Is anyone else having problems with the Royal Mail?

[cathyandclare]

We’ve struggled with getting post recently. A few important letters have taken ages to get here, missing deadlines and causing no end of problems. DD sent a document first class and it’s taken a week to arrive. Most days there’s nothing and then tons of mail turns up.

We managed to spot our postman today and he said that we’re only getting deliveries twice a week. We live in a small village but only three miles from a big sorting office and less than a mile from a post office.

It’s real problem because NHS, DVLA, HMRC etc only use the Royal Mail. Is it just a local issue or more widespread?

We are in a town and get post only once every 2-3 weeks and even then it is because so many neighbours have complained.
When it does arrive there is a thud as it all starts hitting the floor. Poor old postie has to keep going back to the van to collect more.

Post comes daily here without too much delay, unless it's from Government departments in which case it can take months. Still waiting for correspondence about my pension entitlement even though it was apparently sent in January and re-sent in February.

I’m only getting a delivery about once a week, and things are taking absolutely ages to get through.

I’m waiting for a load of forms to arrive, some diagnosis confirmation letters that I need for DD and stuff like that. We can’t progress with applications for certain things without them

A letter from CAMHS arrived last week - 4 weeks after it was posted (having already been held up in the NHS postage system for a week and a half)

We seem to be getting regular deliveries - though a few months ago we would regularly miss them, and we’re in a big town. But parcels are always, always delayed - the 48 hour delivery service takes over a week in most cases. The last one I had arrived empty, with a sticker on the packaging saying it had been “damaged” while in their care and if I wanted them to “investigate” then I could phone a number to get a form to fill out. Thankfully the retailer sent me another one - it was an expensive dress and had clearly been stolen. I really wish retailers wouldn’t use Royal Mail.

I posted the same thing a few weeks ago, I didn't get any post for 15 days. A pile then arrived. I'm in a large suburb of a large Midlands city

That's if you're able to get there within the delivery office opening hours....pre-pandemic my delivery office was open all day long, during the pandemic they narrowed it down to three x two hours slots but now it's only open from 8 am to 10 am ☹️

My partner is a postie for Royal Mail.

It’s a national issue. They are only JUST recruiting more posties, but haven't for ages while they are in negotiations with the union.

In my partner’s sorting office, at least 20% of people have left over 2 years. Some had been there 30 years and changed to other jobs because they can’t handle the changes.

If it helps, you can go to your local sorting office and request your mail there and then. It shouldn’t be like this but this is a company issue, not the posties doing their job. Managers put pressure on managers who then put pressure on posties. It’s a complete mess.

Each area have different rounds (made up of a set group streets). Royal Mail are combining rounds to make them bigger, but still only giving the same amount of hours in the day to do them. People off sick with stress or just leaving for a different job. Agency workers pay has been slashed, so no real incentive for them either.

its no longer a letter delivery company, its a parcel delivery company who delivers letters - a quote from one of many Royal Mail letters sent to it’s employees.

They are expected to keep up, but physically cannot when they ALREADY walk 12+ miles a day, rain or shine - my partner averages 15 miles per day, 5 days a week!). They have to sort, scan, load into van and do it all again at the other end, deliver ‘specials’ by midday (scattered across a big radius, needs signatures and photos uploaded every time. If they aren’t in to sign for, more signatures and workload).

You get the picture…

It’s hell for customers and Royal Mail employees and it’s not looking to improve any time soon…

I'm in London, waiting for two important pieces of post which should have come end April. One is a POA so I could really do with it being delivered.
I live literally round the corner from the sorting office, didn't know I could just go in there and see if they have got them.
What a shitshow.

Yep. After the strikes things started getting back to normal. And then my street only got post on Thurs/Fri/Sat. But for the last month it's changed to Mon/Tue/Wed (with the odd day later in the week if we're lucky)

Same here.

No post, then tonnes in one day every week or so.

Ive lost bank cards, missed hospital appointments etc.

Ive complained twice because I got no answer from the 1st time. It’s the ‘weather’ apparently🤷🏼‍♀️

@LBMW19
Thank you for bringing new straight from the horses mouth😇🙏
Does your partner know if there is a change to the delivery office opening hours on the cards?
Mine only opens from 8:00 a.m. to 10 am, I don't want to complain because I know things are difficult but I really hope they can find a way to extend it further into the day 🙏🙏🙏

My hospital appointment comes through by text and email, my GP nurse contacts me by text if she wants me to make an appointment.

We’re in a hamlet of 10 houses and 2 farms - all the same postcode and got post every other day previously but since the building of the last 2 houses, we get post twice a week if we’re lucky. The postie told us the postcode is now too big to be every other day from his sorting office. It’s beggars belief! I was a postie 20 years ago as a student and it was bad then…

I’m waiting for a new bank card which was posted nearly two weeks ago. Don’t seem to have any issues with getting numerous leaflets for random shite though. How useful a conservatory is on a first floor flat is unclear.

No issues with parcels though, just letters.

@Thesharkradar The delivery cards are accurate as far as i know (they actually have just been given new ones - with more things to fill in if the customer isn’t in - waste of time for all involved IMO). Opening hours are a bit confusing- for my partner’s office they also have a 2 or 3 hour slot each day, but there is always someone in the office between 7:30 and 3pm (and someone usual waits behind for collection at about 5pm), so I don’t know why the window for collection is so small. They are very busy first thing in the morning but usually by 9am everything is organised and everyone is well on their way doing their round.

Also, Royal Mail new rule is… if something needs signing for and someone isn’t in, posties will have to try and redeliver the next day before taking it back to the office for the customer to collect. I suppose that’s the least the can do for customers!!

@Iheartmysmart Yes, Royal Mail (and Posties) get paid/get a supplement added to their weekly pay for delivery junk mail. It’s a waste of time for everyone - Posties have to painstakingly put each piece of junk mail into the ‘pigeon hole’ of each house on every street on their round. It’s time consuming and tedious, as you can imagine!

Thank you @LBMW19
sounds like this isn't a national policy and my delivery office has unusually restricted opening hours🤔

And I've just got home to this - yet another thing for them to do.

When I phoned a few weeks ago, I was advised not to go in person. Maybe they're just sick of people turning up.

Same here in South Ayrshire, I've noticed a rapid decline I'm service this year alone. I've had lost hospital appointments, late arriving court documents, mail arriving wet and damaged in plastic bags. I used to collect my mail a few years ago, it was called prefer to collect, I don't know if this service is still available. Our sorting office in the next village is open 8am to 10am too.

@LBMW19 - This! Our lovely postie retired a couple of years ago and he knew everyone and was a really helpful guy. Since he retired it's never been the same but we have had some great people but they never stay.

Anyone else old enough to remember when we had two posts a day? Hard to believe now.

They're awful. My friend who lives in Brighton is convinced they only deliver once a week to her address on a Friday. It has just taken 2 weeks for a first class parcel to arrive sent from Sheffield.

Royal Mail also 'lost' a parcel with a birthday present in so I had to buy a replacement. It turned up 2 days after the replacement arrived and four weeks after it had been posted along with an other missing parcel which had also been posted 4 weeks previously. They are absolutely awful and I have no faith in RM anymore.

Yeah, 2 posts a day!

Unbelievable now!

How useful a conservatory is on a first floor flat is unclear😂

I've had hardly any post in the last 2 or 3 weeks and thought it was weird.