Lousy service from Royal Mail

Teacheranne Wed 30-Dec-20 23:27:21
I saw some photos of all the parcels stacked up in a huge Royal Mail warehouse in mid December and am not surprised some parcels were delayed.

That photo was taken in the Bristol sorting office. It was the postal workers union that used it to drum up sympathy, but come on, if you are looking for sympathy it's in the dictionary.

You see Royal Mail trucks with 500 years service displayed on them. 500 years and they still can't deliver on time.

What is annoying is that The Royal Mail suspend first class delivery throughout December, but the post office still ask if you want first or second class stamps.

And they have the cheek to increase the postage !

There's been no problem with the post where I live. We have a lovely cheerful postie.

We do have to remember that this year people have had to post more cards and gifts than ever before. They've done their utmost I'm sure.
I read that Royal mail were prioritising parcels over cards which I can understand.

Sharon103 how many Christmas cards have you received past Christmas day? We had four today, four yesterday and fourteen last Tuesday.

What did surprise me and I can't make up my mind if I'm pleased or not, Hermes delivered an Amazon package at eight am on Sunday 27th December. I'm pleased that it arrived, but not if it's exploiting low paid workers.

I only use Royal Mail for letters (small and large). The click and drop service is brilliant. I would not use them for any parcels.

I've sent five parcels with presents (Christmas and Birthday) this month. The last one was a week before Christmas Day. They all got to their destinations in two days. One parcel was nearly 3kg. All parcels were insured and they all cost nearly half what Royal Mail charge.

The company was HERMES. I've used them more and more this year for delivery (2-5 delivery rate). They have had a bad record, and it does depend on the couriers. However, I believe they've have really upped their game and I will continue to use them. The drop off is so easy. Much easier than queuing at the post office. My local PO is tiny so can only let one in at a time.

My daughter sent her present to me by HERMES and again it arrived safely after 3 days and was left in our safe place.

Our Hermes delivery lady {Beverly} is lovely.

Spangler you’re right re the photo taken in Bristol sorting office, wether or not used by postal workers union to drum up sympathy I wouldn’t know.
What I do l know however is that In Essex most sorting offices could have provided same picture .
My son is postie in this region and has been working seven days a week sometimes 12/15 hours a day. Their vans have been packed full with parcels to deliver that’s without the extra Christmas post to deliver , he has told me how demoralizing it has been to go out each day and come back to more and more parcels waiting to be delivered, so maybe a bit of sympathy wouldn’t go amiss.
All delivery firms suffered through the Christmas period and most posties have worked all through this pandemic so think we all need to be a bit more understanding as Hettie 58 said we can’t really expect normal service at present.

I can only echo what tinafl has said. My son a postie (currently off work with Covid) has worked continuously long, long hours to try and get the post out on time. Geekesse - walk a mile in a postmans shoes, have a little compassion please.

We can be quick to criticise or feel aggrieved when things go wrong but do not always notice when deliveries are smooth and efficient.
I have one collection a day in the village, around 4.15 and I regularly find that first class post arrives anywhere in the U.K. the next day!
Our postie is also a gem and has realised that if he does not want the unedifying sight of Maw in her pj’s, anything too big for the letterbox is absolutely fine on the doorstep!

I got a card yesterday, posted with first class stamp and postmarked 15th December, 15 days to come from the next county. The sorting machines have been eating the post too I have had three pieces of post in shreds and delivered in a plastic bag.
Our estate has one postbox with a collection at 9am on five days a week.
When I was a child you could post a letter in the morning and have it delivered by the second post at lunchtime.