Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Royal mail difficulties

43 replies

Torvean32 · 15/12/2020 05:09

I normally love Royal Mail, every year i give my postie a voucher and card.

However I've been waiting 8 days for mail that was sent first class.
I'm gutted as one parcel had a personalised item I had done for my nephew's first Christmas. I've not been able to meet him due to Covid so it was really special to order this.

The ppl who sent it is all blaise saying oh there's delays dont panic. Royal mail ( who apparently were delivering on Sunday, didnt happen here) don't give a crap.

I'm away first thing Thursday. I'm so disappointed. It's not the same if i send it after Christmas.

The parcel was sent from London to a large city in Scotland which i know is a direct route. So its not due to rural delivery.

BBC said RM increased their workforce by almost a 1/3 to make sure deliveries were recevied in time , but that's obviously not true. I can't call or collect from the Sorting office either. And you can't get through to speak to anybody at Royal Mail.

I think they've made a mistake in offereing a collect and delivery service when they can't deliver regular mail.

I've always ordered in plenty of times so I'm pissed.

Is this happening where you live?

OP posts:
FourPlatinumRings · 15/12/2020 05:25

If it's via Etsy or not on the high street I think the seller needs to chase, not you. At 8 days first class I would presume it's gotten lost. Unless you've got lots of other parcels en route? I've got a theory that royal mail are bundling all parcels for one household together and delivering en masse even though it delays some of the parcels.

Inkythemouse · 15/12/2020 05:28

It's frustrating when you have ordered something with plenty of time.
In Royal Mails defence The amount of mail going thru the postal system at the moment is the highest it's ever been. All couriers not just Royal Mail are struggling.
Royal Mail have got more staff but are also having to adhere to social distancing rules and outbreaks of covid in depots. They've been working flat out since March and they're running on empty.
I work in a Post office and all the postmen that I see are shattered they're working 7 days a week some are alternating between days and nights. They're doing their absolute best

Frownette · 15/12/2020 05:30

Is it tracked at all?

I haven't had problems here, something I posted yesterday is already in the city where it's to be delivered (just checked online).

Picked up a parcel from the sorting office on Sunday (it has opening hours on Sundays) which had been delivered quickly.

It can be really anxiety inducing though when you're waiting for something.

maddiemookins16mum · 15/12/2020 05:32

I spoke to our post chap at work yesterday who delivers our sacks of mail. They are weeks behind as they have not been able to employ as many seasonable temps due to Covid.

emilyfrost · 15/12/2020 05:38

BBC said RM increased their workforce by almost a 1/3 to make sure deliveries were recevied in time , but that's obviously not true.

You think this can’t possibly be true just because your parcel hasn’t arrived? Confused Even in normal times, especially around Christmas, shit happens.

Post gets lost, delayed etc. for various reasons and yes it’s unfortunate when it happens to you but that doesn’t mean it’s down to reduced staff.

lurker101 · 15/12/2020 05:44

Yes, I had almost exactly the same problem - paid for special delivery posting a parcel from London to Glasgow on Saturday before last, before last post. It was “guaranteed” to arrive before 4pm on the Monday. Didn’t arrive until the Wednesday, so I put in my claim online for delayed postage, and got my full refund cheque back in the post yesterday.

BethlehemIsInTier1 · 15/12/2020 05:50

Royal Mail have a cake parcel for me for 10 days, the cake will probably be mouldy now. We seem to get letters delivered on a Friday, a big bundle as if they have been sat collecting them instead of delivering them. They know when Christmas is, they know about Covid, I think they are struggling due to the safe distancing working environment, making the whole process slower because of the fewer staff they are allowed to have in one place at a time.

IggyAce · 15/12/2020 05:54

Two items that I ordered from major retailers and sent tracked 48 took nearly a week to arrive.
Our postman delivered several letters & packages yesterday, he said they are that busy that if something isn’t tracked it isn’t really moving.

lurker101 · 15/12/2020 05:56

I went to check on a separate parcel that hadn’t arrived a few weeks back, and it was in the sorting office (had been for 2 days) the lady said they weren’t delivering to our street every day and were holding things back to deliver together.

Polyxena · 15/12/2020 06:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

nosswith · 15/12/2020 07:01

I have little sympathy for Royal Mail. It's not as if they could not have increased the number of casual Christmas staff above the normal amount, as the increased use of the post/parcels was at least evident by the start of the second period of restrictions, indeed would have been foreseen probably by July.

RickOShay · 15/12/2020 07:03

Yes
Four parcels. All presents. Bit annoying really. Not ordering anything else now, not worth it.

robinshire · 15/12/2020 07:05

This is the third thread I've seen this week created to slag off Royal Mail or similar. Is it really not that obvious to people that during a pandemic things are going to not be moving as fast? People are sick and people dying for god sake! Have some perspective!

secretskillrelationships · 15/12/2020 07:07

I have a small online business and have noticed delays with first class regularly taking at least 2 days but occasionally a week. It's frustrating but not as bad as it was back in March/April. I think all delivery services are struggling tbh as more and more people shop online.

Smelborp · 15/12/2020 07:09

It is happening here but I have more sympathy with my postie than ever. The individuals that turn up with your mail are not responsible for their companies failings and most are working absolutely flat out.

AlsDiner · 15/12/2020 07:14

Same here OP. I ordered mine in November, it was dispatched 1 December and it's still tracked as being in a sorting office hundreds of miles from me. It contains several Christmas presents and I can't get hold of royal mail nor the company I ordered from because they're both struggling with reduced staff numbers.

lurker101 · 15/12/2020 07:15

@robinshire I agree it is obvious it was going to happen - to everyone but Royal Mail it would seem 😂 I could understand if they had suspended their compensation programmes etc. Like they always do in Christmas, but they didn’t do that, just extended guaranteed 1pm delivery to 4pm. Christmas guarantee restrictions came in same date as normal, in my view they should have brought this in when non-essential shops closed and saved their shareholders a lot of money in refunds!

marydtf · 15/12/2020 07:16

The situation that royal mail and other couriers are in can be compared to flooding.... we can cope with 2 months rain when it is spread over 2 months no problem. But when it all comes in 3 hours you get flooding and water backed up. Solving the problem in 1 area just pushes it elsewhere. It takes time to drain away. Now imagine that there is an infinite amount of rain and it isnt going to stop just because you've got flooding.
Some of the parcels etc that are delayed are likely not able to be reached at the moment because more and more are being added to the system. It's like trying to empty a jar of sand using a spoon when there are dump trucks added more every few hours. It takes time. It is a result of covid, months of online 'essential' shopping and Christmas. Give us a break, we're exhausted, has been like this since March, and are doing our best

mantlepiece · 15/12/2020 07:19

I waited much longer than normal for a high cost (to me!) item. I was worried it had gone awol.

However, when I tracked it, I found out it got from supplier to northern counties sorting depot and sat there for over a week. Once it was received by my local Tyneside sorting office it was delivered the next day.

Thank goodness for tracking! Helps keep the blood pressure down!

houseinthesnow · 15/12/2020 07:29

My parcel took three and a half weeks to arrive.

They are predictably snowed under. We all knew they would be, this is not a surprise at all.

I would plan back up presents personally.

houseinthesnow · 15/12/2020 07:31

I DONT blame the Royal Mail at all, they have taken on thousands of staff and tried to plan for this, in reality it is impossible to deal with the sheer volume. The queue outside our post office was at least a hour's wait if not longer - forty people odd waiting.

I feel for the RM what a nightmare.

ExclamationPerfume · 15/12/2020 07:32

We are getting post once a week here. Large city in the Midlands. My Auntie posted a card to me from the same city. It took 9 days to arrive. We only live 3 miles apart.

StormyInTheNorth · 15/12/2020 07:35

Yep, queued for 20 mins for post office counter yesterday and I posted two items first class the other week. One took 5 days, the other got mixed up and went somewhere else completely. Thankfully the person who got it redirected it.

I don't suppose it is your postie's fault, he could probably do with a treat after all this. The fault lies with RM lack of infrascructure. They've cut back so much prior to this with no contingency in place.

Besom · 15/12/2020 07:35

They can't just get a liad more casual staff in because of social distancing. It is social distancing restrictions which will cause delays. One one person in a work area where usually there would be several. That plus an increase in demand.

houseinthesnow · 15/12/2020 07:41

The Royal Mail have also had to deal with pretty serious outbreaks of covid, with lots of staff that were off for weeks either ill or self isolating.

I am not quite sure why anyone would imagine how it could possibly run normally given the pandemic and the circumstances.

Much less punish the postie, who is now doing double the work load, struggling with two deliveries a day to many areas - as well as implementing the new collection service that was launched a few weeks ago. I would give him a bigger christmas treat - not scrap it altogether. That is quite mean.