Royal Mail Post

[emmie]

does anyone have problems with royal mail, as i am constantly amazed how my post arrives torn, looks like it's been opened or takes weeks to arrive, even though first class postage on letters. One thing i am seriously annoyed over it has taken four weeks for my mother to get her Christmas card, first class post to boot.

[Dee Sa]

they seem to be a law unto themselves em, having said that our post is okay and we have a nice postie too,but for that length of time for your mothers xmas card to arrive is not on, did other people you sent to also have problems ?

[jd_1984]

Our post is fine but the postman is the most miserable person I have ever met!

[emmie]

one of ours cannot read English, i am positive of that. I asked her why she puts my post in next door postbox and i get theirs, not happened once but many times, good thing i know these neighbours.

[emmie]

will have to check about other cards, as ma said, i could have just handed it to her Christmas day.

[grasscarp]

I just want to pass on an alternative solution for sending parcels. collectplus courier. You take your parcel to one of 4000 corner stores, print out and stick on the label on line and pay on line. It is much cheaper than royal mail, and to my mind more convenient as a lot of these shops are open till late. You can also track on line where the item is. As an example 4kg to other end of the country cost me £6.11. It got there in less than the 3 days quoted.

[Georgiesmum]

Yes, its much the same here too em10.My son sent a small package to France in November, and it took twelve days to get there, first class.Earlier in the year, i popped a birthday card in the post to my friend who lives just ten minutes walk away from here, and it took over a week to get to her. She was convinced i had forgotten her.

[dotty.]

they are definately an erratic , inconsistent and unreliable form of delivery and collection, and that's on a good day. There seems to be no sense to it, I send may ebay parcels 2nd class yet the feedback usually appears within a day or 2 saying fast delivery etc. yet first class letters? They're more like 4th class, ridiculous sysrtems.

[vulcan]

I'm not sure what's happening with Royal mail, in 2011 my Brother sent me a Christmas card. Although he posted it on the 19th December it didn't arrive until the middle of February.

[Ann]

That is very useful info grasscarp, thanks. Does it depend on size or just weight? Do you have a link please?
How are you feeling today Em?

[lady-janine]

our postman is excellent but the postal service is terrible. we have just received something which was posted 1st class on 14 december. something that needed our urgent attention.

[grasscarp]

Hello Ann - Here is a link
http://www.collectplus.co.uk/
I found them on one of these courier comparison websites.
You need to enter the size of the parcel and the weight and where you are sending it to and it will come up with a cost.

[starone]

I never send money by post. In the past it has arrived open and minus the money. There are so many handling it that it is difficult to apportion blame but best thing is not to send it. How do they know when there is money in the envelope? Puzzles me! If it is solid I can understand it, but paper money? Have they got some kind of inbuilt radar?

[Paulsy]

I participate in the Royal Mail postal survey, which basically involves sending and receiving mail and recording the times online. There is also questions about whether the items are bent, dirty, torn etc. I know things have been taking longer to arrive over the festive period as I've had a lot of queries to confirm posting times. Seems after reading this they have quite a long way to go in resolving time and quality of service

[emmie]

so not just us. I confess i am pretty annoyed about the Christmas card, and now don't know if anyone else got them in time. I hand delivered one but that had some valuables items in it and wasn't going to take the chance.
I don't understand why their standards have fallen so badly. The staff change constantly, where once you knew your postie, and they would never leave small packages half hanging out the letter box, as one did yesterday.

[Ann]

I have just checked off the cards received this year against my list who I send to and I am over 20 cards short. Some people I can understand giving up sending cards as they live away and I haven't seen them for years and the postage costs such a lot now! But others .... are regulars and it seems strange, seems like a whole day's post has gone missing ............... I can't ask them though, can I?

[emmie]

paulsy, think that would be a good idea, i have become worried now because much of the post turns up torn, or has been opened.
It seems unlikely it is the sender, seeing the type of mail. A relative posted two cards in one envelope, and both corners were torn open.

[tamborine]

Important personal documents seem mislaid by PO. Am waiting for recipient to confirm delivery or post returned to me ?

[Paulsy]

that does sound a bit dodgy. The survey is conducted to test their service across the country, people participate from all areas. You don't get paid but they give you stamps and run prize draws. Most of the test mail arrives in time and good condition but they contain something called a 'smart' which postal staff must have sussed out by now, you can feel it easily through the envelopes

[beegeebee]

Many years ago I was involed in the construction of a new Sorting Office for the Post Office (as was) in the Midlands and above the mail sorting area were walkways for the purpose of checking there was no wrong doing by the sorters.
These of course have now been dispensed with and replaced with cctv which, must be the most boring job on earth apart, from the same job at airports. One would guess boredom and being unconcerned with pilfering is now accepted practice by all concerned!?

[bookaholic]

A few years ago my OH received his bank card in a clear Royal Mail bag, with a note saying the envelope had been damaged ! The card was cancelled immediately. More recently our post kept being delivered to our neighbour, very strange postman.