Royal Mail delivery times

soolin

I'm getting seriously worried about my inward post again now. I have had no post at all, letter or parcel since last Thursday (4th). I barely buy from Amazon marketplace sellers any more but I did buy 4 second hand books from different sellers  all of which had estimated dates of 8th-10th, I also have 3 ebay items due on the 9-10th with no sign of them. We had heard locally that covid jab letters have gone out for delivery this week in my husband's category- and his has not arrived nor have some business related letters that we get regularly. 

I've tried phoning the local delivery office but can't get the phone answered, the telephone number I have is a bit old though so might be wrong.

I have only managed to speak to one neighbour who has also not seen a post delivery for about the same period. 

NBLondon

mimi1234 said:

Sorry to barge in on this thread but I have a question.  I sold 2 items for just under £100 to 2 different buyers.  Stupidly I sent them both 2nd class signed for thinking I might risk it and hopefully it will get to the buyers. 

Both were sent on the same day at the same time (12/01/2021) at the same PO.  One has been delivered and the other one is still saying dispatched.  When I check on the RM website, it says "we will update once we try to deliver".  As it happens, the one that is still in the process of being delivered is to a buyer who has 0 feedback!

The buyer has not asked me or opened a claim but I am not sure what to do.  Do I message and ask if the item has arrived or do I just stay quiet for now?  If they are new to eBay, they may not know the process.  Or could it be that the item has been delivered but RM doesn't always show this?  Any ideas?

soolin said:

Never ever contact a buyer -NEVER. It might have been delivered it might not, the buyer will be inundated with ads from eBay explaining about the buyer guarantee so will open a case if they need to. They have plenty of time yet to open an INR. 

I was about to ask a similar question...  So here's a followup.     Posted 2nd Signed for late on 3rd Feb; missed the last pickup time by a few minutes so effectively 4th Feb.   Reading the RM guidance, it would be due 8th or 9th Feb; officially late today but I can't claim for late delivery until 10 days after due date.    Is that right?

The buyer hasn't contacted me - if they do; I can point them to the tracking and say I'll claim from RM if necessary.  Any other advice?

soolin

NBLondon said:

mimi1234 said:

Sorry to barge in on this thread but I have a question.  I sold 2 items for just under £100 to 2 different buyers.  Stupidly I sent them both 2nd class signed for thinking I might risk it and hopefully it will get to the buyers. 

Both were sent on the same day at the same time (12/01/2021) at the same PO.  One has been delivered and the other one is still saying dispatched.  When I check on the RM website, it says "we will update once we try to deliver".  As it happens, the one that is still in the process of being delivered is to a buyer who has 0 feedback!

The buyer has not asked me or opened a claim but I am not sure what to do.  Do I message and ask if the item has arrived or do I just stay quiet for now?  If they are new to eBay, they may not know the process.  Or could it be that the item has been delivered but RM doesn't always show this?  Any ideas?

soolin said:

Never ever contact a buyer -NEVER. It might have been delivered it might not, the buyer will be inundated with ads from eBay explaining about the buyer guarantee so will open a case if they need to. They have plenty of time yet to open an INR. 

I was about to ask a similar question...  So here's a followup.     Posted 2nd Signed for late on 3rd Feb; missed the last pickup time by a few minutes so effectively 4th Feb.   Reading the RM guidance, it would be due 8th or 9th Feb; officially late today but I can't claim for late delivery until 10 days after due date.    Is that right?

The buyer hasn't contacted me - if they do; I can point them to the tracking and say I'll claim from RM if necessary.  Any other advice?

If buyer contacts you or opens a case and tracking does not show delivery then you need to be reassuring  to the buyer and see if you can delay a case (if one hasn't been opened) if you can. If a case has been opened then watch for the escalation date and refund *before* then. You will I hope have uploaded the tracking already to the sale so there is very little point in suggesting buyer checks tracking if that tracking doesn't show delivery, in fact in can be seen as slightly antagonistic as though it is nothing to do with you.

If item does not show as delivered then ultimately you must refund, your own RM case has no bearing on that at all. 

Your own RM claim can be started 10 working days after due date and won't be instant- I don't know what sort of time frame they are currently working to with refunds. It is therefore quite possible for a lost item to be refunded to the buyer well before you see any compensation. 

[Deleted User]

I had a lad knock on yesterday afternoon. He said he wanted to check I was actually in before he brought the stuff in. Huge pile of letters, 4 small parcels and a larger parcel, one parcel was even from November that I thought had went missing. 

NBLondon

soolin said:

If buyer contacts you or opens a case and tracking does not show delivery then you need to be reassuring  to the buyer and see if you can delay a case (if one hasn't been opened) if you can. If a case has been opened then watch for the escalation date and refund *before* then. You will I hope have uploaded the tracking already to the sale so there is very little point in suggesting buyer checks tracking if that tracking doesn't show delivery, in fact in can be seen as slightly antagonistic as though it is nothing to do with you.

If item does not show as delivered then ultimately you must refund, your own RM case has no bearing on that at all. 

Your own RM claim can be started 10 working days after due date and won't be instant- I don't know what sort of time frame they are currently working to with refunds. It is therefore quite possible for a lost item to be refunded to the buyer well before you see any compensation. 

Thanks - that confirms what I thought was the position.  The buyer feedback suggests they are both experienced and reasonable so I'll just keep checking and respond politely if they contact me.

One good thing - the item was one that was about to thrown out as surplus so I'm not actually losing out if I have to refund and then get something back from RM at a later stage.  

charlies_mum

Got a message from an irate elderly gentleman complaining that his wife’s 80th birthday card hadn’t arrived.   It was posted first class on 2nd February and despite showing him my click and drop report to prove this, he seemed to think it was my fault and said it was disgusting and totally unacceptable.  He opened an item not received case and I refunded and he has ordered one off amazon as this will “get there on time”.    Good luck with that ...

soolin

charlies_mum said:

Got a message from an irate elderly gentleman complaining that his wife’s 80th birthday card hadn’t arrived.   It was posted first class on 2nd February and despite showing him my click and drop report to prove this, he seemed to think it was my fault and said it was disgusting and totally unacceptable.  He opened an item not received case and I refunded and he has ordered one off amazon as this will “get there on time”.    Good luck with that ...

Strangely some of the things we are waiting for are cards, including a rather nice specialist one Ive had done for my OH’s birthday tomorrow, oh well, he always says not to make a fuss and not a single card has arrived, so we won’t.

I'm getting seriously worried now though, still no post since last Thursday , I can’t get through to the mail centre. I tried the number online and it just tells me all my questions can be answered online . I’ve got EBay and Amazon marketplace items several days past their last estimated dates, and in all conscience I obviously can’t open cases as it is the sellers fault I am not getting any post. 

I think if we don’t get post by Monday morning I’m going to queue up at the front desk at the mail centre and ask,(they are open until 10am on Monday) , just in case they have any updates. I’m not sure what else to do. 

martindow

soolin said:

Strangely some of the things we are waiting for are cards, including a rather nice specialist one Ive had done for my OH’s birthday tomorrow, oh well, he always says not to make a fuss and not a single card has arrived, so we won’t.

I seem to remember from a week or two ago, custardy saying that when offices are busy they prioritise packets over letters so that may be happening in your area.  They have obviously not put your OH's birthday in their diary so as to make an exception ...

prowla

The RM are raking in the money in postage charges and delivering an inferior service on the basis they're snowed under with all the extra work.

If I buy a 48 hr signed-for service, it'll arrive when it does and won't be signed for; however, they still advertise it as 48 and charge the full amount.

So no, I don't buy the "poor us doing our best for you" PR angle.

soolin

martindow said:

soolin said:

Strangely some of the things we are waiting for are cards, including a rather nice specialist one Ive had done for my OH’s birthday tomorrow, oh well, he always says not to make a fuss and not a single card has arrived, so we won’t.

I seem to remember from a week or two ago, custardy saying that when offices are busy they prioritise packets over letters so that may be happening in your area.  They have obviously not put your OH's birthday in their diary so as to make an exception ...

None of my ebay or Amazon marketplace items would be coming as a letter and as per my previous mentions some of those are getting upwards of a week past their last estimated delivery dates. Mention of the cards was merely an aside to respond to another post, and at least two of the missing cards were in parcels containing silly little gifts (parcel size) 

Still no post since the 4th Feb and we have got to the stage where we keep checking to see if we can see the usual van that they tend to park in our road when they do the local area - I was really hopeful that we might get some of the backlog today as well. At least my OH no longer has to worry about his covid jab letter as the GP surgery contacted him direct by Text on their scheme to book. 
I do understand the need to prioritise post but I don't think going over a week with no post is prioritising .