Post box collection times

cepheus

It is 16:00 Saturday, I've suddenly found I need to post something from a medium sized town in E Berkshire to Gt Manchester by late Tuesday, surely this should be easy?

The last collection in every post box round were I live is about 12:30 Saturday so I have missed it, and the next post according to the post box outside the nearest post office is 17:00 Monday! Surely there is a way of getting post there more quickly without driving to an even busier post office?

Do the post offices themselves collect and deliver post on a more regular basis than the post boxes outside them?

tanith

You could get it couriered DHL collect from the door or if you have a Homebase nearby you can send it from there... of course its not cheap but if its urgent.. sorry don't know about the Post Office..

http://www.dhl.co.uk/en/express/domestic_services/domestic_time_definite.html

maginot

Saturday collections have always been 12.30 for whatever city i have been in. Some busier post offices will be open and take your parcel/letter but will still not be sorted until Monday!
If you post it first class on Monday it should arrive by Tuesday, although the only way to be 100% is to send it special delivery!

korky69

cepheus wrote: »

It is 16:00 Saturday, I've suddenly found I need to post something from a medium sized town in E Berkshire to Gt Manchester by late Tuesday, surely this should be easy?

The last collection in every post box round were I live is about 12:30 Saturday so I have missed it, and the next post according to the post box outside the nearest post office is 17:00 Monday! Surely there is a way of getting post there more quickly without driving to an even busier post office?

Do the post offices themselves collect and deliver post on a more regular basis than the post boxes outside them?

in our morrisons, the post box gives the time of the main office which has a late collection, try that, though not sure on the weekends, there are no collections on sundays now

mildred1978

There's a post office at the new supermarket near here that has long opening hours including Saturdays and Sundays. I know of a few in different towns.

Whereabouts are you? There might be one near you.

KxMx

12:30/1pm is the latest you will get anywhere for a Saturday collection.

The best you can do via RM is stamp it with a First Class stamp and pop it into a box now. That way it'll get picked up Monday (hopefully early).

The 5pm time given for Monday is the last collection- but additional collections are often done throughout the day before that time. At my local PO box (on the street) they do 2-3 collections a day before the final one.

Azari

It is, sadly, all part of the slow and seemingly unstoppable, decline of the British postal system.

Collections get earlier and earlier and deliveries later and later as well as more and more erratic.

In the eight years I've lived at my current address the last weekday collection has changed, from 17:15 to 15:30, a half or a quarter of an hour at a time - the Saturday collection from 13:00 to 11:30. A few years ago the collection from the main sorting office at 13:00 Sunday was abandoned.

I_luv_cats

ftp://ftp.royalmail.com/Downloads/public/ctf/rm/Collection_and_Delivery_times.pdf

I think it would be better to use "Special Delivery" on Monday, if your mail has to get there by Tuesday. (as suggested earlier)

In the past I had noticed on some boxes a notice of a later collection time elsewhere including Sundays BUT times have changed.

cepheus

KxMx wrote: »

12:30/1pm is the latest you will get anywhere for a Saturday collection.

The best you can do via RM is stamp it with a First Class stamp and pop it into a box now. That way it'll get picked up Monday (hopefully early).

The 5pm time given for Monday is the last collection- but additional collections are often done throughout the day before that time. At my local PO box (on the street) they do 2-3 collections a day before the final one.

A collection Monday morning would be fine, but that is what is confusing me, I need to know the approx collection times not the last collection, which is useless.

I could take it to the massive supermarket complex a few miles away, but it is not quite that important. Suppose, I am having a rant about poor communication as much as poor post after walking around the estate for half an hour with the same time on all the post boxes, late Monday! Perhaps they don't wish to be committed to a collection until 5pm Monday?

Azari

cepheus wrote: »

A collection Monday morning would be fine, but that is what is confusing me, I need to know the approx collection times not the last collection, which is useless.

Why do you say that the last collection on Monday is useless?

If RM are working well, something collected at 5pm can reach most of the population in the next day's post. If they are not working well you could have posted it on Friday and it might not turn up.

cepheus

I've just read this piece of wisdom from Wiki!

Since 2005, most Royal Mail post boxes have had the time of only the last collection of the day listed on the box, with no indication of whether the box is cleared at other times earlier in the day. The reason given for this by the Royal Mail is that they needed to increase the type size of the wording on the "plate" listing the collection times to improve legibility for those with poor sight and that consequently there was insufficient room for listing all collection times throughout the day. Some post boxes may indicate the next collection time by a metal 'tab' or dial that can be changed while the box is open. The tab displays a day or number, each number corresponding to a different time shown on the plate.

Great excuse, having perfect eyesight is now useless, you need to be psychic to know the times of collection!:rotfl:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_box