Royal Mail non delivery

jimbo49

hi. am i allowed to add personal experiences to this post, i wonder and get some advice from members? i sure hope so! on that note, i will add what has happened to me and see what happens, as i cannot find a button to create a new post!

anyway, 2 years ago i sent a letter, posted 1st class to be signed for on delivery, to my local area General Hospital. not knowing that there was a time limit on reporting that a letter has gone 'astray', when i reported it, i was told that my reporting was outside of the 10 day limit set by Royal Mail. this seemed rather ridiculous because i had no idea the letter had NOT been delivered and the tracking info produced no result. basically, the failure to deliver the mail, that contained medical information, was poo-pood off. there seemed to be nothing else i could do so had to grim and bear it!

this year, 2024, i had occasion to send another letter, posted 1st class, to be signed for on delivery, (to a different hospital), only to find that exactly the same thing had occured! i tried the track and trace, as i had done 2 years previously, and got the same result that the letter had NOT been delivered. again, i reported this to Royal Mail and again was told i had reported it after the 10 day Royal Mail deadline. further, as i had suggested over the first letter that disappeared, that it should be able to be traced as the record should be retained under the Data Retention Regulations for at least 3 years. the result i received from Royal Mail was that they only retain customer complaints and info for a max of 12 months. how can that be right? surely they are not allowed to write their own rules, contrveening what i believe to be the law, are they? what is really concerning is that both the letters i sent, both 1st class postage with signed for delivery were just not found and no concern was shown by Royal Mail. is it simply that Royal Mail allow mail to be 'disappeared' simply because it's to be signed for, or maybe signed for by a hospital representative? surly as any hospital is involved, there should be even more care and concern taken to ensure the information is received as it should be and that no medical or otherwise information suddenly disappears? what about the delivery person? should he/she not take  the utmost care to ensure mail is received correctly, ie, signed for and not just 'disappeared'?

the information was both medical and personal, so where did it go? what if i had died because the information was 'lost' (i believe deliberately destroyed or thrown away), would Royal Mail have been in the least bit interested, charged with an offence for keeping medical information from the hospitals? i'd like to know the answer to that! how can Royal Mail get away with this behaviour? how can it charge for a service then poo poo off the failure to carry out that paid for service? surely it's obtaining monies under false pretences, isn't it? it has now closed this second failure, showing yet again, a complete lack of interest and concern!

if i did something wrong, then i'd like to know what because i very much doubt that i am the only person in this position!

i look forward to comments

prowla

MouldyOldDough said:

prowla said:

The RM delivered an item to me (RM Tracked 24) a couple of weeks ago.

It arrived next day and was left in a "safeplace", which was outside my front door, in full view of the street (their photo attached).

Fortunately, nobody nabbed it; however, if it had disappeared then I would've disputed whether that constituted "delivered" and whether the place was particularly "safe".

Just saying the RM may think they've delivered the item, but they're not particularly careful and if they place it like mine then it could easily go missing if someone takes a fancy to it.

Someone's been in - throughout the past two weeks - so it hasn't been "delivered"

I'm sure I've been in on occasion and then noticed something at the front door.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Peter999_2 said:

Unfortunately it looks as though the Royal Mail service has plummeted.  I bought an expensive item from Ebay.  It was posted on Monday using a 24 hour tracked service - it didn't turn up until Friday.

Service tends to suffer in the summer as more staff are off on holiday. 

Where we live they've been looking for a new member of staff for our round for around a year, 6 people have tried, only one stuck and was good so got moved to a harder round. 

Given we are rural, once you learn where all the house are (so many places with no house names or numbers or random houses half a mile up a dirt track) the round should be easy compared to in the cities.

The regular posties do say Royal Mail are really piling on the workload but it does make you wonder about the ability of people to work these days, full time jobs are few and far between round here and whilst the job may not be as good as it was they are still employees (compared to some of the other couriers whose drivers are self employed) so I would have thought it was a decent job to have.

Sadly Royal Mail is being dragged down by the rest of the industry to their level, apart from a third party company who does deliveries for DHL and a few others, Royal Mail are still the best round here. 

Only company that will reliably collect from our door for a fair price as well. 

Best bet with service issues is to see if you can talk to the depot or catch the postie and ask what is going on. 

cannugec5

jimbo49 said:

hi. am i allowed to add personal experiences to this post, i wonder and get some advice from members? i sure hope so! on that note, i will add what has happened to me and see what happens, as i cannot find a button to create a new post!

anyway, 2 years ago i sent a letter, posted 1st class to be signed for on delivery, to my local area General Hospital. not knowing that there was a time limit on reporting that a letter has gone 'astray', when i reported it, i was told that my reporting was outside of the 10 day limit set by Royal Mail. this seemed rather ridiculous because i had no idea the letter had NOT been delivered and the tracking info produced no result. basically, the failure to deliver the mail, that contained medical information, was poo-pood off. there seemed to be nothing else i could do so had to grim and bear it!

this year, 2024, i had occasion to send another letter, posted 1st class, to be signed for on delivery, (to a different hospital), only to find that exactly the same thing had occured! i tried the track and trace, as i had done 2 years previously, and got the same result that the letter had NOT been delivered. again, i reported this to Royal Mail and again was told i had reported it after the 10 day Royal Mail deadline. further, as i had suggested over the first letter that disappeared, that it should be able to be traced as the record should be retained under the Data Retention Regulations for at least 3 years. the result i received from Royal Mail was that they only retain customer complaints and info for a max of 12 months. how can that be right? surely they are not allowed to write their own rules, contrveening what i believe to be the law, are they? what is really concerning is that both the letters i sent, both 1st class postage with signed for delivery were just not found and no concern was shown by Royal Mail. is it simply that Royal Mail allow mail to be 'disappeared' simply because it's to be signed for, or maybe signed for by a hospital representative? surly as any hospital is involved, there should be even more care and concern taken to ensure the information is received as it should be and that no medical or otherwise information suddenly disappears? what about the delivery person? should he/she not take  the utmost care to ensure mail is received correctly, ie, signed for and not just 'disappeared'?

the information was both medical and personal, so where did it go? what if i had died because the information was 'lost' (i believe deliberately destroyed or thrown away), would Royal Mail have been in the least bit interested, charged with an offence for keeping medical information from the hospitals? i'd like to know the answer to that! how can Royal Mail get away with this behaviour? how can it charge for a service then poo poo off the failure to carry out that paid for service? surely it's obtaining monies under false pretences, isn't it? it has now closed this second failure, showing yet again, a complete lack of interest and concern!

if i did something wrong, then i'd like to know what because i very much doubt that i am the only person in this position!

i look forward to comments

Hospital post just goes to a generic administration department. Nobody or anybody can sign it. 

This is not a Royal Mail issue, but more a busy Hospital issue. 

Sorry, I know I’m not helping. 

MouldyOldDough

prowla said:

MouldyOldDough said:

prowla said:

The RM delivered an item to me (RM Tracked 24) a couple of weeks ago.

It arrived next day and was left in a "safeplace", which was outside my front door, in full view of the street (their photo attached).

Fortunately, nobody nabbed it; however, if it had disappeared then I would've disputed whether that constituted "delivered" and whether the place was particularly "safe".

Just saying the RM may think they've delivered the item, but they're not particularly careful and if they place it like mine then it could easily go missing if someone takes a fancy to it.

Someone's been in - throughout the past two weeks - so it hasn't been "delivered"

I'm sure I've been in on occasion and then noticed something at the front door.

Still waiting for the delivery

I've been on to the seller who wants me to wait another 2 days - before refunding in full

No idea where the parcel is

Okell

cannugec5 said:

jimbo49 said:

hi. am i allowed to add personal experiences to this post, i wonder and get some advice from members? i sure hope so! on that note, i will add what has happened to me and see what happens, as i cannot find a button to create a new post!

anyway, 2 years ago i sent a letter, posted 1st class to be signed for on delivery, to my local area General Hospital. not knowing that there was a time limit on reporting that a letter has gone 'astray', when i reported it, i was told that my reporting was outside of the 10 day limit set by Royal Mail. this seemed rather ridiculous because i had no idea the letter had NOT been delivered and the tracking info produced no result. basically, the failure to deliver the mail, that contained medical information, was poo-pood off. there seemed to be nothing else i could do so had to grim and bear it!

this year, 2024, i had occasion to send another letter, posted 1st class, to be signed for on delivery, (to a different hospital), only to find that exactly the same thing had occured! i tried the track and trace, as i had done 2 years previously, and got the same result that the letter had NOT been delivered. again, i reported this to Royal Mail and again was told i had reported it after the 10 day Royal Mail deadline. further, as i had suggested over the first letter that disappeared, that it should be able to be traced as the record should be retained under the Data Retention Regulations for at least 3 years. the result i received from Royal Mail was that they only retain customer complaints and info for a max of 12 months. how can that be right? surely they are not allowed to write their own rules, contrveening what i believe to be the law, are they? what is really concerning is that both the letters i sent, both 1st class postage with signed for delivery were just not found and no concern was shown by Royal Mail. is it simply that Royal Mail allow mail to be 'disappeared' simply because it's to be signed for, or maybe signed for by a hospital representative? surly as any hospital is involved, there should be even more care and concern taken to ensure the information is received as it should be and that no medical or otherwise information suddenly disappears? what about the delivery person? should he/she not take  the utmost care to ensure mail is received correctly, ie, signed for and not just 'disappeared'?

the information was both medical and personal, so where did it go? what if i had died because the information was 'lost' (i believe deliberately destroyed or thrown away), would Royal Mail have been in the least bit interested, charged with an offence for keeping medical information from the hospitals? i'd like to know the answer to that! how can Royal Mail get away with this behaviour? how can it charge for a service then poo poo off the failure to carry out that paid for service? surely it's obtaining monies under false pretences, isn't it? it has now closed this second failure, showing yet again, a complete lack of interest and concern!

if i did something wrong, then i'd like to know what because i very much doubt that i am the only person in this position!

i look forward to comments

Hospital post just goes to a generic administration department. Nobody or anybody can sign it. 

This is not a Royal Mail issue, but more a busy Hospital issue. 

Sorry, I know I’m not helping. 

That's what I was going to say.  It's a waste of money sending stuff to a hospital "signed for".  RM won't ask for a signature and nobody will sign for it otherwise each delivery would take hours and hours.  Just send it first class.

I did wonder if @jimbo49 knew for a fact that those two letters had not been delivered or whether they had simply assumed they hadn't been delivered because the tracking said there was no signature(?).

jimbo49

i checked on delivery and was told there was no trace of these letters being delivered at all! nor had any trace of the letters been found. this just seems like a total con by Royal Mail/Post Office. customers are charged for a service required but those responsible dont give a monkies t++s! now add in the increase AGAIN in postage costs and the removal of the 2nd class service being on the cards and then tell me what is the ROYAL MAIL/POST OFFICE actually worth? has any of the top people lost the service when they need to use it or had their mail disappear of the Planet? i very much doubt it!!

swingaloo

cannugec5 said:

jimbo49 said:

hi. am i allowed to add personal experiences to this post, i wonder and get some advice from members? i sure hope so! on that note, i will add what has happened to me and see what happens, as i cannot find a button to create a new post!

anyway, 2 years ago i sent a letter, posted 1st class to be signed for on delivery, to my local area General Hospital. not knowing that there was a time limit on reporting that a letter has gone 'astray', when i reported it, i was told that my reporting was outside of the 10 day limit set by Royal Mail. this seemed rather ridiculous because i had no idea the letter had NOT been delivered and the tracking info produced no result. basically, the failure to deliver the mail, that contained medical information, was poo-pood off. there seemed to be nothing else i could do so had to grim and bear it!

this year, 2024, i had occasion to send another letter, posted 1st class, to be signed for on delivery, (to a different hospital), only to find that exactly the same thing had occured! i tried the track and trace, as i had done 2 years previously, and got the same result that the letter had NOT been delivered. again, i reported this to Royal Mail and again was told i had reported it after the 10 day Royal Mail deadline. further, as i had suggested over the first letter that disappeared, that it should be able to be traced as the record should be retained under the Data Retention Regulations for at least 3 years. the result i received from Royal Mail was that they only retain customer complaints and info for a max of 12 months. how can that be right? surely they are not allowed to write their own rules, contrveening what i believe to be the law, are they? what is really concerning is that both the letters i sent, both 1st class postage with signed for delivery were just not found and no concern was shown by Royal Mail. is it simply that Royal Mail allow mail to be 'disappeared' simply because it's to be signed for, or maybe signed for by a hospital representative? surly as any hospital is involved, there should be even more care and concern taken to ensure the information is received as it should be and that no medical or otherwise information suddenly disappears? what about the delivery person? should he/she not take  the utmost care to ensure mail is received correctly, ie, signed for and not just 'disappeared'?

the information was both medical and personal, so where did it go? what if i had died because the information was 'lost' (i believe deliberately destroyed or thrown away), would Royal Mail have been in the least bit interested, charged with an offence for keeping medical information from the hospitals? i'd like to know the answer to that! how can Royal Mail get away with this behaviour? how can it charge for a service then poo poo off the failure to carry out that paid for service? surely it's obtaining monies under false pretences, isn't it? it has now closed this second failure, showing yet again, a complete lack of interest and concern!

if i did something wrong, then i'd like to know what because i very much doubt that i am the only person in this position!

i look forward to comments

Hospital post just goes to a generic administration department. Nobody or anybody can sign it. 

This is not a Royal Mail issue, but more a busy Hospital issue. 

Sorry, I know I’m not helping. 

This.

Any mail going a company or business who get lots of mail delivered each day cannot be signed for individually. Its usually bagged and the person on reception signs for the bag so its possible your items are delivered to the hospital and are waiting to be dealt with.
I have a sister who works as a medical secretary and she told me recently that her department is so far behind that despite her and others doing loads of overtime they have over 2000 letters waiting to be written up and posted out.

swingaloo

jimbo49 said:

i checked on delivery and was told there was no trace of these letters being delivered at all! nor had any trace of the letters been found. this just seems like a total con by Royal Mail/Post Office. customers are charged for a service required but those responsible dont give a monkies t++s! now add in the increase AGAIN in postage costs and the removal of the 2nd class service being on the cards and then tell me what is the ROYAL MAIL/POST OFFICE actually worth? has any of the top people lost the service when they need to use it or had their mail disappear of the Planet? i very much doubt it!!

Letters are not signed for individually at a hospital, it  would take hours for each delivery if that were the case. They get sackloads.

MouldyOldDough

MouldyOldDough said:

prowla said:

MouldyOldDough said:

prowla said:

The RM delivered an item to me (RM Tracked 24) a couple of weeks ago.

It arrived next day and was left in a "safeplace", which was outside my front door, in full view of the street (their photo attached).

Fortunately, nobody nabbed it; however, if it had disappeared then I would've disputed whether that constituted "delivered" and whether the place was particularly "safe".

Just saying the RM may think they've delivered the item, but they're not particularly careful and if they place it like mine then it could easily go missing if someone takes a fancy to it.

Someone's been in - throughout the past two weeks - so it hasn't been "delivered"

I'm sure I've been in on occasion and then noticed something at the front door.

Still waiting for the delivery

I've been on to the seller who wants me to wait another 2 days - before refunding in full

No idea where the parcel is

The parcel eventually arrived - 8 days from dispatch - I could have walked it faster than it took - and I'm disabled !!