Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

On 13/03/2014 16:42, Phil Cook wrote:

On 13/03/2014 08:37, Optimist wrote:

I find the courier firms are far superior to RM for customer
service. They actually answer the phone when you ring the number
on the card to say they have a package for you but you were out.
They will leave in the porch or elsewhere if you wish.

RM usually don't leave items in porches because of the risk of theft.

RM put a card through the door instead of trying to deliver the
package, when you ring they don't answer, they won't leave items to
be collected at the local post office but at an inconvenient depot
on an industrial estate.

Royal Mail is actually three businesses. Post Office counters and
Parcelforce are distinct from the letter delivery business. Letters (and
packets) are held at the delivery office for collection at the callers
office. The local Post Office is a place where you can buy stamps,
though you can have redeliveries made to a local Post Office for an
additional fee.

No, you're out of date - the Post Office (what was once PO Counters Ltd,
now just Post Office Ltd) is a standalone business, wholly owned by the
government. It wasn't included in the privatisation of Royal Mail.

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

On 13/03/2014 20:58, Mizter T wrote:

On 13/03/2014 16:42, Phil Cook wrote:

Royal Mail is actually three businesses. Post Office counters and
Parcelforce are distinct from the letter delivery business. Letters (and
packets) are held at the delivery office for collection at the callers
office. The local Post Office is a place where you can buy stamps,
though you can have redeliveries made to a local Post Office for an
additional fee.

No, you're out of date - the Post Office (what was once PO Counters Ltd,
now just Post Office Ltd) is a standalone business, wholly owned by the
government. It wasn't included in the privatisation of Royal Mail.

Oops. Quite correct. Shuffles off looking at feet
--
Phil Cook

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

On Wed, 12 Mar 2014 22:55:26 +0000, Charles Ellson
wrote:

It can depend on which end of the round the postman starts at. When
one delivery a day came in it was evident in some places that the
round was being reversed every few weeks with the result that half the
round was getting the post earlier and the other half later. For some
time now (at least with mine) the delivery time seems to be mostly
unchanging.
The apparently delayed start time possibly also gets out of paying for
working unsocial hours.

Until about 5 years ago they were allowed to knock off early when they
finished their rounds. As a result many of them started well before
their official starting time.

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

"mcp" wrote in message
...

Until about 5 years ago they were allowed to knock off early when they
finished their rounds. As a result many of them started well before
their official starting time.

.... and that was the "couldn't organise a ****-up in a brewery" indication
of the management, who, by putting a stop to that practice and insisting
that a full shift was worked, at a stroke removed the customer-friendly
aspect of the postal service, because now that there was no motivation
to get the work done early, it no longer is.

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

"gareth" wrote:
"mcp" wrote in message
...

Until about 5 years ago they were allowed to knock off early when they
finished their rounds. As a result many of them started well before
their official starting time.

... and that was the "couldn't organise a ****-up in a brewery" indication
of the management, who, by putting a stop to that practice and insisting
that a full shift was worked, at a stroke removed the customer-friendly
aspect of the postal service, because now that there was no motivation
to get the work done early, it no longer is.

But perhaps each postie now delivers more items than before?

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

Graeme Wall wrote:

Cost and the buyer rather than the sender is the one who experiences the
problems. For me the main annoyances are the need to put yourself under
virtual house arrest when expecting a delivery and it still doesn't come,
the inability to put together a decent flat delivery service (some of
them
don't even know how to buzz the reception or phone the number supplied),
the
failure to come at the times stated, the remote depots that are hard to
reach on public transport and have terrible opening hours, the
ludicrously
excessive requirements for ID and proof of address when you can get in,
the
premium rate phone numbers and the fines sent to senders because the firm
is
incompetent.

Fines sent to senders, who by?

It was a few years ago now so I forget which one it was, but I had placed an
order online and awaited delivery in a period when I was generally based at
home in a flat overlooking our main gate. The next I know I get an email
from the sender stating the courier would fine them if the package wasn't
collected.

I was especially annoyed as the depot is in Beckton at the far end of the
borough which lacks good direct non-car transport links from here - in those
days it was either train&tube&DLR or an awkward combination of buses - and
when I got there they nearly didn't give me the package because I had
limited proof of address because all the utilities are paid either online or
through the rent. They had never left a card - and I specifically asked at
our reception - and I question whether the package had ever even been driven
up here.

--
My blog: http://adf.ly/4hi4c

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

Dave Jackson wrote:

For me the main annoyances are the need to put yourself under
virtual house arrest when expecting a delivery and it still doesn't come

Amazon will now deliver to local shops in some areas. I've used that
service amnd found that it works very well. An email is sent to you when
the item is ready for collection, take some ID and sign for it. In my case
the shop is a dawn-to-dusk type place.

I've looked into it but they don't seem to be many carrying the service near
here and certainly none closer than the Royal Mail sorting office which is
within walking distance. Really I want to at least be told which delivery
firm will be used before I place the order or better still have a choice.

--
My blog: http://adf.ly/4hi4c

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

In message

, at 07:13:38 on Fri, 14 Mar 2014, Recliner
remarked:
But perhaps each postie now delivers more items than before?

Not to my household. I currently get an average of about two letters a
day [I don't count their 'three a day' junk mail flyer allocation].

Back in the day I'd have got about a dozen, several of which were
usefully actioned later that day, rather than the following day [it's
difficult to have a day-job and also pick up your daily post from the
doormat much after about 8am].
--
Roland Perry

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

Roland Perry wrote:
In message
, at 07:13:38 on Fri, 14 Mar 2014, Recliner remarked:
But perhaps each postie now delivers more items than before?

Not to my household. I currently get an average of about two letters a
day [I don't count their 'three a day' junk mail flyer allocation].

Back in the day I'd have got about a dozen, several of which were
usefully actioned later that day, rather than the following day [it's
difficult to have a day-job and also pick up your daily post from the
doormat much after about 8am].

I don't mean more letters per property, but more items delivered in total
per shift.

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

In message

, at 08:36:25 on Fri, 14 Mar 2014, Recliner
remarked:
But perhaps each postie now delivers more items than before?

Not to my household. I currently get an average of about two letters a
day [I don't count their 'three a day' junk mail flyer allocation].

Back in the day I'd have got about a dozen, several of which were
usefully actioned later that day, rather than the following day [it's
difficult to have a day-job and also pick up your daily post from the
doormat much after about 8am].

I don't mean more letters per property, but more items delivered in total
per shift.

If the letters are spread thinner per household, I don't see how that
could be the case.
--
Roland Perry

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

Roland Perry wrote:
In message
, at 08:36:25 on Fri, 14 Mar 2014, Recliner remarked:
But perhaps each postie now delivers more items than before?

Not to my household. I currently get an average of about two letters a
day [I don't count their 'three a day' junk mail flyer allocation].

Back in the day I'd have got about a dozen, several of which were
usefully actioned later that day, rather than the following day [it's
difficult to have a day-job and also pick up your daily post from the
doormat much after about 8am].

I don't mean more letters per property, but more items delivered in total
per shift.

If the letters are spread thinner per household, I don't see how that could be the case.

Because they work longer hours, and don't spend unproductive time walking
or cycling to the start of the round.

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

In message

, at 10:17:58 on Fri, 14 Mar 2014, Recliner
remarked:
But perhaps each postie now delivers more items than before?

Not to my household. I currently get an average of about two letters a
day [I don't count their 'three a day' junk mail flyer allocation].

Back in the day I'd have got about a dozen, several of which were
usefully actioned later that day, rather than the following day [it's
difficult to have a day-job and also pick up your daily post from the
doormat much after about 8am].

I don't mean more letters per property, but more items delivered in total
per shift.

If the letters are spread thinner per household, I don't see how that could be the case.

Because they work longer hours, and don't spend unproductive time walking
or cycling to the start of the round.

How do they get there if not by walking or cycling? Every postie I've
encountered does the rounds on foot or by bike, even if they've bought
their own car to get them from the depot to the start of the round.
--
Roland Perry

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

Roland Perry wrote:
In message
, at 10:17:58 on Fri, 14 Mar 2014, Recliner remarked:
But perhaps each postie now delivers more items than before?

Not to my household. I currently get an average of about two letters a
day [I don't count their 'three a day' junk mail flyer allocation].

Back in the day I'd have got about a dozen, several of which were
usefully actioned later that day, rather than the following day [it's
difficult to have a day-job and also pick up your daily post from the
doormat much after about 8am].

I don't mean more letters per property, but more items delivered in total
per shift.

If the letters are spread thinner per household, I don't see how that could be the case.

Because they work longer hours, and don't spend unproductive time walking
or cycling to the start of the round.

How do they get there if not by walking or cycling? Every postie I've
encountered does the rounds on foot or by bike, even if they've bought
their own car to get them from the depot to the start of the round.

You've answered your own question...

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

In message

, at 11:15:45 on Fri, 14 Mar 2014, Recliner
remarked:

How do they get there if not by walking or cycling? Every postie I've
encountered does the rounds on foot or by bike, even if they've bought
their own car to get them from the depot to the start of the round.

You've answered your own question...

That's not new; they've been doing it way before the ~5yr horizon
mentioned as when things changed.
--
Roland Perry

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

On 14/03/2014 12:17, Tim Roll-Pickering wrote:
Graeme Wall wrote:

Cost and the buyer rather than the sender is the one who experiences the
problems. For me the main annoyances are the need to put yourself under
virtual house arrest when expecting a delivery and it still doesn't come,
the inability to put together a decent flat delivery service (some of
them
don't even know how to buzz the reception or phone the number supplied),
the
failure to come at the times stated, the remote depots that are hard to
reach on public transport and have terrible opening hours, the
ludicrously
excessive requirements for ID and proof of address when you can get in,
the
premium rate phone numbers and the fines sent to senders because the firm
is
incompetent.

Fines sent to senders, who by?

It was a few years ago now so I forget which one it was, but I had placed an
order online and awaited delivery in a period when I was generally based at
home in a flat overlooking our main gate. The next I know I get an email
from the sender stating the courier would fine them if the package wasn't
collected.

Never heard that one before. Sounds a quick way to lose a contract. My
answer would have been tough and I'm cancelling the order.


I was especially annoyed as the depot is in Beckton at the far end of the
borough which lacks good direct non-car transport links from here - in those
days it was either train&tube&DLR or an awkward combination of buses - and
when I got there they nearly didn't give me the package because I had
limited proof of address because all the utilities are paid either online or
through the rent. They had never left a card - and I specifically asked at
our reception - and I question whether the package had ever even been driven
up here.


I have problems with proof of address as most of the utility bills are
in my wife's name!

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

Tim Watts writes:
Amazon Lockers kick ass too - just need to have more of them -
especially at main London railway stations (bringing the thread back
on topic). Their lack of appearance at places like Charing Cross is
very conspicuous.

It would also be nice if all goods (of acceptable size of the lockers)
sold on the Amazon site could be delivered to the lockers and not just
those sold or shipped by Amazon themselves.

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

Roland Perry writes:

In message , at 16:42:17 on Thu, 13
Mar 2014, Phil Cook remarked:
I find the courier firms are far superior to RM for customer
service. They actually answer the phone when you ring the number
on the card to say they have a package for you but you were out.
They will leave in the porch or elsewhere if you wish.

RM usually don't leave items in porches because of the risk of theft.

Can descend into farce. I had a parcel delivered at my front door last
week by one of the minor couriers, where the chap said I didn't need
to sign for it because he'd already logged it as "left in back
garden". It wasn't clear if this was a one-off error on his behalf, or
a widespread form of expediting delivery without bothering to discover
if the householder was actually at home.

Royal Mail offer me a far better service, and don't inconvienience the
neighbours. The neighbours are old and take looking after things
seriously and worry.

When I get a card from the Royal Mail, I just stop off at the delivery
office on my way to work and get my stuff. As long as you are there
before 9:30 when they go out delivering, they are happy to help. Or you
can go in the afternoon at the time on the card.

But thats the advantage of living in a small town.

Phil

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

Roland Perry writes:

In message

, at 16:23:21 on Wed, 12 Mar 2014, Recliner
remarked:
In 1970 I could post a letter at the main post office in Oxford up to
midnight and it would be delivered in South East London at breakfast time.

And now you can send an email, text, tweet, IM, DM, usenet post, etc,
usually for little or no charge, and have it delivered anywhere in the
world in seconds. With that sort of competition, no-one's going to pay for
the huge network of people, sorting offices and vans that would be needed
to maintain the old style of physical mail services, that delivered locally
in hours, from a previous era.

Vans? It was all bikes and Shank's pony. Even today a lot of postmen
buy their own cars and use those to get to their delivery patch
earlier, Royal Mail doesn't buy them vans. (Let's not get confused
with Parcelforce).

Royal Mail has several vans here, its the only way to deliver
efficiently to the rural area.

Phil

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

On 14/03/2014 14:01, Roland Perry wrote:
[...]
But perhaps each postie now delivers more items than before?

Not to my household. I currently get an average of about two letters a
day [I don't count their 'three a day' junk mail flyer allocation].

Back in the day I'd have got about a dozen, several of which were
usefully actioned later that day, rather than the following day [it's
difficult to have a day-job and also pick up your daily post from the
doormat much after about 8am].

I don't mean more letters per property, but more items delivered in total
per shift.

If the letters are spread thinner per household, I don't see how that
could be the case.

They have larger rounds and so deliver to more households.

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

On 14/03/2014 18:18, Phil wrote:
Roland Perry writes:

In message , at 16:42:17 on Thu, 13
Mar 2014, Phil Cook remarked:
I find the courier firms are far superior to RM for customer
service. They actually answer the phone when you ring the number
on the card to say they have a package for you but you were out.
They will leave in the porch or elsewhere if you wish.

RM usually don't leave items in porches because of the risk of theft.

Can descend into farce. I had a parcel delivered at my front door last
week by one of the minor couriers, where the chap said I didn't need
to sign for it because he'd already logged it as "left in back
garden". It wasn't clear if this was a one-off error on his behalf, or
a widespread form of expediting delivery without bothering to discover
if the householder was actually at home.

Royal Mail offer me a far better service, and don't inconvienience the
neighbours. The neighbours are old and take looking after things
seriously and worry.

When I get a card from the Royal Mail, I just stop off at the delivery
office on my way to work and get my stuff. As long as you are there
before 9:30 when they go out delivering, they are happy to help. Or you
can go in the afternoon at the time on the card.


My local office insist you wait 24 hours from the time on the card.


--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

On 14/03/14 19:15, Graeme Wall wrote:
On 14/03/2014 18:18, Phil wrote:
Roland Perry writes:

In message , at 16:42:17 on Thu, 13

When I get a card from the Royal Mail, I just stop off at the delivery
office on my way to work and get my stuff. As long as you are there
before 9:30 when they go out delivering, they are happy to help. Or you
can go in the afternoon at the time on the card.


My local office insist you wait 24 hours from the time on the card.


Mine closes at 1400 hours so you have no choice but to wait until the
next day.

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

It was a dark and stormy night when Graeme Wall
wrote in article
r7...
On 14/03/2014 18:18, Phil wrote:
Roland Perry writes:

In message , at 16:42:17 on Thu, 13
Mar 2014, Phil Cook remarked:
I find the courier firms are far superior to RM for customer
service. They actually answer the phone when you ring the number
on the card to say they have a package for you but you were out.
They will leave in the porch or elsewhere if you wish.

RM usually don't leave items in porches because of the risk of theft.

Can descend into farce. I had a parcel delivered at my front door last
week by one of the minor couriers, where the chap said I didn't need
to sign for it because he'd already logged it as "left in back
garden". It wasn't clear if this was a one-off error on his behalf, or
a widespread form of expediting delivery without bothering to discover
if the householder was actually at home.

Royal Mail offer me a far better service, and don't inconvienience the
neighbours. The neighbours are old and take looking after things
seriously and worry.

When I get a card from the Royal Mail, I just stop off at the delivery
office on my way to work and get my stuff. As long as you are there
before 9:30 when they go out delivering, they are happy to help. Or you
can go in the afternoon at the time on the card.


My local office insist you wait 24 hours from the time on the card.


24 hours? You were lucky. We have to wait 48 hours before we can collect
our parcel and take it home to our shoe box in t'middle o't'road.
--
Grebbsy McLaren

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

On Fri, 14 Mar 2014 20:55:57 +0000, Grebbsy McLaren
wrote:

It was a dark and stormy night when Graeme Wall
wrote in article
r7...
On 14/03/2014 18:18, Phil wrote:
Roland Perry writes:

In message , at 16:42:17 on Thu, 13
Mar 2014, Phil Cook remarked:
I find the courier firms are far superior to RM for customer
service. They actually answer the phone when you ring the number
on the card to say they have a package for you but you were out.
They will leave in the porch or elsewhere if you wish.

RM usually don't leave items in porches because of the risk of theft.

Can descend into farce. I had a parcel delivered at my front door last
week by one of the minor couriers, where the chap said I didn't need
to sign for it because he'd already logged it as "left in back
garden". It wasn't clear if this was a one-off error on his behalf, or
a widespread form of expediting delivery without bothering to discover
if the householder was actually at home.

Royal Mail offer me a far better service, and don't inconvienience the
neighbours. The neighbours are old and take looking after things
seriously and worry.

When I get a card from the Royal Mail, I just stop off at the delivery
office on my way to work and get my stuff. As long as you are there
before 9:30 when they go out delivering, they are happy to help. Or you
can go in the afternoon at the time on the card.


My local office insist you wait 24 hours from the time on the card.


24 hours? You were lucky. We have to wait 48 hours before we can collect
our parcel and take it home to our shoe box in t'middle o't'road.

My cards always say 48h but as often as not packets will be in the
office toward the end of the next day.

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

On 2014\03\14 20:55, Grebbsy McLaren wrote:

snip

Bloody hell! Where have you been for the last ten years?

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

On 14/03/2014 20:55, Grebbsy McLaren wrote:
It was a dark and stormy night when Graeme Wall
wrote in article
r7...
On 14/03/2014 18:18, Phil wrote:
Roland Perry writes:

In message , at 16:42:17 on Thu, 13
Mar 2014, Phil Cook remarked:
I find the courier firms are far superior to RM for customer
service. They actually answer the phone when you ring the number
on the card to say they have a package for you but you were out.
They will leave in the porch or elsewhere if you wish.

RM usually don't leave items in porches because of the risk of theft.

Can descend into farce. I had a parcel delivered at my front door last
week by one of the minor couriers, where the chap said I didn't need
to sign for it because he'd already logged it as "left in back
garden". It wasn't clear if this was a one-off error on his behalf, or
a widespread form of expediting delivery without bothering to discover
if the householder was actually at home.

Royal Mail offer me a far better service, and don't inconvienience the
neighbours. The neighbours are old and take looking after things
seriously and worry.

When I get a card from the Royal Mail, I just stop off at the delivery
office on my way to work and get my stuff. As long as you are there
before 9:30 when they go out delivering, they are happy to help. Or you
can go in the afternoon at the time on the card.


My local office insist you wait 24 hours from the time on the card.


24 hours? You were lucky. We have to wait 48 hours before we can collect
our parcel and take it home to our shoe box in t'middle o't'road.


You've got a shoe box, luxury, we had to make do with a jamjar.

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

On 14/03/2014 19:15, Graeme Wall wrote:
On 14/03/2014 18:18, Phil wrote:

When I get a card from the Royal Mail, I just stop off at the delivery
office on my way to work and get my stuff.

My local office insist you wait 24 hours from the time on the card.

The waiting time before collection is dependent on when the mail gets
back to the callers office. When I was in delivery I used to write an
actual time in instead of the wait X hours. Suggesting 24 hours is
probably an insurance against you arriving before they have got the
item back and put it on the shelf, which is most annoying for both you
and the callers office staff. Some delivery rounds finish at places
other than the callers office.
--
Phil Cook

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

It was a dark and stormy night when Basil Jet
wrote in article ...
On 2014\03\14 20:55, Grebbsy McLaren wrote:

snip

Bloody hell! Where have you been for the last ten years?

What, someone remembers me?! Gosh.

Not on Usenet, is the short answer. Not particularly through my own
choice, but inertia rules O
--
Grebbsy McLaren

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

On 13/03/2014 14:54, Tim Watts wrote:
On 13/03/14 14:29, Dave Jackson wrote:
On 13/03/2014 10:21, Tim Roll-Pickering wrote:
For me the main annoyances are the need to put yourself under
virtual house arrest when expecting a delivery and it still doesn't come

Amazon will now deliver to local shops in some areas. I've used that
service amnd found that it works very well. An email is sent to you when
the item is ready for collection, take some ID and sign for it. In my
case the shop is a dawn-to-dusk type place.

Other supply companies are available.


Amazon Lockers kick ass too - just need to have more of them -
especially at main London railway stations (bringing the thread back on
topic). Their lack of appearance at places like Charing Cross is very
conspicuous.

It would be extremely convenient to grab your package prior to getting
your homeward bound train as you'll probably have a car or be within
easy walking distance at the other end.

Also be nice to grab smaller items on the way into work too.

That's one prospective use of the additional space at stations once TfL
shuts all ticket offices, isn't it?

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

In message , at 13:40:45 on Sat, 15 Mar
2014, " remarked:

Also be nice to grab smaller items on the way into work too.

That's one prospective use of the additional space at stations once TfL
shuts all ticket offices, isn't it?

Yes it is, but I wouldn't hold my breath that things would be there in
time for people to grab them on the way to work (unless they were also
there to not-be-grabbed on the way home the previous day).

This is the main problem with the Royal Mail's current business model:
what they deliver "today" is generally too late for the normally
employed to do anything about it until "tomorrow".
--
Roland Perry

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

On 15/03/14 13:40, wrote:

That's one prospective use of the additional space at stations once TfL
shuts all ticket offices, isn't it?

Indeed - but I wonder why it's not already been done at the mainline
stations - there's such a massive commuter flow it mush have potential.

Some Amazon lockers are even in private buildings (for their staff's
benefit) - they warn you of this when you search for lockers as a
collection point.

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

On 15/03/14 13:52, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 13:40:45 on Sat, 15 Mar
2014, " remarked:

Also be nice to grab smaller items on the way into work too.

That's one prospective use of the additional space at stations once
TfL shuts all ticket offices, isn't it?

Yes it is, but I wouldn't hold my breath that things would be there in
time for people to grab them on the way to work (unless they were also
there to not-be-grabbed on the way home the previous day).

This is the main problem with the Royal Mail's current business model:
what they deliver "today" is generally too late for the normally
employed to do anything about it until "tomorrow".

Given Amazon are so massive, they might be able to do a courier deal for
overnight locker drops. No traffic, no parking problems, vans sitting
idle. The only cost would be "shift bonus" for the drivers - a small
cost compared to all the potential benefits.

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

In message , at 14:25:07 on
Sat, 15 Mar 2014, Tim Watts remarked:
Also be nice to grab smaller items on the way into work too.

That's one prospective use of the additional space at stations once
TfL shuts all ticket offices, isn't it?

Yes it is, but I wouldn't hold my breath that things would be there in
time for people to grab them on the way to work (unless they were also
there to not-be-grabbed on the way home the previous day).

This is the main problem with the Royal Mail's current business model:
what they deliver "today" is generally too late for the normally
employed to do anything about it until "tomorrow".

Given Amazon are so massive, they might be able to do a courier deal
for overnight locker drops. No traffic, no parking problems, vans
sitting idle. The only cost would be "shift bonus" for the drivers - a
small cost compared to all the potential benefits.

It's possible, although the sites would have to be accessible, and not
locked behind shutters designed to keep out the people who missed the
last tube.

--
Roland Perry

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

On Thu, 13 Mar 2014 13:44:40 +0000, Martin Smith
wrote:

On 12/03/2014 19:49, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 17:36:23 on
Wed, 12 Mar 2014, Charles Ellson remarked:
Will that be a variation of the Post Office taking everyone for a ride
with the guarantee that 1st Class Post will arrive by 10AM the next
day?

Where does it guarantee that First class mail will be delivered by
10am? On the Royal Mail Web site, it just says, "Aims to deliver the
next working day including Saturdays".

It looks like confusion with e.g. "Special Delivery" which has two
options of "guaranteed by 1pm" and "guaranteed by 9am".

SD also seems to have an informal "not before 7am", just so they don't
wake people up too early!

As for the rest of the deliveries, they do seem to have crept from
7.30am to noon over the last 20yrs (my anecdata).

Here in S London it has gone from 7:30am about 30 years ago to now no
earlier than 3pm usually about 3:30.

Sometimes I wonder who is worse, The Royal Mail, or the USPS. I have
to deal with both. Hard as it may be to believe the USPS just about
beats the Royal Mail to the bottom.

When practical my preferred carrier is FedEx,
--

http://www.991fmtalk.com/ The DMZ in Reno

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

On 15/03/14 20:53, Aurora wrote:

Sometimes I wonder who is worse, The Royal Mail, or the USPS. I have
to deal with both. Hard as it may be to believe the USPS just about
beats the Royal Mail to the bottom.

Neither - that's Yodel's job to be on the bottom of the barrel.

DPD know what they are doing though.

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

On Sat, 15 Mar 2014 20:56:06 +0000, Tim Watts
wrote:

On 15/03/14 20:53, Aurora wrote:

Sometimes I wonder who is worse, The Royal Mail, or the USPS. I have
to deal with both. Hard as it may be to believe the USPS just about
beats the Royal Mail to the bottom.

Neither - that's Yodel's job to be on the bottom of the barrel.

DPD know what they are doing though.

Thank you for the tip. I may try DPD sometime. DHL are pretty good.
Word to the wise, avoid UPS at all costs.
--

http://www.991fmtalk.com/ The DMZ in Reno

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

"Tim Watts" wrote in message
...

On 15/03/14 13:52, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 13:40:45 on Sat, 15 Mar
2014, " remarked:

Also be nice to grab smaller items on the way into work too.

That's one prospective use of the additional space at stations once
TfL shuts all ticket offices, isn't it?

Yes it is, but I wouldn't hold my breath that things would be there in
time for people to grab them on the way to work (unless they were also
there to not-be-grabbed on the way home the previous day).

This is the main problem with the Royal Mail's current business model:
what they deliver "today" is generally too late for the normally
employed to do anything about it until "tomorrow".

Given Amazon are so massive, they might be able to do a courier deal for
overnight locker drops.

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

I thought they were going to send their drone "copter" out to you

tim

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

Roland Perry wrote:

That's one prospective use of the additional space at stations once TfL
shuts all ticket offices, isn't it?

Yes it is, but I wouldn't hold my breath that things would be there in
time for people to grab them on the way to work (unless they were also
there to not-be-grabbed on the way home the previous day).

This is the main problem with the Royal Mail's current business model:
what they deliver "today" is generally too late for the normally employed
to do anything about it until "tomorrow".

True though usually when I've come in mid morning to discover I missed a
package I've been able to get it from the sorting office that day, providing
I leave an hour from the time on the card. But then our sorting office,
which closes at lunchtime, is just a couple of corners away. Short of
evening openings, doubtless at the cost of the early morning, pre-commute
ones, I'm not sure what the solution would be for a wider range of people.

Of course the couriers are mixed here - they usually do afternoon openings
but evenings and Saturdays are hit and mix, plus there's the difficulty of
physically accessing them. My favourite was on the tip of the North
Greenwich pennisular (I think it's no longer there) where I found the
pedestrian layout from the tube station next to impossible to allow me to
walk to it and I had to get a bus where the last stop before the Blackwall
tunnel was only a third of the distance, causing me to cross the river more
than needed.

--
My blog: http://adf.ly/4hi4c

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

"Tim Roll-Pickering" wrote in message
...

Of course the couriers are mixed here - they usually do afternoon openings
but evenings and Saturdays are hit and mix, plus there's the difficulty of
physically accessing them. My favourite was on the tip of the North
Greenwich pennisular (I think it's no longer there) where I found the
pedestrian layout from the tube station next to impossible to allow me to
walk to it and I had to get a bus where the last stop before the Blackwall
tunnel was only a third of the distance, causing me to cross the river
more than needed.


One begins to wonder whether the Post Office et al really are in the
business
of providing a public service, or whether their main business is fostering
their own private comforts?

Plans approved to open Mail Rail 'secret Tube' as ride
 

In message , at 19:51:06 on Sun, 16
Mar 2014, Tim Roll-Pickering remarked:
That's one prospective use of the additional space at stations once TfL
shuts all ticket offices, isn't it?

Yes it is, but I wouldn't hold my breath that things would be there in
time for people to grab them on the way to work (unless they were also
there to not-be-grabbed on the way home the previous day).

This is the main problem with the Royal Mail's current business model:
what they deliver "today" is generally too late for the normally employed
to do anything about it until "tomorrow".

True though usually when I've come in mid morning to discover I missed a
package I've been able to get it from the sorting office that day, providing
I leave an hour from the time on the card.

I'm not just talking about things which are too big for a letterbox.
--
Roland Perry