged parcel on the internet auction site eBay.

The worker says: 'Hopefully, if they say “Oh, can you please dispose of them', then we'll be like... [claps hands] straight on eBay.'



Unsupervised: The TV investigation found that there were rarely any managers on the depot floor

The TV investigation found that there were rarely any managers on the depot floor to make sure staff lived up to the firm's pledges.

After viewing the footage, chief executive Guy Buswell apologised to customers and launched an inquiry.

'We need to investigate those clips and see exactly what happened at the time to allow those guys to run amok, which is clearly what they've done,' he said.

'Of course, I'm going to say sorry to the customers affected. We need to investigate it, see what went on, and take a view.

'I'm disappointed with all of it on the basis that we spend an awful lot of time making sure that our staff are well trained.' He added: 'Last year, UK Mail delivered 29 million parcels. I have 486 claims for damage so I would say that clip doesn't really show our business in a true light.'

Ministers plan to privatise Royal Mail this year, meaning that letters could soon also be delivered by private companies. In a pilot scheme starting a year ago in West London, TNT became the first firm to deliver post directly to households.

Caught on camera: Postal staff 'dealing' with YOUR mail





Kickabout: A colleague at one of the UK's largest courier companies takes aims at a package

However, another Dispatches reporter working undercover as a TNT postman discovered that he had to leave his bike carrying bundles of mail unattended on busy roads on most days.

He also discovered that the post bags were not securely locked to the bike, meaning letters could easily be stolen.

Bikes were seen unattended around West London as TNT workers delivered the mail, including one bike carrying letters from firms including Barclays and Thames Water which was left for about 30 minutes.

Mr Hammond added: 'Clearly, there's a security angle. Any amount of that post could be easily lifted off the bike and removed. This seems short of the standards that one would expect.'

A TNT spokesman said it was improving the locks on panniers and the way they were attached to the bikes.

Dispatches was also shown evidence of a TNT postman dumping post in a bin in a park. TNT said the culprit has been sacked.

Channel 4's Dispatches: Secrets of Your Missing Mail is screened tonight at 8pm.

Source

Can't say I am surprised by this...


DJ OD

[JonEp]

I have to say in the past I spent many days and night in the UK's largest sorting office Mount Pleasant fixing IT equipment and I never saw a RM post office worker do this. Though unlike these cowboys there were always different levels of management only yards aways.

[DJ OD]

I have to say in the past I spent many days and night in the UK's largest sorting office Mount Pleasant fixing IT equipment and I never saw a RM post office worker do this. Though unlike these cowboys there were always different levels of management only yards aways.

I worked their many moons ago as well. When I was a teenager, as an aprentice electrician, I was there installing a PA sysytem IIRC. I remember a room there with corporate chirstmas gifts for clients. Had gold watches and all sorts in there...


DJ OD

[BertRoot]

Quite looking forward to this one tonight.

[Sanj[UK]]

I have to say in the past I spent many days and night in the UK's largest sorting office Mount Pleasant fixing IT equipment and I never saw a RM post office worker do this. Though unlike these cowboys there were always different levels of management only yards aways.

Same worked in Mount Pleasent and HWDC never sort shit like this. HWDC deals with International Mail and large parcels.

interesting that TNT are doing door to door. The universal service (delivery to any household in the uk) that RM has to provide (which competitors dont) will be gone out of the window when its sold off.

[Over Carl]

Not surprised. My little brother worked in some shitty sports clothes shop chain on the local high street when he was a school kid - one day his manager suggested they go into the stock room and pulverise random stock using baseball bats (also from stock).

I'm guessing this is what happen when you pay people shitty salaries for jobs they don't give a fuck about.

[Ganty]

Hahaha, Royal Mail isn't so bad now is it you cunts?

[DJ OD]

DJ OD

[Teajunkie]

Parcel force are/were just as bad.

I worked for parcelforce back in the late 90's in the main sorting depot in bristol.
I was sent there via agency work and my training was for loading the trailers for outgoing packets.
When i got there the manager helped me settle in and sent me to a trailer where there was a guy already in there working.
He introduced himself as parcels were falling off the conveyor so he just kicked them aside and showed me what i had to do..

He said make a wall out of parcels say half way up the trailer and then throw the rest over the top of the wall until you have no room left then build another wall at the end and repeat.
This guy also said when you get a nice looking parcel put it to one side and when you stop for break open it and put the contents in your coat and leave it in your car at lunch. he had dvd's mobile phones and all sorts of stuff in his car.

I was shocked and went to my own trailer later that night and stacked it all correctly in a neat and tidy way the manager came over and asked WTF was i doing as i was holding the line up!
I explained i was told to throw them but i wasnt going to do that to which he laughed and said either do it the way you were shown or go home.

I reported it to the agency the next morning and said i didnt like the way i was spoken to and that parcels were being thrown and most were fragile and smashing as they fell.
The agency were shocked and said leave it to them.

I went back to Parcel force for a week and then one evening a guy came over and started mouthing at me for stacking boxes i thought he was going to take my head off.
The manager saw and sent me home early while the other guy got taken to the office.

I was never asked back to parcel force and im glad too!

[blacksheep]

Doesn't really suprise me. Had a 4u rack mount case that was completely smashed in by TNT, obviously wasn't dropped just once - they were probably pissed off about having to lug about the 20+kg parcel, ignoring the fact that someone had obviously paid for it to be sent.

[Mobileman]

Worked with nearly all the parcel carriers from a carrier point of view with large volumes 400-600 despatches a day and all had issues,

citylink, dpd, parcelforce, tnt, ups, royal mail, and all had faults and problem depots etc but i found citylink and royal mail special delivery the best of a bad bunch as i liked to call them

[JonEp]

At Mount Plesant there was a seperate locked room and cage for special delivery and even back then before hand held computers there was a signed chain of custody for each SD item. Not sure what it's like now 10 years on.



Sent from my U8815 using Tapatalk 2

[Mobileman]

At Mount Plesant there was a seperate locked room and cage for special delivery and even back then before hand held computers there was a signed chain of custody for each SD item. Not sure what it's like now 10 years on.



Sent from my U8815 using Tapatalk 2

yeah special delivery is supposed to be restricted access so hopefully means less idiots getting at them

[Sanj[UK]]

At Mount Plesant there was a seperate locked room and cage for special delivery and even back then before hand held computers there was a signed chain of custody for each SD item. Not sure what it's like now 10 years on.



Sent from my U8815 using Tapatalk 2

Its still the same setup.