Ayrshire residents charged £210 to collect their own post

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.ayrshirepost.net/2011/01/21/ ... -28014285/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

SHOCKED residents have been told to cough up cash – to collect their own mail.

People who visit sorting offices to pick up their daily letters will now face huge bills for the privilege.

And customers have slammed the Royal Mail for their “outrageous” move, which comes into effect this April.

The Mail Collect service, which is currently free, allows customers to pick up their mail rather than wait for the postman.

However, a fee of £210 is set to be slapped on the service, sparking fury among residents and businesses.

Marian Lochrie, 63, who runs Troon gift shop A Journey Through Time, says the move is a joke.

She fumed: “I’m absolutely outraged.

“I have gone to the sorting office for several years to collect my mail and built up a good rapport with the staff.

“The other option is waiting for the postie, who doesn’t arrive until 3pm.

“It’s not exactly ideal for running a business so I have always collected my own mail.

“I can’t believe that they want to charge me more than £200 for basically doing them a favour.”

Solicitor Rognvald Mason is also facing up to paying mounting bills if he continues to collect his own mail.

He revealed: “We have two offices in Troon and, given that the mail doesn’t arrive until 3pm, we have always gone to collect it ourselves.

“It seems ridiculous that we will now be charged for the delights of picking it up. But I don’t see what other option we have.”

Ayr MSP John Scott admits that he is stunned at the audacity of the Royal Mail’s move, which will be implemented nationally.

He said: “I can’t see any good reason for the introduction of this charge.

“It strikes me as being little more than fleecing local small businesses at a time when so many of them are already facing a very tough trading climate.

“How on earth can it cost Royal Mail anything for business customers to pick up their own mail so that such a charge can be justified?

“I will be contacting the Royal Mail direct to raise my concerns over this matter and to ask them both to give their reasons for announcing this charge and to urge them to drop the proposal and allow business customers to collect their mail free of charge as has always been the case in the past.”

A Royal Mail spokesman explained: “Royal Mail can confirm that from April this year, the cost of using the Mail Collect service will be £210 per annum for customers.

“Royal Mail is improving the security and set up arrangements and it needs to cover its operational costs for this service to bring it in line with all our other premium services.

“Royal Mail now operates in a commercial marketplace and, like any other business, it needs to be paid for the extra services it provides.”

[barbario]

A taste of what privatisation will bring folks, with more on the way.

[dvbuk55]

What a stroke of genius. Lets get 'em all collecting their mail, a few agency workers doing the sorting and the rest of us can sit at home and pick the dosh up for feck all......................I'd vote that in like a shot.

Wonder how many will be cancelling their call and collect..............I'd guess at erm................. all of 'em.

[Post Off]

I wonder if this is going to affect ordinary folks who collect their mail for other reasons, say for those who have problems with other residents pinching their mail?

You know, this mail collect sounds like it could get interesting...

There (it seems to me) appears to be a number of new housing developments that don't take into consideration for the safe and efficient delivery of their mails. I'm talking about those new housing developments that are springing up all over the place that have untold letterboxes installed inside the foyer or entrance. These letterboxes mostly turn out to be cr*p, mostly because you can't get fug all through them, and if you've got an armful of packets you'll also find that the residents front doors have no letterboxes at all. So, a lot of the time it's taking you forever to make your deliveries at that nice new development that the designer thought not to make the delivery side of his residents mail very postman user-friendly.

Now, bear with me... If say there was an easy to get to 'ATM' like mail-point, then all the residents of said cr*p new development could 'pin-in' a mail account, say, in-order to access their own mail. I'm pretty sure some business type folk would love to have access to something akin to this, even a string of businesses along a street, say(?).

[Lounge Lizard]

What a stroke of genius. Lets get 'em all collecting their mail, a few agency workers doing the sorting and the rest of us can sit at home and pick the dosh up for feck all......................I'd vote that in like a shot.

Wonder how many will be cancelling their call and collect..............I'd guess at erm................. all of 'em.

Yes, so less staff needed in the Callers Office, so more savings there too.

[blue1873]

Shockeroony !!!in the last paragraph a RM spokesman used the
term "SERVICES" 4 times. whatever has happened to their
obsession with "OUR NEW PRODUCT" or have they finally
twigged that we are basically a service provider(albeit we
have to run at a profit)But £210. to collect your own mail
i know where i'd tell them to stick that

[steven100]

It's really quite funny, the public are getting what they deserved. They never backed us years ago when we went on strike and i'm pretty sure we told them what was going to come. The reap what the sow, i have no sympathy.
£210 sounds cheap, £300 should be the starting price

[TrueBlueTerrier]

It's really quite funny, the public are getting what they deserved. They never backed us years ago when we went on strike and i'm pretty sure we told them what was going to come. The reap what the sow, i have no sympathy.
£210 sounds cheap, £300 should be the starting price

It deppends who you mean by the public:

Daily Mail readers - well they froth at the mouth as soon as Unions are mentioned.
Other Unions Members - Most bascked us at least in our area we had different Unions showing solidarity with us on the picket line.
People on my duty - Everyone who spoke to me backed me and 2 cam down and saw us.
Members of the Public passing the picket - I'd say about 75% showed support by tooting or giving us a thumbs up. Of course there were a few who hurled abuse but they usually are.

TBH I thought public support was pretty high especially when you take into account the TV and Press always report Industrial matters with an Anti Union slant.