Royal Mail

[Minky]

Royal Mail....... What a shower.  I ordered an item on the 18th situated in Henley on Thames it's been posted and given a tracking number.... The delivery day is given as 28th.!!! .....  10 days to do about 60 miles !!!  It's another semi monopoly that needs to be given a blooming good sorting out like the BBC.  Its just not good enough by any standards.   Henley on Thames to Kent ain't exactly down muddy tracks under fire in Ukraine.   A tired out donkey could do better than 6 miles a day. !!  It's the Same as a camera lens I ordered from Japan.  Within the day it had bèn collected,  processed through Tokyo airport.  Next day the lens arrived at Stanstead airport.  Again they took about 10 days to deliver it.  Disgraceful state of affairs.  I'm so hacked off by it all that in future I will enquire who the seller is going to use and if it is going to be RM I'll ask for a different carrier or organise my own.  And their all out on strike !!!  Perhaps they'll all be made redundant or p45.  ×××××××¥&*%&$###.

Edit.  God help this county if liebor ever get in.  There would be Corbin and the ginger woman and the other union jacks out there holding up my parcel even longer.!!!

Edited October 23, 2022 by Minky

[Gordon R]

It takes time to open letters and parcels to check if the contents are worth stealing.

[Minky]

Ow, don't! . I'm so hacked off about it all , I'm likely to loose the tickets on this one.!

Edited October 23, 2022 by Minky

[Newbie to this]

6 hours ago, Gordon R said:

It takes time to open letters and parcels to check if the contents are worth stealing.

[bruno22rf]

I pay the extra and ask for anything worth stealing to be sent by DPD (not everybody is a fan but I have found them superb), there was a time when you could simply post something first class and it would arrive, without being slit open, the following day - now you have to pay a fortune and send it recorded or special delivery to even have a good chance of it getting anywhere ontime and intact. From leaving a .22lr rifle propped up against my RFD's door early one morning to watching Pat pull up in his van, walk to my door, then put a sorry you were not in note through the letterbox, I think their days are numbered. While I'm on a rant, why do they insist on shoving tons of bloody advertising leaflets through my letterbox, I've started collecting it up and once a week I put it back in the postbox.  

Edited October 24, 2022 by bruno22rf

[Newbie to this]

19 minutes ago, bruno22rf said:

While I'm on a rant, why do they insist on shoving tons of bloody advertising leaflets through my letterbox

This really annoys me as well, why are they allowed to post junk mail through my door, at least the junk mail that is not specifically addressed. 🤬🤬🤬

Edited October 24, 2022 by Newbie to this

[steve_b_wales]

1 hour ago, Newbie to this said:

This really annoys me as well, why are they allowed to post junk mail through my door, at least the junk mail that is not specifically addressed. 🤬🤬🤬

My postman, who provides an excellent service I must say, told me that they get paid extra to deliver junk mail. 

[Minky]

1 hour ago, bruno22rf said:

I pay the extra and ask for anything worth stealing to be sent by DPD (not everybody is a fan but I have found them superb), there was a time when you could simply post something first class and it would arrive, without being slit open, the following day - now you have to pay a fortune and send it recorded or special delivery to even have a good chance of it getting anywhere ontime and intact. From leaving a .22lr rifle propped up against my RFD's door early one morning to watching Pat pull up in his van, walk to my door, then put a sorry you were not in note through the letterbox, I think their days are numbered. While I'm on a rant, why do they insist on shoving tons of bloody advertising leaflets through my letterbox, I've started collecting it up and once a week I put it back in the postbox.  

Good one.  It needs everyone to colĺect up all of the junk and do this on say the last day of the month.  Take it to a main post office at the begining of the day and fill the boxes right up until you can't get anymore in the slot.   A bloke I used to work with hated all the junk you get in magazines.  When he went into WH Smiths to get a magazine he would shake the junk out onto the floor and leave it.!  And I dont think that ha was the only one that does this because there's always a load of junk laying on the floor at the mag rack.

22 minutes ago, steve_b_wales said:

My postman, who provides an excellent service I must say, told me that they get paid extra to deliver junk mail. 

well they'll love getting it wll back and then they can deliver it again.

[Nuke]

Around here you just put a sign on your post box saying "No junk mail" and then they will not deliver any.

/Markus

[udderlyoffroad]

Whilst I would agree it’s annoying, I really don’t understand why it gets people so wound up.

I keep a cardboard box near the front door. Junk mail goes from the letter box straight into said box, when it’s full I leave it out for recycling. Problem mitigated, if not solved.

[Dave at kelton]

I only use for letters. Everything else goes by courier and never a problem!

[Blackpowder]

A postman friend tells me that PO management are only interested in creating profits, or at least trying to, customer service is  away down their wish list.

 

Blackpowder

[Minky]

1 hour ago, Nuke said:

Around here you just put a sign on your post box saying "No junk mail" and then they will not deliver any.

/Markus

 

59 minutes ago, udderlyoffroad said:

Whilst I would agree it’s annoying, I really don’t understand why it gets people so wound up.

I keep a cardboard box near the front door. Junk mail goes from the letter box straight into said box, when it’s full I leave it out for recycling. Problem mitigated, if not solved.

But then their wants / actions be one your problem.  I know that it's not much BUT why should I have to waste my time dealing/even considering the fact that they are making money from dumping a load of unwanted junk for me to sort out..? 

Can you unsubscribe from junk mail.?

27 minutes ago, Dave at kelton said:

I only use for letters. Everything else goes by courier and never a problem!

yep. That's it.

18 minutes ago, Blackpowder said:

A postman friend tells me that PO management are only interested in creating profits, or at least trying to, customer service is  away down their wish list.

RM should like the BBC have a good sorting out.

[JohnfromUK]

21 minutes ago, Minky said:

Can you unsubscribe from junk mail.?

Yes (well at least 'sort of') - see here  https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/293/~/how-do-i-opt-out-of-receiving-any-leaflets-or-unaddressed-promotional-material%3F

I did this and it worked for a while - but I think it expires * - so I need to renew it.

*  Edit  -  It expires every 2 years apparently, so I will renew mine.

Edited October 24, 2022 by JohnfromUK
Added edit as shown above

[30-6]

I know someone who has a paper hole punch and punches out loads and loads of little pieces. When he gets junk with a pre paid envelope in it, he folds the reply letter in a certain way so that the little bits don't fall out in transit then posts it back to them.

He seems to enjoy the thought that when the letter gets opened it will go all over their desk and they have to clean up.

[derbyduck]

if an envelope is supplied I send it back minus the bit with my name on it, it keeps the post office workers employed , owt else gets shredded and composted !

[Stonepark]

55 minutes ago, Blackpowder said:

A postman friend tells me that PO management are only interested in creating profits, or at least trying to, customer service is  away down their wish list.

 

Blackpowder

Yes, the management do have a focus on profits and are not aligned to what the average worker wants. But I also suspect that if the average worker was that disgruntled (and not just the union being stubburn over operating changes) they could go and work for Amazon, Evri, DHL, DPD but strangely they do not....

UK postal services made a £418m profit last year (mostly from parcels, letter delivery was loss making), which is apparently 20% up on previous year so looking up. However this only translates into a profit of about £3k per worker who is a member of the union.

Average postie wage is £25k, with sorters average wage £24.5k

My understanding from our local postie is the Union is looking for a raise of 11%, coincidently also about £3k per worker and have already rejected an offer of 5.5% (£230m) and which if implemented would effectively remove all the profit from Royal Mail, assuming that profit can be maintained in the future (the current pre-recession is looking like this won't be possible and it will fall this year).

However, the truth is that there is still also a lot of embedded obselence in certain parts of the Royal mail... comments from a postal worker from else where...

"i do feel sorry for delivery staff (posties) but thats it. The hours that could be trimmed in a Small mail centre like Cardiff are insane , indoor staff literally do nothing. They need to outsource logistics as they are working 3 hour night shifts and paid for 8, The transport managers are limp and throw hours around rather than get staff to work their full hours. The union are pretty much in bed with management. The night management team are more 2 faced than staff , the managers think their boss is cluelesss (THEY ARE NOT WRONG) and cannot wait for her days off , so they can run the operation properley. Managers going sick because they were taken off the acting lol. Billy Smart could run it better"

Both from stories from my postie and the above, it appears that other parts of the Royal Mail are still not working efficently and whilst the current energy crisis/financial crisis is aggravating individuals situation, there does appear to be areas that could be improved on but which are being resisted as it appears a significant number of people are comfortable in the 'job' thay have.

[bruno22rf]

2 hours ago, Nuke said:

Around here you just put a sign on your post box saying "No junk mail" and then they will not deliver any.

/Markus

I have the same message on my front door, but according to the area manager they must still post it.

[Minky]

3 hours ago, JohnfromUK said:

Yes (well at least 'sort of') - see here  https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/293/~/how-do-i-opt-out-of-receiving-any-leaflets-or-unaddressed-promotional-material%3F

I did this and it worked for a while - but I think it expires * - so I need to renew it.

*  Edit  -  It expires every 2 years apparently, so I will renew mine.

I think that this is the way to go

2 hours ago, bruno22rf said:

I have the same message on my front door, but according to the area manager they must still post it.

I suppose that RM would say " it's not down to us to decide what mail you want or don't want.  We just deliver it."

[Minky]

Right. They must have been warned that I was ranting about them   The item arrived without notice this morning. Positee wanted a signature and was gone.  He said. " I just deliver what's in the bin for this round."  Now I checked the tracking and it wasn't marked online as out for delivery which is bad because,  not expecting it I  may well been elsewhere.  Shambles. Still I've got it now.

Next  nuisance. ... one of the cars is coming up for insurance renewal.  No problem except as counting I  have over 50 emails most from 3..4 companies inviting me to chose them for the renewal. Yes I  Can unsubscribe but it is handy to be made aware and also to have all the details of previous policies available to hand but desperate 50 mail's.?  It's worse than the jehovahs witnesses  at the door.

[marsh man]

I send all my letters and parcels by Royal Mail and overall they are not to bad , although just lately with all these one day strikes some items have took longer than normal , a couple of weeks ago I posted a coat for one of the P W members the following day after he paid and it took around ten days before he got it , then I posted some books on the Monday morning and they arrived on the Wednesday , I now see the odd collection van on a Sunday and I don't think it will be long before we start getting a delivery on a Sunday  

[discobob]

14 hours ago, marsh man said:

tart getting a delivery on a Sunday

We have had them - certain accounts with RM get that for their deliveries apparently

[Lloyd90]

On 24/10/2022 at 12:58, Stonepark said:

Yes, the management do have a focus on profits and are not aligned to what the average worker wants. But I also suspect that if the average worker was that disgruntled (and not just the union being stubburn over operating changes) they could go and work for Amazon, Evri, DHL, DPD but strangely they do not....

UK postal services made a £418m profit last year (mostly from parcels, letter delivery was loss making), which is apparently 20% up on previous year so looking up. However this only translates into a profit of about £3k per worker who is a member of the union.

Average postie wage is £25k, with sorters average wage £24.5k

My understanding from our local postie is the Union is looking for a raise of 11%, coincidently also about £3k per worker and have already rejected an offer of 5.5% (£230m) and which if implemented would effectively remove all the profit from Royal Mail, assuming that profit can be maintained in the future (the current pre-recession is looking like this won't be possible and it will fall this year).

However, the truth is that there is still also a lot of embedded obselence in certain parts of the Royal mail... comments from a postal worker from else where...

"i do feel sorry for delivery staff (posties) but thats it. The hours that could be trimmed in a Small mail centre like Cardiff are insane , indoor staff literally do nothing. They need to outsource logistics as they are working 3 hour night shifts and paid for 8, The transport managers are limp and throw hours around rather than get staff to work their full hours. The union are pretty much in bed with management. The night management team are more 2 faced than staff , the managers think their boss is cluelesss (THEY ARE NOT WRONG) and cannot wait for her days off , so they can run the operation properley. Managers going sick because they were taken off the acting lol. Billy Smart could run it better"

Both from stories from my postie and the above, it appears that other parts of the Royal Mail are still not working efficently and whilst the current energy crisis/financial crisis is aggravating individuals situation, there does appear to be areas that could be improved on but which are being resisted as it appears a significant number of people are comfortable in the 'job' thay have.

The joy of the unionised worker. 
 

Why would any of them accept changes that increase the work they do? They’ve had it easy for years and also recruited mates and similar people as themselves. All happy to allow the culture of doing as little as possible take over.

 

Ford’s in Bridgend did the same, jobs for the boys for years, fiddling overtime and all sorts. Lads from an area that doesn’t have great job prospects etc, they milked it until the profit was gone and Ford built other factories abroad making the same engine and then simply closed them entirely. 
 

They had lads who joined unskilled and got qualifications and wages easily clearly £50-60k a year. 
 

When they really started to see that Ford’s would close them down, the younger lads begged the older workers to take the pay offer and not strike. 
 

Several lads I know who worked there have told me the older workers told them to screw the union, they were looking out for themselves as if it closed down the old lads would get a great payout and that would sort out their retirement. 
 

Those old lads left with a big payout, all the young lads and generations to come lost their jobs and the area lost one of their best employers. 
 

 

[Penelope]

On 23/10/2022 at 23:46, Gordon R said:

It takes time to open letters and parcels to check if the contents are worth stealing.

I knew someone once that worked in a sorting office. Often had stuff for sale. Oh, and if a package had 'fragile' on it, it was an invitation to play football with it.

[welsh1]

Part of the trouble with royal mail workers and unions is that they still act as if they are run by the government and the only ones who deliver mail, and by striking they will get their way and money will appear, but the reality is they are now a private company who have been losing money and will continue to do so unless they modernise, there are better and quicker companies out there who arew now on the scene and would love royal mail to fold.

I have courier deliveries 7 days a week, fast and efficient service, if i am not there they bring the parcel back to me the next day, if that fails i can rearrange a time or pick up point.

My royal mail sorting office is open between 9-10 weekdays 9-12 saturday despite their web site stating different times, i have watched them walk up to my door and shove a missed you card through the door when confronted had to admit didn't even bring the parcel out.

Unless royal mail realise thery are dinousaurs and do something about it they will be gone.