Royal Mail discussion

[najaB]

Could you share your survey data showing that people notice how long letters take to arrive or would miss watching the postman walk past their houses when they have no post?

See page 42 onwards: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/ass...0/2020-review-of-postal-user-needs-report.pdf

 

[Dai Corner]

See page 42 onwards: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/ass...0/2020-review-of-postal-user-needs-report.pdf

97% of residential users say they would be happy with 5 potential deliveries a week, 79-85% with 3. Perhaps 90% with 4.

 

[najaB]

97% of residential users say they would be happy with 5 potential deliveries a week, 79-85% with 3. Perhaps 90% with 4.

So a drop of up to 20% in residential customer satisfaction and 35% in SME satisfaction. Which isn't: "the people of the UK would be happy with…".

 

[Dai Corner]

So a drop of up to 20% in residential customer satisfaction and 35% in SME satisfaction. Which isn't: "the people of the UK would be happy with…".

Satisfying 90% of residential customers sounds pretty good as public services go.

SMEs to whom receiving post every day is vital (how many of those are there?) would presumably be willing to pay extra, as some do already for things like PO Boxes.

 

[tigerroar]

The naivety in this thread! Dropping the USO would more than likely mean no deliveries for anyone except businesses and you'd be welcome to come and pick your mail up.

 

[Dai Corner]

The naivety in this thread! Dropping the USO would more than likely mean no deliveries for anyone except businesses and you'd be welcome to come and pick your mail up.

Who's suggested dropping the USO? We're talking about amending it by decreasing the number of potential deliveries per week. The number of actual deliveries would be similar to that most residential addresses currently get.

Look how popular Click & Collect has become. People like it.

 

[najaB]

Satisfying 90% of residential customers sounds pretty good as public services go.

The problem with that way of thinking is that pretty soon it becomes "80% would be pretty good..."

SMEs to whom receiving post every day is vital (how many of those are there?) would presumably be willing to pay extra, as some do already for things like PO Boxes.

I strongly suspect that next day delivery for sent items is as important, if not more so, than receiving for many SMEs.

 

[gswindale]

The problem with that way of thinking is that pretty soon it becomes "80% would be pretty good..."
I strongly suspect that next day delivery for sent items is as important, if not more so, than receiving for many SMEs.

Which would still be doable.

Adjust the USO to say every 3 days (Mon/Wed/Fri), but keep the "Special Delivery" (or is it Recorded - I always get confused between the 2), so if it is absolutely vital something is delivered "next day" it can be, which therefore also makes the cost of sending something "next day" more respectable.

 

[tigerroar]

Who's suggested dropping the USO?

Do you really think it's adjustable?!!

Don't you understand how ruthless these assholes running the company for the benefit of the shareholders are? They're like asset strippers.

 

[Trainbike46]

Do you really think it's adjustable?!!

Don't you understand how ruthless these assholes running the company for the benefit of the shareholders are? They're like asset strippers.

well, as the USO is set in rules from the government, the government could clearly opt to change the rules.

I don't think they should, and tbh I doubt they would, but they could

 

[Dai Corner]

Do you really think it's adjustable?!!

Don't you understand how ruthless these assholes running the company for the benefit of the shareholders are? They're like asset strippers.

As a previous poster said, it's simply a matter of the Government deciding to change the rules.

Tell us about some of assets that have been sold off.

 

[tigerroar]

like asset strippers

 

[judethegreat]

I'm just wondering if people who are advocating 'amending' the USO are actually confident other changes wouldn't also be slipped in, either on the quiet or well-publicised. Or perhaps if put out to consultation it would be "all of these changes or none". Both of these are commonly used tactics, especially by the government.

Also, government and big business - are they not one and the same nowadays?

Those who think savings would be passed on equally to staff, shareholders and customers i feel are being phenomenally naive.

I know these are separate issues to whether or not daily deliveries should continue, but just be careful..

Also, tigerroar: thank you so much for all your insights - it is so good that there is atleast one person on this thread who actually knows how things work (now, not just thirty years ago )

 

[tigerroar]

My problem is that I've been there over that length of time and every few years they parachute in people at the top who all do their bit to make it worse who then run away with a wheelbarrow full of cash.

The thing which sums it up for me is that there was a time when the company was giving the Government a £1M every day. Some stupid people kept banging on about privatising it, it was knowingly undersold so people made a quick killing and now that £1M per day is going to shareholders.

 

[Dai Corner]

My problem is that I've been there over that length of time and every few years they parachute in people at the top who all do their bit to make it worse who then run away with a wheelbarrow full of cash.

The thing which sums it up for me is that there was a time when the company was giving the Government a £1M every day. Some stupid people kept banging on about privatising it, it was knowing undersold so people made a quick killing and now that £1M per day is going to shareholders.

I think it's been mentioned before that the bulk of the profits come from overseas operations. The Government didn't own those.

Do you think profits earned by postal workers in other parts of the world should subsidise your wages?

 

[tigerroar]

Yes.

 

[gswindale]

Yes.

So now we can ask "Do you think profits earned by xxx in the UK should subsidise wages in yyyy"? As generally on this forum, for instance, there is a view that profits earned by Cross Country (for example) should not be subsidising the DB Cargo operations in Germany.

Just out of interest, what are your views on https://web.archive.org/web/2012122...-royal-mail’s-‘delivery-to-neighbour’-scheme/

Ofcom today gave approval for Royal Mail to roll out its ‘delivery to neighbour’ scheme across the UK.1

This will allow Royal Mail to leave certain mail items2 with a neighbour in the event that consumers are not at home to receive them themselves, although an addressee may choose to opt-out of the scheme.

Reading the article from Ofcom, it appears that it was popular in trials, and I see very little difference in that to leaving it in a "safe place" on somebody's doorstep.

 

[tigerroar]

Reading the article from Ofcom, it appears that it was popular in trials, and I see very little difference in that to leaving it in a "safe place" on somebody's doorstep.

Really? Blimey!

The CEO is offering managers a days leave and £150 shopping voucher to work on our next strike day.

Yet they can't afford to give us a decent pay rise.

 

[david1212]

If Royal Mail want to compete with Hermes, Collect+ etc for small non-urgent parcels / packets including mail order returns they must get back to having the Post Office secondary counters at ' corner shop ' Post Offices open beyond 09:00 - 17:00 / 17:30 Monday - Friday and 09:00 - 12:30 / 13:00 Saturday at least for postage payment and acceptance of pre-paid items.

Two stores slightly off route to my daily commute stopped any extended hours Post Office business earlier this year. Near home the store containing the Post Office recently changed management and started extended opening. However yesterday back to basic hours only.

 

[Dai Corner]

If Royal Mail want to compete with Hermes, Collect+ etc for small non-urgent parcels / packets including mail order returns they must get back to having the Post Office secondary counters at ' corner shop ' Post Offices open beyond 09:00 - 17:00 / 17:30 Monday - Friday and 09:00 - 12:30 / 13:00 Saturday at least for postage payment and acceptance of pre-paid items.

Two stores slightly off route to my daily commute stopped any extended hours Post Office business earlier this year. Near home the store containing the Post Office recently changed management and started extended opening. However yesterday back to basic hours only.

Royal Mail and Post Office are two different organisations.

 

[Trainbike46]

Royal Mail and Post Office are two different organisations.

while that is true, for a lot of people sending items with royal mail, post offices are the way they post things and buy stamps etc., so whatever decisions get made at post office level do affect royal mail's ability to compete

 

[XAM2175]

Royal Mail and Post Office are two different organisations.

while that is true, for a lot of people sending items with royal mail, post offices are the way they post things and buy stamps etc., so whatever decisions get made at post office level do affect royal mail's ability to compete

They should never have been separated, in my opinion.

 

[david1212]

Royal Mail and Post Office are two different organisations.

while that is true, for a lot of people sending items with royal mail, post offices are the way they post things and buy stamps etc., so whatever decisions get made at post office level do affect royal mail's ability to compete

For an individual or a small business that does not qualify for Royal Mail to call and collect the Post Office is the main way of getting anything that will not fit in a Royal Mail street box and / or requires proof of posting into the Royal Mail system.

Prepaid items can be handed in at a Delivery Office but generally they are in an inconvenient location. Some counters are still only staffed a few hours a week too. A few remain in town centres even though the Post Office is now elsewhere with most inside a store e.g. WH Smith rather than stand-alone.

My original point is that there are several places near to home and not far off my daily commute where I can drop off a Evri ( Hermes ) or Collect+ parcel 6 days a week from 7 am to 10pm and Sunday 10 am to 4pm. There is now just one Post Office and based on time rather than distance it is the least convenient. For DHL and DPD fewer places but open weekday later than 17:30, Saturday until at least 17:30 and a few hours Sunday.

 

[GusB]

Royal Mail and Post Office are two different organisations.

They are indeed, but the latter is a crucial point of contact for the former. I should probably count myself lucky in that I'm able to access Royal Mail services from 8am until 8pm at my local Post Office for six days a week. The shop closes earlier on a Sunday, but those services are still available during the time that it's open.

Royal Mail is uniquely placed in that it has had a ready-made network of parcel agents in place for years, and a network that has improved immensely by moving Post Office services to convenience stores that are open for much longer than the traditional Post Office network was.

 

[Grumbler]

The Royal Mail lost the plot IMO with the changeover to barcoded stamps. Instead of allowing old stamps to be swapped for new at Post Offices, they insisted that stamps be posted to FREEPOST SWAP OUT. Unsurprisingly, there are reports of some of these being pinched en route!

 

[gswindale]

So today's post consisted of 2 pizza leaflets, 1 thing from Specsavers about eye & ear tests, something from Talk Talk, a letter addressed to a "T H E Homeowner" and one addressed to a "T H E Occupier". There is nobody of those names at this address.

I'm tempted to put it all back in the post (with those addressed to mythically people marked return to sender - not known at this address) and then Royal Mail can deal with recycling the junk. Maybe if enough people did this, they'd see sense and stop delivering it to reduce their costs...

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Maybe if enough people did this, they'd see sense and stop delivering it to reduce their costs...

How so, exactly? Reckon Royal Mail are being paid to distribute advertising flyers along with the regular post.

 

[najaB]

How so, exactly? Reckon Royal Mail are being paid to distribute advertising flyers along with the regular post.

Indeed, I believe that is one of their most reliable revenue streams.

 

[gswindale]

How so, exactly? Reckon Royal Mail are being paid to distribute advertising flyers along with the regular post.

If enough people chuck them back in the post box what will Royal Mail do then - they'll have to get rid of them somehow won't they - just leave them on the side of the road or pay for them to be recycled?

I don't see why I should subsidise their income stream through my council tax paying to recycle the junk they put through my door!

 

[Dai Corner]

If enough people chuck them back in the post box what will Royal Mail do then - they'll have to get rid of them somehow won't they - just leave them on the side of the road or pay for them to be recycled?

I don't see why I should subsidise their income stream through my council tax paying to recycle the junk they put through my door!

You can opt out of receiving unaddressed mail

How do I opt out of receiving any leaflets or unaddressed promotional material?

Guidance on what to do to do if you want more control over the mail coming through your letter box.

personal.help.royalmail.com

We are legally obliged to deliver all addressed mail, which includes mail that is addressed "To the Occupier" (or with any other generic recipient information), as well as mail that is personally addressed to you by name.

Opting out from Royal Mail Door to Door stops all unaddressed items from being delivered by us (although we do work with Government to get a message to every UK address in exceptional circumstances where delivery of the message is deemed to be in the national interest).