Is the Royal Mail 'fit for purpose'?

Yes, Iswym and we would normally go round when we go out to do our shopping.
They may not even get there now, we put 2nd class stamps on and someone muttered something about a strike.

Five days next week, Jalima, but it's only the crown post offices. It's to do with the post office management doing away with the final salary pension scheme.

Oh, OK, thanks.

Baggage handlers at quite a few airports are going on strike late next week and pilots ,can't remember which airline on strike , over Christmas

The post office in my village is changing soon.
At the moment it is in the newsagents. The post office wants it to be open until 9.00p.m. and the newsagent refuses to stay open that late, as he thinks it will cost more in staff and heating, etc., than he will take in the extra hours. So it will be moving into the Spar shop.
Of course, those who work in it will only get shopworkers rates of pay instead of post office rates. As long as they can sell us lots of insurance, that'll be okay.

The local post office close to where my dad lives has been integrated into a local spar type shop. The assistants in the shop are notoriously well known in the area. Don't want to go into too much detail but surface to say you wouldn't trust them an inch. Surprisingly it is these same assistants that pop behind the counter at the post office whenever necessary. I cannot believe that the post office don't carry out checks on their employees?

I was posting the local ones because the grandchildren love to get things through the post. The sorting office for our area is just a mile away. And the point was one got there next day. One is still missing.

And the main point is my fish is still festering in Edinburgh, where it arrived last Monday from South Uist.

I know exactly what you mean Anya My three DGC love getting letters and cards through the post too.

I sent a small 3" x 3" card with a 1st class stamp, and I enclosed a small pendant which weighed . My OH posted it in the post box (because there was a parking place) instead of taking it to the post office in town. Of course the inevitable happened, it went missing. As there was no proof of posting on it they said it was my fault and I would not be able to claim anything. The post lady (who is very nice) said they didn't empty the box that was done by a man in a van from the next town. When he collects the mail it goes to a sorting office and they have a gadget with slits in it and a pair of scales. If it will not go through the slits, or if it weighs more than a first class stamp's worth it will be put in to a box with other undelivered mail and it will sit there until full. To cut a long story short, the little card arrived 3 weeks later, but my son got a card through the door saying he had to go to the post office to collect it and pay £1 for Admin fees and 50p for extra postage.

My view on this is that the post office these days is a rip off. If they can deliver a card they could have delivered the card, but they say their postmen cannot be responsible for cash. Not like the old days is it?

I wouldn't mind, but we take in post office parcels for the whole street as they are usually out when the post arrives! Our sorting office is 10 miles away so it would mean a 20 mile journey if they missed their parcels.

card and pendant 'which weighed no more than a gram'

I've no problem with our two usual posties, polite and friendly and sometime stopping for a quick chat. But, the thing that gets to me is the price of posting. Sent a parcel last week that cost 13 pounds, cost more than the contents.

But it isn't just the Royal Mail. Things are late or disappear all time via the various courier services. Yodel are awful - my husband was constantly on the phone to them about a parcel which, according to their tracking info, was always "out for delivery" or "back at the depot" but never arrived. It seemed that they regularly took it for a ride down our street and then took it home! We never did get it.

Parcel2go took 8 days to manage a "next day collection" for the Xmas presents we were sending to the US.

A fortnight ago, I bought a chess set for my husband for Xmas. The seller sent it with a courier I hadn't heard of - I think it was called Hermes - and I had tracking info that didn't work. The courier admitted they'd lost it. When I contacted the vendor for a refund, he said they'd lost 320 of his parcels over the past 2 weeks!

The issue with the card and pendant was likely the thickness of the envelope rather than the weight - an envelope does not have to be very thick to require a large letter stamp instead of a standard stamp. I always take anything that is not a flat card or letter to the post office to check the width of the item - or put a large letter stamp on the item to be on the safe side.

Some of you seem to be confusing Royal Mail with Post Office Counters - they are two separate companies and have been for decades (I should know, I've worked for both in the past). Our local post offices are great and we have a fantastic postman - poor guy is taking an extra two hours a day to do his round with all the extra Christmas post. Those moaning about late post should remember their postie starts work as early as 5am and cannot go home until their round is finished (they have to sort their mail before they set off).People may not be sending as many letters and cards as they used to but there has been a huge increase in online shopping and the postman has to deliver the packets and smaller items as part of their normal round.

Those who have had major issues with delivery should contact Royal Mail via their website to complain.

I think the post is shocking. Since moving from a place where deliveries were good and reasonably early 10.30ish we now recieve our post at any time between 12.30pm and 4.30pm. It varies so much and for that reason I consider it unreasonable and unreliable. I like to have a bath mid afternoon and get into PJ's (see previous post on PJ's) and I can't do that and then answer the door, I prefer to be fully dressed for the postman! It is very inconvenient.

What I think most people have forgotten is that we used to get post twice a day, now I have trouble getting the first, and only, post before 4.30pm! It has all gone to crap...

The local post office is in a small store and they are very good and lovely too.

I object to being labelled as 'moaning'. As someone pointed out the cost of postage isn't cheap and the service simply isn't up to standard.

I could go on about Post Office Counters too. Our main one is diabolical. It is run by a family, who only employ relatives. They are sour-faced, and abrasive, rude to customers and inefficient and the queues are horrendous. I drive two miles to the smaller one on a big estate, which, despite the numbers using it manage to be polite, helpful and get everyone served quickly.

What is obvious is that some areas have an efficient service, be it Royal Mail or Post Office, and others suffer badly.

As far as I'm concerned, Royal Mail has my grateful thanks. Four days ago, my son who lives in Japan posted me a large parcel. It wasn't Special Delivery or anything else as he reckoned he'd sent it early enough for me to get it by Christmas. My cheerful postie handed it to me this morning.

Actually, our post man is wonderful as are the locums who sometimes arrive and the sorting office staff down the road could not be pleasanter and more helpful.
We live in the north, in Sheffield:perhaps they are just nicer than in other places?!

No complaints here.
Our lovely postman just brought a present I ordered only a couple of days ago. Was amazed to get it so quickly so close to Christmas. It's the second that has arrived in super-quick time lately.

Perhaps we have a different system where I live Witzend Our postman doesn't deliver parcels, just letters. We have a fleet of red vans which are used for parcel delivery and they refuse to leave anything with neighbours.

You get a card posted through your door, if you are out, saying you need to go to the sorting office (just up the road luckily) to collect your item but not until the next day, or Monday if it's a weekend. That's fair enough but I wish they'd leave it with a neighbour.

Sorry that should have read Indigoblue

Our usual postman is very nice but the service from Royal Mail in general round here is appalling. I have been standing in the hall when a card came through the door saying no-one was in & I had to collect parcel from sorting office- he never even tried to ring the bell or knock.By the time I'd read the card he was off!
You can no longer park at our local sorting office as they say members of the public are a liability & padlock the gates so you have to park in town & walk up. When you get there the reception area is plastered with posters saying they will not accept abuse from public- all hand written & very abusive themselves to my mind.
I no longer use any company who use RM for deliveries.
We had a situation earlier this year when half of the town got no deliveries for a week- I don't think we will notice a strike!

Gosh surprised at all the problems! Our posties are brillant and rarely are mistakes made. Think they have guessed by now that I am a "spy", I monitor mail deliveries for the Royal Mail and can say hand on heart 99% of 1st class arrives the next day and 2nd mostly 2 days sometimes 3. Our local shop/post office is also very friendly & efficient. I post alot for ebay with no problems there either. Must be Glasgow, we wouldn't still have your fish!
To clarify it is the larger crown post offices who will strike not the small shop ones & deliveries will not be affected.
Re pendent person it is not unreasonable to be charged if you put the wrong postage on it, watch widths a letter is under 0.5cm and a large letter 2.5cm otherwise it becomes a parcel.
Sorry felt had to stick up for the posties would hate to lose them dont like sundays as know no post!!

I'm gosh surprised! that there is a system for monitoring Royal Mail deliveries Ele19

How exactly does that work as I'm struggling to see how it would, logistically (in that sense of the word applicable to logistics) be applied?

I assure you there is no trace of the fish at Glasgow! It's Edinburgh who have cocked up lost it!!

I got a parcel on Thursday by Royal Mail , according to tracking it will be delivered today !! , our Postie is polite and will ring the bell , walk down the street to deliver some mail and come back to me as he knows it takes me ages getting to the front door