So when do you think normal service will resume ?

[C2019]

I feel small businesses like myself are now out of pocket because of what’s going on, yet the updates have been non existent. I understand due to the severity of the situation that telling people every detail they are doing wouldn’t be wise, but I feel it would be helpful if there was at least some update that at least things are going in the right direction or progressing forward but there has been nothing.
I see on Twitter people are saying that Royal Mail won’t be sending internationally until it fixes this current issue which could be months or even next year according to people who actually work for the company who have posted on Twitter about it, and it’s only the start of this year.
Some people in local post offices are saying that Royal Mail will scrap international deliveries altogether and won’t even import/export.
It’s all a mess and I feel sorry for people who work for the company who just want to earn a living and small business going under while the bosses reap the rewards for incompetence.
So realistically speaking when do you assume things will revert back to normal?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

For Twitter accounts, there is no way of verifying if the poster actually currently works for Royal Mail, or that they are in a position to know the details of the problems. The ones that do will be too busy working out solutions rather than posting on Twitter.

Post Offices are also not in the loop for intimate knowledge of what is happening over the breach and their timescales are pure guesswork, as mine is also.

Royal Mail will NEVER withdraw from international mail, it can't it would need a change in the law, and agreements with the Universal Postal Union (run by the UN).

My guess is that they are trying to recover both the affected systems and the backup but this will take a long time. I think the workaround that Mr Thompson told the select committee about will be something along the lines of a rollback to older systems, with security upgrades in place, as a temporary measure. Then a complete rewrite of the system over the next year or so.

My best-uninformed guess would be that if as Mr Thompson said there will be a workaround soon to parliament then he has about a week at most to get it in place and working, or there will be consequences.

[Nildesperandum]

Royal Mail will NEVER withdraw from international mail, it can't it would need a change in the law, and agreements with the Universal Postal Union (run by the UN).

This in particular is very reassuring to know, thank you TrueBlueTerrier for taking the time to explain

[POSTMAN]

Royal Mail
We are pleased to announce that we have resumed the export of letters which do not require a customs declaration to all international destinations. From 1900, customers will be able to start re-submitting international export letters which do not require a customs declaration into the Royal Mail network again through all channels including Royal Mail post boxes and Post Office branches.

[Nildesperandum]

Royal Mail
We are pleased to announce that we have resumed the export of letters which do not require a customs declaration to all international destinations. From 1900, customers will be able to start re-submitting international export letters which do not require a customs declaration into the Royal Mail network again through all channels including Royal Mail post boxes and Post Office branches.

I'm confused, I thought the problem was to do do with the tracking system, not the customs declarations or have I got it wrong, are they able to send letters which have tracking but not customs declarations?

[passengerpigeon]

As I understand it, it's the system that sends electronic customs data to other countries that was attacked. Without this data, other countries will not accept the packages.

[Nildesperandum]

As I understand it, it's the system that sends electronic customs data to other countries that was attacked. Without this data, other countries will not accept the packages.

thank you, now it all makes a bit more sense
Also, given that this is the case it may explain why items already shipped have reached the destination country but not been further processed? Ie they cant process the item because the system that sends electronic customs data to the receiving country stopped working after the item left the UK but before it was processed through customs?
Or have I misunderstood?
In anycase this gives the lie to the claim that this is part of any 'work around' since (as pointed out by others) they are only shipping items which weren't affected by the attack anyway...so this is just a distraction to shut us up for a bit and buy them more time?

[passengerpigeon]

As I understand it, it's the system that sends electronic customs data to other countries that was attacked. Without this data, other countries will not accept the packages.

thank you, now it all makes a bit more sense
Also, given that this is the case it may explain why items already shipped have reached the destination country but not been further processed? Ie they cant process the item because the system that sends electronic customs data to the receiving country stopped working after the item left the UK but before it was processed through customs?
Or have I misunderstood?
In anycase this gives the lie to the claim that this is part of any 'work around' since (as pointed out by others) they are only shipping items which weren't affected by the attack anyway...so this is just a distraction to shut us up for a bit and buy them more time?

I am a customer - 22 years - of RM rather than emplolyee but based on what I have seen, that would seem to be what is happening. I think, regarding letters, they're just getting as much through the system as possible. They maybe weren't fully separated out before but now they are. They're also dispatching parcels now to most major destinations. I would hope that on Monday or Tuesday, they would be in a position to switch the shipping systems back on. I think the backlogs from the strikes - which stretch back many weeks - are hampering the current efforts. Back of envelope calculation, I think a few million items were stuck in the system and not the half million reported in the media.

[Nildesperandum]

Back of envelope calculation, I think a few million items were stuck in the system and not the half million reported in the media.

It does appear that way when you take into account all the reports of missing packages going back to early December
I've not been using royal mail for anything like as long as you but I think there have been strikes in the past and I don't remember this kind of disruption and delay ever! It feels as if they don't have the person power to deal with the volume of mail? I suppose in common with many other services and industries people are no longer willing to do that kind of work for the money that's on offer?
Ultimately I can't help wondering if the reason they've taken so long to fix this is they need it as 'cover' to buy them some time to catch up with the back logs.

[Business15]

I have had several RM 48 Large Letters not scanned on delivery causing me to lose a lot of business, as i have to refund it and it is not guaranteed.

If it keeps going this way Royal Mail will have been the downfall of my small business and i will have to close.

Can any postie tell me why over 50% of my large letters have not been scanned on delivery?

[PeterR]

So, over a week later, no announcement about how the international mail is going to be sorted out. Just expensive services that involve a signature reinstated several days ago. Surely if they've been sending backlog out for days, they ought to be ready to send *our* backlog out now by allowing us to submit it into their systems. I had patience, but I'm starting to lose it now.

[Nildesperandum]

It's extremely frustrating and upsetting, each daily update just repeats what was said the previous day in other words it is not an update, SNAFU more like

Will we ever see any light at the end of this wretched tunnel?
Of course they have us all over a barrel because there is no other service which is financially viable for small businesses shipping small and inexpensive items overseas

[PeterR]

I wouldn't say that. They have resumed first the International services that have a signature, and then on Monday the International tracked ones that don't have a signature. I sent some Tracked ones on Monday (MP7 and MTK) and I am not sure from the tracking on various sites whether they have gone anywhere or not.