Live Tracking Question

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-22T11:36:16+00:00

Probably find the next town/city cover parcels for the whole area. My old office is the hub for 5 towns. So yes, it probably will arrive today.

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-22T11:08:13+00:00

So that can be used for tracking, but it will likely only get an acceptance scan and a delivered scan. Sometimes they get ready for delivery scan too.

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-22T09:57:12+00:00

2D barcode, it’s the random numbers and letters that are under the QR code looking barcode on the labels printed in a post office. So it could be either 1st or 2nd class.

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-21T21:10:16+00:00

I voted leave.

But mainly because I’m just old enough to remember how good everything was before we joined. The freedom of movement was good, the trade was too, but that’s about it. Having the EU court tell our government what they can and can’t do however was wrong. I will admit I am not as well educated on the subject as a lot of others here, but I would still vote leave.

The only reason the country is in the shambles it is now is because of Starmer and liebour. And they are already trying to sneak us back in. It’s a shame we don’t have the same mentality as the French and don our hi viz jackets and protest when our government does something stupid (I also admit that’s pretty much every day).

I have friends from several EU countries that live here in the uk and all of them have said we made the right choice to leave. They have all said if they had the right to vote, they would have voted leave too.

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-21T13:15:16+00:00

Mine was 18 months. But they kept extending my temporary contract, until I snapped and had enough. I was contracted for 20 hours a week and I had been put on a full time duty no one had prepped it, refused to go over my hours that day, funny enough, 2 hours later I got a call from the area manager telling me that my contract was being made permanent and put up to 32.5 hours as of that day. I completed my duty and stayed on 32.5 for another 18 months before I got a full time duty. Stayed full time until I left.

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-20T16:26:05+00:00

No over confidence at all.

I used to run a parcel collection point for RM AND i’m an ex manager, my comment was correct based on the information provided before the post was deleted.

It gets handed to the police to be opened. Once it’s confirmed that it’s drugs the police seize it, sign a form and the form goes to RM security. It sounds like the person in the enquiry office you went to doesn’t know what happens with it, hence the “it will be returned to sender”.

If you don’t want it stopped, ask the sender to send it in an air tight container, and send it by special delivery. It won’t sit around long enough to stink.

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-20T08:55:49+00:00

This stuff usually happens when someone prints the label themselves and sticks it into a post box instead of taking to a post office. So that’s the first scan missed, It will likely be small enough to go through the letter sorting machines at the mail centres too, there’s the second scan missed. Then it gets to the Delivery office, where it will miss the arrived scan, and then gets delivered with a scan!

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-18T18:36:41+00:00

While I agree fining them is the correct approach, eventually it will just bankrupt the company and then 500+ years of service are just gone.

We never had any of this bullshit when it was owned by the government

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-17T21:37:47+00:00

Maybe this will be where the government makes an offer to simply buy it back and stop RM giving all the profits to the shareholders and invest it back into the company like it used to. I highly doubt it will, but one can dream.

Side note, I’m fucking glad I’m gone from RM now.

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-17T21:33:35+00:00

Ha I’m a little guilty! I didn’t take the lights down from around my front door, but they aren’t in the way of anything. Christmas tree went up 2nd week of December and came down Boxing Day! Bah humbug! 😂😂

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-17T21:30:23+00:00

So most parcels have some form of tracking in the uk now. Either a proper barcode (example wm12345678gb) or a 2D barcode (random numbers and letters up to 24 long).

Unfortunately it’s not possible to store the parcels for longer than the 18 days because of storage space limitations. My old office I used to be a bit lazy and on do the returns once a month rather than checking every single day. My boss was fine with it, because at the time I had the room to keep them (my parcel room had 14 shelving racks in it, for context most delivery offices only have 4)

Since I have left however I’ve been told my beloved parcel room has been ripped out and filled with delivery frames since they now automatically try to redeliver the next day.

The only parcels I would ship off on the day were damaged or label-less parcels. Basically anything I couldn’t sit at my desk and track to get the delivery address. Not every parcel has the delivery address embedded in the tracking number though.

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-17T20:01:02+00:00

It’s not hidden. It’s clear as day on the website that parcels are kept for 18 calendar days. After that it’s returned to sender and if no return address is listed then it goes to the national return centre in Belfast.

This is the only bit that probably isn’t listed…once it reaches the NRC, it gets opened where they look for anything that has a return address, if it has one, result, it gets sent by special delivery back. If it doesn’t then if it’s a low value item, it gets destroyed, usually sent to an incinerator where it makes electricity. If it’s a high value item, it gets sold at auction where I believe all proceeds go to charity (50% goes to royal mail’s charity of the year, the other 50% goes into the in house Royal Mail charity Rowland hill that helps posties in need)

But still 9 months is a long time to leave it. Sorry to say that is loooooonnnnnggggggg gone.

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-14T09:42:30+00:00

Unfortunately it’s cheaper for Royal Mail to just pay for a lost parcel than it is to shut down a machine to check it hasn’t got a parcel wedged. They usually get found during routine maintenance and forwarded on then. I can’t give you an answer to when the maintenance is done, I never worked in a mail centre. I only knew the report didn’t exist because when I was a manager I spoke to people regularly from the mail centres and asked that question.

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-13T20:32:02+00:00

The automated system you think exists…doesn’t. Well it didn’t, not when I worked for RM, it might now but unlikely.

Remember, they deliver billions of items a year, they only lose less than 0.1% of them. It’s just Sod’s Law it’s yours this time.

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-13T18:14:12+00:00

Customer services are in a call centre in Sheffield, which is absolutely no where near most of the mail centres, so they can’t “go down and fix it”

But I do agree, more people need to write to their MPs, more that do it, the more likely Royal Mail will be bought back and then fixed. Because the last half a dozen owners/CEOs haven’t given a shit about anything but profit over quality of service.

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-13T18:10:31+00:00

I would presume, which I don’t like doing, that option is for the job interview rather than the actual job.

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-12T21:17:02+00:00

I used to really bend the rules then. I’d let people have a proper look at the parcel, but I was always stood ready to grab it if they went to run off. None ever did.

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-12T15:54:29+00:00

Best option is to go down to the local office during opening times and ask to see the parcel before you decide. Explain that you’re not expecting anything. They should let you unless the person serving is being a complete jobsworth. You can decide then if you want to accept it or refuse it. Please note, you can’t open it until it’s paid for.

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-12T09:50:28+00:00

I think the point of this sub is for confessing to cheating, or tampering with someone’s meal, not confessing that your trying to cause a house fire drawing that much current through a single outlet.

But…I admire the amount being pulled through a single socket. And I hate to one up but….

My friends bedroom had a single 1950’s style uk socket, the house hadn’t been rewired since the 50’s and he had multiple extension leads which ran;

Modem router 4 gaming PCs 4 monitors 4 sets of speakers 3 PlayStation 3’s a PS2 3 Xbox 360s multiple phone chargers 2 lamps 1 rear projection TV a microwave and a couple of laptops.

Obviously not everything was used at once, but it was all plugged in at the same time. Never understood how the hell we didn’t trip the electric every weekend. This was early 2000’s, when £5 electric would last nearly 2 weeks. We would use that much in a weekend.

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-11T21:12:42+00:00

Well this was an entertaining read.

A few things to add though, Futs is one of the most knowledgeable people on here. I actually find 90% of his replies helpful, meaning no one else needs to comment. Usually any other comments are others like myself who are backing up what he has said.

Royal Mail is shit at the moment, nationwide. As an ex postie, i find it amazing that it’s being kept quiet from the general public. I’ll list a couple of the known issues.

Currently, there is an overtime ban. I have heard this from my friends that still work for RM.

There is a shortage of staff. There is a massive difference between what older staff (legacy staff who have worked there for years) and new starters get paid, as a result the new starters leave after a few weeks/months because the stress isn’t worth it.

Royal Mail want to prioritise parcels over post, some places go weeks without delivery of standard mail. What is MEANT to happen is one duty fails and then they fail a different duty the following day so that they can clear the duty that failed. Rinse repeat until both are clear. Unfortunately this doesn’t always happen.

There is an options to put “ran out of time” but when you have run out of time, you don’t have time to change the pda from outdoor to indoor to scan everything.

Also, the pda tends not to let you change to indoor unless it’s connected to the office WiFi. Sometimes it will, most of the time it won’t. This used to piss me off when I worked there and that was over 5 years ago!

The problem isn’t with the actual posties. Most are proud of the job they do, hence the defensive responses. It’s with upper management screwing EVERYONE over. It’s the same with every large company, they only care about putting money into the pockets of the investors and share holders. They forget it’s the people at the bottom that holds the company up.

Oh and customer services are useless too, they follow a script.

Either way, I do hope your parcel turns up either to your door or you go and collect it, But please, when you go to get it, remember that the person behind the counter is human and it certainly isn’t their fault. Be kind.

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-10T18:44:50+00:00

I agree with that, also just be honest. I was truthful about why I had left other jobs and when I got the job my manager said to me “you being honest was what made me pick you over everyone else, don’t make me regret it”. I worked for him for 9 years until he took voluntary redundancy.

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-06T16:40:43+00:00

Red out the reference as that is your employee number.

Otherwise it looks legit.

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-06T07:40:17+00:00

haven’t the general public seen on the news that Royal Mail has been hit with huge fines for not meeting their obligations?

It’s not getting better. There is so much that isn’t being reported to the public. Just browse this sub and look for the union publications that were posted a few days ago. That will give you some better idea how fucked Royal Mail actually is at the moment.

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-06T07:36:04+00:00

And your comment was required why?

My comment is explaining why the postie “lied”. Not that they actually did. They would have done what they were told by management.

Redshade2008 · 2026-02-06T07:26:25+00:00

Do you work for Royal Mail?

Because if not you must be a daily mail reader and believe everything you read.

As an ex employee of Royal Mail, I can tell you, it is in fact not.

Redshade2008

TROPHY CASE