Post Post.

That is, a post about the post. There's apparently a national shortage of cardboard boxes [I admit we have an awful lot here right now, but you can't blame me completely] Over the last 47 weeks, people have been using postal services so much more, to obtain the goods they might previously gone out to purchase in a shop. 

Then there's the online orders of "Payday Treats" - for those people fortunate enough to still have jobs are missing their coffee dates, and Friday Birthday Cakes, and lunchtime window shopping in the High Street etc because they are working from home, alone - so they're going online and ordering fancy food, candles, books, wine and more.

Grandparents are sending letters and gifts to the littl'uns, and the children are sending cards back. Bloom&Wild are doing a great job with their letterbox flowers. I even sent relations in Essex a letterbox Christmas tree! [use this code.to get money off your first B&W order] It has not all been plain sailing round here. A postman [not our regular] cheerfully handed me a B&W box on Saturday, and dashed back to his van as the rain poured down. I looked at the label - it was for another house up the road on the other side. Wrong number! 

Then there was the mysterious email from G-Tech late one afternoon thanking me for ordering an Air-Ram vacuum cleaner. Addressed to Angela Almond, but to go to Cornwall. I rang them. We're on their system, as Bob won a vac a few years back. They said they would correct the error. Next day I got an email at 7am telling me to expect delivery at 2pm. I got back from a bike ride to a message that my vac was with "Michael the neighbour". I rang G-Tech again. Bloke on the other end couldn't help. I checked first email, there was a phone number. So I rang and said "you don't know me, but have you just ordered a new vacuum cleaner?" "Er yes..." "Well it's with Michael your neighbour".This lady's name was almost - but not quite - Angela Almond. She now has her vacuum, and we hope G-Tech have amended their database. 

I sent a surprise parcel to Rosie on January 18th. That day I took four parcels to the Post Office and three of them arrived by 21st. We're still trying to locate Rosie's package. Royal Mail Track'n'trace webpage cannot give me information "until we attempt to deliver".. The lovely guy at Ferndown Parcels Office was able to print out a sheet showing my parcel went from the PO to the Dorset Mail Centre in Poole, and he gave me a number to call. After 45 minutes on hold, Caitlin told me the parcel had been paid for at Ferndown, and the address it was going to [I know all that!] but she couldn't tell me more. I told her about the Poole Centre. She said I couldn't contact them direct. And neither could she. But if I waited 2 more days I could put in a claim for compensation [and that is just the postage refund] And that they cannot track'n'trace my parcel because I didn't pay for that service. "so why does the webpage say tell us your reference number - check your delivery then?" "Oh it doesn't mean that" 

I am now using Parcels2Go for all my parcels. It is cheaper, and appears more reliable than Royal Mail. And I'm in and out of the drop off point [a local petrol station] in seconds- far quicker than the queues in the Post Office.