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Our glorious postal service

cfgscfgs
in Not Sports Related
You now need a second mortgage to send a large birthday card first class, but most addresses no longer get more than one or two deliveries a week.  So what is the point?  I live in a small town, but we have our own sorting office so no excuse really, as a country we just accept mediocrity with a polite shrug.
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Comments

  • GribboGribbo
    Its a race to the bottom
  • charltonbobcharltonbob
    Yes I'm in Greenwich & we seem to get 1 delivery a week & then the bastard postie bends our post in half, even birthday cards etc even though the letter box is clearly big enough to accept most mail.
  • AlwaysneilAlwaysneil
    This is the first year i have posted birthday cards first class 2 days before to a rural address in Warwickshire and they havent arrived in time. Definitely more expensive for a far worse service
  • LenGloverLenGlover
    I allow a week for first class birthday cards to arrive and still some have not been delivered on time.
  • The Red RobinThe Red Robin
    Valley Gold and Compulsory ID cards get first class priority. 
  • gringogringo
    Vicious circle-
    People use the post less (email/texts etc) - full service cant be maintained - people use lesser service less- service degraded to save costs- people use service less etc
  • Friend Or DefoeFriend Or Defoe
    What a surprise, it all went to shit when it was privatised. All worth it though as  a poster on here made a few hundred quid.
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  • Covered EndCovered End
    I got a letter from HMRC last week dated 09/07/25.

    I'm not sure who is the most likely culprit.
  • aliwibblealiwibble
    Thing that pisses me off is that the last collection at most of the post boxes where I live is first thing in the morning, so you have to add on another day to the delivery time unless you take it all the way to the post office.
  • Raith_C_ChattonellRaith_C_Chattonell
    It's perfectly simple. 

    2nd class mail is as below, but remember last collection may be next morning, it may be in the evening, but sometimes those collections are made early if the Postie wants to finish early, so again that start point shifts to the next day. At the sorting office there may be further delays due to staff shortages and student labour.  The other problem is the Mon/Wed/Thu routine which could be swapped to the Tues/Thurs routine in times of stress and confusion. 

    Maybe send a text? 

     
  • LargeAddickLargeAddick
    Post a birthday card to Cyprus or France it’s £3.20. From Cyprus to UK it’s about 70 cents.

    I just don’t get that. Surely there is more work involved this end when a card is received into the UK, ie an actual postie delivering it. Sorting costs must be the same whether sent or received and likewise transport costs.
  • letthegoodtimesrollletthegoodtimesroll
    cfgs said:
    You now need a second mortgage to send a large birthday card first class, but most addresses no longer get more than one or two deliveries a week.  So what is the point?  I live in a small town, but we have our own sorting office so no excuse really, as a country we just accept mediocrity with a polite shrug.
    It’s getting so expensive it can only be a matter of time before this Labour government adds VAT to the cost of a stamp because only rich people can afford to send mail.
  • CarterCarter
    paulbaconsarnie said:
    Letters are the last priorities and often get brought back to, or left in the office because the focus is getting the tracked mail (recorded or whatever it’s called) delivered by 1pm and parcels.
    If rounds can’t be covered by the usual postie because of leave, sickness or staff shortages, the managers get other posties to prioritise the tracked and parcels on that round, before letters on their own.
    Dont blame the people posting them through a week late. The majority walk and carry up to 9 or 10 miles a day. And that’s after spending 3-4 hrs on their feet in the office sorting the mail up.
    Hard agree here mate

    Postal staff have long been the victims of some truly atrocious management. I'm not talking about the depot managers here but the abominable senior management. 

    The management want a nosedive to the bottom, knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing. Sounds familiar doesnt it 


  • SwisdomSwisdom
    Weekly post has meant I’ve missed hospital appointments in the past.  Thankfully the NHS is now in the 21st century and can send emails text messages and even have an app that works quite well.  
  • valleynick66valleynick66
    Covered End said:
    I got a letter from HMRC last week dated 09/07/25.

    I'm not sure who is the most likely culprit.
    US date format? 😉😆
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  • GribboGribbo
    valleynick66 said:
    Covered End said:
    I got a letter from HMRC last week dated 09/07/25.

    I'm not sure who is the most likely culprit.
    US date format? 😉😆
    25/09/2007, even worse! 😉
  • LargeAddickLargeAddick
    cafcfan said:
    Let's say you are posting 100 Christmas cards, 1st class. That would cost you £170.
    Alternatively you could fly to Serbia from London Luton for £33 return and spend £78 on posting the cards.*

    * According to AI.
    Thanks for this, seriously. I could take our Xmas cards with us when we visit friends in Cyprus next week, get them to post them, save ourselves a packet. Now where did I put those cards ......
  • PrincessFionaPrincessFiona
    I'm waiting for a ballot paper which hasn't arrived yet. Now it is going to be too late for the ballot. The union seem to be aware, as sending out comms about it
  • ME14addickME14addick
    paulbaconsarnie said:
    Letters are the last priorities and often get brought back to, or left in the office because the focus is getting the tracked mail (recorded or whatever it’s called) delivered by 1pm and parcels.
    If rounds can’t be covered by the usual postie because of leave, sickness or staff shortages, the managers get other posties to prioritise the tracked and parcels on that round, before letters on their own.
    Dont blame the people posting them through a week late. The majority walk and carry up to 9 or 10 miles a day. And that’s after spending 3-4 hrs on their feet in the office sorting the mail up.
    I would never blame the postal workers  they are victims of corporate greed which prioritises profit over service. Our postie is brilliant and I feel very sorry for him and his colleagues. 
  • PeterGagePeterGage
    ME14addick said:
    paulbaconsarnie said:
    Letters are the last priorities and often get brought back to, or left in the office because the focus is getting the tracked mail (recorded or whatever it’s called) delivered by 1pm and parcels.
    If rounds can’t be covered by the usual postie because of leave, sickness or staff shortages, the managers get other posties to prioritise the tracked and parcels on that round, before letters on their own.
    Dont blame the people posting them through a week late. The majority walk and carry up to 9 or 10 miles a day. And that’s after spending 3-4 hrs on their feet in the office sorting the mail up.
    I would never blame the postal workers  they are victims of corporate greed which prioritises profit over service. Our postie is brilliant and I feel very sorry for him and his colleagues. 
    Profit ? They did make a small operating profit last year, but that  did not cover the huge losses of previous years. Their poor balance sheets are partly due to the huge drop in the letters market and the "postal" servicers who collect bulk mail from large customers and "dump" them on RM to deliver; that leg of the operation being the most costly. RM are forced to operate by law in a market that does not operate on a level playing field. The parcels sector keeps them afloat in a very competitive market of home delivery.

  • ChippycafcChippycafc
    Pitiful service. Been away for a week no post when i got back last night. Today I got 8 items one dated 12th September sent first class.


  • ME14addickME14addick
    Chippycafc said:
    Pitiful service. Been away for a week no post when i got back last night. Today I got 8 items one dated 12th September sent first class.


    There is no attempt to meet targets at all, now they are foreign owned. Toothless Ofcom letting them get away with an increasingly shoddy service.
  • cfgscfgs
    I live in a rural town of about 9000, we have a sorting office that serves the local communities.  My wonder is if the grand scheme is to destroy the service enough to only need the larger sorting offices and sell the lesser ones for development, then pocket the cash and run.
  • YTS1978YTS1978
    I was doing a mailing a while back and was speaking to the distributor about 1st vs 2nd class. They were like "no point paying for first class. It'll turn up about the same time, if you're lucky" made me laugh, but a shite state of affairs really!
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