Associate
- Joined
- 30 Dec 2003
- Posts
- 2,254
Hi,
I'm having a bit of a problem with mail going missing and am not sure where to follow this up next. Hopefully if I give you a background and explain the situation you might have some ideas I've not yet considered. I apologise in advanced if this becomes little long but please bear with me as any help would be greatly appreciated.
Anyway...
I moved into a flat with my partner in August. Mail is delivered into key-locked post boxes (one per flat) which are all mounted on the wall in the communal entrance. To enter this communal entrance requires a key fob. There is a trade button for entry but as far as I am aware this only works for a one hour window during the day.
In the past we have had very little mail, we've had no need. However, recently we are expecting more, what with it being Christmas, etc.
Two weeks ago my pay slip from work failed to show up (obviously including my national insurance number amongst other important pieces of information). I assumed this was a one off. A few days later some pantomime tickets never arrived. I put this down to being unlucky. Since then a few other bits and pieces have failed to arrive, including a course confirmation for my partner and an order from an online retailer for a Christmas gift (possibly even bank statements, though these may simply be late). This is surprising as I am still receiving mail, mostly low value items, of interest to nobody, such as Christmas cards. Due to the small volume of mail I receive sometimes there can be two or three days when nothing is received, yet this is normal. This makes it very hard to spot when things should have arrived and have not.
Obviously by now I am concerned that it appears more important and/or valuable items of my mail appear to be going missing. I have contacted all of the companies whom I was expecting mail from and all have confirmed I should have received the mail by now.
This morning I rang my local Royal Mail sorting office who confirmed that mail is being delivered to my flat as normal and that they are not aware of any problems. They suggested that the lady who delivers the mail to my flat is "as good as gold" (at no stage did I try and apportion blame or even suggest somebody may be acting unfaithfully). I was informed this was a "usual thing" for this time of year and that in the gentleman’s experience this was due to previous tenants accessing mail. The only advice they could give me was to have mail re-directed to the local sorting office as this is only a five minute walk from the property. This sounds useful but ultimately does not get the root cause, and indeed does not help if mail is expected from sources other than Royal Mail. I have not yet followed this avenue further.
I then rang the company who control the communal areas of the flat. They suggest that the mailboxes in the communal entrance are outside of their remit and are at under the ownership of the property owner (in my case, the land lady). The only advice they were able to give was to change the locks on the mailbox. I asked if anybody else had reported similar issues but was told the logs did not show any other calls.
I am now very confused what to do. It seems the only thing in my control is to change the lock on the mail box but I do not believe this will solve anything. Even if somebody had cut a key, it would have to have been the previous tenants (there has only been one before us) or the landlady. None of them have a key fob necessary to even get in to the communal area. The previous tenants are now several miles away and it would take somebody to come and visit the flat every day between the hours of midday and five, as an example, the window between Royal Mail deliveries and my partner collecting mail from the mailbox on her return from work. Clearly the previous tenants, who have jobs (and are therefore busy during the day time), would have no interest in this. Indeed, if somebody is actively collecting the mail they would have to check every day considering the lack of regularity in our amount of mail. This is clearly not worth anybodies time due to the small account of valuable/important mail we have delivered.
Even if I did choose to install a new lock I assume I'd have to foot the bill as, as far as the land lady would still be concerned, we have a matching key and lock and are receiving "some" mail, including hers that we forward on each month. At the moment we have no proof that anything is actually going missing from the mail box.
I am at a loss what else I can do to cure this issue. Obviously it leaves me feeling very concerned that our mail is so vulnerable. I have already arranged for all work documents, including future pay slips, to be delivered to the office but I cannot do this for everything that may ever arrive. I'm also considering turning off paper bills on my bank accounts but it still does not address the root cause.
Any ideas or suggestions where to go with this next?
Thanks!
I'm having a bit of a problem with mail going missing and am not sure where to follow this up next. Hopefully if I give you a background and explain the situation you might have some ideas I've not yet considered. I apologise in advanced if this becomes little long but please bear with me as any help would be greatly appreciated.
Anyway...
I moved into a flat with my partner in August. Mail is delivered into key-locked post boxes (one per flat) which are all mounted on the wall in the communal entrance. To enter this communal entrance requires a key fob. There is a trade button for entry but as far as I am aware this only works for a one hour window during the day.
In the past we have had very little mail, we've had no need. However, recently we are expecting more, what with it being Christmas, etc.
Two weeks ago my pay slip from work failed to show up (obviously including my national insurance number amongst other important pieces of information). I assumed this was a one off. A few days later some pantomime tickets never arrived. I put this down to being unlucky. Since then a few other bits and pieces have failed to arrive, including a course confirmation for my partner and an order from an online retailer for a Christmas gift (possibly even bank statements, though these may simply be late). This is surprising as I am still receiving mail, mostly low value items, of interest to nobody, such as Christmas cards. Due to the small volume of mail I receive sometimes there can be two or three days when nothing is received, yet this is normal. This makes it very hard to spot when things should have arrived and have not.
Obviously by now I am concerned that it appears more important and/or valuable items of my mail appear to be going missing. I have contacted all of the companies whom I was expecting mail from and all have confirmed I should have received the mail by now.
This morning I rang my local Royal Mail sorting office who confirmed that mail is being delivered to my flat as normal and that they are not aware of any problems. They suggested that the lady who delivers the mail to my flat is "as good as gold" (at no stage did I try and apportion blame or even suggest somebody may be acting unfaithfully). I was informed this was a "usual thing" for this time of year and that in the gentleman’s experience this was due to previous tenants accessing mail. The only advice they could give me was to have mail re-directed to the local sorting office as this is only a five minute walk from the property. This sounds useful but ultimately does not get the root cause, and indeed does not help if mail is expected from sources other than Royal Mail. I have not yet followed this avenue further.
I then rang the company who control the communal areas of the flat. They suggest that the mailboxes in the communal entrance are outside of their remit and are at under the ownership of the property owner (in my case, the land lady). The only advice they were able to give was to change the locks on the mailbox. I asked if anybody else had reported similar issues but was told the logs did not show any other calls.
I am now very confused what to do. It seems the only thing in my control is to change the lock on the mail box but I do not believe this will solve anything. Even if somebody had cut a key, it would have to have been the previous tenants (there has only been one before us) or the landlady. None of them have a key fob necessary to even get in to the communal area. The previous tenants are now several miles away and it would take somebody to come and visit the flat every day between the hours of midday and five, as an example, the window between Royal Mail deliveries and my partner collecting mail from the mailbox on her return from work. Clearly the previous tenants, who have jobs (and are therefore busy during the day time), would have no interest in this. Indeed, if somebody is actively collecting the mail they would have to check every day considering the lack of regularity in our amount of mail. This is clearly not worth anybodies time due to the small account of valuable/important mail we have delivered.
Even if I did choose to install a new lock I assume I'd have to foot the bill as, as far as the land lady would still be concerned, we have a matching key and lock and are receiving "some" mail, including hers that we forward on each month. At the moment we have no proof that anything is actually going missing from the mail box.
I am at a loss what else I can do to cure this issue. Obviously it leaves me feeling very concerned that our mail is so vulnerable. I have already arranged for all work documents, including future pay slips, to be delivered to the office but I cannot do this for everything that may ever arrive. I'm also considering turning off paper bills on my bank accounts but it still does not address the root cause.
Any ideas or suggestions where to go with this next?
Thanks!
