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Old 24-12-2016, 17:22
owenmahamilton
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Does anyone else find those screens that you get given to sign by the delivery driver when you have a parcel delivered completely and utterly pointless? I had a delivery today and after the driver asked me to confirm my name he handed me the touch screen device and I had to sign it with a finger which therefore looked nothing like any kind of signature, let alone mine. It's not much better when given a stylus to write my name with. I just think it's not very secure, even though I confirmed my name I could have lied as the signature on the screen could have said anything. Surely a real pen and a clipboard would be much better, I have things delivered to my house from my pharmacy as I'm in a wheelchair and can't get there to pick things up and I have to sign for them when they arrive and they just use pen and paper which is fine as it's readable.
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Old 24-12-2016, 17:43
francie
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I know what you mean. Had a parcel delivered yesterday (I'm up one flight of stairs and I was in btw), God knows who the person was as she doesn't live in the block yet when I looked at the tracking (I used Amazon) apparently the parcel was "handed to the resident". I got the parcel (propped against my front door) but don't know who signed for it, needless to say it wasn't my signature.
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Old 24-12-2016, 17:49
zx50
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I'm guessing they got brought out to save on paper. The information from them can then maybe be transferred to a computer and kept as proof of being delivered. Paperwork mounts up and takes up space on a desk or wherever they used to store the signatures, digital information doesn't.
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Old 24-12-2016, 17:54
zx50
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I know what you mean. Had a parcel delivered yesterday (I'm up one flight of stairs and I was in btw), God knows who the person was as she doesn't live in the block yet when I looked at the tracking (I used Amazon) apparently the parcel was "handed to the resident". I got the parcel (propped against my front door) but don't know who signed for it, needless to say it wasn't my signature.
The odd time the delivery fella has signed, or something, on the device and I've wondered why he didn't hand me it so that I could sign for it. If you are supposed to sign for it, they're risking their jobs by signing for it themselves.
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Old 24-12-2016, 17:56
David_Flett1
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I'm guessing they got brought out to save on paper. The information from them can then maybe be transferred to a computer and kept as proof of being delivered. Paperwork mounts up and takes up space on a desk or wherever they used to store the signatures, digital information doesn't.
The information gets sent back to the main terminals however technology has moved on and there are plenty of examples where you can use a stylus and make a very accurate signature. Of course that would mean money to upgrade which I can't see them doing.
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Old 24-12-2016, 18:17
Gogfumble
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The odd time the delivery fella has signed, or something, on the device and I've wondered why he didn't hand me it so that I could sign for it. If you are supposed to sign for it, they're risking their jobs by signing for it themselves.
Depends on the delivery service. Not all need a signature on delivery so the courier is signing it/marking it as delivered.
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Old 24-12-2016, 18:25
Monkey_Moo
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Seems increasingly rare these days to be asked to sign. Unless it's very high value, or age restricted, they just leave it by the door or in a shed. I guess they did the maths and realised the odd time an item disappears and they have to pay for a replacement is cheaper than constantly having to re-deliver.
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Old 24-12-2016, 18:32
blueblade
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Amazon leave orders in my "preferred safe place", which is the porch,

I have to "sign" for my online Tesco grocery orders, plus recorded and guaranteed next day Royal Mail deliveries, but as you say, OP, those machines are an absurdity. In fact the new versions are even worse than the original ones, or maybe the stylus was sharper with them. To stand any chance of being even able to make a squiggle, you have to either use your finger nail, or hold the very blunt ended signing implement (stylus) dead straight at 90 degrees to the screen, and not at a slight angle as you would if signing with a normal pen.

Why it's been made even more difficult with the latest devices is a mystery.

What comes out bears no relation whatever to my normal signature, and no doubt that's the case with most other people. I just wonder what the legal position would be if you denied it was your "signature".
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Old 24-12-2016, 19:27
1fab
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Agree that those little signing devices are useless. It looks nothing like my signature, so what's the point?
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Old 24-12-2016, 19:32
davor
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Does anyone else find those screens that you get given to sign by the delivery driver when you have a parcel delivered completely and utterly pointless? I had a delivery today and after the driver asked me to confirm my name he handed me the touch screen device and I had to sign it with a finger which therefore looked nothing like any kind of signature, let alone mine. It's not much better when given a stylus to write my name with. I just think it's not very secure, even though I confirmed my name I could have lied as the signature on the screen could have said anything. Surely a real pen and a clipboard would be much better, I have things delivered to my house from my pharmacy as I'm in a wheelchair and can't get there to pick things up and I have to sign for them when they arrive and they just use pen and paper which is fine as it's readable.


It doesn't matter if the signature doesn't look like your usual one. Graphologist could easily identify you if needed, regardless of "how well" your signature looks.
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Old 24-12-2016, 19:33
1fab
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It doesn't matter if the signature doesn't look like your usual one. Graphologist could easily identify you if needed, regardless of "how well" your signature looks.
Really? I doubt that, somehow.
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Old 24-12-2016, 19:33
owenmahamilton
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It doesn't matter if the signature doesn't look like your usual one. Graphologist could easily identify you if needed, regardless of "how well" your signature looks.
It just looked like a few marks on the screen, no kind of signarure whatsoever, I very much doubt anybody could have made anything from it at all.
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Old 24-12-2016, 19:56
Keyser_Soze1
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http://viz.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/...172_parcel.jpg
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Old 24-12-2016, 20:03
zx50
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Agree that those little signing devices are useless. It looks nothing like my signature, so what's the point?
I always sign on the device slowly so that the sensor, or whatever, can keep up with me. I started doing it slowly when I saw that my normal speed was too fast for it.
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Old 24-12-2016, 20:06
owenmahamilton
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Old 24-12-2016, 20:06
blueblade
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That's brilliant. I wish there was a facebook share option on it.
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Old 24-12-2016, 20:11
Woodbine
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The purpose of them is to let the seller or company know the parcel has been delivered, it doesn't matter if the signature looks crap, it instantly lets people know it's been delivered.
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Old 24-12-2016, 20:11
owenmahamilton
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That's brilliant. I wish there was a facebook share option on it.
You could just copy the link and paste it on your timeline.
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Old 24-12-2016, 20:18
coughthecat
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It just looked like a few marks on the screen, no kind of signarure whatsoever, I very much doubt anybody could have made anything from it at all.
It's just a simple system to confirm that a parcel has been delivered. What the signature looks like is not really the point.

The delivery driver will confirm your name and type that into the device. If you're not the named recipient and are taking it in for a neighbour, you'll be asked for your name and that will be put into the device, as will your address. The time is also logged (I think automatically) when you scribble on the screen.

It means that if you're tracking a parcel you can check the status, so if it's logged as being delivered but you haven't received it, you can find out where, when and to whom it was delivered.

I think it's reasonable to assume that if someone answers the door at the delivery address, they're either the intended recipient, a member of their family, or is known to them. The chances of it being a complete stranger who then runs off with your parcel is fairly remote!
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Old 24-12-2016, 20:27
blueblade
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You could just copy the link and paste it on your timeline.
Thanks - done - worked
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Old 24-12-2016, 22:21
Galaxy266
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I've given up trying to sign my name on those electronic devices. I just can't use them.

I print my name instead - at least it's readable!
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Old 24-12-2016, 22:31
RobinOfLoxley
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There's also a little pinhole webcam that takes your piccie.

The Delivery Office Staff have a good laugh at the weird female cleavages and male nostrils, people in pyjamas and onesies.

GCHQ also has a back door to the photos.
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Old 24-12-2016, 23:11
CravenHaven
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It doesn't matter if the signature doesn't look like your usual one. Graphologist could easily identify you if needed, regardless of "how well" your signature looks.
Really? I doubt that, somehow.
someone seems to have a misconception of how a graphologist works, and the weight the court puts on their evidence, which is little in UK courts nowadays.
PDA screens do not measure pressure, so it is like a very crude etch-a-sketch portrayal of a signature. It also is a slippery screen and doesn't detect very reliably.
A handwriting expert has nowhere near as much to go on with the PDA signature.
I've a feeling as much weight is placed by the courier on the GPS tracking on their vans when the signature is made as on the actual signature. It might prove hard to wriggle out of giving your signature as "D. Naybour" for a lark and claiming the package wasn't delivered.
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Old 24-12-2016, 23:23
blueblade
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There's also a little pinhole webcam that takes your piccie.

The Delivery Office Staff have a good laugh at the weird female cleavages and male nostrils, people in pyjamas and onesies.

GCHQ also has a back door to the photos.
That's funny because I asked the Royal Mail guy whether a pic was taken of your face, and he said "definitely not".

Out of interest you got a link to that info. Or I might send them an e mail enquiry if not.

I won't be very happy if I've been fed the wrong info by RM.

I have known private courier firms to take a pic of the item left in the delivery spot if the recipient is out (or thought to be out in my case as I opened the door just as he was taking the pic) .
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Old 24-12-2016, 23:24
jeffiner1892
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Mine is usually okay. Mind you the previous work postman used to alternate between names and I often found myself signing with my line manager's name.
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