When in recent history has the Royal Mail postal service have to close down ? and for how long.

justwondering · Post by **justwondering** » 17 Mar 2020, 16:19

I am a very small business that uses the Royal mail for all my mail order business post.

My question is , when or if in the past was the postal service actually stopped / locked down in recent history (past 30 years) and if so, how long was it closed down for?

A lot of my items are sold through eBay, if an item is not received within say 10 days, the buy can quickly open up a case against my account and reclaim their money.

I am worried that the items may not become lost, but more stuck in the system due to a close down of services.

Does anyone know ?

2yearpostie · Post by **2yearpostie** » 17 Mar 2020, 16:23

We never have. As long as the workforce dont get infected there will still be a postal service, it MAY run a little slower but thats all.

NWpostie · Post by **NWpostie** » 18 Mar 2020, 09:09

Even in the darkest days of the Blitz we still delivered mail frequently finding addreses no longer exists after an air raid.

It would be endorsed "Bombed out" and returned to office.

Post by **WASD** » 20 Mar 2020, 16:09

I suggest you have a look into ebay and Paypal to see if they are offering some breathing room, as after all, you are their customer! With the amount of Chinese direct stuff there's probably some kind of update, or if not, one due soon. I doubt they want to lose custom to Amazon.

Royal Mail i doubt will come to a halt, but delays are guaranteed, and we are already seeing significant issues with getting everything out for delivery. I spoke to a friend today who works for DPD, they've now moved his 4 day week back to 5 day due to the same story, too many people sick, and the same amount of parcels coming through.

Good luck, stay safe.

Celgar · Post by **Celgar** » 22 Mar 2020, 12:22

The Prime Minister has listed Royal Mail as a vital service that has to continue working so we shall. It's likely that letters will sometimes get delivered every other day due to staff shortages from virus isolation etc but the parcels will be delivered every day mostly. You have no need to worry.
The prediction is that the amount of mail and parcels may decrease as some people will not be working and will have less money to spend. It could go the other way though if people at home surfing the net all day.

NewPostieUK · Post by **NewPostieUK** » 22 Mar 2020, 21:52

Celgar wrote:The Prime Minister has listed Royal Mail as a vital service that has to continue working so we shall.

Other than being on the list of key workers for sending-the-kids-to-school purposes . . has anything been said about Royal Mail? Who by and when?

Just wondering if there is something official?

justwondering · Post by **justwondering** » 23 Mar 2020, 14:36

Thank you for the replies, it has given me some peace of mind.

If anyone is looking for a daily update with regards to the current status of Royal mails services, then please see the link below.

https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app ... a_id/12556" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

justwondering · Post by **justwondering** » 23 Mar 2020, 14:40

Just one last quick question, I'm guessing no one really knows, but if the country went on full lock down... Would the Royal mail continue its regular services?

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 23 Mar 2020, 15:26

justwondering wrote:Just one last quick question, I'm guessing no one really knows, but if the country went on full lock down... Would the Royal mail continue its regular services?

I doubt it during a full lockdown, but they would probably have some way of prioritising medical or essential items.

More likely the USO will be suspended or reduced for a period of time, this would mean slower mail and fewer deliveries but the core stuff would still get through eventually.

Celgar · Post by **Celgar** » 24 Mar 2020, 17:43

A lot of the public, for various reasons and not always their fault, are still flouting the guidelines to try and lessen the chance of catching the virus. Therefore it's highly likely that the guidelines will become more severe in the near future. The police are already being spat at and assaulted in the street. I think we are still at the very beginning of this situation and there is a long way to go.