This is to help you with a few pointers on Royal Mail and its staff from someone that works in the network.
First of all a day in the life of a postman:
A postman starts his day at half five in the morning when he arrives at work the goes onto whats called group sorting where he sorts ... Read review
Advantages: Deliver to most Destinations in uk the next day (if first class) Disadvantages: Some mail lost or tampered with!!!
...with a few pointers on Royal Mail and its staff from someone that works in the network.
First of all a day in the life of a postman:
A postman starts his day at half five in the morning when he arrives at work the goes onto whats called group sorting where he sorts all mail for his delivery area into various walks. This can be anywhere between 15 and 40 different walks.
He completes this in about 30-45 minutes depending ... ...Now a few services that Royal Mial provides:
1st or 2nd class: Standard and most popular sort of posting. 1ST class should arrive the next day if sent in uk and 2nd class the day after. In my time at royal mail 2nd class items do not take the extra day to get there and now i send all my post 2nd class and about 95% of the time its there the next day. Some destinations in the UK though can not be reached the next day so an extra day is needed. ... more
This is to help you with a few pointers on Royal Mail and its staff from someone that works in the network.
First of all a day in the life of a postman: A postman starts his day at half five in the morning when he arrives at work the goes onto whats called group sorting where he sorts all mail for his delivery area into various walks. This can be anywhere between 15 and 40 different walks. He completes this in about 30-45 minutes depending on the amount of mail that he has to sort (Christmas periods and this could be double the time.) After this he goes to his own delivery frame where he then sorts all the mail for his walk. He clears round all his designated boxes then sorts his mail into order ready to be bundled up and delivered. This can take anywhere between 1 and 3 hours again depending on the amount of mail that he has to deliver. When he has finished this he then collects a bag from the packet frame that contains all the packets that are on his walk. all packets to big for his delivery bundle will stay lose in his bag. These are remembered by him turning a letter in his bundle the other way round in his bundle and writing pkt (packet) on the letter. he then knows that he has a packet for that address. The same technique is used for recorded and special delivery items. Around eight o'clock a missort run arrives in the office with a few more items that have been sent elsewhere first mainly due to incomplete addresses or a dodgy postcode. When he has collected these few items he will the bundle his mail up into whatever he feels comfortable with. He prepares his bag that he will take with him and then a second and third bag which he will send out with a driver to points around his walk so he does not have to carry it all. He then gets to the start of his walk either by foot, car or bus and starts delivery of his items. Whether its sunny, rainy, snowing, windy e.t.c. he will deliver his items. Delivery of his items can take anywhere between two and a half to five hours depending on the amount of mail he has and the conditions that he is delvery in. Also some posties are quicker than others. When he has finished his round he puts all the items he coulkd not deliver into a yellow pouch and this is posted or dropped in at a post office and gets sent back to him for tomorrow. This pouch will hold any recorded delivery items that he could not get a signature for and any items he could not get rid of because they was too big for the customers letter box.
Now a few services that Royal Mial provides: 1st or 2nd class: Standard and most popular sort of posting. 1ST class should arrive the next day if sent in uk and 2nd class the day after. In my time at royal mail 2nd class items do not take the extra day to get there and now i send all my post 2nd class and about 95% of the time its there the next day. Some destinations in the UK though can not be reached the next day so an extra day is needed. Not sure of these addresses but can find out if anyone wants to know.
Recorded Delivery: This is done at your local post office or callers office. This service gives you a receipt with a barcode so you can track your mail on the internet only when it has been attempted to be delivered though. This is because the recorded mail service just gets sorted with normal 1st and 2nd class mail. Therefore the PHG (Postmans Higher Grade) who deals with confirming these items only sees the barcode on the posties delivery card and that is when the item is either confirmed as delivered or undelivered.
Special Delivery: This is a service that keeps your mail seperate from all of the other mail. As a recorded yopu get a receipt with a barcode so you can track your mail. But with this service you can track your parcel at any time and know where it is. This is because with special delivery items the barcode is scanned every time someone recieves it. How it gets tracked along the line-- first tracked at your local mail centre, Then they despatch it to the destinations local mail centre, Then sent to the delivery office, Then gets allocated to the walk which it is going to be delivered, A postie then signs for this item after he has sorted all his other mail and he takes it on delivery with him, When he has finished his walk this item is either delivered or dropped into a post office, if post office is the case then the item is returned to the delivery office the next day to the callers office so you can pick it up. So from when you send a special delivery item it is scanned about 7 or eight times and you know exactly where it is any of the time.
Tampered or Lost: Dont know much about this but will tell what i know. Any mail that is damaged during either sorting or delivery gets placed in royal mail damage bag. This says our sincere apologies and gives you a phone number you can ring if anything is missing. All damaged items are still delivered. Some examples of what can get damaged, sending a jumper just wrapped in some brown paper, Sending heavy folders in envolopes. Lost mail should not happen but in some cases it does. If mail is lost and you have sent the item Special Delivery the process is simple because of the barcode. The compensation you will recieve depends on the item you sent and the compensation value you took out when the item was sent. Recorded delivery items or 1st and 2nd class is a bit of a pain i think. You are required to fill out a form in as much detail as you can and send this to customer services where they get back to you to say if you have a valid claim. With this though it is only ten times the amount that the item cost to post. So if it was sent just using a first class stamp (30p) then they will offer you £3 (10x3). This process can take about two to three weeks to complete though.
Few pointers when sending mail: - Always put correct postage on. If unsure got to a post office and ask them to weigh the item. Incorrect postage paid means the item will be surcharged at the recievers end to collect the difference in postage and a £1 handling fee put on by Royal Mail. -Secure wrap and seal your items so that they are less likely to get damaged. -Do not send money through the post and if you have to use the Special Delivery service. - Address your items correctly and put postcode on. Insufficent addresses can cause a delay in your item being delivered or see your item not delivered at all. - Finally always put a return address on the back of your mail. This then makes sure that if the person you are sending the mail does not recieve it then you will at least get it back.
Feel free to ask questions i will do my best to help!!!!
Royal mail provides a brilliant service to the whole country send a letter from Lands End to John O Groats for 30p. Now thats a bargain.
Advantages: fast delivery times, friendly postmen Disadvantages: items get lost/stolen
...and sound to their destination. Royal Mail provides this service - but not 100% of the time.
WHEN DID ROYAL MAIL START?
In 1635, King Charles I opened Royal Mail to the public. Letters would be delivered to the recipient by a post-boy on a horse back and fore across the country and the recipient would have to pay the delivery charge (at the time 2d = 0.8p). In 1661 the first postal stamps were invented, to stop the post-boys delaying the mail. ... ...WHAT IS ROYAL MAIL?
The Royal Mail is a brand of The Royal Mail Group Plc. They deliver 82 million items each day to 27 million addresses across the UK. With the rise of people internet shopping, I'm sure this figure will rise in years to come. WHAT SERVICES DO THEY OFFER?
The most frequently used service they provide will probably be First Class Delivery. At the moment it costs just 30p to send a letter or parcel weighing up to 60g in the UK, ...
welshgal17 18.09.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Royal Mail
Advantages: My sweet young postgirl, they deliver most days Disadvantages: Lost mail, customer services
...to have a go at Royal Mail, the daily newspapers do it constantly but to be honest they do manage to deliver my mail most days in rain, snow & sunshine. However two little true stories do make you look at Royal Mail through a different light.
This time last year over a period of six weeks, six different items sent to my home went missing. Two replacement credit cards, one cheque book, £30 of gift vouchers & two items from work all went missing. ... ...problem more seriously, they sent Royal mail a letter (copied to me) demanding to know why these particular items had gone missing, asked Royal Mail to monitor all my mail for 2 months & do an internal enquiry. About three months later Royal mail concluded that no one had stolen my mail, it must have went missing & apologised. As far as I know nothing else has went missing since but I am still suspicious all the same.
No sooner had that little concern ...
ScottishWestie 18.12.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Royal Mail
Advantages: Cheap, wide range of services, national coverage Disadvantages: Lack of support for online retailers - big difference between standard and recorded mail
...If you mention the words Royal and Mail in the same sentence to the average Briton, you will be sure of a vociferous reply along the lines of, “Don’t talk to me about them!” Personally, I find much of this criticism to be unfair – my experiences of the postal service in the UK have been nothing but positive and I firmly believe that you still get excellent value for money, given that you can send a standard letter for 27p.
... ...which I have used the Royal Mail extensively to handle payments and products bought and sold on www.ebay.com. I’ve learnt a few things along the way too, so hopefully there’ll be some useful advice there too. I’ve also had a few thoughts on the whole “efficiency” debate that seems to surround the postal service in this country.
POSTING AND DELIVERY
First Class postage will send a letter up to 60g to any UK destination ...
LostWitness 28.12.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Royal Mail
...how much we rely on Royal Mail as one of our primary communication tools. Yes I have Internet access, multiple email accounts, a home telephone, a work telephone and a mobile phone but still I often communicate by post, always using the Royal Mail. Why? Because its an easy to use reliable service which charges little considering what you get for your money. ~~~ Deliveries ~~~ Every day I actually look forward to the postman delivering my mail. I ... ...an ordinary home user of Royal Mail, you don't have your mail collected from home, you need to pop your mail in the post box. These are easy to find, they are big red things which are situated near shops or on pavements in residential areas. The collection times on the Post boxes for your information . If you want more than a standard service on your mail, you need to pop along to your nearest post office or sub-post office. Businesses can have their ...
KathrynE 10.04.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Royal Mail
Advantages: Print Postage Online Disadvantages: Currently On Strike
Royal Mail is the UK's number one postal service, infact many people aren't even aware that other postal companies even exist. So you'd expect them to be pretty good at what they do, to fight of all the competition? Well actually no, there service is pretty poor at times. Unfortunately we are stuck in a position now whereby Royal Mail is so well established that it would be hard for any other companies to compete. In this review I will only talk ... ...experiences.
So what does Royal Mail offer? Royal Mail offers a whole range of services. For standard mail (mainly letters and small items) they offer a first and second class service. First class should take 1 working day adn second class 2-3 working days. Costs start at 24p for second class mail and 32p for First class mail, please visit RoyalMail's website for most recent pricing as postal costs are ever increasing. These services are actually ...
taylora-2006 07.08.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Royal Mail
Speed of delivery
Reliability of company
Competitiveness of char...
Customer service
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Advantages: Free money to Royal Mail Disadvantages: Risk loosing your sanity along with your mail
AIRSURE IS A BLATANT LIE BY ROYALMAIL!
I wanted to ship some important documents to the USA from England, really it was two sheets of A4 documents. I was quoted £42 , which was a rip-off for Parcel force(Uk courier). The lady at the RoyalMail office recommended Airsure and insiste dthat it had tracking(which is what i wanted). Well guess what! There is no tracking because Royalmail has said that the item left 10days ago and that the USPS website is not updated. USPS only had information that item ws being prepared to leave originating destination. There is no day to day tracking. It has been two weeks and the package has not arrived. This is FALSE advertising by royalMail. they stated that eta was 5 working days to USA> This is not what one calls tracking.! either A friend of mine use dthe service in December. It took three weeks ...
Advantages: 50% of post gets to their destination on time Disadvantages: Your not covered and RM don't pay up if anything goes missing
, RoyalMail have been dodging the golden bullet of liquidation for a while, so it isn?t a good day or month to talk about their ?special delivery, next day service?; because it isn?t happening. I can also claim it doesn?t surprise me, due to the fact it is state owned and like all Governmental Divisions they?re not effective as a business to business service.
Your better off with ?pigeon mail? today, at least the post-code lottery doesn?t determine whether your postal service is effective by pigeon. They get the pecks by exercise and without Sat Nav; very green I might add. This is what happened in the mid 17th Century when it was only used by the Monarch before opening up to the public later on. It is remarkable how long this establishment has survived for and even with the digital age, the way the UK does business especially paper written ...
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I use RoyalMail's special delivery service both personally and professionally, with items that need to be received within a certain time frame. It's not a great time to be reviewing this, with ongoing post strikes, but I'll disregard these when giving my opinion.
what is special delivery?
Special delivery is a service offered by RoyalMail to guarantee delivery of your item by 1pm the next day. They guarantee that this will occur, or your money will be refunded. At an extra cost, it can also be used to guarantee a delivery on a saturday too.
Costs
The cheapest price for a special delivery service is £4.95, which is quite expensive. This allows for up to £500 compensation if the package is lost or damaged, to increase the compensation cover for a package of the same size, the price increases up to £7.40 for £2500 ...
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