Royal Mail Sorting Office Closure Meeting..

[hamsandwich]

mancity68 Wrote:

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> I'm a Peckham dweller so have always used this

> office. You get to know when it's busy so avoid

> those times. Usually, getting there at 8 on a

> Saturday is a safe bet for a short wait.

> Today.....45 minute wait. When I left at 845 the

> queue was to the car park railings.

>

> Four counter staff working and they were being as

> quick and efficient as they could be but crikey

> this is an astonishing level of demand for them to

> deal with.

>

> Other impact I've noticed since the change is the

> significant increase in Royal Mail van traffic on

> the adjacent roads - and the increase in traffic

> due to ED callers. Not a criticism of the drivers,

> appreciate it's quite a distance to come. Just

> curious to know what the local area impact

> analysis was when they decided to increase the

> role of the Peckham office.

Thanks for this! MP Helen Hayes got in touch with me and I've sent her over an email summarising the issues that have been listed above. Hopefully, that will help put some weight on Royal Mail to sort out the issues.

[EastDulwicher]

Currently standing in an extraordinarily long queue outside the Peckham sorting office. Whoever thought this was an acceptable thing to do was seriously misguided. A very large number of people waiting in excess of an hour to collect parcels - many of which were Home when the attempted delivery took place - postmen didn?t even knock!

Postmen are fed up with it as are the public - I?ve alrwady spent over ?2 on parking having spent 15 minutes driving around to find a pay parking space.... I?m likely to have to top it up.

I?ve no idea what elderly residents in East Dulwich are going to do and am dreading the dark, cold, wet winters as I can?t see this improving - even the postmen and staff are saying it?s a complete joke and totally unfair on all....

Something needs to change.... mind you

Royal Mail have sold Silvester Road for an apparent ?7 million so I doubt they give two hoots...

[KidKruger]

Got there at 0730, already a fair queue, left 0815. Massive queue !

[Sue]

EastDulwicher Wrote:

> even the postmen and staff are saying it?s a

> complete joke and totally unfair on all....

Well, they shouldn't have agreed to it then.

Sorry to be harsh.

[se22]

Sorry, but the posties didn't agree to it.

[katanita]

Has anyone else found that the missed delivery text messages are still directing you to collect from "East Dulwich Delivery Office"?

[jimbo1964]

se22 Wrote:

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> Sorry, but the posties didn't agree to it.

Exactly

[uncleglen]

I was assured a parcel was arriving at my house by Thursday at the latest so someone has been IN for 3 days just in case it came- NO SIGN of it despite seeing 3 red vans parked up at one time or another today and a bewildered looking postman who I have never seen before trying to find a house (even though they are all numbered!)

I was thinking about the logistics of just adding the whole catchment area of Sylvester Road, and given the wealth of the people in the neighbourhood who will spend a lot online- they have bitten off more than they can chew, that's for sure!

[singalto]

The posties were very much against the move so several left which is possibly one of the many reasons things have gone pear shaped. I saw a parcel delivery man today trying to deliver parcels to houses with no luck so I rushed out and told him to leave the parcels with me. One has now been collected by a very grateful neighbour! The van driver said that he was also supposed to deliver normal post to my road but that he wouldn?t have time!

[Sue]

singalto Wrote:

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> The posties were very much against the move

Where do you get that info from?

[singalto]

I went to the meeting, I talked to a number of posties as they walk down the road..

[kiera]

At that meeting I got the impression from the union rep that the postmen weren't sorry at the prospect of no longer working at Silvester Rd - that the only thing they would miss was the easy parking. The union rep was anticipating that conditions would be better for the postmen at Peckham and this is similar to what he told Southwark News.

Southwark News reported in July last year:-

"The decision to close the Silvester Road branch, and the building to be sold, came after months of campaigning from locals, Labour Party members and the Communication Workers Union (CWU).

The company has sought to assure residents that their door-to-door postal services will not be affected, and no jobs will be lost.

But Steve Beadle, CWU rep for south east London, told the News it was a ?complicated? scenario.

?The conditions of the Silvester Road branch really aren?t fit for purpose, the building is very antiquated,? he said.

?The move would be good for my members. But the one massive issue we?ve got is that this area would lose its enquiry office. What we say as a union and to the local community is they still need to provide an independent enquiry office within SE22...."

https://www.southwarknews.co.uk/news/royal-mail-confirms-east-dulwich-sorting-office-will-move-peckham-january/

[intexasatthe moment]

What does the enquiry office do ?

[uncleglen]

The Southwark News article says that ...the enquiry office could move to the Lordship Lane Post Office...he obviously has NO idea what the LL P.O. is like..

[sandyman]

Fed Ex, DHL etc leave parcels with neighbours if nobody is in. I don't think Royal Mail does this but why not?

I presume they would argue that it might add to their posties' workload but not as much as their workload will increase if everyone asks for re-deliveries because they can't bear to go to the Peckham office.

[Sue]

I was at the meeting too, and my recollection is the same as Kiera's.

The union rep gave a very weird speech, and Helen Hayes' eyes and mine met during it, as it was quite clear that he and his members were not in fact generally opposed to the move.

Some individual posties may have been of course, and probably more are opposed now they have realised the reality of the situation, but Royal Mail's consultation would have been with the union, not with individual posties.

[uncleglen]

has anyone seen any RM delivery today?

[Sue]

sandyman Wrote:

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> Fed Ex, DHL etc leave parcels with neighbours if

> nobody is in. I don't think Royal Mail does this

> but why not?

>

> I presume they would argue that it might add to

> their posties' workload but not as much as their

> workload will increase if everyone asks for

> re-deliveries because they can't bear to go to the

> Peckham office.

I have had Royal Mail items left with neighbours, and theirs with me, but I have no idea if that is official policy.

[singalto]

I took two parcels for neighbours yesterday..

[EastDulwicher]

I was back there this morning and once again couldn?t park and so ended up in Choumert Road car park again paying for the privilege. I queued for about 20 minutes and was then helped by our former postman who was super helpful, very apologetic about the situation and friendly (his colleagues could learn a lot from him). Phew! Nevertheless the situation prompted me to call Royal Mail and complain about the queues, costs and general inconvenience. I would urge others to do the same...unless we all register our frustration they will not do anything about it.

tel://03457 740 740

[Sue]

Thank you for that number. I shall be phoning it!

[Bic Basher]

I had post this morning.... From a week ago.

[Lynne]

I complained to Royal mail about non-delivery and the pile of mail I saw being sorted on the road.and have had an e-mail saying they're looking into it.

[mrsparker]

I'm on hold with them now. Been waiting since the 18th September for a first class package, another package ordered on 25th still not arrived. Also a magazine subscription which wasn't even posted through the letter box, just flung on to the welcome mat.

[Penguin68]

The delivery people are well aware of the problems we are facing, and it wouldn't surprise me if, as front-line staff, they are getting the blame for what is clearly poor planning and management (together with unhelpful actions from staff choosing to leave this sinking ship and leading to chronic understaffing - which is hardly the fault of those left). They had hoped for a better work environment (and more money from Inner London Weighting) - instead of which they have increased pressure and work and presumably less job satisfaction.

But the 'service' and I use that word quite wrongly, is an entire fiasco. A 'perishable' item promised for redelivery on Friday has not (yet) appeared - and will have perished when it does. No postal delivery in Underhill yet, who knows if we will have one? I waited till my phone lost battery for the 03456 000 606 re-delivery number to answer - no use (I now know) in using the web site, which just lies.

For the Royal Mail this was not a matter of bad luck (like a flu epidemic cutting back staff) but a self-inflicted wound, and one they were warned about by our representatives. Simple remedy is not enough, Ofcom should also now punish.