More firms angry at Royal Mail

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.harrogateadvertiser.net/harr ... 3876864.jp

PRESSURE continues to mount on Royal Mail this week after more Harrogate businesses complained about the late arrival of their post.
Many companies now receive mail mid-afternoon rather than at 9am, and residential customers have complained about mail dropping onto their doorstep in the early evening.

Director of Harrogate-based wealth management company Marshall Zoing, Howard Marshall, said it was crucial for them and their clients that they had an efficient, reliable postal service.

He said: "I'm not blaming the postman on the street, it's the senior management who are responsible for creating this problem.

"Businesses are paying significantly more for a service that is significantly worse than it was previously."

Christopher Butterworth, senior partner at Raworths Solicitors, said late post was massively disruptive to his business and Angela Tait, whose son, Ian, runs a new IT business from home, said the late deliveries were "frustrating".

The Advertiser was also contacted by a Harrogate postman who said it was not just business customers who were unhappy with the service.

The postman, who did not wish to be named, said the idea behind a new computer-calculated delivery system is that all deliveries should be three and a half hours in length, despite it not allowing for the amount of mail or the age and speed of the postman or woman.

The postman said there were between 30 and 40 staff who were unable to complete their deliveries in the HG1 and HG2 areas last Friday and they claimed up to 15 deliveries covering the Park Drive and Otley Road area in Harrogate received no mail at all.

He added: "It is the everyday residential and smaller business customers who are really suffering. The aim, we are told, is to rebalance the workload for all staff, although we all know that it is a further cost-cutting exercise."

Royal Mail spokesman Graham Moore said the deliveries were due to "teething problems" with a new system.

Mr Moore said last Friday was the only day that all mail was not delivered, when between 150 and 250 packets had to be delivered over the weekend.

A spokesman for the northern England branch of postal service watchdog PostWatch said that businesses and individuals should complain to Royal Mail directly if they are dissatisfied with mail deliveries.

She reminded customers that Royal Mail is under no obligation to deliver mail at any specific time, but said she thought most large businesses would receive early morning deliveries.

The Harrogate Advertiser is to stage a meeting with local businesses to plan a campaign against late postal deliveries.

Please register your company's interest by calling the Harrogate Advertiser on (01423) 564321 or email ackrill.news@ypn.co.uk

The full article contains 457 words and appears in Harrogate Advertiser newspaper.
Last Updated: 13 March 2008 4:39 PM

[traww]

...... my arse.

I wish more businesses and residents, all over the country, complained like this to the national newspapers to expose the penny pinching & corner cutting practices that RM and the CWU are imposing, to the detriment of the "service".

It is only going to get worse. At the moment I do a bit of paid overtime, but once banked hours come in I am afraid that's their lot and more deliveries will no doubt fail.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Yes I think "Banked Hours" is going to be a huge White Elephant, especially if the "Do your Job right" campaign is more successful this year.

[axeman]

Ah even post watch has forgoten the 'uso' thought we had a contractual ? obligation to deliver all city mails by 2:00pm or did some spokesperson form r.m invent it ?

[Broxi51]

Ah even post watch has forgoten the 'uso' thought we had a contractual ? obligation to deliver all city mails by 2:00pm or did some spokesperson form r.m invent it ?

I thought that as well but could find nothing on the postcon site. Postwatch mentions that RM has the 2pm town walks and 3pm rurals as a guideline.

[johno47]

The first rule in business is give the customer what they want, RM are so busy trying to run the union into the ground and cut costs it isnt even doing that, by introducing later delivery times it has played straight into competitors hands, in time competitors will introduce an early delivery in major citys and RM will then be playing catch up, early deliverys and the knowledge of staff should be a major selling point for RM to customers, they talk about the threat of e mail and Fax and other electronic devices and yet they are forcing companies and small firms to use that means of device, because they cannot rely on early post for orders and cheques, these two :cfo and :lfo havnt the first clue about running this business all they are, are slash and burn merchants trying get privatisation so their personel pay cheques rocket...UNITY IS STRENGTH.

[Stormproof]

Let face it we all knew this was going to happen, we told the public /businesses thing were going to change when we were on strike, did they listen.....NO, all they were interested in was getting there post even if it meant we all got the sack and were replaced by immigrants........feck em

[BELIAL]

Course it does happen that senior management skills in the postal industry will, in an increasingly liberalised market, become extremely transferable,
and what seems like a suicidal decision taken by managers of one company might be handsomely rewarded by a future employer,so to speak

[BELIAL]

Let face it we all knew this was going to happen, we told the public /businesses thing were going to change when we were on strike, did they listen.....NO, all they were interested in was getting there post even if it meant we all got the sack and were replaced by immigrants........feck em

Actually much recent market research put's the royal mail brand at the top end of public awareness, affection and trust, and I would definitely caution acceptance of that view of public perception,It contradicts my personal experience and research findings, Norbert would call it the drip. Cost savings are not the only ,or even most important reasons for PO closures

[norbert]

Let face it we all knew this was going to happen, we told the public /businesses thing were going to change when we were on strike, did they listen.....NO, all they were interested in was getting there post even if it meant we all got the sack and were replaced by immigrants........feck em

the other site ran an article entitled "Who cares about the USO ?" , as for sacking everyone & replacing them , the best example was a new postie asking a resident "Where is the other Bl******l Road ? as he didn't get the odd and even side numbers idea

RM would sweep that under the carpet as it's not politically correct -Madness !- if you flagged that up , RM would put you on a trumped up racism charge -braindead idiots !

We used to get the "We'll sort you lot out " prior to privatization in another industry , the Tories and New Labour Meddling made a right b***ocks of that industry rather than made it "better" -subsidy went through the roof .

It's pure cynicism on RM's part , they hope that eventually people will realise it's futile complaining and won't expect anything better . According to the other site , we're all stuck in the 50's regarding Public Service .