Amazon prime delivery method has yours changed recently ?

Kite2010

I had a theory when cooking food, isn't Special Delivery for account customers going to start having VAT added at the end of the month?

ftp://ftp.royalmail.com/Downloads/public/ctf/rm/VAT_on_Postal_Services_document_for_publication.pdf (Special Delivery Next Day (on Account))

Could they be trying to cut down on the total paid to the Royal Mail be switching to a VAT exempt service?

(My guess is that pretty soon the government will try and get every postage service other than basic 2nd class Vat-able to get a little bit extra money)

Doc_N

I'm puzzled by all these posts talking of a change in practice. In three years of Amazon Prime, only around half the things I've ordered have ever come by anything other than First Class mail. Large items tend to come City Link, but anything small almost always just comes First Class, and always has done.

Nilrem

Doc_N wrote: »

I'm puzzled by all these posts talking of a change in practice. In three years of Amazon Prime, only around half the things I've ordered have ever come by anything other than First Class mail. Large items tend to come City Link, but anything small almost always just comes First Class, and always has done.

I think a large part of it is that because RM have been pretty abysmal this year people are spotting it.
First Class is normally next day - but the past couple of months have seen that go completely down the pan in some areas (and I suspect it would take Amazon a long time to find any courier capable of taking over for small items).


I've had a first class item from a PC retailer posted on Tuesday arrive today, which says to me that RM are completely and utterly in shambles, as they never do Sunday deliveries unless they are in serious trouble with the number of packages that are late, or in danger of being late.

custardy

Nilrem wrote: »

I think a large part of it is that because RM have been pretty abysmal this year people are spotting it.
First Class is normally next day - but the past couple of months have seen that go completely down the pan in some areas (and I suspect it would take Amazon a long time to find any courier capable of taking over for small items).


I've had a first class item from a PC retailer posted on Tuesday arrive today, which says to me that RM are completely and utterly in shambles, as they never do Sunday deliveries unless they are in serious trouble with the number of packages that are late, or in danger of being late.

I have been saying for quite some time, that people will only realise how bad the cuts in RM have been when it hits them.
well here it is.
the weather this year has been a gift to RM. this Christmas would have been a shambles without the weather.
the cuts are biting. i could give you multiple links to news storys all over the UK about the chaos brought in by RMs modernisation programme

Doc_N

custardy wrote: »

I have been saying for quite some time, that people will only realise how bad the cuts in RM have been when it hits them.
well here it is.
the weather this year has been a gift to RM. this Christmas would have been a shambles without the weather.
the cuts are biting. i could give you multiple links to news storys all over the UK about the chaos brought in by RMs modernisation programme

Anti-privatisation sentiment by RM staff isn't helping, either. And the worse the situation gets the greater the clamour for privatisation by people (such as me) who were previously strong supporters of RM against privatisation.

Once it happens, though, the staff aren't going to know what hit them - though I think they might already have a pretty good idea! No more Spanish practices, that's for sure.

custardy

Doc_N wrote: »

Anti-privatisation sentiment by RM staff isn't helping, either. And the worse the situation gets the greater the clamour for privatisation by people (such as me) who were previously strong supporters of RM against privatisation.

Once it happens, though, the staff aren't going to know what hit them - though I think they might already have a pretty good idea! No more Spanish practices, that's for sure.

pfft Spanish practices? when it suits RM
you are talking about pre revision offices
my old office has been following RMs new delivery design for over 18 months now.
there is never a day where all the duties can be completed within the duty times. i repeat never
the office is in tatters. on Friday the senior managers were in prepping and taking out deliveries. yup the sector manager for Central Scotland was out on the street.good use of managers?
there was no extra staff brought in for Christmas. now in an office that cant be cleared in normal hours during the year.what do you think happens at Christmas?
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/Royal-Mail-pledges-to-deliver.6684002.jp
Every office in the city has backlogs.
guess whats happening in my old office right now?
more cuts and revisions to drop the staff levels further.
staff are opposed to privitisation as they have seen whats happened in RM. privitisation will just bring more of the same. If it meant redundancies with decent packages then many would jump at the chance.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/christmas-gifts-undelivered-cupw-112767754.html

where did the new head of RM come from?

Nilrem

custardy wrote: »

I have been saying for quite some time, that people will only realise how bad the cuts in RM have been when it hits them.
well here it is.
the weather this year has been a gift to RM. this Christmas would have been a shambles without the weather.
the cuts are biting. i could give you multiple links to news storys all over the UK about the chaos brought in by RMs modernisation programme

Aye, I waas fairly sure the cuts/changes by RM management wouldn't be for the good going by a lot of comments from posties I've spoken to (including my old regular one).
The fact that they are still trying to clear the backlog even now, and even new items entering the system are being delayed shows to me that they've at best stripped the system of any level of redundancy required to help when a problem crops up, at worst as you say they've stripped it of the ability to work under normal conditions.

But that is to be expected from something that is being run as a business rather than as a service by senior management who from what I've heard are now largely people who never did a serious stint on the rounds.


Of course, most people will be blaming the delivery guys, rather than the people that make the decisions and set the routes/manning levels.

nicp60

Well I got home yesterday afternoon to a blue post card through the door. RM tried to deliver when I was out (it was a Sunday, after all!) and I had a card from the Christmas season (complete with opening times over the festive period) for a postal office 20 miles away!
The card asked me to wait 48 hours before collection (an improvement on the usual 72), but I called them this morning on the off-chance.
My item wasn't at the office I had the card for, but at my usual collection office.

It turns out this was the item originally sent on 28th December, not the replacement sent last week which means I can't use it anyway!

First Class, no signature required, with PREMIUM stamped on the front. Whatever that means.

Imho, Amazon is taking the p*** by sending prime/next-day orders by First Class post, but RM seem to be in such dire straits at the moment that the combination results in shocking customer service and delivery times.

Kite2010

The order which Amazon said "get it by Saturday" still hasn't arrived!

However 2 pre-orders Amazon stuck in the post on Saturday using bog-standard "first-class" arrived today.

Annabee

I had three orders which didn't arrive in time for Xmas, so I refused delivery (as instructed by Amazon) when they did turn up, as I had already bought replacement gifts in the shops. Amazon had refunded me, so lost those sales, plus whatever it cost them for delivery.

I wonder how much money Amazon have lost this Christmas by over-relying on Royal Mail?