This case was captured on camera, hence the report, but there's been lots of reports of similar stories. This thread has tons.
Royal Mail Rant
- Thread starter RetiredGreyFox
- Start date
It's not really one isolated case though, RM have gone through the floor in the last few years, their own delivery metrics are showing they've been failing very significantly, there have been loads of reports of depots with post sitting for days or weeks and only packages getting sent out and it's been blamed on "sickness and Christmas", despite it being a problem in some areas for months before and after Christmas.
I know that for most of the last 3 years if I order a package that is sent 48 hour recorded/tracked there is a very good chance it's going to be arriving at 7pm from the delivery office in the next town, by what I suspect is a manager, I know that I'm not going to receive that 48 hour package on a Friday or Saturday, but likely on a Sunday at 5:30pm because if it doesn't get into the system before that Monday morning it's going to be officially marked as "late" for the stats.
Add in the fact it's now almost as expensive to send something by a proper courier, as by RM and the service is appalling compared to what it was and what it should be, both legally and by previous standards.
Last edited:
I actually work for RM, and honestly, the issue behind all this is inadequate staff levels. The turnover rate is massive and when people leave they aren't being replaced (something to thank the new owner for). People are shocked that it isn't the same as Postman Pat and they leave within a few months. I've seen some quit the same day they started, in fact.
The reason why mail is so delayed at the moment is because duties are too big. For those of you that are unaware, we work in pairs and one duty is split between two posties. The full thing can cover quite a big area, mine in fact has over 1600 addresses as delivery points. Therefore, if you get even one person phoning in sick, it has a knock on effect where cover needs to found. Couple that with hardly enough staff and the public addiction to online shopping, you get the current mess we find ourselves in.
Honestly my point is that it really is a drop in the ocean, considering the volumes of Tracked parcels delivered on any given day. Chances are this guy was at his wits end with it all.
Last edited:
That is something the business really needs to look into because the customer will walk given the chance.
Pretty sad when you consider it wasn't that long ago, that many would claim it as being the best.
I think it comes down to your individual royal mail chap, the guy that does my round is perfect, when I worked from home he would leave it for me and just give my doorbell a buzz, the pick up guy is also top notch as I have on occasion left it out for them and they collect and just give a knock or buzz.
DHL and Evri however.......dear lord!
DHL and Evri however.......dear lord!
I'm actually looking to leave myself because it's a pretty thankless job really. There's also an overtime ban in most offices at the moment, which thankfully I haven't been dependant on unlike others. Most posties have a 'work to time' policy, and who can blame them? Unfortunately its at odds with the service the public have previously been used to.
Managers are really just concerned with are their own jobs. Recently in our DO, we've had them scouring frames for any 1st class left in them. Not because they are concerned Granny will miss her NHS appointment, but because their bosses have been on at them with all the recent bad press they've been getting.
I can't blame you. It really sounds unpleasant to be working for them.
Aye I never blame the actual posties, I know having talked to our old regular that they've been cutting the actual delivery staff, and it's a management/owners decision to gut the staffing compared to what it was, IIRC the excuse was "letter numbers are going down", completely ignoring that parcel numbers were going up and even just one DVD takes as much space as about 10 normal letters, let alone the slightly larger stuff that won't go through the letter box so a couple of seconds at the door turns into 30 seconds (I think delivery drivers are surprised I can often get to the door in seconds as my computer is very near it).
Hopefully things will change soon, so you can avoid leaving.
For me, Parcel Force, different company, same website and same counters, is almost faultless locally.
It's not just an 'isolated case' though.
Royal Mail has become Royal Fail.
I'm waiting on a package. The business requested the package to be pick up via their collection service on the 4th of this month so it should have been picked up on the 5th and delivered to me by the 7th. It's now the 12th and RM haven't picked up the package as of writing this post.
I booked an ebay collection last week via RM, they were supposed to collect it Saturday but never turned up, rebooked, Monday postman with his trolley turns up and says his trolley is too small for such a large package (that's what she said), I'm like I booked it as a LARGE PACKAGE (that's what she said) and the weight was stated as up to 20KG so why not send a van postie to collect it, obviously they are in a bit of a shambles.
Anyway I had to drop the package off myself to the local sorting office and now need to get a refund on my 30p collection fee.
If I could safely insert something of vile repute through their letterbox I would.
Anyway I had to drop the package off myself to the local sorting office and now need to get a refund on my 30p collection fee.
If I could safely insert something of vile repute through their letterbox I would.
- Joined
- 29 Mar 2003
- Posts
- 57,954
- Location
- Blurton