Royal Mail problems/delayed mail

[Freefaller]

Over the past few months I have noticed very obviously lots of letters / mail not getting to it's destination. At work we send off our IR cheques every month and the past 3 months they haven't got there, so we've had to go to the post office and get it sorted there - which wastes our time a bit. Over Christmas we sent out invitations and cards to people and a good 20-30% of them never got it. Furthermore mail in general, like magazine subscriptions and other things have been somewhat delayed.

Is this just around London? Has anyone else been having these problems? It's getting a bit nerve racking, certainly paying for bills or sending cheques etc.. If this is a common problem, does anyone know why so much stuff is getting delayed and why the service is not very reliable?

 

[Freefaller]

The thing is this has been happening more over the past 4 months or so. I'm relieved in a way it's not just us, but we've just had the IR come round to query us for not paying, which is a bit irritating and a waste of our and their time. Furthermore I do like sending letters and cards, especially over festive seasons, and birthdays and so on. I'm getting very wary of sending money via the post, or waiting for bills or insurance renewals etc...