To think Royal Mail should have delivered this by now?

[AyrshireAmbler49]

Last Wednesday (16th) I posted lots of packages to various family members in the uk. They weren’t expensive things so I didn’t want to have them signed for. I sent them second class and not one person has received any of them, there were hand made cards from DD, presents for my whole family dispersed around the UK. I’ll be so gutted if they’ve got lost in the post.
Does anyone know if Royal Mail are particularly slow at the moment or not?
Thanks for reading.

There is a massive backlog where I live and parcels aren't getting through.

I'm hoping a different company step into the breach and start providing a postal service. RM absolutely knew they were going to be ridiculously swamped, and have happily accepted people's money for parcels that are stacked to the rafters not going anywhere fast. My friend owns a business and she has had to refund so many angry customers who have put PayPal claims in because the post is so slow. This isn't about the workers by the way, they are doing an amazing job having been shafted by their employer who absolutely knew this would happen.

You've seen the piles of post on the news so hardly surprising. I think we knew people would be sending more things via post. I posted my 48 hr tracked parcels last monday. They got there Friday and Saturday. Stop moaning and plan ahead.

Well I'm glad you lot are positive. I ordered two parcels from different retails, one for £200 and another for £120. Both signed for delivery. Got notifications through for both saying "item delivered" despite the fact that nobody was home. Tracked my deliveries and sure enough, there's a signature on the tracking page for both items supposedly delivered to my address. Luckily I have a ring doorbell so went back to view the footage, only to find that a random postie (not my normal wonderful postie) literally THREW the packages at my door then SIGNED FOR THEM HIMSELF, leaving them on my doorstep. About 3 hours later, some little fucker with his hood up ran past my door, grabbed both parcels and fucked off with them. Both retailers are "looking into it" (with video evidence) but neither will be resolved before Christmas.

So for all those saying "they'll turn up eventually" - don't count your chickens people.

My husband is a postie. He has been stressed and overworked since April when people realised shops were going to be shut for longer than first anticipated.

They have had countless staff off ill and self isolating. They can't share vans to do deliveries. They have been on split shifts in an effort to distance.

They are doing their best in really difficult circumstances. Listening to him it's been the Christmas pressure levels all year.

I’m a postman (15 years ) This is the future of a privatised Royal Mail. Profit first , service ( a distant) second , it’s got nothing to do with covid or Christmas , it’s been going downhill and will continue to get worse since privatisation.

@noideabutstilltrying

My husband is a postie. He has been stressed and overworked since April when people realised shops were going to be shut for longer than first anticipated.

They have had countless staff off ill and self isolating. They can't share vans to do deliveries. They have been on split shifts in an effort to distance.

They are doing their best in really difficult circumstances. Listening to him it's been the Christmas pressure levels all year.

Staff off sick: hire more staff Vans not shared: buy or lease more vans Depots full: put up portakabins or temporary buildings for storage

All of these cost money though, so god forbid their shareholders should get a penny less.

I know the RM are at breaking point, but when you live alone the lack of the usual Christmas cards arriving is another reason to be down.

They’re really struggling. It’s a shame because other couriers aren’t struggling at all, I haven’t had an issue with any other courier at all. I ordered something next day delivery last Tuesday because I needed it for Saturday and it was delivered yesterday. It sat in their central sorting office for three days.

It's stressful for the small businesses too who are getting mithered to death from customers who haven't received their parcels in time

Totally appreciate how busy RM are. It's just shit for everyone.

It is shit for everyone. DH is a postie and this year has made him incredibly ill with the stress from work. They are currently down to 30% of their staff in his sorting office. One of their areas is a massive new build estate that amazon won't deliver to, so they have to pick up that slack on top of the thousands of parcels sent through RM.

It’s the least stressful job I’ve had , you start on time on you finish on time . If you have too much to do in that time ( most of us do ) then it’s not my problem , it gets left behind or someone else does it on overtime

If you’re husband is working too long/ many hours then that’s his choice to do overtime. Nobody forces him to do it .

There was a spokesman for the RM on the BBC news a couple of days ago saying that they hadn't anticipated this level of business. What! I just don't understand that level of incompetence.

I ordered something on Sunday night, dpd delivered it Tuesday morning . That says it all really 🙄

Don’t know if it’s just local but they’re doing deliveries on a Sunday here. Dunno if it’s with the backlogs or what.

I would allow a week for 2nd class to arrive even in nomal times. At Christmas I would allow longer or would pay for 1st class. Royal Mail are inundated at the mo.

• normal (not nomal). Oops.

While it’s obvious RM would have increased volumes at just before Christmas in a pandemic, I think it’s harsh to say they should’ve predicted the level of increased they’re currently getting. The planning and hiring of temp staff etc would’ve probably been done before the second round of national lockdowns. And before the rules on Christmas socialising were announced. Certainly before the current situation with almost no Christmas visiting allowed and closed borders.

Equally, the public should have also expected issues with the post and not relied on sending things last minute. Even if there were no issues with post, anyone could have to isolate suddenly and not be able to get to the post office to send parcels for 2 weeks.

I post 1500-2000 parcels a week with the royal mail and this is the busiest they have ever been with more people doing online shopping than ever this year + they have to social distance which brings it's own hurdles

If any depot gets a positive case they close the whole depot down for a day which adds to the already massive backlog

My collections guy said he's seen some workers crying because they are so overwhelmed.

I ordered something this afternoon. I had the option of royal mail but paid a bit more for courier. DPD are bringing it tomorrow. I know it'll be here because they're excellent.