Beware posting clipper blades

AdorableAlice

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What do we make of this situation -

4 sets of blades posted first class last Thursday 4th July to R T Anthony. As this superb company sharpens and returns within a couple of days I thought it a bit odd nothing has come back. A quick call reveals they haven't received them.

The out going package was collected by Royal Mail from my office, not just dropped in a post box. I didn't put a tracking postage on it (wish I had !!) never had any problems before and the package was only going a few miles. Each set was wrapped individually, then put together in bubble wrap, that card board and large envelope. Whole lot then thoroughly sellotaped and plenty of first class large stamps put on it.

The very helpful chap at the sorting office that I spoke to this morning told me it is possible that the package was deemed as dangerous due to its contents and will have been sent to the Royal Mails special department to be opened. This puzzles me as nothing on the envelope indicated the contents, so I assume it went through some sort of xray scanner in the sorting office.

That special department is in Northern Ireland and has a 30 day backlog. If it has gone there they will return the contents to me but this could take 2 months. The helpful chap said I need to leave it until 17th July before it is classed as lost, and as it was not a tracked parcel there is no claim to be made against Royal Mail. I really cannot understand how they can just lose it, inside is a cheque, my name, address and phone number. It was going a few miles, was well packed and the delivery address was clear. The delivery address has hundreds of blades every week posted in to them.

Looks like I will be riding hairy yaks then !
 
Whenever I post at the counter they always ask what the contents are.
I thought that was in case it flew but they probably have scanners these days and non horsey people would see blades I guess.
I bought my clippers through the post though and the blades but can't recall now if that was courier?
 
Bummer. No idea im afraid, I 'lost' a pair of clippers in the post years ago, unfortunately they weren't tracked but fortunately they were second hand cheapies. I track everything now.
 
I post my blades at the main post office and declare the contents as animal trimming blades, which seems to be accepted.

At last you should get them back eventually. If you’d posted an air jacket including the gas canister(s) your parcel would be destroyed.
 
I post my blades at the main post office and declare the contents as animal trimming blades, which seems to be accepted.

At last you should get them back eventually. If you’d posted an air jacket including the gas canister(s) your parcel would be destroyed.

The helpful chap told me about ink, batteries and gas.
 
Oh no. I work for a online mail order company, hundreds of products posted via Royal Mail daily. I've posted clipper blades before with no issues but they are fussy grr.

Don't panic to much yet - we had a parcel shipped from us on a 24 hr Royal Mail service arrive 10 days late last week and had a few of those recently! No idea where they had been as it wasn't tracked.

Although on the bad side sometimes we have parcels that disappear, maybe stolen.. not sure. Occasionally they go missing and they are returned to us but it can be a good couple of months later, or damaged in transit and they tend to send you a card explaining what happened

Fingers crossed they've just been delayed.. was it a fully written cheque?
 
I have been sending blades to Anthony’s for years, also taking them in and having them posted back. I have never had any problems.
It seems very strange. I wonder how many parcels sent to or by them go missing?

So have I. When I spoke to them they did say parcels can be very late but its not a common thing.
 
I actually don't trust Royal Mail much any more. Last year I ordered some stuff online from an independent strength athletics shop who said that they posted it the same day. A week later I call them and said it hasn't arrived, they posted a second consignment the same day and emailed me the tracking details, and that stuff didn't arrive either. Called them up, they tried the tracking info (as I had, and it didn't work) and said it was bringing up an error message, so they posted a third lot of stuff with a different courier and it arrived the next day. Apparently businesses can put a claim in for lost shipments with Royal Mail. I think there are some sticky fingers in the organisation. I now always track anything I send via Royal Mail just in case. I've sent clipper blades and also clippers themselves and never had a problem with them saying they're dangerous or whatever.
 
Someone sent me a Christmas card and cheque which didn't turn up until the end of February, I don't trust royal mail much these days!
 
You only have to work ONE shift at a Royal Mail sorting centre, and see the sort of people working there, to never ever trust them to convey anything of yours again!

Seriously......... a lot of the people there are basically there because the jobcentre has sent them and they HAVE to be there or they lose their benefits. When I was there, we were told never to leave anything of value in the locker room coz it would disappear. And these are the people who the public entrust with precious items.
 
You only have to work ONE shift at a Royal Mail sorting centre, and see the sort of people working there, to never ever trust them to convey anything of yours again!

Seriously......... a lot of the people there are basically there because the jobcentre has sent them and they HAVE to be there or they lose their benefits. When I was there, we were told never to leave anything of value in the locker room coz it would disappear. And these are the people who the public entrust with precious items.
Sadly I can believe this. I know someone made redundant a couple of years ago and he took 2 jobs on. One was RM sorting office and the other delivering for Tesco. He loved delivering, but the sorting office was a really nasty back biting place to work, apparently.
 
My sharpener always says state they are machine parts NOT blades. always gone 1st class tracked royal mail, always back to me 4 days later, usually 5 or 6 sets at a time.
 
I did think about theft. If a dodgy employee is into horses or his friends are, 4 sets of Heiniger blades are a bit of a lucky find, or an ideal ebay sale.

I am annoyed with myself that I sent them untracked, but having been sending blades to R T Anthony for 20 years without an issue it really didn't cross my mind that this time round would end like this.

So who is offering to clip Ted then ? !
 
Happy days. Parcel arrived at R T Anthony on 25th July, sharpened and back to me on 26th July. Where the parcel was from 4th July to 25th remains a mystery.

Glad the blades were delivered eventually.
We had a parcel not delivered one day, delivered and apparently signed for the next day but it wasn’t delivered to us. Three days later the parcel was on our doorstep. None of the neighbours had received it in error. The conclusion must be that there is a place in delivery-land where parcels occasionally go for a rest. 😀
 
Happy days. Parcel arrived at R T Anthony on 25th July, sharpened and back to me on 26th July. Where the parcel was from 4th July to 25th remains a mystery.

National holiday here 12-13th and it fell over a weekend so there would have been no one sorting it for 5 days if that help explains a little of the delay dates!

Glad it arrived 😊
 
National holiday here 12-13th and it fell over a weekend so there would have been no one sorting it for 5 days if that help explains a little of the delay dates!

Glad it arrived 😊
That might explain it a little, I don't know if it went to the Northern Ireland naughty parcel department. Just nightly relieved that 4 x £35.00 a set found its way back to do the tedious task of cart horse clipping. Dear husband bought me a new set of blades as a surprise, I think he was just so fed up of me cussing and moaning it might shut me up ! he didn't understand the fine/medium/coarse option so ordered fine. Ted The Twit will look like a badly skinned chicken clipped with fine blades.
 
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