Royal Mail problems

[ndg1860]

I assume a few others may be finding that the items they are buying are not arriving as promptly as they have more recently. A story in the Tele today and also the Express, states that many centres are not getting regular deliveries owing to employees of the Royal Mail having suffered from the virus. So, there are a number of areas that are not currently receiving daily deliveries. Where I am in SE London we only had one all last week. So, be patient and let us hope that those affected get well soon.

The areas affected (cut and pasted from Express article) are:
Ashford (TN23-TN27)
Barnsley (S70, S71, S72 and S75)
Basildon (SS13-SS16)
Bow (E3)
Bury St Edmunds (IP28-IP33)
Chelmsford (CM1-CM3)
Christchurch (BH23)
Daventry (NN11)
Debden (IG7-IG10)
Enfield (EN1-EN3)
Grays (RM16-RM20)
Hampton (TW12)
Highbury (N5)
Hornsey N8
Horsham (RH12, RH13)
Ilford (IG1-IG6)
Leeds City (LS1-LS5)
Lewisham (SE13)
Magherafelt (BT45, BT46)
Margate (CT7-CT9)
Rugeley (WS15)
Somerton (TA11)
South Ockendon (RM15)
South Woodford (E18)
Upper Holloway (N7)
Wandsworth (SW18)
Wellington (TA21)
Widnes (WA8)

[RIKERBCFC]

You can add
Bradford to that list I usually see the postman on my morning walk but have only seen him once in the last 5 days. I also understand a lot of Bradford post goes thru a central sorting area in Leeds and that is on the list.

[Posh1959]

Our area of Bradford has had deliveries every day. Usually earlier than they were last year.

[kcs]

I can confirm post in the Ashford area was limited, the first one since Christmas was last Friday, but seems to be regular again this week.

It is what it is, and RM will be affected just like the rest of us I guess.
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[sellsell39]

Ipswich is reasonably clear, it was quite quiet today so it was a great chance to catch up and help out elsewhere on other walks.

My team mate did indeed catch Coronavirus, so I had about nine days of covering two rounds on alternate days.

Thankfully he feels a lot better now.

Also a separate issue and something you may not have considered - van sharing is banned from tier 4 upwards. So if your area was in tier 4 before lockdown this would have added to the delays.

[sellsell39]

Suffice to say everyone is working incredibly hard, above and beyond and have done so for the last 10 months.

[Posh1959]

I hope they are rewarded long term by the management but I doubt it.

[Pete’s Picture Palace]

I was speaking to our postman this morning (Paul) and asked him what the situation was like at his depot. He said they were short-numbered through Covid but he and his mate on this round (Wayne) were keeping on going and loved what they do as a team. Between them they've delivered every day through the pandemic and I told him they were a pair of stars. I gave them a few quid each at Xmas. Sometimes the Mail gets a bad press but this pair are fantastic.

[Five and In]

My incoming post has been as normal down here in Devon, but my missus works at our local Post Office and has been made aware of some issues elsewhere in the country.

I'm sending out approx 100 items weekly and all of them still seem to be arriving within 48 hours of being posted which is excellent in the current circumstances.
So far (touch wood), only one has taken the scenic route and took over three weeks to arrive.
I'll take that strike rate any day!

Royal Mail take a fair amount of stick in general, but I think the service they provide is excellent.

My only gripe is the recent price increase which has stuck around twenty quid a week on to my postage, which I will sadly have to factor into my selling prices in future.
It's the second major hike since we entered the initial lockdown and with so many businesses struggling at the moment, an increase that will really hurt many of them.

[cardiff55]

No post for me since Saturday here in South Wales, and none for the three days before that last week. So only one delivery in the last 8/9 days.

[silkman1]

I suspect they are being economical with the truth. Up north here in this part of Cheshire you will see the postie maybe once a week.

[Pete’s Picture Palace]

Yesterday, I posted 1st class an order to one of the blighted areas - South Woodford, London E18. I'll let you know which decade it turns up in.

[giorgio]

Finally caught up with my postman yesterday about my mail. He said he was off all last week and has come back to chaos and a backlog. Thankfully, we arranged for me to go to the Sorting Office this morning where he put aside all my stuff including Sportingold catalogue whose auction is on Friday. All my missing stuff was in their too - one of which was posted 30th December.

[ndg1860]

Thought I may add an update, of sorts, as I started the thread. If I am correct, Royal Mail are trying to catch up with the backlog that has been caused owing to a lack of staff. Today (Sunday) there was a delivery. This wasn't a normal RM van but a much larger and the fella delivering had a large box full with items for our complex and so not just me. That item, mind you, was from a game played last Saturday which just explains well the backlog.

I rather doubt you will read this in the newspapers. Great work by RM on this.

[Pete’s Picture Palace]

Something similar happened here yesterday, I received a package sent from France on 9th December, along with 2 other packages sent after Xmas, and about 8 letters and other stuff - all from a bloke in a red Mail van who wasn't our usual (brilliant) postie.

[Pete’s Picture Palace]

Pete’s Picture Palace wrote:

Yesterday, I posted 1st class an order to one of the blighted areas - South Woodford, London E18. I'll let you know which decade it turns up in.

Arrived yesterday Saturday - so just the 4 days.