Royal Mail

[hogan53]

Hi gang
Not to sure where to post this.
Here is a few tips on sending items through the postal system.
Always put your address on the back of a item be it letter/jiffy bag/packet or parcel.
Package your items well.... don't use bin liners or carrier bags, use a sturdy box.
Pay the correct postage the rates have changed...... a First class stamp will not cover a item that is more than 5mm thick.
Larger sized letters cost more to send.
Check these out on the Royal Mail website http/sg.royalmail.com/portal/rm/PriceFinder?catId=23500532&gear=pricingcalc
You can set up a account to send items requirements are.... Printer, Computer, Debit Card.Although you will still have to take larger items to the Post Office.

Don't send money through the post.
Don't send money/coins/keys/flash drives/memory cards/sales samples in a {normal envelope} as these can get trapped in the machinery.....resulting in lost and damaged items and broken postal machinery.....Use a jiffy bag.
Cheers
hoggie

 

[simonas]

not bad advice as I;m aware that Royal Mail are having big problems delievering mail

I;ve had car parts take an age to reach me and from a car forum I use suppliers seem to be suffering all over at the hands of the Royal Mail

 

[VickiandKev]

Hi gang
Not to sure where to post this.
Here is a few tips on sending items through the postal system.
Always put your address on the back of a item be it letter/jiffy bag/packet or parcel.
Package your items well.... don't use bin liners or carrier bags, use a sturdy box.
Pay the correct postage the rates have changed...... a First class stamp will not cover a item that is more than 5mm thick.
Larger sized letters cost more to send.
Check these out on the Royal Mail website http/sg.royalmail.com/portal/rm/PriceFinder?catId=23500532&gear=pricingcalc
You can set up a account to send items requirements are.... Printer, Computer, Debit Card.Although you will still have to take larger items to the Post Office.

Don't send money through the post.
Don't send money/coins/keys/flash drives/memory cards/sales samples in a
DON'T SEND FISH WITH ROYAL MAIL
{normal envelope} as these can get trapped in the machinery.....resulting in lost and damaged items and broken postal machinery.....Use a jiffy bag.
Cheers
hoggie

Please see above for my added 'Don't send' in Blue

 

[-Craig-]

The Royal mall is fast at delivering things, But Never send fish in the Royal mail, the chances are they will die.

 

[BigC]

Never send fish in the Royal mail, the chances are they will die.

Never lost any yet.....

 

[Haveagojoe]

not bad advice as I;m aware that Royal Mail are having big problems delievering mail

I;ve had car parts take an age to reach me and from a car forum I use suppliers seem to be suffering all over at the hands of the Royal Mail

I work for RM and the only problem at the moment is the explosion of packet mail at this time of year, we are engulfed in parcels due to the massive increase in internet shopping and of course the run up to christmas.

 

[fish48]

Never send fish in the Royal mail, the chances are they will die.

Never lost any yet.....

i also have Never lost any fish with Royal mail

 

[VickiandKev]

you have both been very lucky !

 

[JoshuaA]

not bad advice as I;m aware that Royal Mail are having big problems delievering mail

I;ve had car parts take an age to reach me and from a car forum I use suppliers seem to be suffering all over at the hands of the Royal Mail

I work for RM and the only problem at the moment is the explosion of packet mail at this time of year, we are engulfed in parcels due to the massive increase in internet shopping and of course the run up to christmas.

Not a personal dig, though I doubt that's not your only problem

I got a card saying a parcel I ordered had arrived and told to pick it up from the depot told to wait 24 hours, I waited 4 days and phoned up and they said yeh sure it will be here... went down and it wasn't they said it might be somewhere else in the "system" and that it can take a day to return from delivery. I had to wait another 3 days before it showed up and I didn't even get an apology. The shocking thing was the guy didn't even ring our buzzer for our flat he just posted a card straight out, my friend even claimed to have seen the postman walking out the estate as he was expecting something also.

I would never trust fish or anything with a sell by date with RM

Edit: to be fair I don't trust many if any postal services. Surprisingly Citylink have never let me down, although they did let my friend down who ordered next day 9am delivery and his parcel was tracked to be in the depot for 3 days awaiting delivery, they did issue a refund but if that were fish...

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

not bad advice as I;m aware that Royal Mail are having big problems delievering mail

I;ve had car parts take an age to reach me and from a car forum I use suppliers seem to be suffering all over at the hands of the Royal Mail

I work for RM and the only problem at the moment is the explosion of packet mail at this time of year, we are engulfed in parcels due to the massive increase in internet shopping and of course the run up to christmas.

I'm a postie and I can tell you that some depots round the country are in "meltdown" at the mo, due to two factors...

• The normal explosion of pre-Xmas parcels that tests the company to its limits
• Many depots around the country have implemented major revisions to the way all mail is delivered, in the last few weeks, with catastrophic results. Predicted round times were very conservative and so mail is backing up horribly, such as at the Dundee branch, where they reckon they are now "weeks" behind (even with managers and staff from elsewhere working on Sundays and sometimes overnight).

 

[elisew]

RM are a sad excuse for a postal service imho. Prices of postage creeps up yet the standard of service just continues to fall, pay for a first class service but what you actually get is a fifth class service and I don't see how that can be blamed on the time of year especially when it's been happening regularly for at least the last 4 months

 

[InsaneHOH]

i'm fearing for my fishes on my first attempt of ordering online,, ordered 2 of a highly recommend ebay seller, they were posted yesterday, and postman has now been and gone,,
and no fish to be seen

 

[ian]

they may come back with a packet, they often do 2 rounds now, one with packets, the others with letters.

 

[elisew]

i'm fearing for my fishes on my first attempt of ordering online,, ordered 2 of a highly recommend ebay seller, they were posted yesterday, and postman has now been and gone,,
and no fish to be seen

I would have thought your fish would be sent via Next Day delivery which is likely to be delivered by a driver postie and not your normal postie. I believe the delivery should be made by 1pm

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

If you are going to send fish through Royal Mail, they must be sent using Special Delivery premium, which provides compensation for failed delieries before 1300 the next working day Mon-Fri (providing the parcel was taken to the post office before their deadline time for same day collections).

If arranging fish deliveries for a Saturday, they must be sent using the Saturday Special Delivery premium, as standard specials do not have to be taken out without fail on a Saturday.

EliseW, I'm not going to try and defend Royal Mail blindly, as there are several things that upset me about my contract. For example, my contract is 22.5 hours per week but my round takes ~27 hours a week over five days, starting at 0945 and typically finishing my own round by 1515. I then most days do overtime, completing the rounds of full-timers for upto another 2.5 hours, due to the full-timers not wanting to work beyond their 8-hour day finish of 1400. However, despite typically working ~38 hours per week, my holiday and sick pay are based on just on my contract time (almost any other job these would be both based on the average number of hours per week over the last 12 weeks)!

As I said, many depots have been changing how the delivery staff deliver mail to customers in recent months, as a consequence of the strikes in 2009 just before I joined. They involve changes such as sending out two posties in a van with two complete rounds of mail, whereas before there would be a postie on foot (possibly with bike or trolley) and a van driver covering the bulky/heavy parcels plus the "tracked" items. Royal Mail have "planner" employees that are supposed to work out how many houses/shops each round can done by a postie (or posties in a van) within their contract hours, but they are "fudging" the data entered into their program, due to pressure from higher management. As a result, instead of making delivery rounds take close to four hours per postie, many are taking upto six hours in reality.

The result? You will get two "man" hours of post not delivered per postie, unless the postie wants overtime...

I think many people would be horrified if they ever saw the depot warehouse of their local branch in the weeks approaching Xmas, it certainly made my eyes pop out on stalks last year when I saw it for the first time! Parcels and letters all over the place, as the system put in place by the depot managers buckles under the modern day use of internet shopping and hidious amounts of marketing (junk) mail. Even with many posties working their "day off" (we normally get Sundays plus one other day per week, that moves forward by a day each week), the system cannot keep up with the Xmas demands.

Now combine normal Xmas pressure with the huge changes to working practices up and down the country and you might begin to appreciate the "meltdown" that is likely this year, all made to make the privitisation of Royal Mail look a great prospect in the coming months...