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No, you're out of date - the Post Office (what was once PO Counters Ltd,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.

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No, you're out of date - the Post Office (what was once PO Counters Ltd,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

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.

"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.

"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?

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

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

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

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.

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