Forwarding mail

hngrymummy

Word of mouth.

I work for a large multinational organisation. Supposing RM messes up the wedding invitations for the head of admin? She will most likely speak to the MD of the company and recommend a change of postal service for the company. Oh wait, she already has done. Just one comapny you say. But it spreads. Our clients say "Why don't you use RM anymore" so we exaplin that we get better customer service from a different company. They give it a go. It spreads

As for me being just a domestic customer who sends a few letters a year, don't forget how things spread. I use a different company and recommend it to 10 friends/colleagues/family members. 5 of them give it a go and then recommend it to their friends/family/colleagues. Suddenly 1 person is multiplied up to thousands of people.

And don't think that things like this don't happen. They do, and they can make or break companies. Just look at the banking sector. Once people lose confidence they leave en masse.

Customer good will is one of the most important things in business, and people will pay more for it.

ps they are not irrelevant moans, they are an example of how RM has destroyed customer good will and lost themselves business

custardy

hngrymummy wrote: »

Word of mouth.

I work for a large multinational organisation. Supposing RM messes up the wedding invitations for the head of admin? She will most likely speak to the MD of the company and recommend a change of postal service for the company. Oh wait, she already has done.

and who delivers that mail?

Just one comapny you say. But it spreads. Our clients say "Why don't you use RM anymore" so we exaplin that we get better customer service from a different company. They give it a go. It spreads

As for me being just a domestic customer who sends a few letters a year, don't forget how things spread. I use a different company and recommend it to 10 friends/colleagues/family members. 5 of them give it a go and then recommend it to their friends/family/colleagues. Suddenly 1 person is multiplied up to thousands of people.

And don't think that things like this don't happen. They do, and they can make or break companies. Just look at the banking sector. Once people lose confidence they leave en masse.

Customer good will is one of the most important things in business, and people will pay more for it.

ps they are not irrelevant moans, they are an example of how RM has destroyed customer good will and lost themselves business

perhaps you should look into how RM is shackled by regulation and the USO
Im not defending RM as theres loads they could improve but you seem to expect them to provide a public service eg free(at a loss) mail redirection and then have them compete as a business
you even compound this by stating your own employer has moved their contract.
do you really not see it?

Customer good will is one of the most important things in business, and people will pay more for it.

did your employer choose the other company for customer goodwill at a premium?

hngrymummy

My employer moved business because of poor customer relations from RM. It's RM's fault in this case. Why should my employer waste the money that it's employee's bring in. Why should we ruin our competitiveness by sticking with a company that loses documents?

Yes they do pay extra for the different service, but the attitude is that they would rather pay for the better service than lose important documents and risk losing contracts because RM have bad customer service and fail to deliver mail on time. So in the long run, it's cheaper to pay more to have our mail delivered by someone else.

RM are compounding their own problem by chasing customers away with bad customer service. We are not doing that for them.

It's nonsense to think that people will keep with a company that provides bad customer service just because they feel sorry for a them. If they really want to compete then they need to provide good customer service. That's competitive. Losing/ruining mail is not competitive. It's one of the first things that anyone working with the public, or trying to win business learns. Good customer relations are key to business success. Once good will has gone, it's almost impossible to win back.

But I can see that you have your head in the sand and refuse to see that RM has a bad business ethic when it comes to providing customer service.

Well good luck to you and RM, if things continue this way they'll need it.

custardy

hngrymummy wrote: »

My employer moved business because of poor customer relations from RM. It's RM's fault in this case. Why should my employer waste the money that it's employee's bring in. Why should we ruin our competitiveness by sticking with a company that loses documents?

Yes they do pay extra for the different service, but the attitude is that they would rather pay for the better service than lose important documents and risk losing contracts because RM have bad customer service and fail to deliver mail on time. So in the long run, it's cheaper to pay more to have our mail delivered by someone else.

RM are compounding their own problem by chasing customers away with bad customer service. We are not doing that for them.

It's nonsense to think that people will keep with a company that provides bad customer service just because they feel sorry for a them. If they really want to compete then they need to provide good customer service. That's competitive. Losing/ruining mail is not competitive. It's one of the first things that anyone working with the public, or trying to win business learns. Good customer relations are key to business success. Once good will has gone, it's almost impossible to win back.

But I can see that you have your head in the sand and refuse to see that RM has a bad business ethic when it comes to providing customer service.

Well good luck to you and RM, if things continue this way they'll need it.

but the problem is RM dont have a clear run at the business
they are not a public service but not a business
they are regulated and hamstrung by the USO
how can it be a free market when RM are forbid from undercutting their rivals but still have to deliver their mail?

swingaloo

RM does people a service, and promotes their good will by redirecting mail for free. Especially in the case of old people who have suddenly had to move to a care home, or when people have died. I very much suspect that if they were to stop doing it then they would lose even more business by losing customers' good will.

No mail should be forwarded free of charge. There is a 'redirection service' available which many people use. Why should they pay when others simply write on the envelope and pop it back in the box for what is really a free delivery as the original delivery paid for has already been completed. I know some posties will automatically re direct if a customer they know has moved to another street or road but its not a standard practice.

There is also the issue of using other companies. A lot of people dont realise that Royal Mail do the 'final mile' for a pittance on this mail. It comes through the door with another company logo on but the delivery has been done by the postie.

I also believe that if any other company were to deliver to every location (instead of cherry picking) evry day of the week and carry the volumes that RM do then they would soon come unstuck and people would not be so quick then to blame RM.

The RM also have a terrible management with ridiculous procedures in place. The guys at the top are the problem.

Savvy_Sue

So, I should pay to redirect post which was never intended for me in the first place? - my house name is similar to a large govt establishment the other side of the city and there IS confusion! And I should pay to redirect post to the previous residents of this house which has been delivered in error, even though they have paid for the official redirection service?

And when DS2 moves out, it will be virtually impossible to get his post redirected officially, because he shares an initial with DH and won't use his middle initial! Even if he would use it, I can't see RM distinguishing very effectively. I can work out what most letters are from the return address or the postcode so don't need to open DS2's.

custardy

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

So, I should pay to redirect post which was never intended for me in the first place? - my house name is similar to a large govt establishment the other side of the city and there IS confusion! And I should pay to redirect post to the previous residents of this house which has been delivered in error, even though they have paid for the official redirection service?
thats not redirecting is it?
And when DS2 moves out, it will be virtually impossible to get his post redirected officially, because he shares an initial with DH and won't use his middle initial! Even if he would use it, I can't see RM distinguishing very effectively. I can work out what most letters are from the return address or the postcode so don't need to open DS2's.put postage on it it when you send it on then

its not rocket science
you want a service then pay for it
do you feel because a name i the same you should get a free redirection service?
with all these calls for RM to be privitised, i dont get the juxtaposition of folks expecting it to run like a public service?

swingaloo

So, I should pay to redirect post which was never intended for me in the first place? - my house name is similar to a large govt establishment the other side of the city and there IS confusion! And I should pay to redirect post to the previous residents of this house which has been delivered in error, even though they have paid for the official redirection service?

No one is suggesting you pay, pop it back in the post box and then let RM do the job it should have done first time. But that is a sdifferent issue to sending mail on to another addresss when you know someone has moved and expecting that to be delivered free of charge.

Surreystarlet

Gosh - I kind of regret asking the question in the first place - I seem to created a lot of bickering :-(

Custardy - I don't expect my mail to be delivered for free - I was just asking what the official policy on this is.

Just for interests sake - the postman quite happily delivered 3 forwarded pieces of mail for my flatmate yesterday - obviously consistency isn't my sorting offices strong point!!!

Savvy_Sue

Well, despite Custardy's and swingaloo's opposition, I'm not aware of the policy having changed.

Which is that if you write the correct address on an item, and pop it back in the post, it should be redelivered at no extra charge.

And that's the way it has been for as long as I can remember.

And not that you'll care, but I redirect far more letters which aren't for anyone here than I do letters for my sons who are temporarily not here.

Did the item you were charged for have any postage already, or had it been opened?