Are we purposely failing?

[Dorset Plodder]

My Office is starting to feel quite a bit of pressure. We've quite a few sick & light duties, plus some on leave, which makes us a few posties short.

Due to an ever rotating number of Managers we have a big problem with owed overtime. Therefore more Posties are now leaving the lapsing and sometimes a row of mail as well. However there's still a big push from Management to get it all delivered (and they're paying overtime for it) and we are getting Posties and Managers from other DOs to help out.

So the USO hasn't been abandoned in this area. I expect it's just down to some particularly incompetent DOMs who are better at lying and falsifying reports than others. What the District Manager doesn't hear, he doesn't know!

[magicw]

In an Office with around 120 walks with a 50/50 mix of Town and Rurals we have been lapsing at least 8 walks everyday.
Lapsing is about 50 calls per walk so around 100 calls on a park and loop pairing, most Wednesdays, Thursday people either refuse or bring back the lapsing.
We ve got about 8 long term sick at any one time and as I Stop on and do Scheduled Collections on a Wednesday and Thursday I can usually see at least 5 walks (failed) still on the frames in the afternoons.

The walks that have failed usually just get a reserve moved on to them the next day and they end up with double. The rounds which are regularly lapsed are lucky to get mail every other day during the Mid Week.

I ve got a mate who lives on one of the Lapsed duties and he gets mail on a Monday, Tuesday and Friday at best. I ve hinted he might like to contact the D.S.M as his address has been on Lapsing for over 2 years.

I only joined the job 3 years ago. In that time we have shed at least a dozen staff through Retirement , Dismissal or Resignation. None of those duties have gone up for pick and are either absorbed by Lapsing or Overtime. Neither have any new staff been taken on.

I suspect that the DOBRA reports do not reflect our failures and that there is an agenda that supports failure so management can argue that the USO is unsustainable and cut the workforce by 50%.

[Jack Rouse]

Most days in our office walks fail for one reason or another, the latest one is to leave mail under the frame, leaving the office when you know you can complete, all done with the DOM's and DSM's knowledge, although we heard to day that the DSM is on "gardening leave" for fiddling the figures.

Apparently now mail isn't "live" until it's thrown into the frame.

There's a lot of discontent in the office because people are being taken on 20hr contracts, Weds, Thurs, Fri only, and do the walks they trained on, this means that posties with seniority are being moved off walks to accommodate them, and being used much like a reserve, being given packet duties and having to do walks blind.

Since our last revision, starting times are later, so now finish times clash with SA's, which means a whole lot of people can't do them, some are being asked to double up to cover, and even told to cut off, so that collections will be done.

All in all it's a total mess, we are all dreading the Christmas pressure

[magicw]

Most days in our office walks fail for one reason or another, the latest one is to leave mail under the frame, leaving the office when you know you can complete, all done with the DOM's and DSM's knowledge, although we heard to day that the DSM is on "gardening leave" for fiddling the figures.

Apparently now mail isn't "live" until it's thrown into the frame.

There's a lot of discontent in the office because people are being taken on 20hr contracts, Weds, Thurs, Fri only, and do the walks they trained on, this means that posties with seniority are being moved off walks to accommodate them, and being used much like a reserve, being given packet duties and having to do walks blind.

Since our last revision, starting times are later, so now finish times clash with SA's, which means a whole lot of people can't do them, some are being asked to double up to cover, and even told to cut off, so that collections will be done.

All in all it's a total mess, we are all dreading the Christmas pressure

Jesus that sounds bad! " mail isn't considered Live until it enters the Frame " No chance, At least if you hid mail under your frame in our place you would certainly be done for Wilful Delay. We have to have all our D2D Prepped into the frame on a Monday cant even leave that under the frame and put a loop in a day

Cant believe Posties with seniority are allowing themselves to be moved off Rounds they ve signed for by temps ( Our rep would be all over that )

The issue I have as a Reserve is as there has been no new staff into the office in the 3 years I ve been there and the Dozen or so rounds that have been vacated by Retirees/ Dismissals or Resignations have been absorbed by lapsing or overtime theres no chance of moving from being a Reserve to even a Float.

On a Wednesday and Thursday when I do a Schedo , I am always put on a delivery duty which finishes within 1/2 a mile of my collection ( I suspect on those days Floats are being moved to accommodate this as Duty holders at our place wouldn't let it happen) . I ve questioned that every other day they make me come back to the office and sign out, but turn a blind eye to it when it suits. If I kick up too much fuss I d just loose my Schedo.

[Senior Service]

I felt it wasn't just our Office with abysmal quality of service, but as I said before why is this not news and the Regulator all over Royal Mail. They can cite staff shortages but by all accounts there is a recruitment ban so what chance do we have of improving to where we should be.

Is this an extension of Conservative austerity measures now being applied to the amount of deliveries a customer gets!

[Mezza]

Looks like a country wide issue.
My DO has been hit hard in the recent couple of weeks.
A huge increase in volume. Loads of manual stuff every morning on the IPS. A good few off sick here and there as well as a couple of long term sick. As many as 7 duties lapsed some days in an office with
around 50 delivery duties.
Some walks not going out at all for a couple of days etc etc.

I even had a lino tell 3 delivery staff to scan 9am Specials as inaccessible and deliver them later that day as they said they wouldn't get them done in time. I informed him that i would report him via whistle blower if he made them do it. he said that he had cleared it with the DSM, so i said i would report the DSM as well as him. ten mins later a manager took the 9am's and delivered them before 9am.
Same lino been telling delivery staff to just put P739's through and don't bother knocking if they think they will struggle to complete in time. Warned staff against this and the possible repurcussions.

Thing is even with all that going on we have a good majority of delivery staff finishing as much as 90 mins early every day.They moan and moan that we are short staffed (we are by about 6 people), but keep coming in early, running around and going home early.

We have walks given to staff with little or no seniority over staff with high seniority - manager just says it's not permanent so he won't put them up for resign. Union Rep couldn't care less as he would lose his duty if a resign took place.
We have the new SPS computer based callers office system coming in on the 28th and already been told there will be no additional hours resourced for booking in items - that's going to be fun then.

Never seen things so bad and been with RM on and off for nearly 30 years.

[OnAFlyer]

God knows what's happening at some of the offices mentioned here There is hardly ever anything failed at our office apart from packets rolled at Christmas and the very occasional day where part of a walk might not go out (couple of times per year).

Tracked are still being pushed, they are NEVER left in the office . .

Plus everyone in the office except brand new starters has a permanent contract.

Do you work in Fairyland DO?

I work in a decent one by the sound of some of these posts! Plus we go home when it's done, nobody has to stay until time if they finish early.

[Senior Service]

God knows what's happening at some of the offices mentioned here There is hardly ever anything failed at our office apart from packets rolled at Christmas and the very occasional day where part of a walk might not go out (couple of times per year).

Tracked are still being pushed, they are NEVER left in the office . .

Plus everyone in the office except brand new starters has a permanent contract.

Do you work in Fairyland DO?

I work in a decent one by the sound of some of these posts! Plus we go home when it's done, nobody has to stay until time if they finish early.

If I am wrong I apologise but I find it very hard to believe all you say and you come across as a management mole spreading the company line that its ok in the rose garden! It bl***y well isn't.

[Jack Rouse]

Looks like a country wide issue.
My DO has been hit hard in the recent couple of weeks.
A huge increase in volume. Loads of manual stuff every morning on the IPS. A good few off sick here and there as well as a couple of long term sick. As many as 7 duties lapsed some days in an office with
around 50 delivery duties.
Some walks not going out at all for a couple of days etc etc.

I even had a lino tell 3 delivery staff to scan 9am Specials as inaccessible and deliver them later that day as they said they wouldn't get them done in time. I informed him that i would report him via whistle blower if he made them do it. he said that he had cleared it with the DSM, so i said i would report the DSM as well as him. ten mins later a manager took the 9am's and delivered them before 9am.
Same lino been telling delivery staff to just put P739's through and don't bother knocking if they think they will struggle to complete in time. Warned staff against this and the possible repurcussions.

Thing is even with all that going on we have a good majority of delivery staff finishing as much as 90 mins early every day.They moan and moan that we are short staffed (we are by about 6 people), but keep coming in early, running around and going home early.

We have walks given to staff with little or no seniority over staff with high seniority - manager just says it's not permanent so he won't put them up for resign. Union Rep couldn't care less as he would lose his duty if a resign took place.
We have the new SPS computer based callers office system coming in on the 28th and already been told there will be no additional hours resourced for booking in items - that's going to be fun then.

Never seen things so bad and been with RM on and off for nearly 30 years.

Ours is done by those on light duties or re-hab !

[OnAFlyer]

God knows what's happening at some of the offices mentioned here There is hardly ever anything failed at our office apart from packets rolled at Christmas and the very occasional day where part of a walk might not go out (couple of times per year).

Tracked are still being pushed, they are NEVER left in the office . .

Plus everyone in the office except brand new starters has a permanent contract.

Do you work in Fairyland DO?

I work in a decent one by the sound of some of these posts! Plus we go home when it's done, nobody has to stay until time if they finish early.

If I am wrong I apologise but I find it very hard to believe all you say and you come across as a management mole spreading the company line that its ok in the rose garden! It bl***y well isn't.

I'll accept your apology because yes, you are wrong. I never said all is ok. I said the office I work in isn't failing and actually does pretty well. Yes we are often short staffed when people go sick like many offices, but a few people do OT (not me) and the managers will take anything that's left so nothing fails.

It's busy and not easy (is any office easy anymore?) but we generally get it done ok. We have a quick 'huddle' every day about Tracked, complaints etc and how we are doing, so no, RM aren't purposely failing at all. What they are trying to do is run the company on a shoestring with minimal staffing, and when a lot of people go off sick or are on leave it leaves them struggling. That much is obvious.

If people don't believe that then fine. I don't believe a lot of people on here who say they have super long walks, because we have the odd one saying the same in our office and the walks are nowhere near what they claim.

[delfranklin1969]

God knows what's happening at some of the offices mentioned here There is hardly ever anything failed at our office apart from packets rolled at Christmas and the very occasional day where part of a walk might not go out (couple of times per year).

Tracked are still being pushed, they are NEVER left in the office, managers take out anything they can't cover, every single complaint is mentioned in the daily briefing (no walks singled out, just how many complaints we've had for the previous day/week and what they were for) and QOS targets and actual figures are up on the walls.

Plus everyone in the office except brand new starters has a permanent contract.

Our office is pretty much the same but we're a small one with 23 rounds and one manager!

[postslippete]

I don't think it is purposely failing


I still believe that Royal Mail's performance targets are quite important. And this is important not just for Royal Mail's profits but for our future as well.


If we are performing badly i.e. duties not getting completed, mail not getting delivered. It affects customer confidence (businesses and home customers) and thus negatively impacts our business. Its what decides whether someone should send a parcel via Royal Mail or our competitors.

However, profits are so much more important in a modern privatised company that I suspect senior managers have been almost forced to lapse duties/make rounds bigger/get posties to do collections etc etc. even when they did not want to. Now managers are having to do deliveries at our office on a daily basis because of it! And its probably why they just want you all to work to your time no less. Imagine how they would feel about next summer's lapsing ?

I also suspect, that there are a lot of lies, damned lies and statistics when it comes to our quality of service targets as well. Maybe our 1st class targets for next day delivery are above 90 odd percent. However, are our customers aware in our area that when they post a 1st class letter through a pillar box that their letter is never going to get there the next working day, but more likely the day after next?? In our town we know this because all our collections mail gets sent out of town to be sorted. So erm, why are customers paying for 1st class when they are receiving a 2nd class service??