Call for inquiry after Dunfermline mail 'shambles'

[POSTMAN]

http://www.dunfermlinepress.com/news/ro ... -shambles/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

THE chaos which descended on the Royal Mail service in West Fife over the festive season has been blamed by posties squarely on a new system of deliveries introduced in the run-up to Christmas.

Customers can expect to be receiving their Christmas cards well into the New Year as postal workers struggle to shift the backlog.

Back-up staff are being brought in from across central Scotland to try to cope with the situation in Dunfermline, described by one postie as "an absolute shambles".

The Press was contacted by an experienced postie who said two busloads of casual workers had turned up in Dunfermline yesterday (Wednesday) to go out on deliveries while Dunfermline workers were inside sorting mail.

The postie said, "There's still loads of Christmas cards to go out.

"They'll be delivered long after the tree's gone back in the attic."

When the Press contacted Royal Mail there was no apology for the disrupted service which they claimed was caused by the bad weather with staff in West Fife having to "negotiate particularly icy and slippy pavements and roads".

They added there had been "minor teething problems" with the new system which they said "were resolved before the severe weather commenced at the end of November".

However, the postie who contacted the Press said, "We're sorry that all this has happened over Christmas and that the public have been badly affected but the simple reason is this new delivery system.

"The weather can't be blamed as other places like Alloa have had the same snow but deliveries there have been fine."

He described farcical scenes in the Dunfermline sorting office before Christmas as more and more mail piled up, restricting the ability of staff to move around to tackle the backlog.

"You could hardly get down the aisles for stacks of mail so these were eventually moved over to a warehouse in Bathgate.

"Later they found another warehouse in Pitreavie and the mail could be moved out there, just out of the way really.

"Under the old delivery system everybody had their own area and somebody else did the parcels.

"Now there's two posties in a van covering a much bigger area and between them they have to do the letters and the parcels.

"If they were going to bring it in here, you'd have thought the best time would be to wait until February when things are quieter rather than at the busiest time of the year."

Dunfermline West MSP Jim Tolson is demanding an inquiry, saying the explanation he has received is "unacceptable".

Mr Tolson said, "So far what I've been told from Royal Mail is that it's all down to the weather.

"However, from talking to MSPs elsewhere it seems that other areas have only been slightly affected.

"Posties have told me that a new system of deliveries was introduced in the run-up to Christmas which has exacerbated the situation.

"This explanation I've been given that it's all caused by the weather is unacceptable.

"I'll be seeking a meeting with Royal Mail management and there must be an inquiry into what has happened here.

"It's not just Christmas cards, of course. Some people have been waiting for important medical letters."

Dunfermline and West Fife MP Thomas Docherty wants a meeting with Royal Mail to find out exactly what went wrong after telling the Press last month he had received assurances that the Christmas mail would be delivered in time for the big day.

"I'm furious that I accepted all these assurances they gave but they have now spectacularly failed to deliver upon," said Mr Docherty.

"I want a meeting with Royal Mail and want them to have carried out a review beforehand so that they don't just blame it all on the weather.

"This has put a dampener on Christmas with presents and cards not arriving in time.

"I've also been speaking to local lawyers who have been waiting on important legal documents which have still to be delivered."

Not surprisingly, the Press received many calls from angry readers on the matter.

Hazel Nield, of Lade Braes, Dalgety Bay, said, "We're still waiting for letters which were sent to us on 6th and 7th December.

"They are documents from an insurance company but because they've never arrived the firm agreed for us to fill in a form over the internet.

"What was particularly annoying was that when we phoned the sorting office the phone just rang out.

"They must have been fed up answering it so just stopped doing so."

A Rosyth woman called the Press to say, "It's an absolute disgrace.

"I would normally have at least 50 cards sent through the post and this year I've none at all."

A Royal Mail spokesperson told the Press yesterday (Wednesday), "The vast majority of Christmas mail was delivered despite the most hostile start to winter weather in the UK in living memory.

"We will continue to deliver any remaining items as quickly as possible.

"This Christmas the office has also had to deal with an unprecedented volume of packets and parcels.

"As part of Royal Mail's ongoing modernisation programme, a revision was implemented in Dunfermline in November with little impact on service to customers.

"There were minor teething problems which were resolved before the severe weather commenced at the end of November."

[POSTMAN]

Comments...

Martin you are soooooo funny...

"Postie told me it was Health and Safety was the main reason for not delivering, due to the slipped ice and roads make travel dangerous. It sounds like they just don't want to work at all"

And then you say...

"There were 7 ambulances in 2 weeks near my house just for people who fell on the ice."

Muppet!

[Phantom]

I've heard Dinnington DO in South Yorkshire had to abandon the 2 in a van crap and go back to the original way of delivering as it was failing and another office Sheffield South DO has a massive backlog due to cuts made earier on in the year and bad management. This is progress tho!

[clashcityrocker]

"They'll be delivered long after the tree's gone back in the attic."

Does no-one in Dunfermline have a real tree?

[steven100]

I've heard Dinnington DO in South Yorkshire had to abandon the 2 in a van crap and go back to the original way of delivering as it was failing and another office Sheffield South DO is has a massive backlog due to cuts made earier on in the year and bad management. This is progress tho!

Isn't this breaking the agreement????? Get back to doing it he way RM want you too.

[fishtank]

I've heard Dinnington DO in South Yorkshire had to abandon the 2 in a van crap and go back to the original way of delivering as it was failing and another office Sheffield South DO is has a massive backlog due to cuts made earier on in the year and bad management. This is progress tho!

Isn't this breaking the agreement????? Get back to doing it he way RM want you too.

If the members voted for the revision and Royal Mail are taking out the revision i would imagine that's Executive Action....unless the members were allowed to vote on taking it out...which i doubt.

[DirtyHarry]

Royal Mail has gone beyond being a shambles, mate.
If it had a personality, Royal Mail would be a swivel-eyed lunatic forever trying to bash a square peg into a round hole.

[fishtank]

Royal Mail has gone beyond being a shambles, mate.
If it had a personality, Royal Mail would be a swivel-eyed lunatic forever trying to bash a square peg into a round hole.

...and blaming the peg for not being "flexible" enough.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Royal Mail has gone beyond being a shambles, mate.
If it had a personality, Royal Mail would be a swivel-eyed lunatic forever trying to bash a square peg into a round hole.

...and blaming the peg for not being "flexible" enough.

and giving you a child's toy hammer and still blaming us because its been agreed by the CWU as an appropriate tool for the task.

Of course the CWU would be backing the new tool because it could protect full time jobs, and if it isn't then its your fault because you agreed to the revision, or didn't bother standing up for yourself.

(its a joke lads)

[Phantom]

I've heard Dinnington DO in South Yorkshire had to abandon the 2 in a van crap and go back to the original way of delivering as it was failing and another office Sheffield South DO has a massive backlog due to cuts made earier on in the year and bad management. This is progress tho!

Isn't this breaking the agreement????? Get back to doing it he way RM want you too.

They had to really, cos mail wasn't being delivered, you had 2 people in a van, one says i'm having a break and the other wants to go out straight away. One wants to do overtime and the other doesn't but the one that doesn't is the van driver and all the mail is in the back so the non-driver can't work. This is progress tho!