ROYAL MAIL IS 1ST CLASS AGAIN

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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The postal service will be back to normal everywhere in Britain by tomorrow, says Royal Mail.

The pledge follows nearly two months of disruption following the heavy snowfalls. Christmas cards have been arriving in mid-January while one letter posted on December 22 took 19 days to arrive at its destination five miles away.

Royal Mail’s claim that “everyone in the country can expect our ­normal standard of service” from tomorrow will be severely tested by thousands of people submitting their tax returns at the last minute.

Returns must be submitted online at this late stage but many still pay their tax by posting a cheque. If that cheque isn’t with HM Revenue and Customs by ­midnight on January 31 they are ­liable for a £100 fine and interest charges.

About half the nine million ­people who must complete self-assessment returns wait until the last minute. By the middle of last week HMRC had received 4.54 million so a surge of last-minute cheques in the post is likely. HMRC urged anyone worried about their cheques being delayed in the post to send them by recorded delivery. Proof of posting could help in any appeal against the fine for late payment.

“There’s no hard and fast rule on this,” said a spokesman. “Usually the delay must be completely due to an exceptional or major unexpected event that’s outside your control and prevents you from sending your return on time.”

However, a Royal Mail spokesman warned: “People should remember that ­neither first class nor recorded delivery guarantee that your letter will arrive the next day.

“If people are worried about missing the tax deadline and want to ensure a letter is delivered the day after posting, they should use our special delivery service.”

The sting in the tail is the cost. Posting a cheque will cost 41p first class, £1.15 by recorded delivery and £5.05 by next day special delivery.

To add to customers’ misery, Royal Mail is to increase the cost of a first class stamp by a record 5p to 46p in April, the largest rise since first class post began in 1968. A second class stamp will go up 4p to 36p.

The rises led to stinging criticism from watchdog Consumer Focus, which warned the company it could not expect customers to continue to bail it out. Last month Royal Mail reported half-year profits had fallen by more than two-thirds and its core letters delivery business had returned to making a loss.

Yesterday hundreds of postal workers staged a fresh protest in London against plans to privatise the Royal Mail. They claim post ­offices will be at risk of closure.

The rally was held in Kingston upon Thames because the local ­Liberal Democrat MP Ed Davey is Postal Affairs Minister. He has been promoting the privatisation bill.

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[Bongos]

Could someone tell me what normal means within Royal Mail ??????????????????

[Lounge Lizard]

"The sting in the tail is the cost. Posting a cheque will cost 41p first class, £1.15 by recorded delivery and £5.05 by next day special delivery." As if many people can't stretch to £5.05 once a year if they're too lazy to post their tax return in good time.

[POSTMAN]

They've caught me on the hop,is it time to change the smilies then!
I thought i had feckin ages yet.

[blue1873]

They've caught me on the hop,is it time to change the smilies then!
I thought i had feckin ages yet.

You can leave the xmas smilies awhile yet POSTMAN
there's a good chance last xmas mail will still be in the system
in time for delivery with the Easter cards

[Lincox]

I think most people who pay their tax bills twice a year are business people(self employed), so I would think that paying £5 odd for special delivery will be better than paying a large fine. No doubt most of them have accountants that use the rules to reduce their tax bill to the absolute minimum.

[steven100]

I take that doesn't include Dundee, .................. and sure their is plenty more areas.

[youwot!!!!!]

we haven't been 1st class for at least 6 years,maybe more.

[jockstrapp]

Royal Mail is First Class Again IN THEIF FECKIN DREAMS

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Royal Mail is First Class Again IN THEIR FECKIN DREAMS

Well they are:

1st class at not staffing correctly.
1st class at creating backlogs
1st class at disorganisation
1st class at repeating same message
1st class at blaming the workers/union..................

[kimski1976]

we have 20 full cages of packets in our office. id say its not back to normal just yet. but that isnt backlog at least. thats just from one week. they got about 15 ppl in on sunday (managers mostly) and we got down to like 5 cages.

[DirtyHarry]

Could someone tell me what normal means within Royal Mail ??????????????????

Normal, to RM bosses means, trying to squeeze a pint into a quart pint pot, trying to bang a square peg into a round hole, treating their staff no better than they'd treat a mangy dog, that's they're idea of normal.