The postman always delivers except at Cornish town

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/story-1 ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Only half the homes in a Cornish town are getting daily postal deliveries because of Royal Mail staffing shortages, councillors have complained.

Liberal Democrat councillors Alex Folkes and Sasha Gillard-Loft said they had contacted the Royal Mail about the problems after complaints from residents in Launceston, North Cornwall, about infrequent deliveries.

They said further investigation had revealed that as much as half the town was not being properly covered by the Royal Mail with some people waiting three days between deliveries.

"There appears to be a significant shortage of postmen and women in Launceston at the moment," said Alex Folkes, Liberal Democrat councillor for Launceston Central.

"I am told by many residents that they are only getting mail deliveries every three days.

"Neighbours have told me that they were finding the same story up and down their street.

"So we talked to the delivery office who said that they are short-staffed at the moment and that the problem is affecting around half the town.

"I know that the staff we have are a very friendly and hard-working bunch, but it's a big problem if there are too few of them and it seems that they are so short-staffed that even doing a bit of overtime can't solve the problem."

The Royal Mail has a universal service commitment to offer a delivery service to every house six days a week.

Mr Folkes and Miss Gillard-Loft, who represents the south of the town, have contacted the Royal Mail and urged it to address the issue as a matter of urgency.

They said they had yet to receive an explanation.

Miss Gillard-Loft added: "Apparently the powers that be further up the line in Royal Mail won't allow any more staff to be employed to cover the deliveries.

"Launceston delivery office's hands are tied and they can only do what they can with the staff they have.

"Whilst we might be communicating more and more electronically, there are still lots of reasons why we rely on the postal service.

"In particular, businesses need a reliable postal service for deliveries to customers including items ordered on-line, to receive parts and raw materials and to get paid. So fewer deliveries risks orders, profits and, ultimately, jobs."

Royal Mail spokesman Val Bodden said: "We are concerned to hear about problems with mail deliveries in the Launceston area, as every letter is important to us.

"We will be investigating the concerns of customers and we would urge anyone with issues about their deliveries to contact Royal Mail customer services on 08457 740740 so that we can track and investigate immediately."

[DGP1]

The Lib Dems are twats, maybe they should have a word with their high ups and let them explain why RM is heading to hell in a handcart

[POSTMAN]

Royal Mail spokesman Val Bodden said: "We are concerned to hear about problems with mail deliveries in the Launceston area, as every letter is important to us.

"We will be investigating the concerns of customers

Hold on,all the cut offs,all the failed deliveries,have they not been reported then so DSM's and whoevers can get involved.

[Lounge Lizard]

Bude's not far away. Call in Graham Eccles and his penny farthing.

Meet the Cornwall postman who delivers letters for 25p a shot – on his penny farthing bike
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With the hike in stamp prices coming into force on 30 April, most of us will have no option but to stump up the extra cash. But Graham Eccles of Bude in Cornwall has decided to offer his local community a cheaper, alternative postal service.

Launched on 1 April, the Penny Farthing Post is a mail service with a difference: letters around town are personally delivered by Eccles on his penny farthing bike. The stamps, designed and printed by the postman himself, cost 25p – a saving of 35p on the new first-class stamp price.

"When I heard about the rises, I realised that my idea, which was initially just aimed at tourists, had legs," says Eccles. "Three weeks in I deliver around 100 letters a day."

Eccles initially printed only 480 stamps. Within two days they had sold out and the local shops that act as his post offices, selling stamps and collecting items for delivery, were clamouring for more. "At the end of my first week, I was dropping to bits. I wasn't used to cycling 15 miles a day, and my penny farthing needed a new back wheel."

"The reaction has been nothing but positive," he says. "I'm now designing post boxes made from converted gas bottles – painted bright yellow to avoid confusion with the Royal Mail."

For the time being, Eccles sorts the letters in his kitchen ("hair-raising when the kids want to help") but his dream is to have his own post office in the centre of town with his partner, Jayne, as postmistress. "I want to encourage the younger generation to love the written word. Everyone's growing up with huge thumbs from texting but receiving a letter is special."

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Royal Mail's 'head in the sand' attitude



http://lansonboy.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09 ... itude.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Not surprisingly, over the past few days I've been talking to Royal Mail quite a lot. Their attitude to the mail delivery problems we've been experiencing in Launceston leaves a lot to be desired.

At first their attitude was one of blaming the messenger - claiming that 48 hours was not enough to make a simple phone call.

Then they said that because they have a form ticked in the right place, that means that every house has been delivered to every day.

Next they said that because they hadn't had very many complaints to their call centre then it can't really be much of a problem.

Finally, they appear to be accusing local residents of making it all up.

At no stage has there been even the hint of an apology or a commitment to put things right.

It may be that they are actually working hard behind the scenes to plug to staff shortage and to reinstate daily deliveries. I certainly hope so. But the residents and businesses of Launceston deserve better than that. We deserve an apology.

UPDATE - I'm delighted that the BBC covered this story in their bulletin tonight but should point out, of course, that the Post Office is a separate business from Royal Mail and our local Post Office and staff have nothing to do with any of the problems residents are experiencing.

[POSTMAN]

Another one today...

http://lansonboy.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09 ... sorry.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I had a call from head office this morning to tell me that they would like to apologise for giving me misleading information before. They have discovered what they refer to as 'management issues' in the Launceston Delivery Office and tell me they have taken the appropriate action. They now accept that there have been problems with local deliveries and they are taking action to put them right. They are, hopefully, sending me an email with an apology in it and I trust that this will be an apology to all residents who have suffered postal delays, not just to me for providing me with wrong information.

That's all well and good, but I am told by local delivery staff that this management action is not to provide the desperately needed extra delivery staff, but to suspend a local manager. The local staff tell me that this local manager is not to blame and that the fault lies with people up the line who are refusing to provide enough staff to cover the rounds. Some staff are currently working almost double their contracted hours and it is still not enough.

Whilst I'm grateful for the apology and glad that Royal Mail appear now to be taking this issue seriously, it doesn't yet appear that they have grasped that the basic problem is that they are not providing enough staff on the ground.

UPDATE - The email has arrived and is reproduced below. Sadly it doesn't actually contain an apology. Royal Mail simply say they were sorry to hear that customers had raised concerns. I've emailed back to suggest that they might like to actually consider an apology.

Dear Cllr Folkes

It was good to speak to you earlier.

As we discussed Royal Mail is heavily regulated by an independent body, Ofcom, and our Quality of Service (by postcode) is a key indicator to how Royal Mail is performing. We take seriously any concerns that are raised by our customers in relation to performance. Thus I was sorry to hear that customers had raised concerns about the service they were receiving in the Launceston area recently.

As a result of our conversation an internal investigation was carried out. From the findings of the investigation it would appear there were some performance management issues at the delivery office during the week commencing Monday 3 September. As a result Royal Mail is taking the necessary steps to ensure service is restored.

I hope this answers your questions and should you require any further information do let me know.

Best wishes

Michael Hogg
Public Affairs Manager
Royal Mail Group
100 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0HQ