People in Eccles left without mail for a month in Christmas run-in as Royal Mail complains of staff shortages

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk ... l-22320482

'We've missed out on birthday cards, some tax stuff, NHS stuff, even tracked packages haven't got to me.'

People living in Eccles say they haven’t received any mail for up to a month in the lead-up to Christmas.

The Royal Mail says the issue is down to staff shortages caused by sickness and isolation because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It comes as people across the country have reported delays and problems with their letters and parcels.

Last month, residents in Altrincham complained that they had gone three weeks without deliveries.

Answering complaints about the delay in Eccles, a Royal Mail spokesperson promised the problem would be fixed 'as soon as possible'.

One Salford councillor says he called customer support about the delays and was told that the issue was due to a new system that has been put in place, with advice to visit his local sorting office every other day and see if they had any mail for his his household.

Coun Mike McCusker said: "We've missed out on birthday cards, some tax stuff, NHS stuff, even tracked packages haven't got to me.

"I thought this is really strange, I went down to the sorting office and asked if they had any post for me and they came back with a big wodge of letters, some dated back to November 11.

"I had mixture of current mail and mail that is 20 days old. Constituents have come to me since I posted on social media saying they haven't had any mail either.

"I called customer support and was told it was down to a new model that was causing chaos in the sorting office. We've got Christmas coming up, even if that was your business model where you changed everything in an office

"Surely you wouldn't do it at the busiest point in the year, when it's coming up to Christmas?"

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News 39-year-old Carl Robinson who lives on Rydal Avenue in Eccles says ‘nobody’ on his street has been receiving post.

He claims he has been unable to eat for almost a week as he is waiting on his bank card to be delivered to him and having recently recovered from a serious car accident he finds it hard to travel long distances to the closest branch which is in Manchester City Centre.

He said: “I’ve had a car crash not a long ago, I suffer from brain damage and my mobility is not the best.

"I haven’t eaten in a week because I can’t get access to my bank, because the nearest is in Manchester Piccadilly.

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“The bank said they’ve sent it out, and I still haven’t received it, my neighbours haven’t received mail. Nobody is receiving mail.

“My family are waiting on important mail with doctors appointments and what-not.

“I don’t understand why they can’t just sort out the mail, it’s stupid.

“God knows who else who it’s affecting, because if its affecting me, imagine how many other families its affected.”

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “The vast majority of mail is delivered safely and on time. We aim to deliver to all addresses we have mail for, six days a week.

“In the Eccles area, we are experiencing some delays to service due to COVID-related self-isolation and high levels of sickness absence.

“We apologise to any customers who may have experienced delays to their mail.


“We are working hard to get our levels of service back to normal as soon as possible.

“Anyone who has concerns over the delivery of their mail should contact the Royal Mail customer service team on 03457 740 740 or via the Royal Mail website www.royalmail.com.”

[POSTMAN]

Simon Thomson

I am going to check Eccles today - on the revisions I have always told the truth - and always will - we have lesson to learn - but let’s not forget - our walks have not been fair - on a five hour delivery span having up to 1.5 hours difference - or in some of our offices having a delivery span of 2.5 to 3 hours - all for the same £wage - is not fair - watch this from 44 minutes onwards - this is what I said to the market
https://royalmailgroup.emincote.com/eve ... 2287&media

[CharlesG]

Simon Thomson

I am going to check Eccles today - on the revisions I have always told the truth - and always will - we have lesson to learn - but let’s not forget - our walks have not been fair - on a five hour delivery span having up to 1.5 hours difference - or in some of our offices having a delivery span of 2.5 to 3 hours - all for the same £wage - is not fair - watch this from 44 minutes onwards - this is what I said to the market
https://royalmailgroup.emincote.com/eve ... 2287&media

I agree with Simon, it would be fairer for delivery span of 3 hours for everyone

[POSTMAN]

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk ... s-22379345

Royal Mail delays as Eccles neighbours forced to queue in the rain for post - and some still left empty-handed

Locals have been without mail for a month due to staff shortages



People in Eccles were forced to queue in the rain for up to 30 minutes to collect post - and some were still left empty-handed.

Photos showed a long line of customers outside the sorting office on Saturday.

The Royal Mail said the issue was down to staff shortages caused by sickness and isolation because of the Covid pandemic.

But one Salford councillor says he was told that the issue was due to a new system and was advised to visit his local sorting office every other day.

Eccles ward councillor Sharmina Augus said 25 residents took that advice but after waiting up to 30 minutes some went home empty-handed.

"Obviously people have better things to do on a Saturday morning, but they were missing really really important post.

"We spoke to somebody who's house sale has been held up because they haven't got a letter from their solicitors.

"You think everything must be done by email these days but there's so much stuff where you have to have by post.

"It's really having a massive impact on people's lives.

"The problem was a lot of people got to the front of the queue but they still had no post to collect. "

Cllr August says the council are calling on regional management to hire more staff to help reduce the stress on current workers at the sorting office and create a plan on how the issue will be resolved.

"We're trying to put as much pressure on the people higher up.

"The people who are working on the sorting office are working really really hard and they're incredibly stressed.

"What we want is a plan from regional management on how this will be resolved and when normal delivery will resume.

"We do not accept this is a Covid issue as we are being told only a single worker has isolated and that was December 1."

Last week answering complaints about the delay in Eccles, a Royal Mail spokesperson promised the problem would be fixed 'as soon as possible'.

He said: “The vast majority of mail is delivered safely and on time. We aim to deliver to all addresses we have mail for, six days a week.

“In the Eccles area, we are experiencing some delays to service due to Covid-related self-isolation and high levels of sickness absence.

“We apologise to any customers who may have experienced delays to their mail.

“We are working hard to get our levels of service back to normal as soon as possible.

“Anyone who has concerns over the delivery of their mail should contact the Royal Mail customer service team on 03457 740 740 or via the Royal Mail website www.royalmail.com.”

[clashcityrocker]

You can't have your Eccles cake and eat it.
Or can you?

[sorefeet17]

So they pushed through a revision on a already failing office to make it even worse, clever

[Pumpernickel]

"Surely you wouldn't do it at the busiest point in the year, when it's coming up to Christmas?"

But the market!!!

[POSTMAN]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-m ... r-59637470

Royal Mail delays: Eccles residents fail to get post for a month

MPs have called on Royal Mail to sort the delivery "chaos" in Salford as some residents have not had post for weeks.


People in Eccles who have complained about missing deliveries such as bank cards and prescriptions have been told to queue at the sorting office.

MPs Rebecca Long-Bailey and Barbara Keeley said an "urgent resolution" was needed to mail delays of up to a month.

Royal Mail said it had introduced new postal routes and there were staff shortages due to Covid-19.

Nationally, the firm confirmed sickness rates were double pre-pandemic levels and said 21 offices were experiencing delays.

In a joint letter to Royal Mail chief executive Simon Thompson dated 8 December, Ms Long-Bailey, MP for Salford and Eccles, and Ms Keeley, the MP for Worsley and Eccles South, asked for a resolution to the "chaotic situation".

They said a number of residents told them that postal delays had resulted in them missing hospital appointments, financial and legal deadlines and not receiving prescriptions.

Some have also not received bank cards, which the Labour MPs said meant they were unable to draw out money "leading to hardship".

Eccles councillor Mike McCusker told BBC North West Tonight the delivery "chaos" was "unacceptable".

The Labour councillor said "vital" items were sent via the post and said one resident had been sent three bank cards and still not received them.

Mr McCusker, the lead member for planning and sustainable development at Salford City Council, said it was "ridiculous" to ask people to join long queues to collect mail from the sorting office, especially vulnerable people during the pandemic.

Susan Oakey, 72, said she only received a letter dated 18 November and marked as a 24-hour delivery for an appointment on 2 December on Saturday, more than three weeks late.

The missing mail was "very concerning" and has caused her a "lot of hassle", she said.


Salford Community and Voluntary Services said it received mail for more than 20 charities, some of which is time sensitive.

It said post had been "sporadic" and some days it had received no mail.

A spokeswoman for Ms Keeley said the MPs were yet to receive a response to the letter.

Royal Mail said in recent weeks it had "implemented revisions" to postal routes in Eccles which had "unfortunately coincided with a Covid-19 outbreak".

[POSTMAN]

Video at the link

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk ... BpRcHtTsAA

The Royal Mail say the Eccles sorting office has been provided with 'targeted support' to make sure residents receive their mail

A staff member from the Eccles Royal Mail sorting office has warned that backlogs of mail and delays leave many facing disappointment this Christmas.

The member of staff, who asked to remain anonymous, says the issues are not down to Covid-19 having an effect on staffing levels.


Instead, they claim new working arrangements have left a backlog the sorting office will struggle to clear before December 25.

They sent footage to the MEN showing what they described as ‘chaos’ in the office.

A Royal Mail spokesperson told the MEN that photos and videos are not a ‘true or fair reflection’ of the current situation.

The also said that the situation had improved since the footage was taken.

But they added that the sorting office has been provided with ‘targeted support’ to make sure residents receive their mail.

Last month the MEN reported that People living in Eccles said they hadn't received any mail for up to a month in the lead-up to Christmas.


Sacks of undelivered mail at Eccles sorting office

Answering complaints about the delay in Eccles, a Royal Mail spokesperson said the issue was due to 'COVID-related self-isolation and high levels of sickness absence.'

The worker told the MEN that the issues the company are facing are not down to Covid or staff shortage, but due to a new system which has seen post workers' workload increased meaning they would have to work overtime to complete their routes.

According to the worker, as a result of this, many posties have refused to work the overtime - leading to a massive backlog of parcels and letters at the sorting office.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News they said: “It’s nothing to do with staffing, it’s to do with these new revisions.

“They have taken walks out and made other walks bigger so it’s impossible to complete your duty.

“One walk would usually last four hours. With these new revisions you’re talking six to seven hours.

“It’s complete chaos, you can see for yourself... It’s not gonna get cleared before Christmas, not a chance.”

Bundles of undelivered mail at Eccles sorting office, Eccles, Salford


The worker does not believe the mail will be delivered in time for Christmas

The member of staff also said that the Royal Mail have drafted in agency workers who do not have the proper training and knowledge of the routes leading to more important mail being left undelivered.

They said: “They’re getting agency staff in and they’re not training them... The backlog has got so much worse than previous years.

“There are parcels that have been left to stack up and in some cases there are tracked parcels that have been there for over two weeks.

“There are letters that have been left that are over five weeks old.

“This is disgusting as some are people’s hospital appointments and important letters being left in the office.”

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We apologise to customers in Eccles for any inconvenience they may have recently experienced.

[Munchboii]

Jesus christ, looks like 100% call rate on that fitting with about 4 letters in each slot. Mail probably not gone out for over 2 weeks on that round. And the packet bags
Actually felt physically sick just looking at that image

[Mr Rush]

Jesus christ, looks like 100% call rate on that fitting with about 4 letters in each slot.

Look at the gaps on the bottom row. Plenty of time for lapsing.