The postman on our entryphone says...

[DiamondEcho]

When the Royal Mail call at my flat it means the postie has something he can't get through the letterbox. But the curious thing is when I answer the entryphone he doesn't say 'postman', or 'Royal Mail' or anything suggesting something being delivered. Instead he simply says my name, and only that, for example, "[Joe Bloggs]?". He could be anyone at that point. It happens infrequently enough that I don't recognise his voice for certain.

DAK if this is the standard approach taken by Royal Mail? He's been doing this round for quite a while now so isn't a newbie or temp-cover, which suggests he's following policy. But confirming your name and presence to 'some random caller', before they even ID themselves, makes me uncomfortable.

[Posted here i/o DAK as this question might be subjective rather than directly a straight Q+A]

[ReformedCharacter]

When the Royal Mail call at my flat it means the postie has something he can't get through the letterbox. But the curious thing is when I answer the entryphone he doesn't say 'postman', or 'Royal Mail' or anything suggesting something being delivered. Instead he simply says my name, and only that, for example, "[Joe Bloggs]?". He could be anyone at that point. It happens infrequently enough that I don't recognise his voice for certain.

DAK if this is the standard approach taken by Royal Mail? He's been doing this round for quite a while now so isn't a newbie or temp-cover, which suggests he's following policy. But confirming your name and presence to 'some random caller', before they even ID themselves, makes me uncomfortable.

[Posted here i/o DAK as this question might be subjective rather than directly a straight Q+A]

I don't know if it's policy but can I suggest that you respond with 'Who is speaking, please?' If it happens enough times your postie will probably get the message. I've got into the habit of doing this before responding when someone calls on the 'phone for either me or my OH; at one time I think it was standard operating procedure to introduce yourself when making a call but not any more

RC

[stevensfo]

Thinking about it, you're absolutely right that this is generally what the postmen say. Though in many decades, I've never known a problem to occur.

But even if it's an escaped lunatic out to get you, he'll probably still answer "Royal Mail" rather than "Axe-wielding homicidal maniac."

Steve

PS I remember years ago when my parents used to answer the phone by repeating their phone number. Not any more.

[UncleEbenezer]

Lesson about the person at the door.

One morning I was expecting a friend. So when the doorbell rang, I didn't bother to check, I just said come straight up.

Imagine my horror when a bewildered Jehovah's Witness came up the stairs!

[mc2fool]

Never had that. Ever. My posties usually say "delivery" or "post to be signed for" or similar. Your's saying your name can't be policy because:

"We’re obliged to deliver to the address on an item, and not the name." https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5157/~/someone-else-has-received-my-mail

"If you’ve received mail which has your address, but not your name, this is because we deliver to addresses rather than names." https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5156/~/ive-received-someone-elses-mail

[DiamondEcho]

^But they specifically ask for me by name, they already know and choose the buzzer for my flat number.

[mc2fool]

^But they specifically ask for me by name, they already know and choose the buzzer for my flat number.

Yours may but it doesn't mean he'll only deliver to you. Do you think if next time he rings your buzzer and says Joe Bloggs you say "No, he's out" he'll refuse to deliver? Try it...

[scotia]

I suppose I live in a much safer land than many of the respondents, but most of our delivery systems seek anyone within a reasonable radius to accept the goods, if they can't deliver them to the intended address. Names don't seem to matter much!

[bungeejumper]

I suppose I live in a much safer land than many of the respondents, but most of our delivery systems seek anyone within a reasonable radius to accept the goods, if they can't deliver them to the intended address. Names don't seem to matter much!

I always feel a bit sorry for our rural delivery drivers. 25 yards up our drive, ring on the doorbell, wait - and if nobody's home they'll have to walk another 200 yards for even a break-even chance of finding anyone at home. Then back to our door to leave a card to say where the parcel is (errrr, sometimes).

Small wonder, then, that most of our delivery drivers leave the parcels round the back of the house - or, on one occasion, in the newly-emptied recycling bin by the front gate. Like scotia, I find you can get along with this sort of arrangement in a quiet rural area - but the last time I arranged for a delivery to a Liverpool housing estate, it was signed for by somebody who seemed to be called Mickey Mouse, and the goods were never seen again.

BJ

[DiamondEcho]

I don't know if it's policy but can I suggest that you respond with 'Who is speaking, please?' If it happens enough times your postie will probably get the message. I've got into the habit of doing this before responding when someone calls on the 'phone for either me or my OH; at one time I think it was standard operating procedure to introduce yourself when making a call but not any more RC

I do similar, though as I'm immediately on alert, IIRC, I ask 'And who are you?' rather than initially simply confirming my name. I could couch it more politely as you suggest. - And agreed re: phone-calls, I don't confirm my name to a random caller without knowing who they are first. Even then doing so would seem to carry less potential risk that a unid./random caller physically present in front of your home.

If this sounds paranoid perhaps it's an urban thing. I've known worse abroad, where it's Standard Operating Procedure to not even answer the entryphone unless any caller has an appointment.

[swill453]

If this sounds paranoid perhaps it's an urban thing. I've known worse abroad, where it's Standard Operating Procedure to not even answer the entryphone unless any caller has an appointment.

There was someone on the old TMF who had a doorbell that would only ring on insertion of a card he had previously posted to the expected visitor.

Scott.

[jfgw]

PS I remember years ago when my parents used to answer the phone by repeating their phone number. Not any more.

In these days of electronic exchanges, you can be almost 100% certain that you will be connected to whatever number you entered. There is no need for the recipient of the call to confirm that you have been connected to the correct line. Back in the days of less reliable Strowger and other mechanical exchanges, you would want to know that you had been connected correctly before pressing the "A" button or inserting your sixpence.

Julian F. G. W.

[DiamondEcho]

There was someone on the old TMF who had a doorbell that would only ring on insertion of a card he had previously posted to the expected visitor. Scott.

I can quite believe it, there's a range of people who have to take extreme precautions re: who gets access to their property, or even gets to telephone or speak to the resident/s. My wife until recently worked for a chap who had in his spacious office something called a 'bubble room' from which to make sensitive telephone calls. I was expecting something very 'James Bond' until one day I got to see it, and it was effectively like a small timber-framed garden shed with a sliding door, covered in and out with silver foiled bubble-wrap! Then again our own front door was like something from a bank vault - throw the main lock-barrel three times and 18 hinge-bolts on the heavy steel door engaged around all sides into the steel door frame. That was the standard secure front-door throughout the whole 200+ unit condo. Then the rest, 24/7 armed security out front, 10' high spiked steel perimiter railings (patrolled 24/7) with CCTV monitoring and trip-wires. Such security is normal in many countries. Maybe my being unsettled by an unidentified caller out front on the street asking for me by name and seeking access... is less paranoid sounding within that context But London is a cosmopolitan place, and many of my neighbours will also be used to the 'James Bond' security I mention above.
I'll continue to ask who a caller is in future, but endeavour to sound friendlier vs jumpy - it might take a couple more years for the latter to fully wear off though...

[PinkDalek]

Back in the days of less reliable Strowger and other mechanical exchanges, you would want to know that you had been connected correctly before pressing the "A" button or inserting your sixpence.

Sixpence? I thought it was a couple of pennies.

A random jog down memory lane:

https://www.1900s.org.uk/1940s50s-public-phones.htm

[bungeejumper]

Sixpence? I thought it was a couple of pennies.

A random jog down memory lane: https://www.1900s.org.uk/1940s50s-public-phones.htm

You were lucky. When I were a lad, it cost two triceratops teeth to make a connection, and you had to run to the top of the nearest volcano and start making smoke signals so that t'operator would know who you were trying to contact. And if you weren't quick about it, t'velociraptors would be on their way to cut you off. At the knees, usually.

(Ahem.) 4d is my recollection. And yes, it was standard practice among us kids to press button B on every occasion, on the offchance that the machine might cough up some cash. Same thing with chocolate vending machines.

BJ

[PinkDalek]

(Ahem.) 4d is my recollection.

You may well be right, a comment on that website suggests so but on another page someone mentions 2d.

And yes, it was standard practice among us kids to press button B on every occasion, on the offchance that the machine might cough up some cash. Same thing with chocolate vending machines.

Hot?

[gnawsome]

[(Ahem.) 4d is my recollection. And yes, it was standard practice among us kids to press button B on every occasion, on the offchance that the machine might cough up some cash. Same thing with chocolate vending machines.]

Still yields occasionally on self-service tills at the supermarket

[jfgw]

I think the A and B button telephones were one penny originally. Inflation did its thing and 4d was the maximum for this type of 'phone.

Inserting the coins connected the dial so that you could dial out. If the right person answered, you would press the "A" button and continue the call. If not, you would press the "B" button and get your money back. The dial had a switch which connected it if it was moved to "9" or beyond. This would allow you to call 999 or 0 (operator) without inserting any money.

The dial worked by sending pulses down the line. It was possible to tap the cradle to produce the pulses without using the dial and, in so doing, make a call without inserting money.

The public telephones I remember most took 2p and 10p pieces. You would dial first and, when the right person answered, you would insert a coin.

Julian F. G. W.