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No way for the Royal Mail to treat customers - today's Leader
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Leader – No way for the Royal Mail to treat customers
Friday 13th April 2012, 10:59AM BST.



Once it was viewed as one of Britain’s great institutions. Today its reputation lies in tatters. The Royal Mail used to be a source of national pride, an employer with great traditions that cared for its workers and its customers.

Its behaviour in recent times, however, has been that of a Johnny-come-lately shark.

Not content with increasing the cost of posting letters by up to 39 per cent, it is indulging in sharp practices to make sure it protects all of its profits from that shocking rise.

Savvy shoppers – and, no doubt, those from April 30 will no longer be able to afford to post a letter – have been stocking up on stamps before the price increase.

That has led to a run in local shops with sales volumes increasing by up to 500 per cent.

Ocado and Asda are among those who have reported a shortage.

You might have expected Royal Mail’s response to be simple: print more.

Most retailers, when demand increases, move to satisfy by increasing stock.

The Royal Mail, however, operates in a different world. Rather than increase supply, it has introduced a form of rationing.

Retailers have been told to limit the amount sold to customers.

We know that the Royal Mail has faced problems with the rise of the internet and increased competition. But penalising customers and retailers marks a sorry day in its once-great history.

Such sharp practices are distasteful in the extreme.

Pensioner puts best foot forward:

You have to admire the chutzpah of 79-year-old Bridgnorth woman Marjorie Waterhouse.

Stuck on the side of the road, having missed her bus from Shifnal to Telford, and not wishing to part with £11 for a taxi ride, she opted for the only option available to her: to walk to Telford.

At a time when obesity is on the increase and couch potato-ism is at an all-time high, plucky pensioner Marjorie showed the rest of us how it is done.

A member of the get-up-and-go generation, Marjorie put her best foot forward and has since raised huge sums for charity.

She is a true inspiration to us all.


View more: Bridgnorth news, Royal Mail news, Shifnal news, Telford news.

1steve
April 13, 2012 at 12:34
If these hard up people can afford to stock pile stamps,Then they can’t be that hard up in the first place.
Good god its only going up by about 15pence anyway.
Compare how much a MARS bar has gone up in the last 4-5 years 55p-60p,But people expect a letter to go from one end of the country and get there the next day for the price of a first class stamp. Chrap isn’t it!!!!!!!!!

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2steve
April 13, 2012 at 12:42
Think yourselves lucky,Brace yourselves for the Mail centre in SHREWSBURY,CLOSING soon?

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3mark h
April 13, 2012 at 13:40
paying a bit extra for postage is’nt too bad for the service you get for the money.
what i hate though is all the junk mail crap the postman puts through the letterbox every couple days.
they casn read your postcode & house number,but they ignore a sign no the door stating no junkmail.

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neil h
April 13, 2012 at 14:14
pop it back in the post box for them to deal with!

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Dio
April 13, 2012 at 14:28
You can always opt out of the un-addressed junk by applying to the ever so helpful Royal Mail.

I did this 6 months ago and as if by magic I still get the same crap through my letter box every couple of days.

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Mosspost
April 13, 2012 at 15:39
It’s not called junkmail any more..It’s called “un-addressed” Mail. And your postie has to deliver it, “No junk mail” sign or not..And believe me he/she rather wouldn’t….

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mark h
April 13, 2012 at 17:23
it’s not just the amount of junkmail.it’s also a bad security risk while you are out at work all day,with an empty house & junk hanging half out the letterbox.

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Dio
April 13, 2012 at 20:31
Mosspost – That is what I called it in the post above.

I’m guessing from your name you may be a ‘Postie’ and I have every sympathy for the amount of dross you have to cart around, but no, the ‘Postie’ is not meant to deliver it if the house owner has applied to opt-out:

http://www.royalmail.com/you-home/controlling-your-mail" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The only problem with this opt-out is it is generally ignored. I asked a friend (a manager at one of the country’s main sorting offices) about this, and he told me he suffer’s the same problem, and says it’s caused by internal directives upon high which forces the ‘Postie’ into delivering all the “un-addressed” junk regardless. The reason being it is one of the Royal Mail’s main income streams.

He also mentioned the privatisation by the back door – in this case the sorting offices receive lorry loads of mail from TNT post etc every night, and the Royal Mail is contracted and obliged to sort and deliver it to the door at no extra cost – except to the Royal Mail. The Private companies make a fortune out of this, and it puts even more strain on Royal Mail to ignore opt-outs to maximise their dwindling income streams. It also makes them appear highly un-competitive – ripe for full privatisation!

BTW to reduce “unsolicited mail”; that is “addressed mail”, which the ‘Postie’ has to deliver apply to the Mail Preference Service:

http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I did this about 10 years ago and it reduced the addressed junk to almost zero.

An interesting campaigning site for “Junk” or “Un-Addressed” mail can be found here:

http://www.stopjunkmail.org.uk/guide/do ... pt_out.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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4Nistagmus
April 13, 2012 at 14:50
I wonder when the Government sells off the Royal Mail (for which the groundwork has now been prepared and the designed drubbing it regularly receives in the press cheer-leads), whether the Queen gets some of the money, what with it being called Royal an’ that.
Perhaps one of your readers who is knowledgeable in such matters could advise.

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5Roger
April 13, 2012 at 15:30
What an unrealist view of the Post Office. This Government has to do some things to make the PO attractive to the city so that they can sell it off. They have already taken over the superanuation scheme to remove the liability. Pocketed the assets and included the liabilities in the public sector pension shortfall. Snail mail is finished, everyone and as many business’ as possible are going on line leaving the PO with junk mail and the universal service requirement. The PO must deliver their’s and their competitors mail to all houses every day. The only way it can be attractive to the city is to charge everybody who can’t use the cherry pickers more. The only realistic answer is to reduce deliveries to once a week and handle only their own mail. Or allow it to die naturally. If you don’t like any of these solutions you need to address the politicians, not criticise the PO for trying to manage a hopeless case.

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[stokes11eg]

Why are people making such a fuss over a 14p rise? Everything else from fuel to food shopping has gone up recently, why are they so surprised?

Have to agree here, --every single week there are upwards of sometimes 50 pence put on some goods, as I but the same basics every week, it is alarming at how much costs go up--I compared areceipt from last year, with one from this (Same shop) and I was pounds out.
Sadly though, I think R/M have shot themselves in the foot with this increase---

[Judgee]

What amazes me is that the RM keep insisting that no one sends stamped mail any more and that's why we need cutbacks.... seem to be a hell of a lot of people topping up considering no one sends stamped mail?

[DirtyHarry]

That's what happens when the "big lie" is exposed for what it is, a big lie. Mail volumes may have fallen slightly, but nowhere near as much as Royal Mail constantly claim. The liars.

[eastie]

Think you'll find a lot of 1st class stamps for sale on ebay soon with people trying to profit