Royal Mail taking money for a service they may or may not provide!

aliasojo

I am waiting on a delivery. A delivery of frozen meat.

It was sent by ParcelForce Express 24 which is supposedly a guaranteed next day delivery service. It arrived in Scotland when it was supposed to but it went downhill once the Royal Mail local delivery service got their hands on it.

The parcels have apparently been in the back of the van driving round central Scotland for most of the day, having left the depot this morning.

It's particularly warm here today, the inside of my car was roasting this afternoon.

It's late in the day now, Royal Mail say the consignment may not get to me until tomorrow.

The meat is in polystyrene containers which is supposed to help insulate but I'm not confident it will still be frozen tomorrow especially after today's road trip.

Thankfully the company are happy for me to refuse delivery and will send out fresh if needed but it's rather annoying that the Royal Mail can't provide the service it charged for and emailed me about to tell me when the delivery would be.

Over the last 2 years I have had endless issues with the redirection service I paid handsomely for and many issues with parcels not arriving when they were supposed to.

My postie is lovely and I'm well aware the individuals that work for the Royal Mail by and large do a good job, but there is a serious drop in standards and the service that's provided now is distinctly shoddy imo.

It's about time they got their act together and worked on the problems they have imo.

/rant off.

gazebo

just wondering something - you do know that Royal Mail and Parcelforce are seperate companies?

As such, if it's been sent by Parcelforce Worldwide 24hr service, it is Parcelforce who would be delivering it.

You do mention local delivery office and you also mention Royal Mail and tracking information. I'm wondering if the company who have sent the items have sent it via the Royal Mail 24 Tracked delivery service instead of the Parcelforce Worldwide service.

All of this is irrelevant really though, as the service you have paid for, you have not received, so a complaint is justified, so long as you complain to the correct people.

gazebo

so the two options available technically speaking are http://www.parcelforce.com/send-uk/non-account-services/next-day-delivery/prices

and http://www.royalmail.com/parcel-despatch-medium/uk-delivery/royal-mail-tracked-24-and-48

but if it had been sent through Royal Mail, given the perishable nature of the goods, Special Delivery, which gives a guarantee of delivery before a specified time (9am or 1pm) would have been the more appropriate method of postage.

aliasojo

Yes, I do realise they are different entities.

ParcelForce Worldwide picked up the parcels and transported them so far then handed them over to Royal Mail who were then supposed to deliver them.

It was tracked by ParcelForce up until the point it was handed over in Edinburgh.

It was definitely the Express 24 service.

It was ParcelForce Worldwide themselves who sent me an email confirming what service was used and provided a link to track the parcels. It was also them who confirmed via telephone that Edinburgh Royal Mail had the parcels. It all went downhill from there on in. They also asked Edinburgh Royal Mail to contact me with an update....that also didn't happen. Just shoddy service all round from the Royal Mail.

gazebo

ok, thank you for clarifying

Storck

Part of Parcelforce prohibitions and restrictions state that all fresh food should be able to last at least 48 hrs in transit and must use the next day delivery option. They must also be marked as perishable.

If the meat can not last at least 48 hrs transit then it should not have been sent by Parcelforce.

earthstorm

also if the sender sends frozen food on a regular basis then why do they use a standard courier rather than use a specialist frozen food courier http://www.sameday-couriers.co.uk/frozen-courier.html

Storck

Also depends where in Scotland it is going. Some areas the Express 24 may take 2 or even 3 days.

aliasojo

Storck wrote: »

Also depends where in Scotland it is going. Some areas the Express 24 may take 2 or even 3 days.

Ok, I'm just your 'average joe', simple soul me........I'm now left wondering why can they tout a service as Express 24 if it can take 2 or 3 days.

There's an Express 48 too....does that take a week?!

aliasojo

Storck wrote: »

Part of Parcelforce prohibitions and restrictions state that all fresh food should be able to last at least 48 hrs in transit and must use the next day delivery option. They must also be marked as perishable.

If the meat can not last at least 48 hrs transit then it should not have been sent by Parcelforce.

Fresh isn't the same as frozen though?

molerat

From http://www.parcelforce.com/send-uk/non-account-services/next-day-delivery

+Extended delivery times exist for outlying areas. Visit our UK delivery speed page to confirm.

Which gives

express24 Guaranteed 2 working days
express48Guaranteed 3 working days
express large Guaranteed 3 working days

for my post code. Check to see if they have given the service offered.