Royal Mail delays

[slick_mick]

Hi Guys,

Is Royal Mail still having delays posting outside the UK?

I've had a parcel from a UK dealer sitting at LANGLEY HWDC since October 1st according to tracking (yet I have received packages posted in mid October or later from other UK sellers).

Mick

[Artynut]

Mick, you posted 11 minutes after I posted in the (then) existing thread on the same subject. It appears as if you changed the thread title. The answers to your question are all in that thread. Basic synopsis? Blame it on the Pandemic and inefficiently in the Royal Mail system. Best regards, David J.

[slick_mick]

Originally Posted by Artynut

Mick, you posted 11 minutes after I posted in the (then) existing thread on the same subject. It appears as if you changed the thread title. The answers to your question are all in that thread. Basic synopsis? Blame it on the Pandemic and inefficiently in the Royal Mail system. Best regards, David J.

Thanks David.

I'm hoping it will turn up as its a badge i've been chasing for a while.

Mick

[Waterloo1815]

Don't trust the information on tracking from Royal Mail either. I had been waiting days for a badge to be delivered and the tracking said it was still in a Midlands post office about 120 miles away awaiting pick-up. 30 minutes later it popped through my letterbox on the South Coast! Their system is complete chaos. On the positive side my local postman is a great bloke, and I always slip him a fiver at Christmas.

[mike_vee]

Originally Posted by Waterloo1815

Don't trust the information on tracking from Royal Mail either. I had been waiting days for a badge to be delivered and the tracking said it was still in a Midlands post office about 120 miles away awaiting pick-up. 30 minutes later it popped through my letterbox on the South Coast! Their system is complete chaos.

Sometimes the problems start with the seller :

On eBay you get a "your item is being posted" message but the reality can be that the seller has simply gone on the Royal Mail website and been "provided with a tracking number".

It can be days before the item is physically posted and if it is placed in a post box (rather than Post office) there can be a further delay until it is picked up.

Within the Royal Mail 'system' information/tracking data may not be immediately updated , items arrive/depart a sorting office but info may be uploaded at end of shift.

The same applies to the postman , I will have an item arrive but the tracking info will not be updated until hours later (when postman has completed his round ?).

I have recieved items posted at the other end of the country arrive quicker than ones posted 10 miles away !


.

[Waterloo1815]

Precisely; chaos.
If DPD, who are only a few decades old, can operate a system that gives you a guaranteed 1 hour delivery time slot, why can't Royal Mail even give a guaranteed day for delivery? I've had 'First Class Next Day Delivery' that has taken a week. Bearing in mind that Royal Mail has been around for hundreds of years you would think they could compete with the 'newcomers'.
But as I said, my local regular postman is great, unlike the temporary chap at the moment who keeps putting the wrong mail in my letterbox! he won't be getting a Christmas fiver!

[mike_vee]

Originally Posted by Waterloo1815

Precisely; chaos.
If DPD, who are only a few decades old, can operate a system that gives you a guaranteed 1 hour delivery time slot, why can't Royal Mail even give a guaranteed day for delivery?

From BBC today :

Parcel firms 'failing to deliver on performance'

DPD scored lowest when consumers were asked if they'd had a problem with their last delivery.

Royal Mail were in 2nd place , below Amazon but above DPD , Yodel and Hermes.

.

[Luke H]

Hermes are shocking. Takes them 5 or 6 days to do what Royal Mail do in 2 or 3.

I dread it when I see eBay sellers using them due to the price and I know it’ll take a week to get my item. Several times they’ve got the wrong address or just left my item on the doorstep in plain sight for anyone to nick.

Aside from their pick up service (which Royal Mail now do) never understood why anyone uses them.

[mike_vee]

Had a problem with Hermes (sub-contracted driver) :

1st excuse - Couldn't find address (on a main road) with PostCode and SatNav !

2nd attempt - No one was home to accept delivery . I was home and no attempt was made to delivery package ....... and no card was left to show they had even been at address.

Contacted their head office who checked and found driver had not even been in my area on both occasions. Got apology and package was delivered next morning.

I think the level of service depends on whether the driver is directly employed by the company (and driving a marked van) or is a 'contractor' (on minimum wage/paid per item delivered) driving their own van.

.

[mm1]

I've had a few similar problems with Hermes.Twice for 2 different parcels they claimed to have tried to deliver at 11.00 at night ! No card left but they paniced when I told them I had reviewed my cctv and no van any where near my property. Delivered promptly next day. Biggest problem with hermes is trying to contact them. I used to use them for posting parcels over 2kg but now use collect+ and no problems.

Mark