RM December strike days

in_the_Cotswolds

Just had this through. December strike days.

9th

11th

14th

15th

23rd

24th.

As a postie I am not impressed!!!

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the heads up.  I will start posting Christmas and December birthday cards asap. 

soolin

Thank you, I will remember to turn on my eBay holiday settings earlier than normal this year to avoid all the ‘if I buy today will you guarantee it for Christmas’ buyers who buy on the 23rd and opt for 2nd class . 

challengedavid

if they keep up the strike action, there will be no royal mail left

in_the_Cotswolds

This is my personal opinion that they might do a P&O.

GadgetGuru

Whatever you do, ensure adequate insurance coverage for valuable items!

soolin

I am not convinced that the wider public fully understand the impact of these strikes. I had one person Tuesday ask if they could buy something, upgrade to 1st class to ensure it was delivered by today. I apologised and said that due to the strikes the absolute earliest it could arrive was Friday, and even then it was very doubtful - but they thought 1st class would somehow bypass the strikes. I also offered them a courier- again no guarantee that they would get it by today- but they didn't like either the courier, or the price they charged for any sort of 'fast' service. (this was a sub £10 item).

There's also people on various  FB and other groups who think the strike didn't go ahead as their 'post office' was open when they walked past. My Crown PO is open but they are refusing parcels due to shortage of room and only taking letters if they fit in the post box, or doing other things like passports or just selling stamps. 

I have incidentally got holiday settings on to increase my estimated delivery times, but buyers don't seem to believe those.

EDIT- I just noticed that my latest feedback started with 'arrived 4 days late' and panicked - until I saw it was a positive that went on to say- 'but caused by RM strike, not seller so a 5* seller all round. 

KxMx

I had my delivery time DSR's dinged for the first time ever- I post no later than next working day, while listing states Other Courier 3-5 days, despatch time 5 working days. 
eBay said DSR's didn't fall under the seller protections offered during strike periods but would submit my feedback for review.
I'm not holding my breath but still annoyed! 

in_the_Cotswolds

Soolin what is probably confusing customers is there are posties working on strike days. They are delivering as many tracked and Special Delivery items as possible. They have possibly seen the vans driving around.

GadgetGuru

I think what confuses people is that a RM strike doesn't mean the entire company shuts down. On one day it could be a postman/woman strike. On another day it will be the sorting team on strike, so posties are still operating, and so on. 

soolin

The posts I am reading specifically link the idea that the 'Post Office' in their local High Street is open, so the RM strike has failed. They just cannot understand why sellers, especially on ebay, are blaming the strikes for delays in packages, when 'everyone' can see that the strike isn't really happening as only that day they bought stamps in the PO. 'Strike what strike?' appears to be a common misconception , with buyers urging other buyers to open INR cases purely on the basis of sellers lying about the strikes. Luckily I have not been affected yet but I have been using holiday settings to extend my dispatch time which has of course really impacted on my sales. I know that some areas are managing a tiny service, unfortunately not here where I live, and I will not cross a picket line to even go into the Mail centre, nor will I post using a PO firstly because I want to support the strike (I am aware that others have a different opinion, but that is my own personal opinion) and secondly because the local POs are not having any post collected anyway, so it's just sitting there openly in piles on the shop floor and they are now refusing to take more as it is becoming a safety hazard.