Missing Royal Mail

[Howard]

As I said, that's a human problem and there are ways to minimise that loss. I am perfectly happy with the way Royal Mail deliver to my house and I cannot actually recall a single item that has gone missing. However, if I were to experience a problem then I would do some or all of the following:

1) Sign up for paperless bank/credit card statements so less stuff useful for id theft can get stolen.
2) Advise the banks that you have a serious theft problem and arrange to pick up credit cards and other important stuff in the branch.
3) Tell friends and family to put birthday cards in brown envelopes (ones with windows seem to attract less attention) and certainly do not put cash/cheques/vouchers etc in them.
4) Get important stuff sent somewhere else (e.g. work).
5) Use alternative couriers where practical.
6) If sending money then use an electronic transfer to an alternative account. Online banking means this can be done free.

Remember Howard a lot of people don't have have computers or I phones .

Every single one of those points, apart from the first, can be done without a computer. As far as transfering money electronically, as long as you have an account number and sort code you can do this by calling your bank or even the old-fashioned way by visiting your local branch.

[simonesaffron]

Or perhaps Hotmail !

[Harry]

Also look behind radiators as mail can fly through the air ....

Would that be Airmail then?

[sooty2]

If you have a laminate or tiled floor behind the door.Look under furniture as mail can slide under. Also look behind radiators as mail can fly through the air and lodge behind them.

[amazon]

Unfortunately, it isn't just one letter - it's 14.5 million every year. That is why people are unhappy with the Royal Mail.

They handle 15 billion letters per year which means that around 1 in 1000 letters is not delivered properly. Considering that it's almost certainly human error causing letters that go astray, what figure do you consider would be acceptable?

Would seem strange that its letters that  have items of value in them .that go missing .how doyou explain that Howard

As I said, that's a human problem and there are ways to minimise that loss. I am perfectly happy with the way Royal Mail deliver to my house and I cannot actually recall a single item that has gone missing. However, if I were to experience a problem then I would do some or all of the following:

1) Sign up for paperless bank/credit card statements so less stuff useful for id theft can get stolen.
2) Advise the banks that you have a serious theft problem and arrange to pick up credit cards and other important stuff in the branch.
3) Tell friends and family to put birthday cards in brown envelopes (ones with windows seem to attract less attention) and certainly do not put cash/cheques/vouchers etc in them.
4) Get important stuff sent somewhere else (e.g. work).
5) Use alternative couriers where practical.
6) If sending money then use an electronic transfer to an alternative account. Online banking means this can be done free.

Remember Howard a lot of people don't have have computers or I phones .

[Howard]

Unfortunately, it isn't just one letter - it's 14.5 million every year. That is why people are unhappy with the Royal Mail.

They handle 15 billion letters per year which means that around 1 in 1000 letters is not delivered properly. Considering that it's almost certainly human error causing letters that go astray, what figure do you consider would be acceptable?

Would seem strange that its letters that  have items of value in them .that go missing .how doyou explain that Howard

As I said, that's a human problem and there are ways to minimise that loss. I am perfectly happy with the way Royal Mail deliver to my house and I cannot actually recall a single item that has gone missing. However, if I were to experience a problem then I would do some or all of the following:

1) Sign up for paperless bank/credit card statements so less stuff useful for id theft can get stolen.
2) Advise the banks that you have a serious theft problem and arrange to pick up credit cards and other important stuff in the branch.
3) Tell friends and family to put birthday cards in brown envelopes (ones with windows seem to attract less attention) and certainly do not put cash/cheques/vouchers etc in them.
4) Get important stuff sent somewhere else (e.g. work).
5) Use alternative couriers where practical.
6) If sending money then use an electronic transfer to an alternative account. Online banking means this can be done free.

[amazon]

Unfortunately, it isn't just one letter - it's 14.5 million every year. That is why people are unhappy with the Royal Mail.

They handle 15 billion letters per year which means that around 1 in 1000 letters is not delivered properly. Considering that it's almost certainly human error causing letters that go astray, what figure do you consider would be acceptable?

Would seem strange that its letters that  have items of value in them .that go missing .how doyou explain that Howard

[simonesaffron]

Unfortunately, it isn't just one letter - it's 14.5 million every year. That is why people are unhappy with the Royal Mail.

I am not unhappy with the Royal Mail, and 15 billion letters a year (thanks admin) says that a lot of others aren't either. I use it regularly, have done all my life and plan to continue doing so. I have sent/received consignments from all over the country/world and experienced very few problems. The average Postie is one of my real life heroes and over the years I've heard many stories about them - all valiant. 

I fully appreciate that statistics are not much consolation if your special letter is one of the one's that got away but let us keep a sense of perspective and consider the complexity and scale of the operation.

[Howard]

Unfortunately, it isn't just one letter - it's 14.5 million every year. That is why people are unhappy with the Royal Mail.

They handle 15 billion letters per year which means that around 1 in 1000 letters is not delivered properly. Considering that it's almost certainly human error causing letters that go astray, what figure do you consider would be acceptable?

[Bowden Guy]

Unfortunately, it isn't just one letter - it's 14.5 million every year. That is why people are unhappy with the Royal Mail.

[simonesaffron]

This post has stretched many beyond the bounds of tedium both in its content and its apparent longevity.
As far as the Royal Mail is concerned, It has been suggested that The Royal Warrant should be ..." withdrawn".
It has also been suggested that the posties...are a "den of thieves". Which quite frankly is a disgraceful slur to make.
Put into perspective, it is about one missing letter, when the service delivers absolute Zillions of them. Anything could have happened to this consignment - there are countless possibilities.

i had a dotty Aunt many years ago. She had a similar issue with a birthday card and a postal order that didn't arrive at its destination. She complained and accused everybody from the local postman to the postmaster general (there was such a person in those days) anyway it didn't turn up. Everybody in the family knew about "Auntie Eadies Postal Order" and if you didn't she soon made sure that you did . It became a bit of a family joke in the end.  It was even mentioned by her son at her funeral, only obviously in a respectful way. Some time after the funeral my cousins were clearing her house out and guess what they found pressed between the pages of a book - yeah the postal order, nobody had any idea how it had got there, but there it was crossed, sealed and stamped, -  she'd not even posted it.

Anyway, all I've done now is add to the tedium and the longevity.

By the way Alan just for your info the quote about 'evil' (and a missing birthday card is hardly that is it ?) was often attributed in the past to the irish politician Burke. However more recent research has found no trace of it in his work and it is now confidently thought to be an utterance of the American Temperance Preacher Charles Aked who first said it many years (centuries I think ) after Burke had died.   

[alan@marple]

No more stamps or newspapers from you sir.

See below

[gazwhite]

So do I ...


"Sorry I'm late Mrs Goggins... I stopped on the way to help Peter Fogg and his stuck tractor... What's that behind the chiller... It's a birthday card going to Romiley... Must have fallen out of Red Bears sack... I'll pop it in on my way to Pencaster."       (Postman Pat) (another fine postie)

Have a good Easter - hope the card turns up ;-)

[alan@marple]

Well there is no point in me labouring this issue either on the grounds of proof or probability. I have only one last comment



"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

[gazwhite]

Not particularly knowlegable Alan@, just common knowledge really.  You make it others business by posting on here.

Any process, particularly processes that require human intervention have to have a failure or error rate built in - even airline manufacturing does not achieve a rate of 'perfection' although they are probably as close as you'll get. 

I'm not saying it's good enough - especially when something like a birthdaycard goes missing - but what I am saying is that you will always have a certain ratio or percentage of failure.  The process failure could be reduced by removing the bespoke price structure that Royal Mail Group currently has to operate under - 'one price anywhere'.  The world has changed significantly, however as business with a striclty regulated operation in terms of charging and structure (2011 Postal Act), the RM Group generally find themselves tied to various legacy criteria - things that don't fit with the Amazon/Ebay world we're living. 

Reading the comments on here there is talk/assumption of theft.  This is something that has not been proven however damages the integrity of those involved.  In my experience the team from Marple are knowlegable/helpful people, they work in a geographically challening area and, again in my experience do a bloody good job. They have also on numerous occasions gone above the call of duty.  This appears to be mirrored in towns like New Mills - when I was driving through on Saturday I witnessed someone in postal uniform clearing someones path for them - great stuff!

It would be nice to assume process failure has let you down.  If sending cash - UPS it.