Slow post - anyone else?

Norma_Desmond

In the last week or so I've had one eBay item arrive 6 days after being posted first class and one I'm still waiting for after 8 days - again first class.

Our post is normally very quick; surely the Christmas rush hasn't started already?

Contains_Mild_Peril

It seems to start earlier every year!

porto_bello

Yes - and No!

It's fast in places and slow in others. I sent an item 2nd class, from London, last Wednesday late afternoon and it was in the rural Scottish Highlands next morning!

Then again, a Birthday card from a London address to my London address, according to the postmark, took most of a week!

custardy

Contains_Mild_Peril wrote: »

It seems to start earlier every year!

Well staff levels go down every year


Let me tell you how things are

My old office has recently had an 'indoor revision'
It was decided the indoor work was not being performed efficiently.
This meant time was being lost,staff were later getting out on delivery & this was the cause for duties not being completed on time(staff shortages and duties that are too long simply dont exist on paper)

So they brought in a system where packets are all sorted in half 'york trolleys(rather than sacks and large items going in full sized yorks)
the way these half yorks are laid out,packets now require 'pre sorting' before final sorting.
this arrangement also takes up a lot more space

letter sorting was also changed. instead of letter & flat(A4) frames
you have 1 size 'fits' all frames with no backs so 'porters' can clear the mail(porters are just posties assigned to clear off mail during the sorting)
these frames are narrow and dont hold as much mail as the old flat frames,they are also awkward to clear.

So they have this new system.
The result. its no faster than the old system and now theres hardly any room to move.
even better. They dont have any room for the volume of packets that come in at Christmas,nor the packets that cant be delivered.
They are also cutting back on the packet duties that are usually run during December

of course all these frames,man hours to change etc cost a fair bit of money

So with this in mind. is it any wonder 'it' gets earlier every year

soolin

I've got a whinging buyer at the moment who says that it is 'unacceptable' that his item posted 5 working days ago 2nd class has not arrived as his stuff *always* gets there next day.

baffcat

soolin wrote: »

I've got a whinging buyer at the moment who says that it is 'unacceptable' that his item posted 5 working days ago 2nd class has not arrived as his stuff *always* gets there next day.

You could point out that it doesn't 'always' get there next day, otherwise he would have received yours already.

If he's adamant, then he should call RM to tell them it's 'unacceptable' that they've failed to deliver his post.

soolin

baffcat wrote: »

You could point out that it doesn't 'always' get there next day, otherwise he would have received yours already.

If he's adamant, then he should call RM to tell them it's 'unacceptable' that they've failed to deliver his post.

I fear I am not going to get very far with this buyer- he went for the attack actually on day 5 , but that was only 4 days from posting as he paid about 10pm in the evening on day 1. He reluctantly waited another whole day and now demands I do something 'immediately'

This item is less than £2 inckluding postage so I have said I'll send another- but his last missive was just 'so how do I know that one will arrive'

I am just going to send it and hope he gets more rational later.

marie-20

For us the post is starting to take longer to arrive - it started to get slower at the end of Oct.

'Most' things are still arriving next day/2 days by 1st class post but the ones that don't are now taking over a week so there doesn't seen to be any middle ground at all.

I had quite an interesting conversation with our local collections manager as they just dropped off some mail trays without warning or note and he said 'As part of our ongoing commitment to our customers we are asking our business customers to pre-sort their letters so that they are all facing the same way, upside down so that they can go straight onto the wagon without us having to sort them for you which on average for you takes us 3-4 staff at least 20 mins each and if you can do that we can ensure that your post arrives next day' - that is based on around 300 letter per day (not including LL and parcels and we are currently averaging over 500 letters a day) so being a good girl I did it for a couple of days and then spoke to my account manager who was astounded and disgusted that they had tried to get us to do it especially as we don't get the Parcel Sort tariff as I have had to ask an employee to work an extra hour a day to do it which is obviously at my cost - that said it has made NO difference to the delivery times!

porto_bello

soolin wrote: »

I've got a whinging buyer at the moment who says that it is 'unacceptable' that his item posted 5 working days ago 2nd class has not arrived as his stuff *always* gets there next day.

Some time ago, I had the same scenario. I offered to send the certificate of postage, confirming that I had sent the item next day. In response, the buyer said they could already tell from the postmark that I had sent it next day, but nonetheless, I had failed to get the item to them in good time.

I responded by saying that with regret I was unable to see how beyond despatching rapidly, I could possibly influence the speed of delivery or the mail system.

I could see that they frequently left critical remarks in their feedback left for others, but happily, I never heard any more. Unfortunately, though you can weed out the obvious rogues, you can't choose you buyers!

mum2twinsx2

Yes. I had two items posted first last Tuesday. They arrived 8pm tonight.

Contains_Mild_Peril

It's usually December before I get any evening deliveries of delayed mail.
Postal services aren't what they used to be... http://www.retronaut.com/2012/06/sending-a-child-through-the-post-1900/