The unluckiest photographer in the country?

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I wonder if the 'victim' has posted any pictures lately, the EXIF data could be interesting :lol: ;)
 
I'm friendly with our local postie and he says that any thefts in the mailing system is typically in the sorting offices - they get to know exactly what type of packages to look out for from touch and weight. But that's about taking the whole envelope or package.

Mincing about doing a Pink Panther on it would be a bit far fetched. My money's on the the customer taking it. Best defence you have is keep up the comms with the other hire companies and black list the dirty rat.
 
Russ77 said:
I wonder if the 'victim' has posted any pictures lately, the EXIF data could be interesting :lol: ;)
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:lol:


and actually I have a similar case and I'm looking for such small things where I could easily tell if the buyer is a scammer.
 
That really bad luck :shrug:; both for you (Stewart) and your client.
 
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gman said:
I'm friendly with our local postie and he says that any thefts in the mailing system is typically in the sorting offices - they get to know exactly what type of packages to look out for from touch and weight. But that's about taking the whole envelope or package.
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Yup, we've had a raft of 'missing' items via the Royal Fail which make it as far as the sorting office.

Mind you it doesn't help when some companies brand their packaging indiscreetly with wording such as PLAY.COM and AMAZON in large bold lettering.
 
Personally .......... AND this is personally, not name hunting, I would rather the person was named so anyone in the classifieds has the heads up, if its happened twice to large hire firms then it could be done on the forum too, mabe not name here but watch out for the name popping up and send a PM to the other party involved asking them to watch their back.
If the client was telling the truth dont you think they would be defending themself here right now:shrug: I certainly would
 
"To lose one parent lens may be regarded as a misfortune....."*







*Edit: I don't mean by this that it's Stewart's fault....
 
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StewartR said:
Absolutely. But whom?

The customer says the case was empty when he received it.

The couriers say there's no way someone in the depot could fine the time, space, and privacy (they have extensive CCTV) to cut the padlock off, cut the security tie off, remove the bag from the case, remove the lens from the bag, replace the bag, close the case, secure it with a fresh tie, and remove the lens to a place of safe keeping.

The delivery driver says he didn't tamper with it, and the trainee who was accompanying him all day says he didn't tamper with it.

Clearly someone is lying. But it's impossible to say who. We could hang them all, I guess, but that might be just a teensy bit excessive.
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I'm not saying that all depots are the same, but i have worked in one, years ago when i was at uni.

The drivers i'm sure are good as gold, but the depot workers? Well no offence to anyone who may work in one, but they were the biggest bunch of scumbags i have ever met. The depot was in Basildon mind. :lol:

Only did one night there while temping, and in that time i saw about a dozen nintendo game cubes go into someones boot. (This was a week before they were released.)
Car tyres also seemed to be fair game.
Someone even contemplated nabbing a crated up ducati race engine, though he decided it would be to tricky to sell on.

So yeah, things do go missing from the postal system. But it always seemed to be things where the contents was obvious from the the packaging. I never saw anyone open up a blank package to see what was inside.

Still, having it happen twice to the same guy? I would say you are well within your right to raise your eyebrows!
 
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StewartR said:
Not myself.

The couriers conducted an internal investigation but I'm not privy to the details. I know their security team do bring in the police when they feel it's justified.

My insurers didn't require me to report it to the police. Maybe they communicated with the couriers. I wouldn't know.
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Why not? It's your lens and the couriers are one of the potential culprits here. I'd have thought the police would be the obvious route.
 
dod said:
Why not? It's your lens and the couriers are one of the potential culprits here. I'd have thought the police would be the obvious route.
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Well, since the insurance paid out, technically it's not my lens any more.

But the couriers' internal security team don't mess about. They're ex-military hard b****ds, they report right in to the top of the organisation, and their mandate is to get to the bottom of incidents like this. No whitewashes, because they all know it's very much not in the company's interests. If they get evidence of an employee misbehaving, he'll be sacked or shopped to the police without hesitation.

(Last week a driver in a different area left two of our lenses behind the wheely bins in the customer's carport, and falsified the signature which was required. He was sacked immediately. Pour encourager les autres.)

So in short, if my insurers are happy then I'm happy.
 
StewartR said:
Well, since the insurance paid out, technically it's not my lens any more.

But the couriers' internal security team don't mess about. They're ex-military hard b****ds, they report right in to the top of the organisation, and their mandate is to get to the bottom of incidents like this. No whitewashes, because they all know it's very much not in the company's interests. If they get evidence of an employee misbehaving, he'll be sacked or shopped to the police without hesitation.

(Last week a driver in a different area left two of our lenses behind the wheely bins in the customer's carport, and falsified the signature which was required. He was sacked immediately. Pour encourager les autres.)

So in short, if my insurers are happy then I'm happy.
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reiterate what i wrote above. :clap:
 
ped said:
There's probably a postman in the area with a pretty sweet setup by now
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Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! It didn't mention POSTMAN! The word is COURIER!
After 25 years as a Postman, I feel I have to defend the majority here. Dont tar all the Posties for the few that do the dirty work! Most RM workers are hard working honest people and care about what, and how they carry out their duties.
Rant over.
 
Gremlin said:
So who has the key for the padlock and when does it get opened ?
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I perusme that it would be a combination lock , with the combination been emailed to the person hiring the lens :shrug:
 
StewartR said:
Well, since the insurance paid out, technically it's not my lens any more.

................
So in short, if my insurers are happy then I'm happy.
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Well if you're happy, Stewart, I really don't see the point of this thread?

You would have been far better PM'ing the Mods with this unlucky fellow's name, thus giving the rest of us a degree of safety.
 
Gosh, sounds like your trying to rattle someones cage!

Just a question, dose your competitor that lost there lens use the same courier?

Hope that one day this chap gets something delivered to him

Stuart
 
This is too far fetched ... Pepsi yes, but Coke ... no way?
 
wontolla said:
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! It didn't mention POSTMAN! The word is COURIER!
After 25 years as a Postman, I feel I have to defend the majority here. Dont tar all the Posties for the few that do the dirty work! Most RM workers are hard working honest people and care about what, and how they carry out their duties.
Rant over.
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I must be unlucky then. The one we had at our last house sued us for cutting his finger. His replacement was caught stealing mail.

Our current postie is next to useless and often doesn't deliver items for days.

There's also a postman who lives a few doors down who openly admits to deciding for himself as to when he delivers mail on his round.

/back on topic
 
Simmotino said:
I must be unlucky then. The one we had at our last house sued us for cutting his finger. His replacement was caught stealing mail.

Our current postie is next to useless and often doesn't deliver items for days.

There's also a postman who lives a few doors down who openly admits to deciding for himself as to when he delivers mail on his round.

/back on topic
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I have to agree.........sorry Wontolla, but we had a postie here for 3 years and he was brilliant we could set our clock with the post..........but he retired and the next postie was a figure that took some getting used to but he only lasted a week, the next one delivered letters but then when hundreds of people rang RM to find out where there small parcels were they raided his house to find it crammed with post bags full of em, and most were untouched but loads were open with contents missing......he now lives in Armley, the rest are about as usefull as a chocolate fireguard never turn up or cant get in the building (building is open from 8am to 4pm) RM:thumbsdown:
 
Simmotino said:
I must be unlucky then. The one we had at our last house sued us for cutting his finger. His replacement was caught stealing mail.

Our current postie is next to useless and often doesn't deliver items for days.

There's also a postman who lives a few doors down who openly admits to deciding for himself as to when he delivers mail on his round.

/back on topic
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Yes, thats because Royal Mail now employ agency people who don't give a ****** about anything because they are on ****** pay. The reason they have to employ agency staff is that they have treated the full timers (experienced, dedicated and know what they are doing) like ******, and they have left in droves (or been driven out) It used to be a job for life, now the life has gone out of the job!
There are still some great Posties out there, if you get one, treat him well!
If you get a bad one, complain to customer services, and keep complaining.
 
Yv said:
I think we should keep this on topic before it gets too far off - Stewart has been quite clear that this is about couriers and not RM. ;)
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Exactly my point, and still knocking the good old British Postie!
 
I would also be interested if both rental companies used the same courier??
 
Well I suppose that's the risk more rental companies take particularly with expensive equipment, that's where insurance comes in.
 
If this person is guilty then he is a scumbag. If not then all talk is hearsay and if his name appears anywhere in connection with this then he'd be able to sue the backside off those concerned.

Our postie is a brilliant guy. He comes from India and is cricket mad. Always willing for a long chat about cricket.
 
There are other tags than RFID. There are ones used for sports that have a longer range. Only really any use for identifying a particular lens in a rough location but if you have a suspect it is harder for them to explain if it is definitely your lens they have their sticky paws on. Not sure how small gps trackers can be made these days as they'd be better at it being tracked over longer distances but they might be too obvious size wise.

Is the item weighed off the van as well as on?

Booby trapped packaging would be more fun :D
 
I work for a courier company.. not as a driver I may add ;).. there is nothing worse when some customer makes out they have not recieved there parcel, when you know the driver in question has either left it in his garage or posted it...

There are a few dodgy people in this country who make a living out of stealing from courier and mail companies ...Especially when the likes of A****n (you know who I mean) automatically send out another item to the customer when he states he did not receive it.. and then bills the courier company.. leaving us the couriers to try and get the customer to admit to receiving the goods..which in most cases is very difficult. .. :bang::bang:
 
I doubt that many courier drivers are thieves, but I do know many are dimmer than 5w bulbs when it comes to the security of their van and contents. I deal with several couriers every day and have been amazed how many actually leave their doors wide open whilst collecting or delivering :shrug: .... Been tempted a few times myself :D
 
I bet you it was a Canon lens! A Nikon user would never do something like that!
 
Mr G said:
I work for a courier company.. not as a driver I may add ;).. there is nothing worse when some customer makes out they have not recieved there parcel, when you know the driver in question has either left it in his garage or posted it:
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Yes there is...paying RM (or any other courier) a fortune to have an item delivered securley only for the lazy [PLEASE DON'T TRY TO BYPASS THE SWEAR FILTER] of a driver to leave it behind a bin or with a neighbour without a card. If they are going to rip you off for a service youve paid for (and its usually the buyer that has paid the postage) then stuff em they deserve to pay out

Dave:thumbs:
 
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BigJohn said:
I perusme that it would be a combination lock , with the combination been emailed to the person hiring the lens :shrug:
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I personally don't know how the courier would be involved.

I've got the company I work for to hire a lens of you for a few weeks (Sigma 8mm fisheye).

Say the courier did cut the lock on the box, how the heck would they know which lock to buy so its identical and set the code to on the replacement lock to match the original without knowing it?

Just doesn't add up to me and makes the theft fall with the customer to me?
 
Cameraman said:
Yes there is...paying RM (or any other courier) a fortune to have an item delivered securley only for the lazy [PLEASE DON'T TRY TO BYPASS THE SWEAR FILTER] of a driver to leave it behind a bin or with a neighbour without a card. If they are going to rip you off for a service youve paid for (and its usually the buyer that has paid the postage) then stuff em they deserve to pay out

Dave:thumbs:
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Well maybe you shouldnt tar all courier companies with the same brush there are some bad people in this world in all walks of life and in all types of jobs doesnt mean to say they are all the same :thumbs: as for leaving safe I can assure there are thousands of customers who get annoyed because we did not leave it safe the company I work for require a sig for evey parcel unless stated to leave safe
 
StewartR said:
Well, since the insurance paid out, technically it's not my lens any more.

But the couriers' internal security team don't mess about. They're ex-military hard b****ds, they report right in to the top of the organisation, and their mandate is to get to the bottom of incidents like this. No whitewashes, because they all know it's very much not in the company's interests. If they get evidence of an employee misbehaving, he'll be sacked or shopped to the police without hesitation.

(Last week a driver in a different area left two of our lenses behind the wheely bins in the customer's carport, and falsified the signature which was required. He was sacked immediately. Pour encourager les autres.)

So in short, if my insurers are happy then I'm happy.
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you dont use citylink then.. our regular driver once falsified our receptionists signature on a package i was waiting for as he arrived too late for anyone to sign for it. he then took the parcel away to deliver it the next day :thinking:

i complained to citylink and the guy is still the regular driver.
 
Mr G said:
Well maybe you shouldnt tar all courier companies with the same brush there are some bad people in this world in all walks of life and in all types of jobs doesnt mean to say they are all the same :thumbs: as for leaving safe I can assure there are thousands of customers who get annoyed because we did not leave it safe the company I work for require a sig for evey parcel unless stated to leave safe
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Well it cuts both ways Mr G maybe you shouldnt tar all paying customers who pay for a special delivery service that includes a signature with the same brush.

Mr G said:
I work for a courier company.. not as a driver I may add ;).. there is nothing worse when some customer makes out they have not recieved there parcel, when you know the driver in question has either left it in his garage or posted it:
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besides unless there is a signature how do you "know"

Dave:thumbs:
 
footman said:
If not then all talk is hearsay and if his name appears anywhere in connection with this then he'd be able to sue the backside off those concerned.
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The OP has not accused anyone of anything. All he said was the customer was the unluckiest person in the country. Two packages turn up either empty or full of Coke cans. Everyone else is just speculating about imaginary scenarios.

Personally I would like to know who the unlucky member is. Just for reference in any future classified deals.
 
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