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I have given some thought to the experiences of others with Parcel Post. On reflection my opinion from my personal experiences remain unchanged. I have from me lived in three locations in the last 5-10 years, in Cumbria, Greater Manchester and now Lancashire. In each case there is some aspect of a poor service that I could tell.

 

Perhaps the outstanding service I have and continue to experience is Amazon. Everything arrives pretty much to the time that there tracing services states, via Email and Alexa. It is the promptness that astounds me. I have no idea though about the views of Amazon employees, other than the media, much of which seems pretty hostile to the company anyway.

 

Looking at the greater Logistic (what a pretentious name for parcel deliveries), in my personal experiences all out perform much better than Parcel Post. Much to my surprise a parcel from T9, arrived 2 to  3 days earlier than I remotely expected. Door bell rang, a delivery guy patiently waiting. No running down the street, only to be told, Naa, it was not me, must be another van. Another major plus of T9 was the modest P&P charge relative to some other UK on line retailers.

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As the original OP reading all the opinions plus that which I have found out the difference seems to be down to RM management deciding that not all post is equal irrisepective of the service you have paid for.

Troops are working hard, all credit to them.

To para phrase the Kaiser (Hero's led by donkeys)

Thankyou to all who have contributed their opinion .

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EvilC57

Royal mail Special Delivery and all tracked are currently still being signed for by the Postman so as to stop contamination both ways of the PDA personal Digital Assistant..... But yes the postman should still knock and announce that the item is a Special and that they are signing on your behalf..... we usually put as instructed XP1 so they know its been delivered by us. The problems as ive mentioned before are so much in the system is failing that if it goes through the Door its signed and we are on our way.....as you say though not exactly getting what you paid for.

I know of entire streets in my area that havent had anything delivered for 4 days!!

And I'm awaiting a PCR test result myself as so many people testing postive still insist on coming to the door for a quick chat and then telling me they have covid and are isolating.....i got pinged for 4th Nov had a test today so imagine if id handed my PDA to 80 odd people everyday since then?

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If we are expecting a delivery from whoever, we put a sign in the window saying please use the door knocker.

 

Not many delivery people can read apparently...

 

RM good but letters take a long time to come. 

 

Parcelforce and other delivery firms recently have been good, as is the gas man...

 

SSE on the other hand, pathetic, a BBC watch dog moment coming I think !

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7 hours ago, Erfolg said:

Looking at the greater Logistic (what a pretentious name for parcel deliveries), in my personal experiences all out perform much better than Parcel Post. Much to my surprise a parcel from T9, arrived 2 to  3 days earlier than I remotely expected. Door bell rang, a delivery guy patiently waiting. No running down the street, only to be told, Naa, it was not me, must be another van. Another major plus of T9 was the modest P&P charge relative to some other UK on line retailers.

The credit should be split between T9 for fast posting & whichever parcel post service they used.

I've also always had very prompt & reasonable cost P&P service from T9 & IIRC the delivery has always been by RM.

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9 hours ago, john stones 1 - Moderator said:

I'd sooner eat my own foot than spend with Amazon.

 

Each to their own.

 

Whilst they may have some questionable business practices (same could probably be said for most businesses, including many contractors know), I've never had any practical issues with them.  Living in a rural area with no/minimal shops, they are almost a god-send.  E.g. Saturday lunchtime the pump on my aquarium packed up - my choice was drive 120 miles to get a new on for £60, or order from Amazon for £40. Chose Amazon and it arrived at 9:30 on Sunday.  Next day delivery (not guaranteed) is great.

 

I have only ever bought 2 modelling items from them though - I use proper model shops where I can.

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2 hours ago, GrumpyGnome said:

 

Each to their own.

 

Whilst they may have some questionable business practices (same could probably be said for most businesses, including many contractors know), I've never had any practical issues with them.  Living in a rural area with no/minimal shops, they are almost a god-send.  E.g. Saturday lunchtime the pump on my aquarium packed up - my choice was drive 120 miles to get a new on for £60, or order from Amazon for £40. Chose Amazon and it arrived at 9:30 on Sunday.  Next day delivery (not guaranteed) is great.

 

I have only ever bought 2 modelling items from them though - I use proper model shops where I can.

 

Make that both feet.

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I don't have an issue with Amazon per se, but I've found that recently more and more overseas products, mainly Chinese are being sold through Amazon Marketplace. They don't make it obvious that it's coming from abroad and the ability to contact the seller is variable at best. I suspect that this practice was started due to the recent VAT changes. Rather than overseas companies registering for UK VAT collection, they are using Amazon to do it. I am now reluctant to use Amazon. I notice that Amazon profits have taken a hit recently. Maybe this has something to do with it?

 

 

21 hours ago, EvilC57 said:

I recently had an important document delivered to me by RM Special Delivery signed for post. It dropped on the mat with no knock on the door from the postman for a signature. Checking the tracking number shortly afterwards on the Post Office website, it correctly said that the item had been delivered, and had an image of what was supposed to to be the recipient’s signature, which certainly wasn’t mine - so presumably signed for by the postman, or persons unknown in the local sorting office. I suppose they would blame Covid, by saying they’re minimising social contact, but it seems to me we’re paying a lot of money for a special service we are not getting.

 

It seems to me that there is a danger in this, in that if the item is accidentally delivered to the wrong address and disappears, you have absolutely no recourse.

Maybe your postie feels that he knows you well enough to vouch for you? Ours does this for us and I don't have a problem with it.

 

 

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1 hour ago, ken anderson. said:

our postie is always weighed down with "blue bin" material......there's an awful lot of trees must be getting chopped down to get made into printed rubbish.

 

ken anderson...ne..1..blue bin dept.

 

Ah yes, but at least its recyclable rubbish.  :classic_biggrin: 

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4 hours ago, Gary Manuel said:

I don't have an issue with Amazon per se, but I've found that recently more and more overseas products, mainly Chinese are being sold through Amazon Marketplace. They don't make it obvious that it's coming from abroad and the ability to contact the seller is variable at best. I suspect that this practice was started due to the recent VAT changes. Rather than overseas companies registering for UK VAT collection, they are using Amazon to do it. I am now reluctant to use Amazon. I notice that Amazon profits have taken a hit recently. Maybe this has something to do with it?

 

 

Maybe your postie feels that he knows you well enough to vouch for you? Ours does this for us and I don't have a problem with it.

 

 

 

Ditto. and we know all the local DPD, Yodel, Hermes drivers now.......

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Let's give a vote of thanks for all the decent postmen like Dave Parnham who keep on delivering despite weather and disease.   We still get proper service where I live despite the regular postman having been replaced by 2 other people.  

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It does seem strange that many things that you do not give a second thought to, suddenly awaken your interests and seem topical to a wider audience.

 

In this case it was a number of newspaper articles. One of which was about "Amazons dominance of the delivery wars". The stories were about companies I have never heard of, Hubb, Shipbob and Bryd. In most part it was about money, retailer and shipper relationships.

 

After some thought, my experiences are very narrow, I am mainly a recipient of goods, in a small residential community, where all the neighbours are pretty much similar, in most respects.

 

From the point of view of the retailer, it is about charges, service (in the broadest sense). Manufacturers also have similar issues, that do not necessarily align with the retailer. From the householders perspective there interests can often be about, charges for parcel deliveries, the charging structure (sizes and weights and contents), the nearest place for sending. Also the over the counter service etc.

 

It is similar  with respect to goods receipt (in my case as a domestic customer), how a non delivery is dealt with.

 

A lot of decisions by myself are based on trust, in addition to the other issues.

 

From these perspectives the Stastica result is one that leaves more questions than answers. Watching as a old retired, person, I see and also receive (on behalf of the better half) parcels, where the majority of logistics providers are dominated by other than Royal Mail (Parcel Force) On that basis I wonder about market share of the carriers. 

 

From my perspective, to pick up a non delivered parcel from Royal Mail, requires me to travel to a depot (with identification in addition to the card). Yet to send a parcel I go to a different location some distance a.way, a Post Office. The costs for running this infrastructure is probably less than optimal. The same question with the other carriers never happens, they always deliver

 

Yet, the observation that I am just one person is quite correct.

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You can log on to royal mails website and get the parcel re-delivered at a time when you know your going to be in. We don't do timed deliveries just yet, but i noted today just gone live on the system that users of the Royal Mail app now have the postman's name on the app that's delivering your parcel.

 

I wonder who will still bother with Christmas cards now stamps are what? 85p each!!

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As a comparison, Enya parts posted in Japan Friday morning, arrived with me just before mid day today via royal mail thru the letter box.

 

Tracked all the way but no ETA given. No knock on the door, just normal post and that's fine.

 

Thanks Ken, Japan airlines, Heathrow distribution centre and royal mail !

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It must be very difficult for PO employees now. The accepted conditions of employment of the past within the organisation, are probably very different to those of the competitors of today.  An other apparent problem, is that much of physical infrastructure, the buildings, seem to be empty, pretty much. I am guessing that the competitors infrastructure is probably optimised.  Their built in cost base being optimal. Also the competitors were born into a world where change was normal, to be expected.

 

As a monopoly public sector business, live was easy compared with the free market (comparatively) world where efficiency, customer aware world that it is now competing in.  Can the PO be changed, yes. If I were an employee, with service I would be fighting tooth and nail to resist change. The why, is intrinsically know, many of the jobs would not be well paid, as when I started. I also would suspect that many of the overhead issues, would be in addition be born by me, as i am the easy target, where the other big issues, can be difficult to erase.

 

I suspect that the PO services will be reduced to those areas/services where they have unique advantage (offer). I would worry, is there a viable future for me, that I want?

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I read a story, couple of years ago, delivery driver for one of Royal Mail’s competitors, died at the wheel, couldn’t afford time off to attend to his diabetes related problems. 
Now, I did not fact check this. But a normally reliable news source. And I did not read of outraged denials. 
But, 20 years ago, the delivery drivers all ran on 6 to 9 points on the license. Those points represent the risks taken, others pay for the risks sometimes. 

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John It may surprise you I have had two jobs in the public sector, one for many, many years. My early years was spent in the private sector. I know what the sharp end was like.

 

OK my later years were spent in what would consider the academic world, but I do clearly remember life in the private sector, pressures, watching the changes, seen people with there lives changed by both technology and or ownership. Even in my ivory tower I was expected to do 12 hour days when required, I often liked it, at a cost.

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