Why is royal mail so shit these days?

[maurawhom]

In the past few years I've had issues with my post being to the wrong addresses even though if I do get my hands on them they are clearly addressed and my home is not hard to find. I've also had issues with even tracked and special delivery issues being sent completely different parts of the country than where they were sent to and then disappearing and trying to get any help from Royal Mail is like trying to get blood out of a stone not to mention trying to get compensation!

I remember when royal mail was fantastic now its just awful, even if you send things by 24 or 48 hour services they say aim to deliver this item in 1 -2 or 2 -3 days (so more than 24 or 48 hours) but we might not, you could pay for a premium service and we'll still take weeks to deliver your item and if it gets lost tough titty. I'm just so fed up with it!

Evri are not cowboys here. They deliver in a timely manner and if there is somewhere safe to leave the parcel they will do that if not they will come back the next day to deliver. Royal mail here it's touch and go if they even attempt to deliver the week then parcel is due and if you're not in you can't actually go to the office and collect it so you're left in limbo over whether the parcel ever makes it to you.

Always wondered what the fuss was about Royal Mail as my postie is brilliant. Until recently - now if he takes a few days off it all turns to shit.

I have no idea where most of my mail is going, but I'm not receiving it. Chilled medication that needs to be here in 24hrs can take a week and I'm constantly getting notifications on the app saying they can't access my address. There aren't any access issues here so they can't be trying the correct address. It's infuriating. Complaints aren't dealt with, no matter how many times I contact them.

On the plus side, as I've paid for next day delivery with space nk ( £10 for a year) abd they use RM, when it inevitably doesn't arrive next day I get £5 credit to my account. So if I order enough things I could get a decent amount of credit which softens the blow!

I think they hide behind the Royal title. A brand you're supposed to trust.
To be honest, they can do and charge what they like, they have no decent, steadfast competition. There are no other dedicated postal shops you can walk into to send parcels and registered items.
They basically have a captive audience.
They charge absolutely extortionate fees when it comes to sending parcels to NZ from the UK, which I do every few months. I have looked into other carriers and they are far worse, price wise and reliability. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.
The price of stamps now is absolutely ridiculous, but where is the only place you can get stamps?! Yep, that's right. They have the postage monopoly and unless something else comes along, (which it either can't it won't!) we're all stuck.

Blame 'Dave' Cameron. He had a habit of fucking things up.

I agree, it used to be that they were the most reliable out of delivery companies, now it's the opposite. They're the most expensive too for most parcels and invariably the 24/48hr services are always late- ive never had one arrive on time. Letters seem to arrive in a bundle once a week too and not on any other days.

I once turned up for surgery to find out it had been cancelled - I received a letter informing me the next day! Letters from the local hospital are always very slow, I’m not sure why they rely on RM (and yes, they should call in cases like this but they didn’t).

We’ve had issues with RM recently. I sent a birthday card to a close elderly relative 1st class 4 days before her birthday, and she received it a week after her birthday.

A card I sent a couple of years ago never turned up at all.

We’ve only been receiving RM a couple of times a week for the past few months. I live in a large city so it’s not that we’re rural!

We’ve never had an issue with Evri.

I completely disagree with this. You can send parcels and tracked mail via yodel, evri etc from many local corner shops. They do have competition, massively. I rarely send any parcels with royal mail now, why would I? I get a better more reliable service at lower cost with other providers.

Agree RM are rubbish here, medium sized town. Postal delivery maximum twice a week but who knows which day its going to be! Birthday cards always late even if sent a week in advance.
I never buy anything parcel wise that's going to be delivered by RM, its such a faff to pick up from the delivery office and nowhere to park. Evri here is excellent, as is InPost, both of which can be sent/delivered from a local shop 2 mins away. Evri home delivery has been fine too. Not so keen on Yodel.

Have you ever tried sending a parcel further than the UK? Trust me, I have looked into it all. I only ever send parcels to NZ. All the other carriers are even more extortionate and although RM are untrustworthy, I trust the others even less! I certainly don't trust Evri to deliver parcels to me! There's no way I'd happily send my parcels off with them to the other side of the world.
I'm happy it works for you, it just doesn't for me 🤷🏼‍♀️

I post a lot to Australia as I have family there, UPS I've personally found to be the most reliable and a fairly reasonable price. I wouldn't go for someone like Evri but someone who specialises in global deliveries (not RM either).

I called them this morning and they acknowledged the issue but say there is nothing they can do even though I know what mail centre it’s in, I just need to let it bounce around until someone notices it’s there in error.

I asked about compensation for the fact I paid £5 for a service to get my post there in a certain time and nope, I need to wait until it is considered lost which is in a weeks time from now and even then I might not get my money back.

I mean let’s not beat about the bush here even the Americans know you don’t privatise your national postal service. I usually use Royal Mail out of some misplaced loyalty but in future I will look at other providers. Honestly they should be stripped of the name “Royal Mail” it no longer applies.

Ah so you are talking specifically about sending to NZ. Most people in this country wouldn't be doing that, so it's not fair to say RM has no competition, maybe for the international market and NZ in particular, but not overall and certainly not for domestic. And as a business ebay seller sending 200 + parcels a month (domestic) I have built up a fair picture of which of the 'big boys' is more reliable (ie yodel/evri/RM) and let's just say RM doesn't top the list!

My postman is fantastic. He recently delivered a letter that had my husbands name on and completely the wrong address.

I’m sure there are individual postmen and women who are brilliant but the overall Royal Mail is going to shit with practically zero accountability.

Recently my DH had an appointment we did get the letter but there was also a back up call informing him of his appointment and I get a text from mother hospital prior my annual appointment with a consultant so I wonder if Royal Mail are aware of the issue of lost and late appointment letters.

I'm genuinely surprised some areas still have the same postie often enough to get to know them. On the days we actually get post it's very rarely the same person delivering it, I didn't think they had specific routes any more and it was more a case or whoever was available delivered to whichever streets hadn't had mail in a while.

It stopped making money when people started sending emails and texts. This got worse when other companies were allowed to deliver parcels. Plus they outsourced their computer system to a foreign company so noone understood that it could be wrong (post office scandal).

We have a regular postie and a regular "fill in" one who appears occasionally. It's a London suburb so maybe there's enough post for there to be a regular round for them.

The reality is that post has died out somewhat now.

But it isn’t true, I see the postman on our street with a full bag most days. So while it might be less it’s still very much a viable service or should be.

If you privatise something, they only care about the shareholders. Sod the service and looking after its users.
Not sure why the tories were so keen on ruining stuff that worked.

Ours is good - but only because our posties work so hard. We live in a large village, the posties always seem to be doing extra rounds/overtime etc because the main sorting office is so poor. Bad management, staff absence, changes in T&Cs .

Agree.

Apparently "Tracked 24" doesn't mean it will arrive the next working day, oh no.

It means "it might arrive next day.... it might not....you'll just have to pay the extra money and hope for the best".

🙄

I don't think anyone under 30 uses RM, do they? Parcels perhaps, but certainly not to send letters or cards.

No problems here.

Mind you, isn't this what happens when all companies are privatised? Bosses at the top are more interested in their bonuses and keeping shareholders happy rather than actually providing the actual thing that people are paying for.

Thank the Tories....

We have no problem here. When ordering online I always choose RM for delivery, if it’s an option - even if it costs a fraction more. At least I know my parcel won’t be dumped on someone else’s doorstep .

Whenever possible I avoid Evri.

I also use RM Click and Drop (postman collects) for parcels I regularly send to a charity in E Yorks (from London). They almost always arrive the next day.