Extremely long (and problematic) delivery times for Royal Mail services

[theoneandonly1995]

Is it me or has Royal Mail's delivery timescales gone completely down the pan as of recently?

Firstly, I know that more parcels and letters are being sent out due to Covid (and using couriers because people can't see each other, to comply with social distancing etc). I also know that certain items, that are of high importance, have to be prioritized. But neither of the above can explain what has happened recently.

As mentioned on another thread, I often use other services due to cost and features provided (e.g. the use of parcel tracking). But there are certain items that either have to go RM, or are best going via RM.

A few weeks ago, I heard from someone local that a parcel going from Northamptonshire to Yorkshire took 8 days to deliver. 8 days?! The distance travelled is approximately 150-160 miles (by road) and would take about 2.5 hours. Obviously you don't expect parcels to go straight from A to B with no breaks, like how you would travel in a car, but this just shows the problem with the RM delivery services... 8 days to deliver an item that takes 2.5 hours to travel in a car...

In fact, to put matters into perspective, you could walk the entire distance from source to destination, and back to source again, and STILL have over 4 days left over if you did the whole thing non stop...

In fact, my family had to send an important document at the beginning of the month, on July 1st. They sent it via Royal Mail 1st Class Signed For.
It arrived on July 8th, i.e. a whopping 7 days after being sent...

Seven days to deliver an item that would easily fit in an A4 envelope... and this was FIRST CLASS SIGNED FOR!
First Class post is usually 1-2 days, 3 days maximum... but ever since the introduction of lockdown measures, and the spreading of this Covid virus, delivery estimates have tanked...

In fact, I sent out an item on July 27th, it was an eBay sale, and I sent it via RM 2nd Class (1st Class would have been too expensive here). The difference between 2nd Class and 1st Class is 1 working day (i.e. 2-3 days vs 1-2 days). The eBay estimates of RM deliveries are specifically shown as 1-2 days and 2-3 days, and this has always been a realistic time frame pre-Covid, for all letters, large letters, small parcels, etc etc (I do not send Medium parcels out via RM as they are cheaper through other methods).
It is now July 31st, i.e. 4 days later, and the item is STILL not at its destination. So the earliest it will be delivered is Saturday, August 1st, i.e. 5 days for a 2-3 day service.

What is going on with RM and why are they slowing down these parcels and letters? A delay of 2 days (assuming delivery takes place on 8/1) is valid, given the circumstances. But a delay of 5 (five, FIVE!) days on a FIRST CLASS item? That's inexcusable.
The only thing I can think of is that the 1st and 2nd class items are being delayed on purpose, in order to allow Special Delivery items to hit their next day (before 1pm) guarantee, at the expense of other items. Maybe this is in order to promote (read: push customers towards) the much more expensive, and financially unfeasible, "Special Delivery" service?
Note that Special Delivery is, ironically, the only service offered with tracking...

This is more important now than ever before, because eBay have tightened up their policies on items with requests open. Previously, a seller has 8 calendar days to respond to a buyer, but now it is 3 business days before eBay can step in. So if a buyer opens a "not received" case on day 0, then the item has to arrive by day 3 (instead of day 8), and eBay get called to step in on day 4 (rather than day 9). Unless there is tracking to show delivery, the buyer gets refunded, the seller gets a damaging defect, and the buyer then gets to keep the item if it arrives on day 4 or later...
So taking the 1st class large letter example above (as if it was an eBay sale, which in this case, it wasn't), and assuming a 2 day dispatch time:
Day 0: item dropped off at Post Office (i.e. same day as sale)
Day 2: latest point for dispatch
Day 4: delivery estimate for 1st class (1-2 days, plus 2 days handling time)
Day 5: buyer opens "Money Back Guarantee" case for item not received
Day 7: item arrives and shows as delivered
Day 9: case forwarded to eBay, eBay close in favor of seller (tracking shows delivery).

Had the person used the full allotted 2 days handling time, the item would arrive on day 9, after eBay had closed the case in favor of the buyer (due to no delivery confirmation), so the buyer would get a full refund as well as their item.

And this is why Royal Mail need to pull their socks up, stop trying to make people use Special Delivery, and actually get the items delivered in a reasonable time frame.
This is also why people should not be using Royal Mail for time critical items, and use someone else!

*parcels from both UPS and MyHermes have been arriving within their standard delivery time windows (1 day, 2-3 days) during the Covid-9 pandemic
**this does also not include the hassle of having to queue for the best part of half an hour in a Post Office with an uncomfortable mask on your face

[Sir Henry]

The short answer is to stop using ebay.

Who the hell in their right mind would make these kind of swingeing changes in the middle of a pandemic?

Personally I have had one small parcel go astray (1st in YEARS) and one parcel delayed (4 days sat in someone's shed so it really wasn't delayed as such) over the course of the last 4 months. In fact I have had constantly great feedback regarding delivery times and have still 100% feedback after all these years so make of that what you will.

So such sensational delays are rare even these days and NOT par for the course. But yes there have been delays due to posties self isolating / shielding, some duties not being delivered or only part delivered for days at a time.

The rest of your post, and forgive me if this sounds dismissive, is down to eBay, just as refunds due to no proof of delivery is Paypal's baby.

A mass boycott of eBay might bring them to their senses?

[Janet Brum]

You might find some answers here: https://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communi ... 72&t=97018" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Short version, RM tries to save money and Ofcom lets them.

[2yearpostie]

best answer is that we have around 3/4 of the normal staffing level and double the levels of parcels. Also we are only allowed one person one round per van now, where we used to have two. This is the difference between us and other couriers as they have always had one person one round per van. The company are not hiring any more people or vans because we currently have a deficit of £1million a day.
We do over a tracked service other than special delivery called tracked24 or tracked48.

[theoneandonly1995]

The short answer is to stop using ebay.

Who the hell in their right mind would make these kind of swingeing changes in the middle of a pandemic?

Personally I have had one small parcel go astray (1st in YEARS) and one parcel delayed (4 days sat in someone's shed so it really wasn't delayed as such) over the course of the last 4 months. In fact I have had constantly great feedback regarding delivery times and have still 100% feedback after all these years so make of that what you will.

So such sensational delays are rare even these days and NOT par for the course. But yes there have been delays due to posties self isolating / shielding, some duties not being delivered or only part delivered for days at a time.

The rest of your post, and forgive me if this sounds dismissive, is down to eBay, just as refunds due to no proof of delivery is Paypal's baby.

A mass boycott of eBay might bring them to their senses?

With so many people looking to purchase their goods online, I don't think that boycotting eBay is the answer.
As soon as you stop using eBay, you lose a large percentage of the market share - the only other viable alternatives are Amazon (who prefer larger scale sellers selling brand new items at a fixed price - though most items for sale are direct from Amazon anyway); Gumtree (highly dependent on the local area as not many Gumtree sellers are willing to post items out); Facebook Marketplace (which I don't use as I don't have Facebook), and Shpock (advertised a lot on the TV - but again, not many people in my area using it. In fact, Gumtree is probably a better bet).
You can't sell your stuff via car boot sales/garage sales at the moment due to Covid, and even if you did, you'd have a fraction of the market share and would achieve a much lower price.

I do agree that it is wrong for eBay to ramp the pressure up on sellers like this - 3 days is not enough time to make investigations.
However, Royal Mail are not in the clear either.

My parcel that I dispatched on 7/27 has STILL not had an attempted delivery! It was sent 2nd class, which is 2 to 3 days... NOT 7 DAYS!!!
There are no courier services that I know, that are in the UK, that are rated at 7 day delivery time.
And there is no guarantee that the item will arrive even today!

So due to no fault of my own, the parcel will be severely delayed.... Thanks a bunch RM, that's the last time I'll be using you until you get your deliveries sorted out.

Refunds due to no proof of delivery has always been an eBay/PayPal thing, which I don't see changing. They are always focused on buyer protection, even if it means shafting their sellers.

Though still, 7 day delivery (and it could even be 8, or 9...) Come on RM, you're taking the proverbial. Stop trying to promote Special Delivery, and get on with your decent 2nd and 1st Class deliveries (i.e. what people actually use).

[theoneandonly1995]

best answer is that we have around 3/4 of the normal staffing level and double the levels of parcels. Also we are only allowed one person one round per van now, where we used to have two. This is the difference between us and other couriers as they have always had one person one round per van. The company are not hiring any more people or vans because we currently have a deficit of £1million a day.
We do over a tracked service other than special delivery called tracked24 or tracked48.

Thank you - that would explain some of the delays, for example, I know that some of the parcels I have sent/received have got through OK - but some parcels (both sending and receiving) are being severely bottle-necked/delayed. 7 days is too long to be waiting for a delivery: Collect+ would have done it for £1 extra within 3-5 days, and Hermes would have done it for £1.20 extra within 2-3 days (and Hermes are spot on, they have always stuck to their estimates).

I have heard of Tracked 24 and Tracked 48 before (I have received parcels via these means) but aren't these for business use only? How are individuals able to purchase Tracked 24/48 - and does it cost substantially more than RM 2nd Class Small Parcel (or the equivalent Hermes/Collect+/UPS services)?

[2yearpostie]

Hi you can use click and drop https://send.royalmail.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Anyone can use not just business. I sent a shoebox sized parcel from midlands to n scotland for £4;00 the other day.

It would cost more than 2nd class but the thing the regulator measures our quality of service on is tracked so these are taking pririoty.

[theoneandonly1995]

Hi you can use click and drop https://send.royalmail.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Anyone can use not just business. I sent a shoebox sized parcel from midlands to n scotland for £4;00 the other day.

It would cost more than 2nd class but the thing the regulator measures our quality of service on is tracked so these are taking pririoty.

Thank you for the link, I've just had a look and Royal Mail Tracked 48 costs a total of £4.74 for a small parcel under 2kg.
That's not only considerably more than 2nd Class, but also more than the £4.20 that I recently paid Hermes for a 1-2kg parcel of any size (below 1kg it is £2.90).

And now, my Royal Mail 2nd Class Small Parcel from 7/27 has STILL not been delivered.... 9 days later! This was supposed to be 2-3 working days, not 9!

And to be honest, I don't really care what counts as working or not, because the item should have got there by now.

So we have a 1st Class Large Letter taking 7 days to arrive, and a 2nd Class Small Parcel taking 10+ days to arrive... Ironically, they won't let me claim as it needs to be 10 or more working days after the estimated delivery date (which is 2 weeks). God knows when that is for a parcel dropped off on July 27th, but it's enough to prevent me from using RM again for any of my outgoing deliveries.

What would normally go as a large letter is now going MyHermes Postable, with full tracking.

[theoneandonly1995]

Quick update: the 2nd Class Small Parcel did get delivered eventually (of course, way outside the expected time frame), but I had to ask my buyer because the lazy postie hadn't bothered to scan the parcel as delivered, so no delivery confirmation was ever posted on the 2D tracking! I informed RM about this and they gave me a book of 1st Class stamps to make up for what happened...

Throughout this time, MyHermes have been pretty punctual (2-3 days, mostly 2 days), and CollectPlus have dumped their Economy 3-5 day service. They are now charging Economy prices for Standard service, which is normally 2 days, but in the case of my latest parcel, was next day!
Yes, a 5kg parcel fully tracked and delivered next day for just £5.49 :)

The only time Royal Mail is worth considering (in terms of parcels) is for that weird 1-2kg weight bracket, as a small parcel, which Hermes (and no one else) do not have covered with a rate that is close to RM's. (And of course, for certain large letters.)

[Janet Brum]

You should go with your story to the media, maybe RM`s bosses will do something about it then.

I don`t like how the pandemic is still an excuse for poor service 5 months in.

[fb1969]

the lazy postie hadn't bothered to scan the parcel as delivered,

Plenty of reasons why a delivery scan wasn't shown, "lazy postie" may be on the list but a PDA/system/printing failure is far more likely.

[Janet Brum]

Or creased/ wet/ destroyed 2 D barcode.
I aint going to type all those letters and numbers into the pda on a rainy day for sure.

[Sir Henry]

Franchise post offices are the WORST for not replacing the ink on their label printers.

[aiden01]

You should go with your story to the media, maybe RM`s bosses will do something about it then.

I don`t like how the pandemic is still an excuse for poor service 5 months in.

In your view what is different from start of pandemic.

[Janet Brum]

In my view?
In most of the delivery offices the mail and parcels are piling up, walks not going out for 1,2 or more days, work brought back, no overtime paid to clear, lots of other issues, it`s not only my view.