END
OF STORY!
Have you always thought you
had a masterpiece in you, but needed a head start? Did your ears
prick up when you heard about the new BBC competition End of Story?
Claudia Winkleman presents the new writing challenge on BBC 3 where
eight of Britain’s best selling authors have each written
the beginning of a short story and it’s your job to complete
them. Like the master of modern horror, Shaun Hutson. His tale of
urban angst and unexpected rail delays starts like this– When
Frank Tate boards a train, with a very important object in his pocket,
he is prepared for a predictable journey. But then his fellow passengers
vanish, and he discovers something unpleasant in the lavatory
Well that opening paragraph caught Michael O’Shea’s
attention. He wrote his final chapter, sent it off to the BBC in
Manchester, by recorded delivery
He’s convinced he’s written a winner! But he’s
not so sure if his masterpiece has been delivered by Royal Mail.
He’s been checking every day and 13 days since posting, it’s
still not there!
Since we got in touch with
the Royal Mail they’ve been looking for Mike’s “winning
entry” but they can’t find it!
This is how the Royal
Mail themselves describe Recorded Delivery –
Important documents to send? There's one less thing
to worry about with our Recorded Signed for service. You get an
automatic receipt as proof of posting, and we also ask for a signature
on delivery.
Most First Class Recorded items arrive by the next working day.
And it's great value too, at just 65p plus First or Second Class
postage.
And Royal Mail says -
for peace of mind you can pay extra to Track and trace your item.
This is the statement Royal
Mail has given On Your Behalf
“We are very concerned
to hear of the failure of the Recorded Delivery service on this
occasion and apologise to the customer for this regrettable downfall
in performance.
We are actively looking into what has gone wrong and have instigated
a search for the item.
For items that are valuable or urgent we always recommend our Special
Delivery service.
Of course Mike’s entry
had no intrinsic value and wasn’t urgent – Royal Mail
continues
Special Delivery items are handled completely separately from ordinary
mail and are tracked from despatch to final destination using a
barcode, unlike Recorded Delivery that is designed only to ensure
a signature on arrival.
Recorded Delivery does not involve special handling and doesn't
guarantee next day delivery, which is the case with the Special
Delivery service.
Again Mike didn’t need any special handling or next day delivery
– he just wanted it to get there!
Royal Mail’s statement
continues - The customer is entitled to claim compensation of up
to a maximum of £28. Our Customer Service people will be in
touch with him to update him on the results of the investigation."
Well
how do you compensate for creativity!
I take from that statement that the Royal Mail doesn’t think
their Recorded Delivery service is worth paying for. What’s
your opinion of the service? What exactly are you paying for.
E mail your views and comments
oyb@bbc.co.uk
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