Why?

[snailmailsdead]

I'm really confused by all this. I'm a small business owner forced yet again today to put my prices up still further to account Royal Mail's eye watering price hikes.

The general jist I get is that letter and large letter volumes have fallen, and the cost and obligation to deliver to the Outer Hebrides make it necessary.

Reading a few posts on here there seems to be an air of the good ole days, and just plain vitriole directed at first line management and then the wider company and strategy. This is then given respectability by a gloss of we only want the best for those we deliver to.

What I find is that my customers are asking me to avoid Royal Mail. When I do use Royal Mail i see loss or horrendous delay with 2nd/1st class.If I use RM48 the marketing blurb suggests I get delivery confirmation, I don't, huge tracts of 48 just vanish, I'm assuming they get delivered and not blipped.Nonetheless the savvy Ebay lot see there is no confirmation to the tracking number you uploaded and I have to refund at my expense.

When my sacks are delivered by the local office I frequently find opened greeting cards.When I drop parcels at the convenience store the same postie's in there gobbing off about his lot.If I get post at home its days with nothing, then a flurry.I see posties sat in rural laybyes, 2 up in a van.If I go to the local centre, the greeting is gruff.

With the continued decline in Royal Mail service I have focused on building bundled deals enabling me to use deliveries from other providers who quite frankly are superior both in terms of service and customer service in the event of an issue.

AS I say, I'm just confused, personally I couldn't do a job where I went in every day with the intention of just getting through the hours.It does however seem self fulfilling, it gets worse owing to attitude, more customers leave, prices go up, more customers leave, repeat to fade.

[yellowbelly]

I'm really confused by all this. I'm a small business owner forced yet again today to put my prices up still further to account Royal Mail's eye watering price hikes.

The general jist I get is that letter and large letter volumes have fallen, and the cost and obligation to deliver to the Outer Hebrides make it necessary.

Reading a few posts on here there seems to be an air of the good ole days, and just plain vitriole directed at first line management and then the wider company and strategy. This is then given respectability by a gloss of we only want the best for those we deliver to.

What I find is that my customers are asking me to avoid Royal Mail. When I do use Royal Mail i see loss or horrendous delay with 2nd/1st class.If I use RM48 the marketing blurb suggests I get delivery confirmation, I don't, huge tracts of 48 just vanish, I'm assuming they get delivered and not blipped.Nonetheless the savvy Ebay lot see there is no confirmation to the tracking number you uploaded and I have to refund at my expense.

When my sacks are delivered by the local office I frequently find opened greeting cards.When I drop parcels at the convenience store the same postie's in there gobbing off about his lot.If I get post at home its days with nothing, then a flurry.I see posties sat in rural laybyes, 2 up in a van.If I go to the local centre, the greeting is gruff.

With the continued decline in Royal Mail service I have focused on building bundled deals enabling me to use deliveries from other providers who quite frankly are superior both in terms of service and customer service in the event of an issue.

AS I say, I'm just confused, personally I couldn't do a job where I went in every day with the intention of just getting through the hours.It does however seem self fulfilling, it gets worse owing to attitude, more customers leave, prices go up, more customers leave, repeat to fade.

To address some of your points, possible explanations:

Posts on here/vitriole etc.: You won't find posters coming on here to say good things about RM, it's where they come to vent their frustrations, people who are happy with their lot get on with their lives!

Opened greeting cards: Opened or very poor/cheap adhesive by envelope manufacturers trying to cut costs?

Days with nothing then a flurry: RM have a system where stuff like mass mailed catalogues are held under an authorised process at the mail centre until some 'proper' mail is destined for an address/or held for a max of IIRC 3 days at which point it is all sent out - hence a flurry.

Posties sat in rural laybys - perhaps having a break? On a rural duty there is often nowhere to take a break, a layby has to suffice! I have a duty span of up to 5.5 - 6 hours over 35 miles plus rurally and there is literally NOWHERE like a cafe etc to take a break/eat, so it's sitting in a grubby van in a layby or entrance to a farmers field! We are not permitted to go back to the office as that would involve a 20 min journey back and 20 min journey out again plus the minimum 20 min break you can actually take.

However, you do make some valid point about RM being a self fulfilling disaster, but as in most situations it starts at the top and rolls downhill!

[snailmailsdead]

Its a tough one. Evri have the low end delivery model nailed, people bitch about the customer service, and its horrendous, the key is to use a broker so you get the low price without the faff of going direct for CS.

Currently I'm paying 1.67 for 1KG, fully insured to 25 quid and tracked, consequently RM only get the crumbs of letters, large letters under 100 and Highlands and Islands, everything they say they lose money on.However it gets worse, because so much of it gets lost/stolen/late delivered and owing to the continued poor confirmation rate on RM48, I send it 2nd class, so I claim for the loss at cost, and Royal Mail loses yet more money.

To be fair the worst customer service is still through Royal Mail, the business helpline has around 3 template emails that they try to use for everything, and amounts to a preemptive apology, and then the statement that they probably wont do anything to help, but if you waste an hour filling out all the information they demand they may follow up.

[pieoftheday]

Its a tough one. Evri have the low end delivery model nailed, people bitch about the customer service, and its horrendous, the key is to use a broker so you get the low price without the faff of going direct for CS.

Currently I'm paying 1.67 for 1KG, fully insured to 25 quid and tracked, consequently RM only get the crumbs of letters, large letters under 100 and Highlands and Islands, everything they say they lose money on.However it gets worse, because so much of it gets lost/stolen/late delivered and owing to the continued poor confirmation rate on RM48, I send it 2nd class, so I claim for the loss at cost, and Royal Mail loses yet more money.

To be fair the worst customer service is still through Royal Mail, the business helpline has around 3 template emails that they try to use for everything, and amounts to a preemptive apology, and then the statement that they probably wont do anything to help, but if you waste an hour filling out all the information they demand they may follow up.

RM arnt losing money, you didnt believe the million pound a day thing did you? Having said that senior management have ruined what was a pretty decent ,reliable service, it's still better than the likes of Hermes inspite of management

[snailmailsdead]

It really isn't.

[pieoftheday]

It really isn't.

Well I fell into the trap of comparing RM with other couriers, which was daft as nobody else delivers letters nationally

[snailmailsdead]

So exactly my point, I only put low value items (letters, large letters under 100g, and low value remotes) with Royal Mail and as the service for that is so poor I now use other providers for 95% of my business.Although there is a considerable price saving by doing so, service is my main criteria.Royal Mail 48 confirmation is atrocious, you cannot blame management for postie not scanning an article that is advertised has having delivery confirmation, that is down to the individual chosing not to. Why would you use an inferior service, without compensation or tracking, and a huge loss/stolen rate, and constantly at the risk of strikes or price increases.

You don't need to compare nationally, very few orders are Highlands and Islands for most retailers.

You can put the bulk at lower cost and better service than Royal Mail with cheaper couriers and then take a view on your risk with remote locations.If your cost price is low you have two choices, pay Royal Mail, or use a courier that subs it to Royal Mail but will provide better customer service for the inevitable theft/loss.Where risk is greater most of my customers will gladly pay towards UPS delivery to avoid Royal Mail delays.

The recent large letter rises mean that anything over 100g is probably better off with a courier.

The only purpose I see for Royal Mail nowadays alongside being bent over by the other couriers to do low value remotes is to keep courier prices in check and act as a benchmark.Hopefully another entrant will enter the low cost arena, and then even that function is served.

When the Couriers turn up to collect its a happy experience with a bit of banter as they load, not so with Postie.

[aiden01]

So exactly my point, I only put low value items (letters, large letters under 100g, and low value remotes) with Royal Mail and as the service for that is so poor I now use other providers for 95% of my business.Although there is a considerable price saving by doing so, service is my main criteria.Royal Mail 48 confirmation is atrocious, you cannot blame management for postie not scanning an article that is advertised has having delivery confirmation, that is down to the individual chosing not to. Why would you use an inferior service, without compensation or tracking, and a huge loss/stolen rate, and constantly at the risk of strikes or price increases.

You don't need to compare nationally, very few orders are Highlands and Islands for most retailers.

You can put the bulk at lower cost and better service than Royal Mail with cheaper couriers and then take a view on your risk with remote locations.If your cost price is low you have two choices, pay Royal Mail, or use a courier that subs it to Royal Mail but will provide better customer service for the inevitable theft/loss.Where risk is greater most of my customers will gladly pay towards UPS delivery to avoid Royal Mail delays.

The recent large letter rises mean that anything over 100g is probably better off with a courier.

The only purpose I see for Royal Mail nowadays alongside being bent over by the other couriers to do low value remotes is to keep courier prices in check and act as a benchmark.Hopefully another entrant will enter the low cost arena, and then even that function is served.

When the Couriers turn up to collect its a happy experience with a bit of banter as they load, not so with Postie.

Where is your proof of all this theft/stolen are you basically accusing posties of being thieves.can't see you getting much help on here with that attitude.also do you think we go on strike just to have a day off please take your custom elsewhere.

[snailmailsdead]

I have already taken 95% of my business elsewhere - as I said I just use Royal Mail where there are no other practical alternatives.

I'm not asking for any help, I am merely trying to understand why the service is so poor, and the simple task of scanning an RM48 seems to be beyond 60% of the workforce.Of course it could be said that it has been delivered and the homeowner is on the take, but we'll never know because it seems the majority can't be bothered to scan items any longer.So I manifest, you collect, homeowner doesn't receive it as there is no confirmation to disprove, what conclusions could be drawn? Loss , theft, complacency, I can't think of anything else.

Unless you can enlighten me the only issue I have cause by management is price increases.That's self fulfilling, reduced volumes with a largely fixed cost base have no other outcome, the other issue is the direct responsibility of the postie. RM48 label = scan, not asking for much is it?

[yellowbelly]

I have already taken 95% of my business elsewhere - as I said I just use Royal Mail where there are no other practical alternatives.

I'm not asking for any help, I am merely trying to understand why the service is so poor, and the simple task of scanning an RM48 seems to be beyond 60% of the workforce.Of course it could be said that it has been delivered and the homeowner is on the take, but we'll never know because it seems the majority can't be bothered to scan items any longer.So I manifest, you collect, homeowner doesn't receive it as there is no confirmation to disprove, what conclusions could be drawn? Loss , theft, complacency, I can't think of anything else.

Unless you can enlighten me the only issue I have cause by management is price increases.That's self fulfilling, reduced volumes with a largely fixed cost base have no other outcome, the other issue is the direct responsibility of the postie. RM48 label = scan, not asking for much is it?

Take issue at your implication that 60% of colleagues can't be bothered with a simple task. I find often senders can't be bothered
to ensure that labels are printed with sufficient/suitable ink or they put sellotape over the label which reflects a scan, put a label over
the edge/corner of a parcel so it won't scan and put the same label on two items going to the same house - scam or mistake?

Also have you ever tried scanning a barcode when it's throwing it down with rain? The magnificent PDA scanner
that RM supply us with are sadly lacking in being able to operate well in the rain and the whole system has been known to fall over as it
did the other week - our PDA's were telling us to redeliver parcels on the previous day! Don't assume the fault lies at the shop floor.

[SMS1969]

Many posties won’t scan anything other than tracked and Specials,probably can’t be bothered as many are not treated with respect by management. I try to scan everything because I think of the sender wanting confirmation. And as pointed out on here, there are instances such as a malfunction with the scanner, can’t scan the label because it’s not clear enough on the packet to scan etc.
Those looking outside in do not know what it’s like on the coal face, so don’t come on here criticising.

[snailmailsdead]

Thank you for your honesty - Essentially then the issues aren't going to get resolved and I have no real option but to try and move more business elsewhere.

I use Royal Mail approved Zebra thermal printers, Royal Mail supplied adhesive labels, although those from UPS do stick better and apply two labels to ensure that there is hopefully a decent barcode presented.

If I can give you anything back in return, why not suggest your firm invests in the same scanners as Evri, or Yodel, they operate on a cheaper price, in all weathers, and longer days without scanning issues.So they must have better battery life, and superior technology.The volume Royal Mail must buy in you would assume that price wouldn't be an obstacle.If you had better tech that operated correctly it might boost morale a little.

You're correct in your attitude, a customer is paying for delivery confirmation, and thank you as an individual for showing the respect and for providing it. It's not the customer's fault if there is any bad blood with a manager, I don't really understand how not scanning a customer's label helps that cause. With RM48 there's no compensation, its just a straight pickpocket of the customer when/if the receiver denies receipt.

Doesn't hurt Royal Mail at all, they still get paid.

Meanwhile the small business that sent it has refund in full and bear the cost of paying Royal Mail for delivery, plus the cost price of the goods, packaging materials, labour etc. I don't get how the Postie that can't be bothered to scan thinks that hurts his Manager or Royal Mail.

[SMS1969]

It’s not particularly a case of hurting management, it’s more a case of just doing the bare minimum. Not an attitude I’ve got, but I fully understand those that do have that attitude.