WHAT A CON!

[TOAD]

I was very pleased to receive my club badge this morning.thanks. I'd like to tell you what a conning lot the post office are.
Due to their new size/price changes there is extra to pay on an envelope thicker than 5mm,which was the case with my badge.Because I was out when the post arrived my letter was taken back to the post office as is usually the case. when I arrived there to collect it I was surprised that they didn't just put it through my letter box. They could have stuck a note on it saying I owe them 5p.  (of course I would have immediately driven the 3 miles to the post office to pay them back. )
Then to top it all they had the front to charge me  £1  handling fee. I couldn't believe it,on a letter that could have just been put through my door in the first place saving everyone the hastle
What is this country coming to?  lol.

[Andy M]

I was very pleased to receive my club badge this morning.thanks. I'd like to tell you what a conning lot the post office are.
Due to their new size/price changes there is extra to pay on an envelope thicker than 5mm,which was the case with my badge.Because I was out when the post arrived my letter was taken back to the post office as is usually the case. when I arrived there to collect it I was surprised that they didn't just put it through my letter box. They could have stuck a note on it saying I owe them 5p.  (of course I would have immediately driven the 3 miles to the post office to pay them back. )
Then to top it all they had the front to charge me  £1  handling fee. I couldn't believe it,on a letter that could have just been put through my door in the first place saving everyone the hastle
What is this country coming to?  lol.

You're lucky to get it. In the last 12 months I've made 4 claims against Royal Mail for stuff they've lost. This on top of it now taking 48 hours for a parcel to go 1 mile from my house back to the post office after they try to delivery at 10.30 am. Three turned up within 72-96 hours and one disapeared off the face of the Earth (took 6 weeks to get a cheque for £50 out of them) . I'm now specifying NOT-Royal Mail or Royal Mail at the senders risk on anything I buy.

TNT/DHL etc. have the same services as RM for anything over an envelope, you've just got to find their depots. Our local DHL place is open 6 am to 9 pm, has it's own car park and displays a chart showing stuff they've lost (I think 1 parcel in 12 months last time I was there), somewhat better for us workers that the post offices 7 am to 9 am, middle of town, loose/steal everything that isn't nailed down approach.

I'm voting with my money and hope the ******s go bust!

The DHL guys had a B***** good laugh at me trying to strap a 4 foot by 3 foot box containing Triumph Engine bars onto the Bullet, but who can blame them. I was just glad it was too late for plod to be about or i'd have been on Police-Camera-Action. The whole set up looked like a Pizza delivery moped scaled up by a factor of 2!

Andy

[ken]

I know they are not perfect but it sounds like your parcel was parcel force. This is totally separate from royal mail. I also have the same problem and would have had to travel 45 miles to collect my parcel. Where possible I ask for small parcels to be delivered by  Royal mail and not parcelforce. The letter thing is a pain but if the postie goes against the rules he can be disciplined  I know there are some bad ones but most of the posties are very good and honnest.

Ken Royal Mail Garage

[Andy M]

I know they are not perfect but it sounds like your parcel was parcel force. This is totally separate from royal mail. I also have the same problem and would have had to travel 45 miles to collect my parcel. Where possible I ask for small parcels to be delivered by  Royal mail and not parcelforce. The letter thing is a pain but if the postie goes against the rules he can be disciplined  I know there are some bad ones but most of the posties are very good and honnest.

Ken Royal Mail Garage

I know the majority of most employees in most companies are honest and hard working and I would in no way denegrate any individual who is just doing their job. Aplogies if I came across that way.

The people who tell me "it's not here mate" and seem to expect the me to say "That's Ok, I'll just rip up this ticket you pushed through my door and go home and order another XXXX in the hope it'll make it" wear Royal Mail uniform and live in the back of our local Post Office, so you can understand who I'd tend to think was to blame. The parcel force depot at Stourton rail terminal is actually not as bad as the local office, but they seem to have gone off the idea of letting you go there to collect.

I'd actually prefer to collect. For stuff at work we get an e-mail from TNT. Our logistics people then either order a delivery spot (for a whole days worth to fit in with other stuff in goods-in) or send someone to collect (urgent stuff). You'd think it would make more sense to do this rather than the try to deliver when you are out-carry round in a van for two days - hand over at the parcels office if they can find it routine, but as I'm not a Parcel Force manager I guess there may be other factors to consider.

Andy

[guest27]

You can of course ask the Post Office to deliver to any alternative address - so if your local shop has a sub post office and they are open till 11 pm you can request 'non-delivered to go there, then you pick them up later.

Yes the Royal Mail do have issues - not the least of which is that they HAVE to comply with the universal service condition - they are not allowed to charge you more to deliver to Scourie or the Scilly Isles, DHL can and will and will most probably refuse to deliver in the first place.  Royal Mail carry more post every day than all the other businesses in the UK put together, they have the creaking legacy systems that have grown over the last hundred plus yeas and a requirement from the tax payer to build better service with  o investment.  Because of the universality of service requirements only applying to Royal Mail, the other carriers can cherry pick easy deliveries and routes - note how many of the big couriers will nly deal with businesses, not with the public, dealing with us lot costs too much.

The Royal Mail have many problems, they do have a problem with losing stuff - although they loose less than 0.1% of the post (I think) it is still loads of stuff because of the amount they carry.  I have never had big problems with deliveries to here - mind some stuff has been lost.  However DHL will not deliver - they consider it impossible to get up our drive, and so just keep the packages in Swansea until I call to find out where they have gone - unlike the Post Office / Royal MAil they are not evn arsed to let me know they have it.  Percentage wise I have had far mor things miss delivered, lost or undelivered by the big courier companies than the Royal Mail, and until you get on to big parcels, they are also a darn sight cheaper, unless you can get stuff sent through work.

There are a number of changes being made to the way the Royal MAil operate, and if you look into it it is not 'tehm' wanting to degrade service, it is the Postal act of 200 or was it 2002 that requires the Royal MAil to show a year on year cost base saving, to lean them down for partial privitisation and the opening up of the market to competition - which will be a good thing if you are a business or live in a large town, if not - well enjoy what you have whilst you have it.

R