Changes to post box collection times "ridiculous"

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Changes to East Grinstead post box collection times "ridiculous" say residents


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Changes to East Grinstead post box collection times "ridiculous" say residents
By East Grinstead Courier | Posted: September 08, 2014

By Jo Gilbert


LAST POST: 31 post boxes in East Grinstead could have their late collections axed. This one in the High Street will retain its 4pm collection Photo by Grant Melton REGM20140901B

RIDICULOUS: Juan Jenner, 46, of Halsford Park Road, says pensioners will be affected by the loss of the 4pm collection

LAST POST: 31 post boxes in East Grinstead could have their late collections axed. This one in the High Street will retain its 4pm collection Photo by Grant Melton REGM20140901B

RIDICULOUS: Juan Jenner, 46, of Halsford Park Road, says pensioners will be affected by the loss of the 4pm collection

EAST Grinstead residents have branded the planned scrapping of late collections for 31 post boxes in the town "ridiculous".

In a bid to cut costs Royal Mail is planning to empty half of the country's boxes only once a day, making the last collections as early as 9am in places.

This will affect some of the 120 post boxes in East Grinstead as well as several in surrounding villages. But Royal Mail has said a post box with a later collection will never be more than half a mile away from those that don't have a late collection.

This may be too far for some residents.

Juan Jenner, 46, whose father was a postman for 40 years, said the elderly and those who do not use the internet will be hit the hardest by the changes.

The Halsford Park Road resident said: "There are cuts to the postal service just like everywhere else – they're cutting back on staff and centralising everything [at the sorting office] in Gatwick. It wouldn't affect me too much because I do everything online but pensioners will suffer because they are not confident with the internet and smart phones. It is ridiculous."

Others agreed that the services were being cut without any benefit to the customer, including Peter Johnson, 52, from Haven Gardens, Crawley Down. He said users were being "charged more for less because they never reduce their prices".

Post boxes in Crawley Down Road and outside Waitrose in the town centre are just two on a provisional list which will lose their 4pm pick-up when the changes go live on September 18.

The Royal Mail insists the cuts are a way of avoiding removing uneconomic post boxes which no longer cover their costs.

A spokesman said: "Letters are in decline so we have to balance that with the cost of running the service. We would like to reassure all our customers in East Grinstead that we will retain a high level of access to late collection posting facilities (4pm or later) and clear sign-posting will be provided for customers on the relevant post boxes indicating where their nearest late posting box is."

The Royal Mail is in the process of signposting the post boxes that will be affected by the changes, although that did not yet appear to have been done as the Courier went to press.

The regulator, Ofcom, will still require the Royal Mail to have post boxes within half a mile of 98 per cent of households.

[Lounge Lizard]

What I don't understand is that "Royal Mail has said a post box with a later collection will never be more than half a mile away from those that don't have a late collection" yet the main savings with this must be all about rural boxes that only take a couple of letters a day but these are a mile or more apart and so never have "a post box with a later collection" within "half a mile".

[Surreypostie]

I don't understand why people think it is ridiculous. Possible job losses aside, how many of these people actually post letters and to say pensioners will be affected most is ridiculous. Everyone will be affected equally, most pensioners are likely to go out in the mornings, the ones I know anyway and so can still post and have their letters collected the same day. I can't remember the last time I posted a letter in a box apart from christmas, I did post a letter one day last week and wanted to make sure it got there the next day so used Special delivery.