Moonpig sounds alarm over Royal Mail delays ahead of Christmas as it swings to a £33.3m loss

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mar ... -loss.html

Moonpig has sounded the alarm over Royal Mail deliveries ahead of Christmas.

Moonpig’s chief executive Nickyl Raithatha has said he is in talks with the delivery company about service levels as many areas of the country are ‘struggling’ with the reliability of deliveries.

His remarks come as billionaire Daniel Kretinsky – known as the Czech Sphinx – closes in on a £3.6billion deal to buy Royal Mail through the takeover of its parent company International Distribution Services.

Raithatha said: ‘We are working with [Royal Mail] to make sure they do continue to improve those service levels which haven’t been at the level we’d want them to be for the last couple of years.

‘If you’re sending someone a birthday card and it’s their birthday tomorrow, it needs to get there tomorrow.

‘There are many regions that are struggling [with reliability], and you probably only need to speak to a few of your friends, and some of them will say that the post arrives every day and others don’t.’

Moonpig swung to a £33.3million loss in the six months to October 31 amid gloomy consumer confidence following an £18.9million profit a year earlier.

In a report published in October, regulator Ofcom said Royal Mail ‘continued to fall below’ its service obligations.

Only 74.5 per cent of first-class deliveries arrived on time in the 12 months to the end of March against a target of 93 per cent.

Last year Royal Mail hailed its ‘best Christmas’ in four years after a huge effort to make amends for a chaotic festive operation in 2022.

It said that more than 99 per cent of first and second-class items sent by the last recommended postal dates were delivered in time for Christmas.

But many consumers and small businesses are wary after strike action left parcels and cards piled up in sorting offices across the UK.

This caution has resulted in Moonpig bringing forward reminders to customers for special occasions such as birthdays to ensure cards were sent in good time to account for delays.

But Raithatha shrugged off concerns about the takeover.

‘We talk fairly regularly [with Royal Mail] and we have had lots of reassurances that

the quality and level of service that we get wouldn’t be impacted by any sort of ownership change,’ he said.

[BenacreNick]

A lot of Moonpig stuff comes into the office on the last lorry. What can you do to improve this situation, and therefore your own customers confidence in your services.

Perhaps post your stuff earlier in the day ?

[scotchy1962]

Not sure about anyone else but today we were absolutely snowed under with tracked, it seems that amazon have decided to dump what they can't cope with onto us as usual.
It happens every xmas and if they think we can cope with it they are sadly mistaken, so moonpig is the least of our problems.

[Barnacle]

Not sure about anyone else but today we were absolutely snowed under with tracked, it seems that amazon have decided to dump what they can't cope with onto us as usual.
It happens every xmas and if they think we can cope with it they are sadly mistaken, so moonpig is the least of our problems.

Yes, it’s the ballooning number of Tracked items that are killing it. There will never be enough staff or vans to deliver it all within the time window.

[oypostie]

We talk fairly regularly [with Royal Mail] and we have had lots of reassurances that

the quality and level of service that we get wouldn’t be impacted by any sort of ownership change,’ he said.

Yep, it will remain cr@p

[WalkerX]

Not sure about anyone else but today we were absolutely snowed under with tracked, it seems that amazon have decided to dump what they can't cope with onto us as usual.
It happens every xmas and if they think we can cope with it they are sadly mistaken, so moonpig is the least of our problems.

Yes, it’s the ballooning number of Tracked items that are killing it. There will never be enough staff or vans to deliver it all within the time window.

Free collections, pointless re-deliveries, signed for on items that are obviously tat, door 2 doors that no-one wants........

[Mr Rush]

As I recall; after their stuff was lingering in DOs for days on end two Christmases ago, Moonpig pulled some serious strings and suddenly LATs were overloaded with their cards. Many an 'Inaccessible' scan those nights.

[fadetogrey63]

Free collections, pointless re-deliveries, signed for on items that are obviously tat, door 2 doors that no-one wants........
[/quote]

The free collections are a real pee take by some, I've collected just normal xmas cards, went to a school today and the staff member said it's a great service as she hasn't got time to go to the post office, felt like saying we'll I havnt got time to keep collecting stuff that would easily fit in a postbox..

[LouBarlow]

Moonpig must be doing something wrong as well though as I used one of their rivals recently, ordering multiple cards, placed my order just before 4pm, they shipped out the same day and all arrived the next day. I was impressed.

[Barnacle]

Moonpig must be doing something wrong as well though as I used one of their rivals recently, ordering multiple cards, placed my order just before 4pm, they shipped out the same day and all arrived the next day. I was impressed.

I wonder where Moonpig dispatch from?

[ConeHater]

Putting “Moonpig warehouse” into search suggests it’s Tamworth, so possibly MSH ?