Royal Mail

What is it with Royal Mail?

Out of all the companies which provide a service, Royal Mail has got to be at the top of the list for the worst service provided. Not only has their daily postal deliveries become later, but they seem to be becoming less frequent as well. I'm convinced that they miss days altogether. The post didn't arrive till 6.15pm last week - and that was mail which should have arrived at least two days earlier!

It's no better when mail is sent by 'recorded post' either. Sending mail that way means that you pay extra for a faster and safer service. I buy a lot of items and have them delivered and admittedly, a lot of them are delivered (eventually), but over the last couple of years there have been an increasing number of items that have "gone missing" and, without exception, every one of those missing items were sent by recorded post. It seems that by sending an item by recorded post, it just makes the package more attractive to any would-be hijackers.

To make matters worse, the response you get when you complain consists of a couldn't-care-less attitude and a form thrust in to your hands with the comments "put in a claim". But it doesn't end there.

Only recently I tried to put in a claim for an item that had gone missing but the Royal Mail refused to pay out. It was only for £17 but I thought that seeing as Royal Mail had lost it, then they should compensate me for it. All that was in the package were five DVD's which had been in my possession for over ten years but Royal mail refused to pay out any compensation because I didn't have the receipt for the discs. Let's face it, who keeps receipts for ten years? I usually keep receipts for larger items, but even then I only keep them until the warranty has expired.

I'm currently waiting for two more packages to arrive. I purchased five items last week - all on the same day, three of them were sent by standard mail and I received them within a few days, but two of the items were sent by recorded post and they are the ones that I am still waiting to arrive. I got an email on Thursday saying that a package had been dispatched that day and that it was sent by first class recorded mail. I assumed that the item would be with me on Friday or, at the very latest, by Saturday. Wrong! It's now Tuesday and there are still no signs of the packages that I am expecting.

It seems to be the 'norm' these days - that the service that you pay for deteriorates, but you have to pay out more for it. I don't think I'm alone in saying this but, if the postal staff ever decide to go on strike, then I certainly won't be supporting them. I think that the Royal Mail should be privatised - and the sooner the better.