The beginning of the end for Royal Mail ?

[seagullsovergrimsby]

An Ofcom consultation proposes to scrap 1st and 2nd class postage. The regulator believes merging the two will result in a better service. Those wanting next day delivery will have to use special delivery at £5.90 a pop instead of chancing it with a 60p stamp. The present 60p/50p postage options will be replaced by a 53p jobbie which aims to deliver the letter within 2 working days. How long before legislation is passed to reduce Royal Mail's universal service obligation so it only has to process and deliver regular mail Monday to Friday ?

 

[Simster]

I'll be honest - I don't see the problem with that. 53p for an approx 2 day turnaround is still excellent. And how many times have you needed next day delivery that couldn't have been avoided with better planning?

I don't see how you go from these proposals to legislation that reduces their universal service obligation?

 

[dookieno8]

I hate Royal Mail,

The company that believes it is acceptable for their employees to leave sensitive post (bank statements, chequebooks etc) in the communal area of a block of flats.

 

[Titanic]

I hate Royal Mail,

The company that believes it is acceptable for their employees to leave sensitive post (bank statements, chequebooks etc) in the communal area of a block of flats.

How do they know the contents of your mail? and surely it is the design of the block of flats that is the problem, not the postal service?

 

[Mr Burns]

I hate Royal Mail,

The company that believes it is acceptable for their employees to leave sensitive post (bank statements, chequebooks etc) in the communal area of a block of flats.

Maybe thats down to the banks sending them standard mail than the Royal mail TBH. If its sensitive it shouldnt be sent standard mail really. And anyway, who gets cheque books these days. Get with the times!

 

[dookieno8]

Bank Statements are delivered first class... as far as I am aware, thats how everyone gets them and everyone has got them.

I have a perfectly good letterbox on my door, the postie just decides to enter the building a dump the mail in easy access for everyone, during tradesmans hours anyone can enter the building, whats to stop them stealing my (and anyone elses in the block) bank statements?

After all, it would be my stupid fault if I didn't dispose of them correctly and they got nicked at the other end of the cycle.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

I'll be honest - I don't see the problem with that. 53p for an approx 2 day turnaround is still excellent. And how many times have you needed next day delivery that couldn't have been avoided with better planning?

I don't see how you go from these proposals to legislation that reduces their universal service obligation?

Ofcom like to meddle and interfere , give a regulator a bone and all that.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

How do they know the contents of your mail? and surely it is the design of the block of flats that is the problem, not the postal service?

It doesn't take a genius to work what the contents might be with a return address on the back of the envelope or any branding on the front.

 

[Zamora For England]

With downstream access, second class mail is treated almost as well as first out on delivery. Obviously it gets processed slower but a change is due at RM to prolong the life of it, I think this may be the answer.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Bank Statements are delivered first class... as far as I am aware, thats how everyone gets them and everyone has got them.

I have a perfectly good letterbox on my door, the postie just decides to enter the building a dump the mail in easy access for everyone, during tradesmans hours anyone can enter the building, whats to stop them stealing my (and anyone elses in the block) bank statements?

After all, it would be my stupid fault if I didn't dispose of them correctly and they got nicked at the other end of the cycle.

So it's one postman not doing his job you mean. Complain about him

 

[Simster]

Ofcom like to meddle and interfere , give a regulator a bone and all that.

But they act in the consumer's interests. That's their job and their raison d'etre. How is it in the consumer's interest to ensure that there is no means of getting a parcel to the outer hebrides for under £20?

 

[element]

A little while ago, I queried RM's seeming inability to provide a standardised time for deliveries, accepting they could be anytime between midday and five pm. They then offered me, for a fee of a couple of thousand pounds a year, a guaranteed 15 minute window during the day, when my mail could be delivered. Funny thing was, up to about three years ago, my mail WAS delivered in a 15 minute window, which was from about 7.10am. to 7.25am., and there was no fee involved! Progress I think the buzzword is

 

[dookieno8]

So it's one postman not doing his job you mean. Complain about him

I have done, they state that it is within their delivery guidelines, i'm waiting to see their guidelines in an official doc...

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

But they act in the consumer's interests. That's their job and their raison d'etre. How is it in the consumer's interest to ensure that there is no means of getting a parcel to the outer hebrides for under £20?

They certainly looked after the consumer's interests with telephone directory inquiries. Replaced 192 with 118XXX and held an auction to sell off the best 118 numbers. Ended up with a plethora of 118 numbers which ironically are handled on a third party basis by the 2 original service providers. The cost has also exploded from 45p to over £2 a call since implementation.

 

[Titanic]

They certainly looked after the consumer's interests with telephone directory inquiries. Replaced 192 with 118XXX and held an auction to sell off the best 118 numbers. Ended up with a plethora of 118 numbers which ironically are handled on a third party basis by the 2 original service providers. The cost has also exploded from 45p to over £2 a call since implementation.

I find it amazing that ANYONE uses 118xxx services for that sort of cost. I never have, and am pretty certain I never will.

 

[Simster]

They certainly looked after the consumer's interests with telephone directory inquiries. Replaced 192 with 118XXX and held an auction to sell off the best 118 numbers. Ended up with a plethora of 118 numbers which ironically are handled on a third party basis by the 2 original service providers. The cost has also exploded from 45p to over £2 a call since implementation.

Fair point, that was a massive f*** up. But I'd assume the cost has exploded because of the internet - there must be nothing like the volume that there once was.

And secondly, wasn't that a decision taken by the government in order to create a new competitive market? Removing the universal service obligation from RM wouldn't be doing anything like that.

 

[element]

Just a personal experience of Parcelforce, which I believe now sub out deliveries to owner drivers with their own vans. I was expecting a parcel, which the tracking system said was out for delivery, and the usual routine when I'm out, is for the driver to let themselves in using the trades button, card me, then run the parcel round to the local post office, which is 30 seconds away, for me to collect. I was surprised when I got home to find no card, and the tracking website saying a delivery was attempted, but no-one was at home! The cynic in me says the self-employed driver was just making more work for themselves, as they would have to attempt a re-delivery next day. Service gone out the window again

 

[CHAPPERS]

People use the 118 service?

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

But they act in the consumer's interests. That's their job and their raison d'etre. How is it in the consumer's interest to ensure that there is no means of getting a parcel to the outer hebrides for under £20?

Scottish independence could throw another spanner into the works regarding postal services to the Highlands and Islands.

 

[Pinkie Brown]

I hate Royal Mail,

The company that believes it is acceptable for their employees to leave sensitive post (bank statements, chequebooks etc) in the communal area of a block of flats.

Do you have your own letterbox or is it usual practise for mail to be left in the communal area of your flats? If the latter & you aren't happy about it, you need to sort alternative arrangements, ie, a PO Box.

Maybe the single service delivery is the way forward to simplify the process? How many other Countries in the World have a two tier delivery system for standard mail?

Those who slag off Royal Mail should remember they carry millions of assorted items every day. Mistakes are going to happen. Staff are placed with ridiculous delivery time targets that are nigh on impossible to complete on anything but a quiet day. Add to that, the crazy amounts of junk mail they now have to cart around as part of their job.

I've used Royal Mails service consistently for several years & have only had a couple of minor problems with them. The cowboy private courier operators? Plenty of screw ups. If you miss a Royal Mail delivery, you merely have to collect it from your local delivery office. Many Couriers will often dump a package in an insecure place or take it back to a depot often miles away. That's when the fun begins!

If People think the privatised alternatives to the Royal Mail letter service are better, they should think again. They make plenty of cock ups with mail, just as Royal Mail sometimes do. The difference being, you are paying a heavy premium for a cock up with one of the Private Mail firms.

The Private firms are quite happy to cherry pick the profitable parts of Royal Mails business. Royal Mail as part of their charter, offer a universal delivery service to 98% of The United Kingdom. The private firms piggy back off Royal Mails letter service anyway. They aren't going to employ their own Postman. As for Parcels, the private firms are very picky about where they will deliver to.

Royal Mail isn't perfect, but for the amount of items they handle a day, they do a reasonable job.