topic Re: Does stating HANDLE WITH CARE OR DO NOT BEND OR FRAGILE on a pack do any good in Selling

Does stating HANDLE WITH CARE OR DO NOT BEND OR FRAGILE on a pack do any good

bjlcr — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 23:05:13 GMT

I have heard that some postal workers take no notice if warnings are written on parcels and sometimes do the complete opposite to what is asked on parcels.A Buyer has asked me to write Handle with Care and Do not bend on her pack.I pefer not to do this but if she wants to take the repondsibility of what may happen .I will do it for her...I alway pack very well and have had no damage to items .

Re: Does stating HANDLE WITH CARE OR DO NOT BEND OR FRAGILE on a pack do any good

cathyjoyjoy — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 23:14:16 GMT

I don't believe there is an official AP position on "handle with care" "do not bend" or "fragile" written on a letter/parcel. Maybe there used to be a FRAGILE sticker that meant something previously.

Some people might say that noting these on an item causes the handler to do the opposite but I doubt it.

However, there are many very good posties around who will ensure at the very least that a "do not bend" item is not folded for the letterbox.

So if a buyer has requested "do not bend", make sure it is very clear as well as ensuring it is reinforced to make sure bending it is not easy.

Re: Does stating HANDLE WITH CARE OR DO NOT BEND OR FRAGILE on a pack do any good

*tippy*toes* — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 23:15:51 GMT

It's pointless as AP don't offer a fragile service. The best thing you can do is keep doing as you're doing and pack your items well so they can't be bent or broken in transit. If it's something flat like say a magazine, pack it between 2 sheets of heavy cardboard so it can't be bent. You could write it on to keep your buyer happy, but from AP's perspective, it means nothing.

Re: Does stating HANDLE WITH CARE OR DO NOT BEND OR FRAGILE on a pack do any good

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 23:16:55 GMT

I have had many experiences of it doing the opposite

The fill in postie here and at my last place (different town) always THROWS parcels at the front door as if they are a football

I mentioned it to the po who just shrugged and suggested using a courier if it's 'that important'

Re: Does stating HANDLE WITH CARE OR DO NOT BEND OR FRAGILE on a pack do any good

kopenhagen5 — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 23:26:30 GMT

As tippy suggests, to have fragile stickers (obtainable at local AP) it shows the buyer you have done everything you can even if some AP contractors don't adhere to it.

Re: Does stating HANDLE WITH CARE OR DO NOT BEND OR FRAGILE on a pack do any good

bjlcr — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 00:56:28 GMT

I don't think it's the posties that misshandle the mail I think that the workers at the post office sites where the mail is sorted dont handle packs as they should.Even at the post office things are just thrown into bags without much care..I am glad that I overpack even if it costs a bit more

Re: Does stating HANDLE WITH CARE OR DO NOT BEND OR FRAGILE on a pack do any good

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 01:13:45 GMT

I have both seen and heard the postie here throw things as hard as possible. I have no doubt it happens in the post office and while being loaded on to the trucks,too

Re: Does stating HANDLE WITH CARE OR DO NOT BEND OR FRAGILE on a pack do any good

davidc4430 — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 01:23:53 GMT

about a year ago there was a youtube video that went wild showing some delivery persons throwing mail/boxes into a delivery truck, these guys worked (not any more thanks to the video) for one of the big delivery companys. no mater what we sellers do, what we write on our packages there will allways be brain dead morons in the system that think 'fragile' means 'wont it be funny when i kick the carp out of this box, tee hee arnt i funny. but with the WWWeb sometimes they get caught cos everyone has a camera with them these days and before you know it its on youtube.

Re: Does stating HANDLE WITH CARE OR DO NOT BEND OR FRAGILE on a pack do any good

robinsonmarineparts — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 01:54:46 GMT

@bjlecr wrote:
I have heard that some postal workers take no notice if warnings are written on parcels and sometimes do the complete opposite to what is asked on parcels.A Buyer has asked me to write Handle with Care and Do not bend on her pack.I pefer not to do this but if she wants to take the repondsibility of what may happen .I will do it for her...I alway pack very well and have had no damage to items .

IMO you should do as the buyer asks, that way the buyer can't come back at you.

Re: Does stating HANDLE WITH CARE OR DO NOT BEND OR FRAGILE on a pack do any good

mbselections00 — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 02:34:31 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have both seen and heard the postie here throw things as hard as possible. I have no doubt it happens in the post office and while being loaded on to the trucks,too

A bit off topic, sorry, but for years we have suffered at the hands of one such postie. If it's labelled 'Do Not Bend' he always folds it in half to put it in the letterbox. He also never placed anything at the front door - just hurled them across the patio as he flew past on his bike and tore back off down the driveway (we live on small acreage). I was inside one afternoon and heard a windchime go berserk, thought to myself oh no, a bird must have flown into it, then a huge thud ! Mmmm well that's some big bird, better investigate ! Aaah, there goes the postie, heading off down the driveway. Windchime in tatters & a parcel on patio. I mentioned it to my local PO staff , who advised it best not to complain as he's a very vindictive man & if you put in an official complaint it is NOT anonymous - the postie is told who complained & the exact nature of the complaint.

Yesterday, toot toot, oh must be a courier delivery, off to the door I go. Hi, I'm Sue, I'm the postie's daughter & as of this week, I will be your new parcel delivery person. Strange, I said, I thought our postie only had a son. Oh NOOOOO, she exclaimed, he's not my dad ! He's gone, (told his services were no longer required) you will love my dad - he's been a postie for years and I'm now working with him ! She is delightful.

So I guess the moral is, like in any work place, there are the good and the bad, honest and dishonest, some with a good sense of humour, some with warped and those with none at all.

Likewise, I would pack with care as usual (maybe a little extra padding to cover the not always so good postal system) and follow the buyers instructions for labelling - perhaps she knows her postie !

Re: Does stating HANDLE WITH CARE OR DO NOT BEND OR FRAGILE on a pack do any good

cathyjoyjoy — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 04:28:08 GMT

http://youtu.be/qfo_gkDP0fc

Re: Does stating HANDLE WITH CARE OR DO NOT BEND OR FRAGILE on a pack do any good

samjess54 — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 06:25:56 GMT

I write "FRAGILE" and "Please Handle with Care" on most of my stuff (which is fragile and mostly double boxed) - I don't know if PO workers treat them differently but my thought is that the recipient or whoever takes delivery might treat them more gently at their end. I pack well, with minimal mishaps, but figure that any extra assurance is worth it.

Re: Does stating HANDLE WITH CARE OR DO NOT BEND OR FRAGILE on a pack do any good

1781anna — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 06:48:16 GMT

Looking at that video DHL obviously stands for D**k Heads Ltd.

Re: Does stating HANDLE WITH CARE OR DO NOT BEND OR FRAGILE on a pack do any good

bullitprooftools2016 — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 00:32:39 GMT

After viewing the video....and a few others it's pretty obvious the carriers are employing to many neanderthals with low IQ!

Re: Does stating HANDLE WITH CARE OR DO NOT BEND OR FRAGILE on a pack do any good

deadly-night-shade — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 15:50:50 GMT

Re: Does stating HANDLE WITH CARE OR DO NOT BEND OR FRAGILE on a pack do any good

clarry100 — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 20:32:28 GMT

Of course we have all heard the old story.....

Your mum sends you an envelope with photographs insde.

On the front it is clearly marked "PHOTOGRAPHS-DO NOT BEND"

The envelope has been folded and bent, better than any origami, to fit into your mail box when it arrives.

Along with the added words on the front from the postie...

"OH YES THEY DO"

Re: Does stating HANDLE WITH CARE OR DO NOT BEND OR FRAGILE on a pack do any good

indigorosey — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 12:03:55 GMT

I actually worked in the parcel centre over the Christmas period and I can tell you everything you have heard is a furphy. Generally all the parcels go into a big metal cage (at least for the major cities) and the bendy stuff generally is placed on the side next to a large box where it can't bend too much or on top. To be honest, the fragile parcels aren't treated too much differently from all the others because a huge percentage of parcels have fragile stickers on them, but as a rule most parcels are not treated harshly. They do have to be able to sustain a bit of a jolt because you just don't have time to place everything gently in the cages, but they are not thrown from long distances - you would get reprimanded for that.

Re: Does stating HANDLE WITH CARE OR DO NOT BEND OR FRAGILE on a pack do any good

amber-eyed-girl — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 12:08:21 GMT

That's funny.

I just received a flat large letter with a print inside. It was marked "please do not bend". It was treated nicely. Three weeks from Sydney to Melbourne, but not bent 🙂

Re: Does stating HANDLE WITH CARE OR DO NOT BEND OR FRAGILE on a pack do any good

davewil1964 — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 12:10:20 GMT

In the parcel centre, where there is probably 24/7 CCTV...

Delivery drivers don't work in the parcel centre and aren't generally subject to CCTV.

Re: Does stating HANDLE WITH CARE OR DO NOT BEND OR FRAGILE on a pack do any good

*tippy*toes* — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 12:19:22 GMT

I got one the other day too. I was home when the postie pulled up and I heard him stop. When he didn't ride straight off I looked through the door to see what he was up to (he plays pranks on me!). I saw him with a large letter and he started to bend it to put it in the top of the letterbox, then stopped, looked at it, got off his bike and brought it to the door. It had do not bend on it. He said to me that if he'd bent it on me, he was worried what I'd do to him! He thought it best to play it safe.

I've seen local couriers mishandling items. A quick call to their depot saw them without a job very quickly. Yes, it happens, but 99% do the right thing. The others just haven't been caught yet. I post mainly fragile items. I don't mark them as fragile, I just pack them well. Only way they'd get damaged is if they were run over by the truck.

In the early days, when I was still trying to work out how to pack things properly, I packaged up a few old china tea cups that I was going to throw out. Mr Tippy and I kicked the box around the back yard playing soccer with it for a good hour. I brought it back in, unpacked it and it was in the same condition as what i packed it. I knew then I'd got the packaging thing down pat!