– There is a popular stereotype about the Russian Post – packages can be expected for many years. Is that so?
“Those who said that, obviously, last came to the post office ten years ago.
With regular delivery today, any parcel in Russia will reach the buyer in a week. For comparison: in Europe, delivery across the country can take up to 30 days, in the USA – up to 45. This is not an edit, but the experience of my colleagues I know.
You can also use the EMS courier service in post offices – this is express delivery in 1-2 days, when the parcel is delivered in person. It is also possible to send a “first class parcel”, the processing speed will also be faster and the parcel will arrive in 2-3 days.
In some cities parcels may take longer, maximum 35 days. If EMS – 34 days. But this is because the distance between the sender and the receiver is large, for example, from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok.
If the distance is close, the parcels are usually not delayed. The reasons for the delay usually depend not on the post, but on the senders themselves or customs. Although there are times when operators are to blame. For example, a parcel is accepted today and it is only invoiced the next day. In this case, the delivery time increases by at least one day, but since everything is under control, they try to prevent it.
And in case of delay in a package or letter, miles will “drop” at the branch, which threatens to remove all employees from bonuses. Miles are indicators of mail processing quality, calculated as a percentage. The first mile is responsible for incoming mail, and the second for outgoing mail.
Do they open parcels at the post office? And how are they checked for prohibited items?
– As far as I know, parcels are usually checked for “ban” at customs or large post offices, for example, at train stations. There are dogs, cynologists and x-ray machines. This is not the case at regular post offices.
However, postal operators have the right to open parcels at their discretion when they notice anything suspicious or see inconsistencies. For example, while it is stated that there are socks in the box, it feels as if there is something much heavier inside – too heavy to be socks. In this case, the employee has the right to open the parcel.
In addition, the content is checked against the declaration. If it corresponds to the declared, the parcel is sealed and sent to the buyer. If not, it is returned to the sender. Once opened, an audit results action is always issued. An action is also taken if the package is accidentally opened during shipping. If there is something forbidden on the parcel, postal officials report it to law enforcement.
Can employees steal anything from the package?
– There are video cameras everywhere in the post office, the opening of parcels always takes place under them. If the operator still steals something and this is proven, he must compensate for the theft. And, of course, he is waiting for dismissal later.
– There are always long queues at the post office and everything is very long. Why?
– Most of the time, because the equipment is buggy. This is a steady state: people are already lining up on the street and your computer is frozen because it was before the flood. And you sit and play for time. You say “Yes, yes, wait, now …” and there the page didn’t even load halfway.
And people stop, they look at you like a fool, they say, well, why not do anything. And you are waiting for the computer to “birth”.
In the new departments there are good modern computers, and in the old departments there are “ancient Greek” ones. There just isn’t enough money. There are several departments in each district, try to provide each of them with new equipment instantly.
The post office is usually a place where you can go crazy. There are three of them in Russia: a post office, a polyclinic and an MFC. But mail is a separate art form, there, not a single action is logically connected for me.
For example, when I first arrived, my head almost exploded. They ask me: “Find box 582, which is a small package, it might just be in that box.” I look, I see 580, 581, 583. I don’t need anyone. I spent about ten minutes, my colleagues came and asked: “Why have you been there so long, can you help?” I say that I could not find parcel 582. And then another operator says: “Oh ..! So I moved it to another box!” Why he changed if he had to lie in a certain place – no one knows. But then I realized that packages can be anywhere.
– Scandals with customers – a common practice?
– Usually the interaction proceeds smoothly, or the maximum is limited to mutual dissatisfaction and “click” on the face. But we had an “unusual” case. On New Year’s Eve a woman came to pick up a package. I ordered a toy for a child on the VKontakte website, and not his real name and surname, but his nickname was indicated. It says I ordered a name like this, but it doesn’t match the full name on the passport.
We explain: we can’t deliver the parcel, suddenly it’s not you, everything happens. He started screaming, we were treated like human beings, we say, if no one comes after a month, you will come back and we will give it back to you.
Angry, he’s gone. About 15 minutes later I heard some screams, I walked away to check what was going on. It turned out that the same woman entered through the back door of the warehouse and attacked the post office manager. When I entered the room they were both fighting over sacks of letters and parcels over what we had not given this lady.
The operator was tied up, they began to separate them, as a result, the woman was given a parcel and left. All this was with her child. We couldn’t get out for two more days and now we always lock the office with a padlock.
Source: Gazeta
