A rant about Royal Mail

[Terry Smart]

I need to vent my spleen and this is my best chance...

I use the PO Box service from the Royal Mail and they are supposed to deliver my post every day.
When my normal postman is on the round there is no problem, but if he takes a holiday I don't get any post as no-one at the depot checks the box (and I get the idea that it really is a box!)

I have complained about this about five times in the last few years, always being told that 'action will be taken to make sure the problem doesn't happen again' and that the problem has been escalated - so I should be talking to the chairman by now!

So this has happened again and reading the last letter I got I thought I'll try Postwatch, the independent consumer body for the Postal Industry, and here's where it gets really annoying...

They won't do anything about a complaint for 30 days... by which time my normal postman will be back and the service will be okay again so there'll be nothing to investigate...and the next time it happens will be just the same.

You may think I'm making a big fuss about nothing much, but remember that as a business we're waiting for cheques to arrive - sometimes so that we can release goods to customers - invoices that we have to pay, sometimes pro-forma or with settlement discounts etc, so this delay could well be costing us money and all because someone somewhere can't be bothered to do their job properly!

Rant over!

 

[Adam]

Can you tell postwatch your complaint is long running, and therefore is longer than 30 days. Can you tell them the date of the first problem?

Royal Mail are odd I have to say. I tried shipping a parcel yesterday, that was too heavy for second class. OK, I said, send it first class. "Of course, its cheaper to send it special delivery overnight before 1pm, than send 1st class says" the lady behind the counter. How can that be? Cheaper for a guarenteed overnight special delivery than plain old 1st class!

Adam

 

[Terry Smart]

Adam said

Can you tell postwatch your complaint is long running, and therefore is longer than 30 days.

You'd think so wouldn't you, but no, they can only 'leap into action' (massive irony) after 30 days from the last complaint...and so the cycle begins again.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Terry,
I once had to ring them. I explained that I wanted something delivered to a building site and the supplier needed a postcode. There is no building yet, but I have the street address of the site, can you tell me the postode please?

Certainly, Sir, do you have the Postcode?

Makes you wonder.

Re your problem. Can you not argue that the problem is not that your mail doesn't get delivered, but that the system is flawed because it depends on the presence of one individual, and so the problem has not gone away? Semantic, I know, but maybe worth a try.

You've probably explored those kind of options. :?

All the best,
Steve

Cheers
Steve

 

[Adam]

Can you ask for a refund for the days that you don't get a delivery?

I.e. simply send in an invoice for "the days they forgot". That normally stirs someone into action.

Alterntively, how about asking your postie when hes going on holiday, and ring up postwatch and ask tell them, you'd like to register an advance problem, and see how they will cope!

Adam

 

[Paul Chapman]

Terry,

Write to your MP and ask him/her to ask the relevant Secretary of State for an explanation as to why you are not receiving a satisfactory response from the Post Office or Postwatch, which is the Government appointed body. Also set out any adverse effect that this is having on your business, livelihood, etc., etc.

It is important to ask your MP to do it rather than write to the Secretary of State yourself. If you do it that way the Secretary of State might just refer it to some mealy-mouthed civil servant for reply.

Don't give up - give 'em hell until you get this resolved :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Good luck

Paul

 

[Paul Chapman]

Terry,

A few more thoughts. This is a very important issue for you and you need to spell it out clearly and calmly. Set out in very clear terms things like the effect it is having, actually or potentially, on things like cash-flow, which in turn has an effect on the success of your business, employees, etc, etc.

The Post Office and its (until now) monopoly has been, and continues to be, a big political issue and something that the Government is quite sensitive about.

Small businesses are also an important Government issue. Not sure how large/small yours is but issues that affect your profitability and therefore the economy (if you are having this problem, others are as well) are reasonably big issues for the Government.

HMG has put in place lots of theoretical avenues for complaint (normally to get it off their desk) but going directly to your MP is still one of the best. If after trying the correspondence route you still get no joy, lobby your MP at his/her surgery. Governments don't like problems, so become a thorn in their side.

Hope some of this helps.

Paul

 

[Sailor]

Good Evening,
The suggestion about getting your MP involved is a good one. We have twice gone down this route over a number of years and on both occasions the result has been quick action from someone reasonably high up in the relevant organization.

In both cases the results have been more than satisfactory.

After all, that is what they are there for!


Colin

 

[Neomorph]

All these different RM charges are mental as I ordered something from ebay the other day and he sent it to me Registered 2nd Class. Now Registered 1st class will take a day to deliver but Registered 2nd Class took... A DAY AS WELL.

So what's the point of having different scales??? It's the same with Amazon... If you order by express delivery you can get it on the same day as a supersaver delivery if the company automatically upgrades your order. Totally mental (but cool as orders can be cheaper and get the same delivery performance as express :lol: )


What about this then... I had to return a faulty wireless keyboard back to Dabs.com and their system allows users to print out a return sticker with postage paid via the returns system of Royal Mail. I took it to the post office and they filled out a form, stuck some more stickers on the box and gave me a receipt. About a week later I get a knock on the door... and it was the postman delivering another box. Oh goody... my replacement.

Unfortunately as I was about to open it I noticed that this was the box that I had taken to the post office the previous week. Instead of sending it to Dabs the silly posties had sent it back to me. I then took it back to the post office after using a magic marker and drew four big arrows pointing at the correct address to send to. :roll:

 

[Terry Smart]

Hi All

Thanks for your suggestions and support... of course, it now seems that every method of moving goods around is letting me down...

A standard parcel arrived at one customer looking like it'd been used as a football...

And a pallet of goods sent out (which is normally the safest way of doing things) arrived looking like it had fallen off the back of the lorry, been driven over and then, just to make sure nothing was salvageable, the lorry had reversed over it for good measure!

Can't wait to see what this afternoon brings!

 

[Steve Maskery]

Terry, I hope you, and they, are well-insured.

All the best,
Steve

 

[Taffy Turner]

Terry,

You have my sympathy mate.

In business that I work in,probably 80% of our problems with customers are down to transport.

Sadly, I don't have a solution for you - still searching for one myself!

We used to have a PO Box, but we ditched it after a year as mail addressed to the PO Box was taking 3 extra days to reach us compared with mail sent direct to our address. :?

Regards

Gary

 

[ike]

Unless they shape up, Royal Mail will now be able to slowly hang themselves since they are now exposed to free market competition. The scale of postal fraud I read in the Guardian article last week, is breathtaking.

Businesses can now lead the way in using alternative postal companies.

Ike

 

[Terry Smart]

Hi All

thanks again for your kind words.

We do have insurance and I put in a claim this morning although on past experience I wasn't looking forward to the inevitable wrangling...

You can imagine my surprise to get an email about half an hour ago telling me that the claim would be settled and I'd be getting pretty much everything I'd asked for less the obvious excess, so I'm really rather happy about it!

I got some of the damaged tins back... I'm having trouble posting pictures at the moment but wow, the state of them has to be seen to be believed!

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Terry

The poor drivers obviously saw "Wood Finishes", or somesuch, on your pallet and thought it went with that new cast-iron saw. :lol:

Cheers
Neil

 

[blurk99]

Hi Terry,
you could try sending the chariman a complaint

[email protected]

the few times i've heard him speak on the subject he's very keen on stamping out these 'lack of care' issues

cheers

Jim