gazzam

Thanks for all the responses, it seems this really is a widespread and persistent issue. A quick update from me: I got a meaningless response from customer services (we’re sorry, thanks for telling us, we’ll look into it) from a “no reply” email address. So I scoured the internet for email addresses that might work and seem to have got lucky with [email protected]. I forwarded my complaint and explained that I won’t consider it resolved until (1) I get a detailed explanation of what’s causing the issues and what action is being taken to resolve them, and (2) there has been a sustained and consistent improvement. I copied Helen Hayes and Ofcom ([email protected]) for good measure, and emailed Helen about this separately too. I’ve just received a holding response from the Chairman and CEO’s office saying “As part of Royal Mail’s Senior Team, I have been asked to look into this and I appreciate the opportunity to do this for you. I would like to offer you my sincerest apologies and reassure you I will do my utmost to help”. Initially I was encouraged by this, but then logged on to the Forum and saw your post @Penguin68 - it seems you’ve been down this route already without success, which is disappointing to hear. But perhaps if enough of us take the problem straight to the top then it might get some attention - I know from my own experience of working in large organisations that the more noise there is on an issue, the more likely it is that senior people will sit up and take notice. So if you have the time and inclination, please do send a complaint to [email protected]. And copying MPs and regulators never hurts! I have no illusions that this will quickly lead to improvements, although similarly to Penguin68 it does seem that complaining has led to a better service for me, albeit it may only be temporary - and that’s not really the point of what I’m trying to do here. I’d like Royal Mail to devote time, effort and resources to understanding and fixing the wider problem - but perhaps that is a vain hope… Please do post if you contact the CEO’s office and hear back, it would be great to get a bit of momentum on this and see if we get anywhere. I remember the story was picked up by the press, including the Guardian, when the Delivery Office closed - I wonder if there’s any prospect of getting it back into the media, even if only local rather than national?

We’re lucky to get post once a week at the moment - had two items delivered on Friday, but still waiting for an important letter from my bank that was sent on Tuesday 13th. Sounds like it’s very patchy and inconsistent across the neighbourhood - hoping to get more info and an explanation when I get a response to my complaint, if anything’s worth sharing I’ll pop it on here.

Quick update: I just contacted Royal Mail to follow up on my previous complaint (no post for a week now) and make them aware that this is affecting others in the area. The customer service rep I spoke to confirmed that there are known issues - apparently rounds are only being partially covered, so no-one is getting daily deliveries. But even taking this into account, she said she we shouldn’t be getting them as infrequently as we are. I pointed out that, if they know there is a problem, they should be providing service updates on their website - when I checked this yesterday the only issues they acknowledged were in Chester, and today there are no reported/disclosed issues. Seems to me they are trying to keep this under the radar, even though they know there are issues, and I’m not convinced my complaint alone will make much difference. So if you’re also affected and want to do something about it, try giving them a call - customer service number is 0345 774 0740 and both of the people I’ve spoken to have been polite and helpful - and/or submitting a complaint online. They have a legal obligation to deliver our mail every day and are massively failing to meet this, so should hopefully take it seriously if enough people kick up a fuss!

Is anyone else living on or around Barry Road (or in ED more generally) having issues with their post not being delivered? We haven’t had anything for almost a week and I’m expecting a number of urgent items that were posted first class on Monday and Tuesday of last week. This has been a problem on and off for quite some time now, and when we do get deliveries the items are very late - it took about three weeks for me to receive a hospital appointment letter from King’s. I know there have been ongoing problems since the delivery office was closed, and the recent strike won’t have helped, but it does seem to be getting very bad. Interested to know if others are having the same problem, and any ideas for what to do about it - I’ve complained to Royal Mail but they don’t seem to want to acknowledge there’s a problem. I know Helen Hayes has taken up the cause in the past, and/or it might be worth contacting Ofcom? Either way, it would be helpful to get an idea of how widespread this may be.

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