xmas mail

custardy

dunno what the deal is here but i'll post it anyway

http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=151901&command=displayContent&sourceNode=151727&contentPK=19352431&folderPk=86530&pNodeId=151458

Royal Mail has apologised after data for hundreds of parcels was lost when their computer system crashed.

The glitch meant that parcels that could not be delivered on December 18, 19 and 20 were not available for collection from Grimsby's Fotherby Street delivery office until today.Special delivery and recorded delivery items were not affected by the malfunction.

Royal Mail spokesman Graham Moore said: "If the problem had occurred in mid-summer then the damage would have been minimal, but at the busiest weekend of the year it couldn't have come at a worse time.

"The Royal Mail does apologise but, in this case, the problem did not stem from human error or a fault with our systems, it was merely a computer problem over which we had no control."

All data for the undelivered parcels has to be input manually before collections can recommence.

It is hoped systems will be put back online today.

soolin

Should we be getting any post today? My neighbour just knocked to ask me and I wasn't sure and we have usually seen the postman by now doing the houses opposite.

custardy

soolin wrote: »

Should we be getting any post today? My neighbour just knocked to ask me and I wasn't sure and we have usually seen the postman by now doing the houses opposite.

should be mail as 'normal' today

however if its anything like my office today its carnage.

i was on for a nightshift(midnight start) and waited @ 11.30pm for my lift(no buses) but no one showed after 30 minutes of waiting in the rain.
so i went home and went to bed and just went in for a 6am start.
seems my manager couldnt organise a lift on saturday butdidnt bother ot let me know even though he knew i would be out waiting!!:mad:

then today somehow they allowed 11 staff to have a leau day!! this is way to many and at most should have been 3 so we were massivly undestaffed with an office full of mail/packets :rolleyes:

you cant actually physically move around the office for trolleys!!! there are small 1-2ft gaps to work around.
its crazy.

soolin

Thanks custardy..I'll keep hoping then. I still have the postmans Christmas present waiting for him here as they took him off our round just before Christmas and put three temps on instead and I want to make sure my regular postie gets my gift.

custardy

http://www.guardian.co.uk/post/story/0,,2232104,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

The boom in online shopping has left many Britons queueing outside postal depots this morning as they try to pick up Christmas parcels they ordered over the internet.

Shoppers are expected to have spent almost £14bn online on Christmas shopping this year, 43% more than in 2006.

Reports yesterday claimed that some postal workers were putting a "Sorry, you were out" card straight through letterboxes rather than ringing the doorbell and attempting to deliver a parcel.

Article continues
Royal Mail, which is delivering more than 2bn letters and packages this Christmas season, denied the charge. "That is something that is not our standard practice at all - if there's isolated incidents here, it's unacceptable," a spokesman for the company said.

"We want to hand over the parcel. If someone's not there we leave a card. These claims have no credibility at all, the vast amount have been safely delivered."

Royal Mail has recently offered customers the chance to arrange redelivery for a specific date via the web. However, it admits parcels can arrive at any time between 7am and 6pm, and suggests customers go to a delivery office if they want their parcel quickly.

Complaints about the limited opening times at postal depots - many are only open during office hours and until noon on Saturdays - have increased as more and more shoppers have turned to the internet to buy their Christmas presents.

Post Office customers now spend an average of almost five minutes queueing at any time of the year - 42 seconds more than in 2006. Londoners and people living in the south-east waited the longest, and those in Northern Ireland the least. A survey by Postwatch, the industry watchdog, found that on average only six in ten counters were open.

Complaints about late or missing online shopping deliveries in the run-up to Christmas have risen by 29% year-on-year. But the government agency Consumer Direct said the rise was entirely due to the popularity of online shopping.

"Unfortunately the problem is that legally, unless the consumer has stated they needed their deliver for Christmas, the trader is allowed 30 days to deliver," a spokeswoman said. "A lot of it could be naivety on the consumer's part. What we're trying to do is steer consumers away from panic buying - if the goods are delivered after Christmas we don't feel there's necessarily anything to panic about."

A spokesman for the online retailer Amazon.co.uk said the company's delivery success rate had exceeded 99% this year. "It's been a massive Christmas for us and we've been filling demand for orders for 750,000 a day at peak. If anyone's left disappointed at Christmas, it's a very small percentage

check out those amazon sales figures!! :eek:

opening hours on the offices are unlikely to extend.if anything in our office they would like to cut them as 90 minutes per day are covered in scheduled attendence which is basically rota'd overtime

soolin

Still no post here so it looks like this end of the round won't be seeing any today unless they pay overtime again.

custardy

soolin wrote: »

Still no post here so it looks like this end of the round won't be seeing any today unless they pay overtime again.

possible.if it becomes(or is) a regular occurence then you should contact the DO manager.
you dont want to be on a duty that constantly fails or is cut for whatever reason

Noah'strolly

I'm still waiting for a present ordered on the 11th December and a replacement for an imcorrect item which was supposed to be sent on the 18th December, yet the psp game my son ordered on Christmas eve arrived today!
Are they sending out new mail before the backlog?

scbk

Last week I posted out 4 items second class at 5pm
All 4 reched their destinations the next day, received feedback from the furthest away (essex) at 11.30am

custardy

well here we are
a year later but with less staff :rolleyes:

Royal Mail recruits ‘address detectives’ as it prepares for festive postcode challenge

02/12/2008


Royal Mail has taken on more than 3,800 "address detectives" as it prepares to handle more than 300 million poorly addressed and written Christmas card and letters during the busy festive period.

Royal Mail expects to deliver more than two billion items over the festive period but estimates more than 300 million cards and letters will not be able to be read by its automated sorting machinery either because the postcode has not been included, the item has been poorly addressed or the handwriting style is difficult to read.

But more than 3,800 "address detectives" have been recruited for the festive season to support the 1,100-strong team who will decipher the addresses of items that cannot be read automatically so that the letters can still be processed by the sorting machinery rather than by hand.

Roy Allen, General Manager of the address detectives, said: "Mail volumes almost double on peak days in December and it is important that people properly address their Christmas cards and use the postcode. Letters and cards that have clearly written addresses and a postcode can be read by our machines and handled 20 times faster than by hand.

"Photographs of items that do not go through our sorting machinery, either because they do not have a postcode, or are poorly addressed, are called up on computer screens by our address detectives who use their skills to decipher the intended location and code the envelope so that it can still be sorted automatically rather than by hand."

He added: "Many of millions of items of mail handled by Royal Mail every year are incorrectly or poorly addressed but are still delivered to the right recipients thanks to the hard work, local knowledge and dedication of postmen and women across the UK.

"But people who take care with their addressing, and use the postcode, will help Royal Mail at its busiest time of the year."

To help people fully address their Christmas cards and letters, Royal Mail is encouraging people to find or check postcodes online, free of charge, by visiting https://www.royalmail.com.

Postcodes can also be checked by calling 08457 111 222.

To ensure people enjoy their Christmas cards for longer, Royal Mail is reminding customers to post their festive greetings well before the latest recommending last posting dates of Thursday 18 December for 2nd Class, 20 December for 1st Class, and 23 December for Special Delivery items.

Ends

Issued by Royal Mail:
148 Old Street
London
EC1V 9HQ
https://www.royalmail.com

Notes to editors:
The address detectives are employed in four sites during the festive period: Plymouth, Stockport, Stoke and Doxford.

posting dates
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/jump1?catId=400126&mediaId=17800253

xmas info leaflet PDF
ftp://ftp.royalmail.com/Downloads/public/ctf/rm/christmas_newyear_arrangements.pdf

web page
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content1?catId=500029&mediaId=85400737

To make things a little easier for you this Christmas, we’re extending our enquiry office opening hours between the 15th December until Christmas*. To make sure that you receive all your packages we’ve introduced new evening deliveries on Monday 22nd and Tuesday 23rd December. We’ve also introduced Sunday Redeliveries on Sunday 21st December.

Additionally, from the 1st to 30th December, we are waiving the 50p fee normally charged to redeliver your package to a Post Office.