Poole Parcelforce struggling to deliver after City link go

[POSTMAN]

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Poole Parcelforce struggling to deliver ‘unplanned volume of goods’ on time after City Link collapse

THE owners of a home-based business say they are losing money because the Royal Mail’s parcel service cannot cope with a boom in business.

They say the Poole depot of Parcelforce is struggling to deliver packages on time since its competitor City Link collapsed into administration on Christmas Eve.

Peter and Catherine Haines run BoxedUpParty.co.uk, an internet retailer which sells complete kits for children’s parties, based on popular themes like Minecraft and Peppa Pig. But they say their orders from suppliers have been arriving late despite them paying for next day delivery.

“It appears that Parcelforce have got major problems with deliveries since City Link went under,” said Mr Haines.

He said he waited all day for parcels which had been dispatched for next-day delivery – and which the Parcelforce online tracking system said had left the Poole depot that morning.

“At about 5.50pm, we rang the depot and they came back to us saying ‘We’ve had 2,000 extra parcels because of City Link closing.’ They also said they couldn’t get enough agency drivers to deliver all the parcels. They said they were busier than before Christmas,” he said.

He said Catherine has been driving to the Poole depot to collect parcels instead of waiting for delivery. “They were very good at their end. They gave us some free deliveries and they were very apologetic but they can’t keep up with demand,” he added.

The Haines’ business, at Charlton Marshall near Blandford, is based on receiving items from suppliers and sending them out quickly to customers.

He said parents often ordered items for their children’s parties only days in advance.

“If their products don’t turn up by Friday, you get phone calls and have got to get the parcel to the customer by Saturday morning – which is four or five times the price,” he said.

“We then don’t make any money at all.”

Royal Mail spokesman Rhys Jones said: “We are working hard to ensure we deliver the unplanned volume of additional items received following the closure of City Link.”

[chrisj]

So what?

It is better to have a certain level of under-capacity than over-capacity. You can try to deliver unprecedented volumes through overtime and temporary staff if possible but what do you do when you have too much capacity and workforce and the volumes disappear?

Customers need to be more realistic - a company just went bust and Parcel Force has to deal with the increase in volume - it is unplanned - so what do they expect? These people still think RM is like the NHS - that provides free service and does not have to operate like a 'proper business' - just like the businesses complaining about Parcel Force.

These customers or clients are not exactly Loyal or exclusive to Royal Mail - they will sooner take their custom to the cheapest cowboys in town. Tough! (wait a few more days for your parcel or go to the shops) if it is that urgent or even pay for a premium service)

[mad man moon]

I have noticed a increase in volumes since CityLink went bust,we are bringing agency back and getting hire vans in.This company have been CityLink customers,its not our (PF) fault they went bust,I am sure all depots are trying hard to accommodate the unplanned increase in volumes.

[DGP1]

I'm surprised that PF isn't just handing over the excess to RM

[sweepster]

So what?
"These people still think RM is like the NHS - that provides free service and does not have to operate like a 'proper business"

This is one of my pet hates. I pay this government almost £10,000 in taxes each year, so the NHS is most certainly not free for us who work.