Retention of grant letters by post office

Our man in Havana

I went to pay for my licences today and the post office was adamant that they have to retain the grant letters. A told them I was not comfortable giving up the letters. There solution was to photocopy them. I am not too happy about having the details of my guns floating around a post office.

What is the official line on this?

foxshooter243

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=64820182#post64820182

scroll down to targetwidows post.:)

Our man in Havana

So it seems some post offices are not following the offical line.

Cass

Go get it back.

freddieot

Complain about this to An Post. They need to send a notice to all their offices about it. It will keep happening if people don't complain, to them.

email : customer.services@anpost.ie

No way should you have to part with the letter.

Our man in Havana

So why is this happening?

They claim that they have to send away the letter. We all know that is rubbish. They claim I am the first person to make an issue of this.

Cass

I had a similar issue with my first license (to be paid in PO) last year, but i pushed the issue and told the woman to ring An Post HQ or the FPU but either way i was not leaving without it. She said she had to send it to Clare for their records. I asked her what planet she was living on as all my details came up on her screen and the processing center in Clare get the information they need both immediately and digitally so have no need for the letter.

She reluctantly handed it back. When i got my last grant letter and went down to pay for it i had no such problems. She scanned it, i paid, she handed me back my receipt and grant letter and wished me a good day. Must have either copped on or was told not to collect grant letters.

Ring An Post/FPU and confirm the offical "party line". Take this info back to the PO in question and get your letter back.

Our man in Havana

They photocopied the letters, so I still has the original letters. I am concerned that details of my guns are being held by an post.

Does any government agency have oversight over an post?

TargetWidow

Hi Bond.... me again....

Right... she has no business keeping your Firearm Certificate Grant Letter. The confusion on her part is as follows...

We in An Post process two types of Fixed Charge Notices on behalf of An Garda Siochana
1. Penalty Points/Traffic Fines
2. Firearms

The FCNs for Penalty Points and fines are retained and have to be sent to a central processing place within An Garda Siochana at the end of each week..

BUT NOT FIREARMS FCNs

Tell her check her manual... do not leave the premises without your Grant letter and receipt for payment and DO NOT allow her to photocopy it. If they take issue with it please tell her that you will wait at the desk while she telephones the An Post I.T. Helpdesk to clarify whether she is supposed to retain your Firearms Grant Letter, or alternatively she can consult her Training Manual, AGS Section - Firearms FCNs processing.

On another note, if your Grant letter has the date 15/03/2010 on it and your post office rejects payment today or the next day or so DO NOT WORRY. I found out that one of the boyz in blue F-ed up a bunch of Grant notices sent out to firearms holders on that date and "forgot" to update their database with the details of the firearms as having been granted. So when we go to access the database to verify that the grant letter is a genuine one (otherwise we could all just print our own!"!!!!) the systems says Certificate Grant Notice Record Not Found on Database. The clerk at the counter will issue you with a rejection note which should be stapled to your letter and hold it for a day or two and try again then when Phoenix Park have had a chance to get over their Paddys Day hangovers! It should be fine in a few days according to a source in the Firearms section in An Garda Siochana today at about 10.30 am. And I just dug this info up myself, they hadn't even informed the powers that be in An Post so that they could let the rest of us working the system know. But I did so a note should start coming up on the system later today. Just don't panic!

Our man in Havana

freddieot wrote: »

Complain about this to An Post. They need to send a notice to all their offices about it. It will keep happening if people don't complain, to them.

email : customer.services@anpost.ie

No way should you have to part with the letter.

Just sent an email to them. Lets see what happens.

TargetWidow

I've notified the powers that be about this issue in some offices, naming one in particular and describing the exact transgression occurring. They have said they will get a notification to every office on Monday warning them that Firearms Certificate Grant Letters are to be retained by the Post Office under no circumstances. And apparently the particular office I named is to get a phone call today to let them know where they stand. Apologies again Bond, you should never have had to go through this.

Our man in Havana

I am thankful that you got the situation sorted out on my behalf. I was shocked that no one in that particular town objected to the practice.

Ideally the grant letter should have a detachable slip that has no details of the firearm that can be taken into the PO to pay.

rrpc

Bond-007 wrote: »

I am thankful that you got the situation sorted out on my behalf. I was shocked that no one in that particular town objected to the practice.

Ideally the grant letter should have a detachable slip that has no details of the firearm that can be taken into the PO to pay.

I had a similar situation on my first grant, but insisted that I keep the letter. I pointed out that until my licence arrived, I would have no proof of being licensed. She made a phone call, got nobody and eventually relented and gave it back. I just said I wasn't leaving without it and it was necessary for me to keep it as the conditions of my grant were printed on it.

The next time and the time after, no problem. I have a feeling I was one of the first in that office the first time and they were unsure of the procedure. I think I posted this on another thread at the time as others were asking the same question as you Bond.

k_d

i just went to the local to pay for my 3 licences. Cash. When done she handed me a reciept. I asked her for the letters back and she told me she had to send them off. I told her she didnt, and i needed the letters of for proof of firearm licence.

Ended up argueing for 5 minutes. asked her to call the main office in town and asked them she refused...

iv now got 3 firearms.,with no licence, and 3 licence nummbers with my address floating around the place... WTF>=?

Cass

This is a *bleeping* joke. Its hard enough jumping through all the hoops to get and keep your licenses without having to argue with "Mary" in the post office.

Get your a**e back down there, today if its still open, and tell her to put down the bar of chocolate and ring the PO HQ. If she refuses tell her not to bother setting the alarm as you can keep an eye on the place as you won't be leaving without the forms. You are right, she is wrong and the fact that she is too ignorant to even pick up a phone is no excuse. To quote someone in the know................

Targetwidow wrote:

Tell her check her manual... do not leave the premises without your Grant letter and receipt for payment and DO NOT allow her to photocopy it. If they take issue with it please tell her that you will wait at the desk while she telephones the An Post I.T. Helpdesk to clarify whether she is supposed to retain your Firearms Grant Letter, or alternatively she can consult her Training Manual, AGS Section - Firearms FCNs processing.

Not directed at you Taregtwidow as you seem to be working tirelessly to rectify this situation but it would seem not everyone got the memo....

Targetwidow wrote:

They have said they will get a notification to every office on Monday warning them that Firearms Certificate Grant Letters are to be retained by the Post Office under no circumstances

............or they are just too nosy/ignorant to follow the rules.

TargetWidow

There have been no fewer than 3 memos sent out to offices about this. I would be grateful if people could PM me the names of the offices where this is occurring so that it can be nipped in the bud.

I have again this evening phoned someone in an even better position to sort this out.

We have an online memo system which is much better in my opinion than the paper memo system that is being used to deal with this to date. I have asked that an online memo is sent to every counter staff member tomorrow if possible warning them NOT to retain these documents.

~I am going to scan the paper memo now, sent out in October 09 and post it here with an hour.Please print a copy and bring it immediately to your local post office tomorrow, if you are either planning to pay a licence or you have paid one are have met with one of these counter staff who are clearly not reading the paper memos.

Humblest apologies to any customer going through this. I am on the case and will not stop until this is sorted for you.

We all have had enough hassle getting our licences recently without adding this to our problems.

I am also going to try to find out whether the ones already taken in can be gotten from where-ever these idiots are sending them and get them returned to you ASAP. I will work on that in the office tomorrow in between eating chocolate.:D

TargetWidow

Try this...........

http://firearmsprocessing.shutterfly.com/pictures/8

and click the select this picture box and then click download this picture, and when you open it you can print off a copy to bring with you.

Best of luck and keep the PMs coming.

Cass

TargetWidow wrote: »

............ I will work on that in the office tomorrow in between eating chocolate.:D

I must apologise again Targetwidow. I cannot stress enough that none of my previous post was aimed towards you. You are doing an excellent job and its great to have someone on the "inside" that we can complain/bitch/query directly to.

My somewhat sarcastic comment about the chocolate was from personal experience of my local PO. Wherever the lady behind the desk is you can be sure there is a Twix within arms reach. She is like a blood hound bred for Cadbury's.

I do appreciate the effort you are putting in, but from personal experience the lady at my local PO is as warm as ice and if only buying a stamp you get 20 questions. Ordinairily i don't mind as i rarely use the PO other than for stuff like licenses, etc, but when it comes to sensitive info like the gun licenses i keep a low key in crowded areas so as not to attract the wrong kind of attention.


Again apologies and thanks. :)

Ez.

TargetWidow

Only kidding ezridax, Im kinda known as a bit of a chocoholic myself. But only the top shelf stuff mind you, none of that Cadbury muck! Best of luck getting your stuff sorted. And dont let this one upset you. You will have your licence in the post early next week and then you will have forgotten all about the ice queen in the PO. Is is any wonder that POs are closing down and postmasters are caoining on Nationwide about the govts lack of commitment to rural communities Blah blah blah when there are idiots like this behind the counter who could hardly spell customer service nevermind conceive what it is about and give any to the customer.

But seriously. Forgive her the chocolate. It's an illness.:D

Our man in Havana

This is the response I got from An Post HQ:

Hello xxxxxxxx

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused, a photocopy should not have been taken, there was a misunderstanding at the office the clerk was under the impression that a copy was to be taken and forwarded in the Garda pouch that leaves the office (included fixed fines etc) this pouch is forwarded to the Garda offices in Dublin.
This will be destroyed by the Garda offices as it will not be proper to them.
Again please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Regards

TargetWidow

Right then.... an electronic message was sent to every single user on the An Post transaction system today at 11.30 am telling them not to keep these documents and to hand them back when processing them. The beauty of this e-memo is that if someone is off work today, they will see it immediately first thing when they next log into the system so it gets everyone.

I am glad that at least Customer Services were in a position to tell you exactly what the problem was in that particular office Bond. That probably means the teller in question got a bit of a lesson over the phone.

Continue to download that form if ye have any hassle but this should sort it out. My contact has asked me to stay on top of this and let them know of any further instances which hopefully we will not be encountering. So do PM me the details of any office still thick enough to be at this craic.

I hope I have gone someway to helping ye out with this.

TW