Better late than never

It was the day before DGD birthday and running late I took her card to the post office to buy a stamp. I asked if it would arrive in time. "We can't promise unless you pay extra a lot extra for next day delivery".
Since DGD lives just 10 miles away it seemed ridiculous.
I didn't pay the premium. It did arrive the next day.
Why can't all letters with first class stamps be delivered next day?

It's not just Royal Mail that take their time either. In August 2023 I came back from holiday to find my gas had been cut off as the gas pipes were being replaced. I knew it might happen while I was away as it was in the overall period indicated, but their leaflet suggested if we were without gas we could borrow hotplates to cook on and heaters if needed, though the latter was not required in August. Unfortunately I arrived home on a Sunday so no workmen available and apparently no hotplates left! I'd come home with my son's family including 2 young grandchildren and ingredients for a roast dinner! I did manage to cook the dinner with difficulty with my electric fan oven and a microwave. I even managed a cooked breakfast next day although the eggs were not very succesful. The promise of workmen didn't materialise next day and I was finally reconnected about Lunchtime on Tuesday.
I complained to Cadent who phoned me quite quickly to apologise. I was told I'd get some compensation. Last week I got an email from British gas mentioning some compensation I was due. I first thought it was a scam, but no, it was the compensation for an incident 18 months previously! What had they been doing all that time? I phoned them and they confirmed that was what it was for! At least they paid me more than I expected. Perhaps they had to save up!

Cards etc from the UK take weeks and weeks. Thought it was our lot but maybe it is your end ? I got a Christmas card last week.

They check nearly everything here, especially from China. It doesn’t delay things much,though. I think your parcel must have been ‘lost in the mail’ for a time !

I now get very few deliveries and everything arrives in a batch of four or five letters - usually bills or junk. I received significantly less Christmas cards this year which I assume is because of the increase in postage charges. I hope it isn't that a lot of people have died in the last year and I haven't heard!

mabon1

The boys and girls who do our round are great. They always leave a note telling me where they have left the parcel if I am not at home when they call.

But in my case, the parcel spent a year somewhere else before the postman had sight or sign of it

Still trying to get Royal Mail to send back to a Seller the parcel that they say they tried to deliver to me but I was out! At the time I was in my kitchen in the front of my property so could see that no one actually walked down the path at the time stated! No photo either! Royal Mail insist that I should pick the parcel up from them despite them knowing that there is no way I can! Live alone & disabled, nearby family work & cannot get time off when Royal Mail are open! Will I ever get my payment back? Probably not as the parcel has likely been opened & contents sold down the local Pub! Sorry for the lengthy rant but hate Royal Mail with a passion now!

Royal Mail service is excellent here, for both letters and parcels.

A few days ago I received a birthday card from a friend, posted in the middle of December. The address, postage and post code were correct, and it had been cheerfully franked 'Post early for Christmas'. Where has that been lurking?

I've been sending almost all mail by Special Delivery costing an average of £10 because our mail is either not reaching us at all or being delivered to another cottage in the village with a similar name with monotonous regularity. However, a neighbour mentioned last month that he'd sent a cheque and card over Christmas which arrived empty with a side slit open.....

JaneJudge

The cards get stolen as they might have money in them
Honestly it’s such a poor service nowv

Even as I posted a birthay card with cash to dgs at uni I wondered if it would get there and it didn't. Last time I will.do.it.

maddyone

But where do all the lost cards go?

Do they have their own version of Paradise?🤔

The boys and girls who do our round are great. They always leave a note telling me where they have left the parcel if I am not at home when they call.

Royal Mail isn't what it used to be. Increased prices and worsening service unfortunately. A glimpse inside our local sorting office reveals a chaotic system with letters and packages lying around all over the place. Should add that postmen/women who deliver our mail are friendly and helpful, though clearly unhappy about their working environment, shifts etc.

Oreo

AreWeThereYet

MrA is hypothesizing that it was nicked by someone in one of the depots then chucked away when they realised it wasn't something they wanted. A year later it was found by someone else and put in the deliveries.

😁😁

I bet you’re right!😆

Yes, I also think this is probably what happened. Although what there was about a small flat package, relatively heavy, but obviously containing something folded, to attract a potential thief, I cannot imagine.

The cards get stolen as they might have money in them
Honestly it’s such a poor service nowv

My daughter posted my birthday card at 4.30 in her local shop/post office in Nottinghamshire. She rang to apologise that she had missed the post. It arrived safely the next morning in Staffordshire before lunch!

But where do all the lost cards go?

AreWeThereYet

MrA is hypothesizing that it was nicked by someone in one of the depots then chucked away when they realised it wasn't something they wanted. A year later it was found by someone else and put in the deliveries.

😁😁

I bet you’re right!😆

MrA is hypothesizing that it was nicked by someone in one of the depots then chucked away when they realised it wasn't something they wanted. A year later it was found by someone else and put in the deliveries.

😁😁

I might add that the parcel was posted through the letterbox when we were out.

Correction.
No, first class stamp is £1.65, not £1.80.

Royal Mail are very poor. A friend of mine sent us a Golden Wedding card last year in August. It still hasn’t arrived. I sent a birthday card to my niece last November. That still hasn’t arrived arrived. I’ve recently ordered some personalised cards. They were ordered over two weeks ago and neither has arrived. If they still haven’t arrived in a few more days, I’ll let the vendors know and when this happens, they normally sent out the items again. Both were sent Royal Mail.

I think Royal Mail is a disgusting service, if it even qualifies as a service any longer. With the cost of a first class stamp being around £1.80 (I think) and the cost of the card (usually between £2 and £3) it makes the total loss around £4 to £5 just to send a card, and the cost to a vendor when goods go astray must be huge.

It didn't feel like drugs and from a UK retailer - all details on the label, who must send out a hundred parcels a day like this. the double bed covers got through alright.

One of life's great mysteries.

Does the Royal Mail have a dead-letter office for parcels?

I mean what do they do with al the parcels that drivers say no-one was at home to receive? Even although we were!

Do they just kick those parcels to the front of the van, until there isn't room for any more?

Has the parcel been to any address that looks remotely like yours (or doesn't, as the case may be?) or to every householder with a name like yours?

There are endless possibilities here, aren't there?