are you waiting for a royal mail parcel?

[SeanMacGabhann]

Better to fix the Royal Mail I would say - the workers attitudes might be out of date but the service itself has been deliberately run down

[Rockets]

The postie turkeys just voted for Christmas. Lots of companies are now switching away from the royal mail, understandably so - the unions don't want modernisation so they have opted for extinction. The strike was over ages ago yet the parcels are not arriving - they are now on a go slow but let's be honest the East Dulwich sorting offices were awful before the strike and are now absymal.

[bottom]

no i hate mail and like to laugh at the ones who have lost thers!! ha ha ha >:D< B) :))

[cyberplanes]

got one today that was posted sept 5th, still have five letters i know have been posted in last 3 weeks that remain undelivered (including passport i need in 2 weeks time) - only hoping backlog gets worked through rather than destroyed as some suggest

[Jeremy]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Better to fix the Royal Mail I would say - the

> workers attitudes might be out of date but the

> service itself has been deliberately run down

Why? Letters and post-boxes will be a thing of the past eventually, anyway. As for parcel delivery... how will a huge, broken ex government department serve us better than smaller, competing companies? I don't want to sound to much like Marmora Man, but... there are times when competition is a good thing.

[SeanMacGabhann]

true but we aren't there yet are we?

And why is the RM "broken"? Even in the US the Mail service is treated with more respect than successive governments here

Go back a couple of years, before competition - were we complaining about the lack of alternatives, the twice-daily post, the massive surcharges? I think we were pretty reasonably happy - I don't see what competition has brought to this table

If you introduce competition and then, deliberately, make the homegrown alternative look shabby, then of course people are going to compare the two (and possibly blame the workers in to the bargain)

[peckhamboy]

The irony is that even if the strikes are successful in forcing RM to back down and "saving" jobs, the loss of confidence in RM means that this time next year they will probably have to make more workers redundant than would have lost their jobs if they'd gone along with the current plans. They seem to be stuck in the early 80's. Fundamentally, strikes only work if the people on strike are actually missed - like the miners' strikes when the country had to go to a 4 day week, or essential workers like firemen, tube drivers, even bin men. Sadly for them the RM is no longer as essential as it used to be - it's a bit like Starbucks workers going on strike. It might hurt the company they work for (and Dulwich Mum) but most of the country will just go to Caffe Nero or Pret instead and some of them won't come back when they realise the product is better.

[Jeremy]

peckhamboy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> The irony is that even if the strikes are

> successful in forcing RM to back down and "saving"

> jobs, the loss of confidence in RM means that this

> time next year they will probably have to make

> more workers redundant than would have lost their

> jobs if they'd gone along with the current plans.

I was thinking along the same lines!

[Jeremy]

Sean - it seems strange to cite the US, where private delivery firms are more commonplace, and more accessible to the general public than they are here. Hopefully the competition in the UK will become more established, and the public can vote with their feet.

[SeanMacGabhann]

I used it only because it remains government owned - whereas our govt seems to want shot of it

As I say, I agree that the need for such a service is diminishing rapidly, and I also agree that the union tactics are self-defeating

But the whole thing could be managed more honestly and efficiently. Tell people, we ARE going to run this thing down, you won't get the same postal service you had, other firms will be available, you'll be (mostly) ok. But it'll cost (you) more, Until then we will employ people who know all of the above and won't complain about it, we;ll cross-train as many existing employees as possible but things move on

Then stand on that ticket

[Jeremy]

I agree, that would be sensible.

It will never happen.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Is this because politicians are weak or is it because the public is contrary and fickle?

Bit of both probably

[Jeremy]

Probably.

Part of the problem is that some people still want to post letters for a few pence, and have them arrive the next day. It's a model which won't be possible for much longer, but the govt don't want to admit it.

[orlakeilyhandbag]

As a loyal customer of Amazon for many years I have now had to inform them that I will no longer buy from them whilst they continue to use Royal Mail to deliver their parcels. Parcels are simply not getting to me, I have been waiting for one for about five weeks now. Amazon have kindly refunded me for the last two parcels but I feel it is unfair to continue to order from them and expect them to do this when Royal Mail are effectively 'stealing' the goods.

[Annasfield]

Some of my friends went to Fiji for a couple of weeks. Their postcard would have been sent no more than 11 days ago and it arrived yesterday. The cheque that was posted to me from Acton over a month ago still hasn't arrived..............

[ianr]

Has anyone yet received the copy of Private Eye that would normally have been delivered on 30 September?

[Loz]

I had a parcel delivered today! On a Sunday!! It was only a day or so later than expected, too.

[fractionater]

I've been waiting for over 2 weeks now for a replacement SIM card that Orange posted out to me - so no phone in that time either!

[jaybee82]

I got my parcels yesterday too! Happy days.

[EDKiwi]

I saw a couple of Royal Mail branded people delivering arm loads of parcels yesterday, guess they're trying to get through the backlog.

[EDmummy]

I was waiting for two parcels via Royal Mail. One posted 2 weeks ago, one 1 week ago. The one posted 1 week ago arrived this morning - placed behind our bin in full view of the street. We were home at the time but may not have heard a knock - if there was one. My assumption is that they are trying so hard to get rid of the backlog that they are not being as careful as usual (this item should have gone back to the sorting office for me to pick up). The item posted 2 weeks ago has still not arrived so my assumption is that this was also left outside the door but at a time when I was not in and could not bring it in - somebody knicked it!

Company is going to re-send 1st item by courier now. Saying that, couriers are just as bad at leaving things on the doorstep!

[KidKruger]

had a parcel (and note through my door to collect at Silvester Rd sorting office) on 02 Oct.

Went on Saturday 10 Oct to collect as was awa previous weekend and work in during week.

Got to sorting office at 0855 ( I know they open at 0800 on Saturdays).

Sign on door said they were open that day only 0800- 0900, I was lucky.

Gave man collection card.

He vanished for 5-6 mins. Queue built up.

Man comes back. No trace of parcel.

"Do you know what the parcel is" ?

'You tell me mate it's on your shelf isn't it ?'

"Come back next week we may find it then"

'What will change between now and next week ?'

"Dunno, just might have more luck next weekend"

'Oh right, fair point mate.....'

COULD YOU REALLY INVENT STUFF LIKE THIS ???? SOMEONE SENDS YOU A PARCEL AND YOU GET IT IF YOU'RE LUCKY !!