The value of using "signed for" (again!)

hcm1

Well-Known Member
Ill try to keep this short as it is only a quick word of caution, i sent my certificate in to North Wales Police for a variation 2 weeks ago. Only a simple one for one .308 for a 6.5 so i thought i would give them a quick ring to a: see if it had got there ok, but b: to see if they had made any progress.

Anyway, the response was, "oh well we haven't received anything" **** thinks I its lost.

well as I now send everything to the firearms dept signed for i checked and sure enough it had been received and signed for!

So a quick phone call back, and sure enough, they had found it in a tray somewhere.

Now I'm not angry or trying to stir anything up (although i do feel that a one for one of this nature could reasonably be turned round in 2 weeks) but this is the second time I have had this happen. The other time was with my renewal!

I'm not surprised that they get behind if applications sit unacknowledged in their office for 2 weeks! How long would it have sat there had i not phoned?

Anyway the take home message is, sending it signed for is £1.42 well spent as had i not done so then I would have had to accept that they hadn't received it!

Worth considering?
 
I always photocopy every page of the certificate going back, keep a copy of the covering letter and attach the 'sign for' receipt. As you say its a couple of quid well spent.
 
Did the same with Gloucestershire 2 years ago, variation, not received. So I wait 10 minutes then ring back having checked it was signed for and lo and behold "we've found it in the incoming mail tray" I blame understaffing, but now they've increased the fees ........,,,
 
+1 on recorded, always send it recorded after having a shotgun that wasn't put on my file and I got lil telling off because they said it wasn't received!! Well worth the money now?
 
I always personally hand letters or documents in - I appreciate that not everyone can do this.
The other thing I do is on the phone I start by saying my name and informing them that the phone call is being recorded for record purposes.
It's amazing how attitudes change when you say those words
 
It is understaffing, I sold a rifle to a gunshop, who then received a call from my local firearms dept, saying that I had not informed them, the shop rang me and asked if I had , which I had by registered mail, I rang said office, and was told by a lovely lady, in a loud voice, obviously she new the who it was " don,t know who is wasting there time, but we have a pile of unopened letters from before Christmas" this was in February of this year, she then said, don,t write to us about disposals, just send a E Mail as it's quicker.
 
I always personally hand letters or documents in - I appreciate that not everyone can do this.
The other thing I do is on the phone I start by saying my name and informing them that the phone call is being recorded for record purposes.
It's amazing how attitudes change when you say those words

I always take mine into my firearms department to make sure they get it.Did it last week & found out that they had moved back to there old place,feo did not tell me.
 
Perhaps I am extra paranoid - I always send mine 'special delivery' i.e. tracked and signed for , given the trouble that you can get into it you lose your certificate...
I can't believe that anyone would just put it in the regular mail!
 
Perhaps I am extra paranoid - I always send mine 'special delivery' i.e. tracked and signed for , given the trouble that you can get into it you lose your certificate...
I can't believe that anyone would just put it in the regular mail!

That's how the police send them out so why should it be any different when sending them the other way.

I always deliver mine by hand to police H.Q. which is only a couple of miles down the road from where I live and virtually next door to my daughter's school, so I pass the place most days. Even then the firearms department managed to loose my certificate a few years back and had to circulate the local dealers about the missing certificate. The first I got hear about it was when I went into my local RFD with the replacement certificate to buy bullets for loading.
 
That's how the police send them out so why should it be any different when sending them the other way.

I always deliver mine by hand to police H.Q. which is only a couple of miles down the road from where I live and virtually next door to my daughter's school, so I pass the place most days. Even then the firearms department managed to loose my certificate a few years back and had to circulate the local dealers about the missing certificate. The first I got hear about it was when I went into my local RFD with the replacement certificate to buy bullets for loading.

+1 i always hand deliver , always worth a half hour road trip !
 
am extra paranoid then
I wont hand mine in until I can see and HAVE CHECKED the new one!!

number of times I have handed it back and said "sorry there are some errors on this!"
I will pop back when they are corrected
 
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