Reply With QuoteOut of interest, did it contain just batteries or were they in a bit of kit?Originally Posted by markrlondon
I just received a package containing lithium batteries and it had one of these labels on it. This is the first such label I've seen in actual use.
(It's blurred in the bottom right hand corner because it was out of focus for my scanner)
Out of interest, did it contain just batteries or were they in a bit of kit?
Very funny story - thanks for posting.
I'm intrigued that they asked what the parcel contained - I've posted 10 watches by RMSD this year alone, and never been asked what's in the parcel...
Simon
I feel your pain my friend. I hate this new law about not being able to send anything with a battery. I cannot sell anything I wish to sell with batteries due to this law in Finland. I have battery usb phone chargers, smartphones, and whatnot, but alas cannot send them to anyone.
Had a similar experience a little while ago:
Postie: What are you sending?
Me: Tools
Postie: Shawls?
Me: No, hand tools
Postie: Head Shawls?
Me: Yeah, f**k it, that'll do
Postie: Right, head shawls
Parcel was about 6kg and about the size of a shoe box!
Haha... fork handles!
"I looked with pity not untinged with scorn upon these trivial-minded passers-by"
"Baff plugs"
"What size?"
"Firteen amps"
When they ask me now I just say its a massive dildo but Ive taken the batteries out as they were dead
RIAC
YHPM.
Are the regulation in Finland really so strict? In the UK, Royal Mail has different restrictions on different types of battery, so it is still possible to send most batteries one way or another. Also the international restrictions are similar to Royal Mail's, so many types of battery can still be sent internationally in most cases.
However, I understand that some national postal carriers have implemented much stricter rules (in some cases they appear to just be catching up and don't seem to have caught up with the fact that the international rules have actually been liberalised). Even so, I'm surprised that Finland is so (over-)strict.
For comparison, here are links to the current Royal Mail national and international postage regulations for restricted and prohibited goods (for goods originating in the UK) that I linked to in an earlier message in this thread:-
Royal Mail personal customer international restrictions guide: http://www.royalmail.com/personal/he...Goods-overseas
Royal Mail personal customer international prohibitions guide: http://www.royalmail.com/personal/he...Goods-overseas
Royal Mail personal customer domestic restrictions guide: http://www.royalmail.com/personal/he...stricted-Goods
Royal Mail personal customer domestic prohibitions guide: http://www.royalmail.com/personal/he...ohibited-Goods
Very funny, but very frustrating for you.
Ha ha made me laugh
Tried to order a lithium battery from Cousins for my dad's old seiko. Battery £3 ish but only courier delivery available £10 - Bonkers!
So it looks like legit companies will only use companies with haz chem licences. I was thinking about ordering it and when the driver arrives with it asking to see his ADR licence for a laugh...
Buy from eBay. Most vendors on there ignore the regulations. ;-)
**edit**
In fact they probably don't even know about the regulations in many cases.
Last edited by markrlondon; 8th November 2013 at 09:42. Reason: Additional
Bizarrely, when I sent an old mobile phone to someone on here a couple of weeks ago I was asked to re-pack my parcel with the battery on the outside of the phone !
If I remember correctly it depends on the type of battery as to whether or not it should be inside/connected, outside/connected, or outside/disconnected from the equipment.
Simple, isn't it. ;-)
I had one recently where the Post Office lady tried to check my letter would fit in the small letter slot, by posting it through their plastic checker thing sideways. She claimed it didn't and tried to charge me for a large letter. It took some minutes of persuasion for her to try it going through the right way...
Lol!
Gray
Knowing my luck she'll turn round and say "what are they then".
Got any O's ?
it was a large letter or a parcel, not a standard letter, it has to fit through both lengthways and width, they think if it fits through the slot then it's ok, but it needs to fit through the slot AND fit inside the red area on the template, a letter 5cm wide would fit through the slot if it was thin enough, but if it was 1 meter in length it wouldn't be charged for as a letter, sounds like you saved yourself a few pennies, problem is though sometimes these mistakes get picked up and the receiver of the letter gets a surcharge for postage under payment.
You would think a post office employee would know how to correctly charge for and use a template.
Last edited by jegger; 8th November 2013 at 15:22.
this is hilarious. i would have said that the watch runs by winding a spring, instead of 'cogs & wheels'. it might have made it clearer to the worker but ya never know since this perison seems to think such small batteries have been around for a long, long time. <gaffaw>
You can't fix stupid
No they are not. Actually they do not even mention batteries.
http://www.posti.fi/hinnatjaohjeet/k...ahetykset.html
They even deliver Co2 capsules for airguns and pepper spray guns. Other gun stuff is forbitten, not because it is risky, but because of gun-hystery in Finland. (They dont deliver plastic magazines or wooden shotgun stocks because guns are soooooo terrible.)
Lyckily we still have "Matkahuolto" who is managed by bus companies, and they still deliver guns, gunpowder and primers. And batteries. :)
-OD
Corrected that for you
I have a supply of bags here (they are free) so whenever need to post something I pack it up, calculate the postage using RM website, put stamps on & take it to the collections entrance where they also accept ready stamped mail & have never been asked what is in the carton so this may be worth trying to avoid these sort of conversations.
I just had a look and lithium batteries actually do get a mention: "litium-aku" (according to Bing Translate). I didn't read the whole thing though.
Ah yes. Well, we aren't even allowed pepper sprays over here.
Last edited by markrlondon; 15th November 2013 at 18:12.
From http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...Battery-Fiasco :-
Although there was and is a genuine and well-founded reason for the restrictions about batteries, especially lithium ones, the regulations as they now stand are very confusing, are contradictory (i.e. different battery types have almost opposite packaging requirements!), and are overly strict when it comes to things like watch batteries.
My view is therefore that one should a) carefully read the regulations, b) make sure that one's battery powered watch is genuinely safe to send, and then c) give the Post Office staff the answers they want to hear. It is inevitable (due to the confusing nature of the current regulations) that the Post Office staff will over-simplify the regulations or get it wrong, so take a copy with you to point out that what you are telling them is compatible with the current regulations.
I keep on posting these restriction and prohibition guides but I know that people often don't read old posts.
Royal Mail personal customer international restrictions guide: http://www.royalmail.com/personal/he...Goods-overseas
Royal Mail personal customer international prohibitions guide: http://www.royalmail.com/personal/he...Goods-overseas
Royal Mail personal customer domestic restrictions guide: http://www.royalmail.com/personal/he...stricted-Goods
Royal Mail personal customer domestic prohibitions guide: http://www.royalmail.com/personal/he...ohibited-Goods
NOTE: You really need to read the restrictions guide in conjunction with the prohibitions guide to fully understand what applies to what. Furthermore, if I remember correctly, silver oxide batteries (which accounts for most watch batteries) are not explicitly mentioned. As far as I can tell, silver oxide is a type of alkaline battery for the purposes of these regulations.
NOTE also that if you send batteries (or something with or containing batteries) in contravention of the regulations then the package can indeed be destroyed without recompense to you. However, the regulations are so complex that there is no way to tell without opening and examining a package in detail whether or not it is packaged in compliance with the regulations. A simple X-ray might show a battery but that isn't enough to tell whether or not it is correctly packaged. The vast majority of batteries (and items containing batteries) sent in contravention of the regulations get through unharmed.
Last edited by markrlondon; 14th November 2013 at 19:34. Reason: Corrected
Doing it on-line looks like a good option, but I don't think my PO has a "collections entrance". Wouldn't I end up with the same counter person when using RMSD?
Then, I presume you have to agree to their T&Cs and so, should anything go wrong, might they not refuse to pay out if your shipment didn't conform to the letter of their regs?
This is always the case no matter how you send, whether you use the online preparation service or turn up and do everything in person at the counter[1].
See my post above. Don't worry about it. Be informed and provide the answers they want/need to hear.
Footnote:-
1: My local PO has an odd setup. It has a separate counter for Airsure and RMSD items (which also handles currency exchange) which allows you to bypass the standard queue if you're dealing with those types of items. I would have expected the 'online' counter to be at the same location but, no, there is a large sign hanging above one of the other standard counter positions for online-prepared stuff. I've no idea how this is supposed to work. If I was to prepare stuff using one of RM's online services and just walk up to the 'online' counter, bypassing the main queue, in order to hand in the item I reckon I'd start a riot. Why didn't they just combine the online counter with the separate premium services counter? Weird.
Last edited by markrlondon; 14th November 2013 at 19:35. Reason: Additional
reminded me of the charity shop scene in League Of Gentlemen, has it got a "special mark dear ?" ..... "we can't take it if doesn't have a special mark dear"
or words to that effect.
Ahem
PO: What's in the parcel?
YOU: Nothing on your restricted or prohibited list*
Repeat 50 times and burn it on your brains
*If that's too hard, just say "a book". Yes it's lies, but really, will it blend?
Last edited by GraniteQuarry; 14th November 2013 at 20:02.
Our one has a window on the side for collecting stuff so is often a couple of people there who have been carded. I only found out about dropping stuff there when I waited in the normal queue with a stamped up parcel & becuse they couldn't sell me any stamps didn't want it so sent me to the collections window.
You do need a rudimentary set of scales & a bit of savvy re "large letter" etc. as they don't check anything but certainly a lot easier I find + no asking about the value/contents etc.
I would have been sorely tempted to have punched him on the nose. What an idiot
Got 10 the other month from the bay no hassle.
I really enjoyed reading this, very entertaining! I wouldn't be surprised to fell into a similar situation myself!
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