I work in online retail so please see the following in the context of that, otherwise you will probably think I am weird
I contacted RM Customer Services recently to get a contact number for a particular Delivery Office (forget which one) and was told that they could not give out the information as these "are not call centres". Previously had no issue with this.
I then contacted our RM Account Manager who was perplexed and gave me the number I was looking for!
Out of curiosity, I then made a Freedom of Information Request for a list of all offices in the UK and their contact numbers. I got the following response today:
Whilst I understand that they don't want Delivery Offices overly mithered, is this a new shift in policy with RM to be actively discouraging this?We believe that by providing all Delivery Offices listed according to the postcode sector
served would, when combined with postcode information readily available to the public,
provide competitors with a detailed knowledge of our operating model and inform their
own operations This would place Royal Mail at a significant disadvantage to other postal
operators who offer their own products in direct competition with Royal Mail Group but are
not required to disclose or publish equivalent information themselves.
Furthermore, we consider that to publish the telephone numbers for each of these offices
provides potential for disruption within each office. These contact numbers would
potentially connect a caller to operational staff who have no means of dealing with
customer enquiries. If a customer receives a poor customer experience based on calling an
unpublished phone number through which appropriate assistance could not be immediately
provided, there is likely to be a negative impact on customer perception. This would have a
negative impact on the commercial interests of Royal Mail Group.
Section 43(2) of the Act is a qualified exemption. As such we are required to consider the
‘public interest test’ when applying this exemption. Royal Mail Group is a publicly owned
company and there is a real and direct public interest in its financial well being and ability
to provide the universal service. The public interest would not be served by placing Royal
Mail at a commercial disadvantage or by providing any company with an unfair advantage
over competitors through access to their own business information. Royal Mail recognises
that there is public interest in the provision of public mail services but believe that this is
largely satisfied by the role of the regulator Ofcom and the publication of information on
our website, http://www.royalmailgroup.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; under the terms of our licence.
In addition, Royal Mail Customer Services act as a central contact point for all customers to
ensure that any customer contact is dealt with correctly and, where appropriate, referred
to the relevant part of the business. The advertised numbers are designed to deal with a
range of enquiries and ensure that every customers call is addressed appropriately.
Withholding the office numbers in no way prevents customers and members of the public
from contacting Royal Mail. In our view, the interests of customers are better served by
using the published contact details. On balance therefore we consider the public interest
lies in maintaining the exemption in both cases.
