Second class letters taking as much as 11 days to arrive

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/second-cla ... uch-757894" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That’s eight days longer than the Royal Mail’s target of three working days

Second-class letters are now taking up to ELEVEN days to reach their ­destination.

That’s eight days longer than the Royal Mail’s target of three working days.

The staggering delay is based on a survey by Labour’s postal affairs spokesman Ian Murray, who got researchers to post items from a central London postbox to ­addresses across the country. They found the average delivery time was six working days and not one item met the Royal Mail target.

Yet next month a second-class stamp is set to rise from 36p to as much as 55p. And a cap on first-class stamps could be removed this week, meaning they could rise from 46p to more than 60p.

Mr Murray said: “This is a
worrying snapshot of the current performance of the second-class postal service. Steps must be taken to make sure it is not ­allowed to deteriorate any further.”

The letter which took 11 days to arrive was posted to Bolton, Lancs, 211 miles away. Another took six days to travel the 13 miles to Ilford, Essex, while a third took nine days to travel the 198 miles to Hyde in ­Cheshire. The quickest delivery time was four days to Chorley, Lancs, and to Derby.

Mr Murray said: “Second class is important to small businesses and other vulnerable customers. We need guarantees about the level of service you will get.”

Royal Mail defended its record. A spokesman said: “An ­independent survey showed second class mail is hitting its target 98.5 per cent of the time.”

[not me]

its bollocks
this week i have had three 2nd class items arrive next day

[DGP1]

its bollocks
this week i have had three 2nd class items arrive next day

I agree with you, some items are delayed but the majority are well within the time

[DirtyHarry]

Yeah, that's crap, man.
I got a second-class letter yesterday, and it's not even being posted until tomorrow. What more do they expect for their shilling?

[DGP1]

Yeah, that's crap, man.
I got a second-class letter yesterday, and it's not even being posted until tomorrow. What more do they expect for their shilling?

Ah yes..............crap I'm not doing that Monty Python sketch again

[PhilthyPhil]

It is not a very good test if they posted all the letters in the same postbox at the same time is it? Sounds like there was a problem with the collection from that particuar box. A better test would have been to post each letter in a different box in a different area.

[slave]

Hardly a real survey or a proper one.. Strangely I never notice such bizarre results nor do most others, typical RM bashing publicity scam - do a proper test or keep your opinions to yourself.

I posted a parcel (Standard Parcels) t'other day, arrived next day - couldn't believe it when the person said they had got it!