Checks Stolen from An Post Mail

dilallio

Looks definitely cut.

I would contact An Post and make a complaint to the Inspector. It may have been like that when it got to Ireland.

However, An Post should implement a policy of logging any letters/parcels which appear to have been interfered with as soon as they enter the Irish system and during the sorting/delivery process. This would take away any suspicion from innocent mail workers, and also enable them to investigate irregularities once the mail is within the Irish system.

I'm sure though that there would be a cost issue and potential union issue in implementing such a system.

Opinicus

Could it have been customs checking the parcel? To see if duty was payable on it?

barone

amen wrote: »

I've had the same problem in Galway city. Just birthday cards (no present inside) disappearing. I changed to use brown envelopes and no issue.

I've reported it to An Post but no response.

who in an post did you report it too? in fairness if there is no proof it was ever posted there is zilch an post can do.. most people dont get that, they dont keep a record of every letter..

Ronan Leonard wrote: »

Well I have an idea that you could try but its not for the faint hearted. Get a card and put in it some monoply money. You also put in something sharp so that when the card is opened you could cut yourself. You then post the card to yourself. If the card is opened before you get it the person opening it will cut themselves. Anpost or their employees won't complain as they will have to explain why they were opening mail especially mail that appears to contain money.

and you would cause an injury to someone intentionaly ? who do you think would end up in court? all a dodgy (yes there have been a few,like every job description) postal worker has to say is the envelope was ripped/damaged and the sharp item cut them !

Arciphel wrote: »

Had a good one today, thought you'd appreciate this.

Received a letter containing a door plaque I bought off of eBay. The item is about the size of a credit card, but a good bit thicker; but looks like someone in An Post thought they would check it out on my behalf.

Here's the front of the letter...



Here's the back - complete with a nice exploratory slit in it...



Before anyone says that it is from a sorting machine, the slit is quite plainly made with a sharp blade and doesn't reach the corners of the card.

any item that is damaged like that should have a sticker on it from an post,taping over the damage, this is done before the postman brings it out for delivery,so he/she is coverd for any prior loss from the letter/package.

as this one dosent have one (did you take one off?) three things could have happend, it was damaged in transit (happens).. it was tampered with prior to the postman recieving it,or it was tampered with by the postman... in some cases it can be damaged by being damp from rain and just tears by being in a bag/box of other mail thats shifted around a lot,this happens quite a bit believe it or not.. (yes im a postie).

as for a bank employee saying never posts cheques in galway ????

im going to inform my bosses of this,ive worked in an post galway for many years and never once heard this story?

as stated in previous posts, mail is collected from postboxes/post offices,sent to athlone,sorted by machine...

an post have in my time caught two people stealing letters,one a postman,one a sorter.. each time with the gardai involved.

they take this thing very seriously..

.

just let me say one last thing.

the amount of times people have said to me over the years that some familly member or friend posted them something from abroad that never arrived is staggering..

equally the amount of times its been said and the letter arrives postdated long after its supposed to have been sent is staggering..

in other words just because someone says they sent something in the post dosent always mean its true.

make official complaints by registerd post or email,and keep asking questions, but for the last time,if their is no record of anyone posting something there is ZERO anyone can do about it..that works for every postal system worldwide.

dilallio

barone wrote: »

as for a bank employee saying never posts cheques in galway ????

im going to inform my bosses of this,ive worked in an post galway for many years and never once heard this story?

as stated in previous posts, mail is collected from postboxes/post offices,sent to athlone,sorted by machine...

an post have in my time caught two people stealing letters,one a postman,one a sorter.. each time with the gardai involved.

they take this thing very seriously..

Hi barone - As I was the poster who wrote about what the bank official said in Galway, feel free to pm me if you need more details or info.

dilallio

BrianD

As regard to the photos of the envelope. This could easily caused by a machine.

How much post is actually handled by humans these days? I thought it was all machine sorted until it reaches the local post office for delivery.

barone

BrianD wrote: »

As regard to the photos of the envelope. This could easily caused by a machine.

How much post is actually handled by humans these days? I thought it was all machine sorted until it reaches the local post office for delivery.

the marks on the envelope suggest it did get caught in a machine,you can see them prior to the tear on the left..


all mail i know of is now machine sorted to specific offices,from there its divided into the seperate deliveries... the machine will soon be able to do this aswell so will eliminate human sorting,except for hard to read envelopes.

GearMaven

barone wrote: »

as for a bank employee saying never posts cheques in galway ????

im going to inform my bosses of this,ive worked in an post galway for many years and never once heard this story?

I also know this to be true as it was said to my elderly mother in the Salthill Bank of Ireland in July!!

barone wrote: »

in other words just because someone says they sent something in the post dosent always mean its true.

What you are not getting is that WE are saying it is true! We've had it happen to items WE have actually mailed...and multiple items at that. If An Post staff would only read a thread like this they would understand there is a serious problem. We are NOT ALL making this up! And we are not ALL going to start registering regular mail at an expense to ourselves. An Post needs to investigate the incidence of unregistered mail being interrupted and opened, robbed or destroyed without sending. This IS happening!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Perhaps shouting at An Post about it directly would reap more rewards than putting it on a messageboard.

cofy

With regard to checks surely there would be a record of where this check was cashed or lodged to the bank?

In this day and age where jobs are so difficult to come by, I cannot understand why a postperson would risk their job and any possibility of a future career like this. Any person who left permant job particularly with somewhere like An Post, would seem very suspicious to any employer.

Mr. Presentable

GearMaven wrote: »

Anyone else having letters containing checks being "lost" when mailed in Galway? We've mailed four envelopes containing birthday and bill payment checks since June from Salthill and one from Ballinasloe. ALL have gone missing!! They all were addressed to relatives or businesses in the U.S.

We've never had a birthday card with check or bill payment check go missing in all our time when mailing in the States. What is going on here? Is there no security in An Post processing facilities?

Here's a thought. Post your items from a different county. I think you'll find the results are the same. Or post them from NI - I bet they still get interfered with.

Obviously it is possible there are thieves in the Ireland postal system, but to be fair comparing the results from internal US mail with inbound external originating mail in the US is spurious. The problem seems most likely to be at import sorting in the USA.

I run a business that depends on postal service for payments etc. I can count on one hand the number of items (from tens of thousands) "lost" and on one finger the number lost due to An Post. However, I have had mail to the USA go missing about 10% of the time (unregistered)

foggy_lad

cofy wrote: »

With regard to checks surely there would be a record of where this check was cashed or lodged to the bank?

In this day and age where jobs are so difficult to come by, I cannot understand why a postperson would risk their job and any possibility of a future career like this. Any person who left permant job particularly with somewhere like An Post, would seem very suspicious to any employer.

An post uses a lot of contractors to empty post boxes especially in rural towns like Carlow, these people may not provide the same level of care to the post handled by them as they are not an post employees and are mostly employeed by private companies and getting low wages.

cofy

foggy_lad wrote: »

An post uses a lot of contractors to empty post boxes especially in rural towns like Carlow, these people may not provide the same level of care to the post handled by them as they are not an post employees and are mostly employeed by private companies and getting low wages.

I did not know this, so thanks. But to anyone who has had checks go missing have you found out where these checks ended up? Surely that would be the place to start.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

foggy_lad wrote: »

An post uses a lot of contractors to empty post boxes especially in rural towns like Carlow, these people may not provide the same level of care to the post handled by them

I live in a "rural" town and only An Post employees empty postboxes. I've asked around at work and nobody has seen anybody but An Post empty boxes. Where did you get this from?

BrianD

foggy_lad wrote: »

An post uses a lot of contractors to empty post boxes especially in rural towns like Carlow, these people may not provide the same level of care to the post handled by them as they are not an post employees and are mostly employeed by private companies and getting low wages.

There's not much involved though in putting a sack into a back of a van?

Plus why would you be bothered going through mail on the off chance of finding a cheque? A cheque that if you cash can be traced to you. You walk into a bank and your on CCTV.

Even credit/atm cards that are posted have a high level of security and need to be activated. They are almost useless to anybody but the intended recipient. I was surprised how much the have upped the security on cards when I received my last card.

foggy_lad

Rachel Massive Matchbox wrote: »

I live in a "rural" town and only An Post employees empty postboxes. I've asked around at work and nobody has seen anybody but An Post empty boxes. Where did you get this from?

I have seen people in white/red/green hi-ace type vans emptying mailboxes around Carlow on a number of occasions, they were not wearing any form of an post uniform and there was no an post markings on their vehicles, they did however have an post mail bags which they emptied the mailbox contents into. on more than one occasion there were others in the vans, twice i saw children and another occasion a woman that could have been the drivers wife/girlfriend.

foggy_lad

BrianD wrote: »

There's not much involved though in putting a sack into a back of a van?

Plus why would you be bothered going through mail on the off chance of finding a cheque? A cheque that if you cash can be traced to you. You walk into a bank and your on CCTV.

Even credit/atm cards that are posted have a high level of security and need to be activated. They are almost useless to anybody but the intended recipient. I was surprised how much the have upped the security on cards when I received my last card.

Regardless of theft I am thinking more that mail might go missing due to being physically dropped on the roadside when the postboxes are emptied or lost/left in the contractors van(not intentionally) and then thrown out when found to avoid the contractor getting in trouble for delaying post.

maxer68

A lot of people reading this thread may not read all the messages. All the OP's letter were going to the USA. They are handled once this side of the atlantic and up to 7 times stateside.

Go to google.com and key in Checks missing in US Mail and see the thousands of results.

As I said - he shoudl be looking for answers stateside imo.

I'm not saying that the irish mail system is perfect, but I send a huge amount of stuff by mail including cheques, parcels and small packages and I can only detail 2 or 3 packages that have ever gone missing within Ireland. (sending 100+ a week) Plenty never arrive in the UK though and I blame royal mail for that or dishonest customers.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

foggy_lad wrote: »

I have seen people in white/red/green hi-ace type vans emptying mailboxes around Carlow on a number of occasions, they were not wearing any form of an post uniform and there was no an post markings on their vehicles, they did however have an post mail bags which they emptied the mailbox contents into. on more than one occasion there were others in the vans, twice i saw children and another occasion a woman that could have been the drivers wife/girlfriend.

An Post lease many vans which are unmarked.

You are stating that contractors collect post based on the van and clothing? Anything more concrete?



I agree that OP's problem in on the US side (from personal experience.)

Supraman

I must say it makes me laugh when people post opinions as gospel fact when in reality it's nothing more than speculation. I work in the post office and there is number of reasons mail goes missing for example wrong delivery address , insufficient address , no delivery point (no letterbox etc), dogs at address , refusal at address (not for a cheque you would assume lol ) , there is tens of thousands of items posted through our office everyday .

The amount of badly addressed items by the public is staggering , I had 7-8 badly addressed items by same person this morning (I assume wedding invitations or similar) peoples first names with the road they are living on with no number despite the fact each of the roads have 70+ houses on them . Of course there is a chance there is theft within the postal system BUT if it was rampant or even commonplace there would be a lot more complaints . For the service that goes out there is realistically a tiny percentage that doesn't get delivered as required . The majority of these is down to the customer in the first place .

foggy_lad

Rachel Massive Matchbox wrote: »

An Post lease many vans which are unmarked.

You are stating that contractors collect post based on the van and clothing? Anything more concrete?



I agree that OP's problem in on the US side (from personal experience.)

carrying passengers(not staff) which is forbidden by an post afaik and also an post employees would be required to at least wear a hi-visibility vest with an post on it to point them out as working for an post lest they be apprehended for theft of the post!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

foggy_lad wrote: »

carrying passengers(not staff) which is forbidden by an post afaik and also an post employees would be required to at least wear a hi-visibility vest with an post on it to point them out as working for an post lest they be apprehended for theft of the post!

I'm confused by your reasoning. Surely the "contractors" would then have to wear a vest indicating they were working for An Post "lest they be apprehended for theft of the post" as well. (As with Eircom, ESB, etc I've seen passangers in An Post vans.:) )

cofy

Rachel Massive Matchbox wrote: »

I'm confused by your reasoning. Surely the "contractors" would then have to wear a vest indicating they were working for An Post "lest they be apprehended for theft of the post" as well. (As with Eircom, ESB, etc I've seen passangers in An Post vans.:) )

Are you sure that these passengers are not simply postpersons being trained on a new post/collection route?

maxer68

cofy wrote: »

Are you sure that these passengers are not simply postpersons being trained on a new post/collection route?

During August a lot of vans had "passenger" due to holidays. An Post drivers don't just collect from post boxes, they collect from many businesses directly (including mine) and need to ensure the relief driver knows exactly who to call to every day.

foggy_lad

cofy wrote: »

Are you sure that these passengers are not simply postpersons being trained on a new post/collection route?

Maybe, have an post started to employ children? Also the older passengers were not taking part in any of the work just sitting in the van, one of them smoking a cigarette. The drivers had nothing only the post bags to indicate they had any connection with an post.

@Srameen; if they were an post employees I would expect them to be somehow identified as such by a uniform or part of the uniform or at the very least a high-viz vest with the an post logo.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

foggy_lad wrote: »

@Srameen; if they were an post employees I would expect them to be somehow identified as such by a uniform or part of the uniform or at the very least a high-viz vest with the an post logo.

Yes you said that already. But would you not expect a contractor to likewise have a vest and identity/logo?

Let's facee it you are making an assumption. Perhaps you are right and that is the case in Carlow; but it is only an assumption. I asked the local guy here yesterday and he never heard of the likes. That's all I'm saying - no big deal - but I like facts rather than impressions.

foggy_lad

Rachel Massive Matchbox wrote: »

Yes you said that already. But would you not expect a contractor to likewise have a vest and identity/logo?

Let's facee it you are making an assumption. Perhaps you are right and that is the case in Carlow; but it is only an assumption. I asked the local guy here yesterday and he never heard of the likes. That's all I'm saying - no big deal - but I like facts rather than impressions.

Yes it would help identify them as legitimate rather than maybe stealing the post. But the suggestion was that they were an post employees in leased vans in which case I would expect them to be wearing their an post uniform or amply identified as an post employees.

thefishone

I know of two subcontractors for An Post in the Limerick/Clare area and they don't wear/drive anything that would identity them as such,just pull up to the postbox and empty it,although they are well known to the locals.
And yes they do sometimes have people in the van.

GearMaven

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Dodge

Good for them

Has your US post ever turned up?

GearMaven

No, it hasn't, but we've heard from more Galwegians with similar problems. So, we are making sure never to send checks by mail in Ireland or from Ireland. We are using Bill Pay banking systems that will send paper checks to those companies that don't take electronic payments. Thank goodness! Tech solutions are great!