Royal Mail overseas parcels ban 'costing me hundreds of pounds'

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64374342

Emma Thomson, who runs a jewellery company in Romford, says she is losing hundreds of pounds due to delivery issues, two weeks after Royal Mail was hit by a cyber-attack.

"It's a nightmare," she told the BBC. "It's gone on too long."

Other firms that rely on posting items overseas have also expressed frustration at the impact on their business.

Royal Mail says it is "working around the clock" to resolve the issues.

The company was the victim of a ransomware attack, which affected the computer systems it uses to despatch deliveries abroad.

Ransomware is malicious computer software that encrypts data and locks up systems. Criminals usually demand payment for releasing the data.

The problem emerged on Tuesday, 10 January. Customers were told of the problem the following day.

Royal Mail has restarted the export of parcels from a backlog, and is accepting new letters for overseas, as it tries to recover from the attack.

But it is still advising people not to send new parcels internationally for now.

Businesses are frustrated at the length of time it has gone on for.


Ms Thomson says she understands Royal Mail was the victim of a cyber-attack, but thinks the company should have got things up and running again sooner.

"You'd expect they'd have measures and precautions for this kind of thing," she says.

Around 40% of Ms Thomson's sales, from her jewellery company Gemz by Emz, usually go to Ireland and the US. She relies on Royal Mail for those deliveries.

Since the cyber-attack, she has tried to use other companies to send her products internationally, but says that is costing her around £6 more per package. "That money's coming out of my pocket."

Other items that were posted before the incident are stuck in the hub, waiting to be delivered. "They've shown no sign of movement in weeks," she says.

She estimates all of this will end up costing her a few hundred pounds per month, for as long as it continues, and comes on top of the postal strikes in the run-up to Christmas, which also had an impact in her busiest week.

Sarah Turner, owner of Little Beau Sheep in Ilkely, Yorkshire, agrees that the situation is "frustrating".

"We're relying on our customers' patience and goodwill, but that will dry up," she says.

Her company, which sells wool tumble drying balls, uses Royal Mail as it is one of the more affordable providers of international deliveries for small parcels.

She has several outstanding international orders pending that she is not able to despatch due to the cyber-attack, and says sending them via alternative means would end up costing more than the item is worth.

She thinks more communication is needed. "There's no indication how long this will go on, so we're not able to advise our customers either.

"The [overall] cost [to us] will depend how long this drags on, but it just adds to the woes of last year."

She's worried that customers who are still waiting for orders may decide to cancel them, while others may hold off making purchases.

For now, she is still accepting orders, but is having to warn customers that she is not able to send her items for now.

Michelle Ovens, founder of Small Business Britain, said the problem with Royal Mail's international delivery system was "yet another headache" for firms.

"Finding opportunities abroad, particularly through exporting, is a major way small firms can pursue growth when the UK economy is flat.

"Small businesses simply cannot afford to lose out on international opportunities, so everything must be done to resolve this as soon as possible."

'Takes time to resolve'
Despite customers' frustration, Ciaran Martin, professor at University of Oxford and former chief of the National Cyber Security Centre, told the BBC that Royal Mail was "not being unusually slow".

He said it takes time to recover from these types of incidents, and it is "very rare in ransomware attacks for things to be resolved quickly".

He pointed out that when you have attacks like this, there can be extensive damage to the network which can take a long time to repair, even if a business puts in place workarounds in the meantime.

"What people don't understand about such attacks is whether or not you pay whatever the criminal is demanding, the computer networks get battered and take a while to recover regardless."

Royal Mail apologised for the disruption.

"Our initial focus is on clearing export parcels that have already been processed and are waiting to be despatched. We continue to make good progress," a spokesperson said.

The company asks customers not to send new international parcels "until further notice".

[post6675]

'small business' is starting to really annoy me. Since covid everyone seems to have taken up arts and crafts and classes themselves as a small business even if sending a few packages a week. Does my head in , people constantly whinging on social media that there wax melts are delayed

[passengerpigeon]

'small business' is starting to really annoy me. Since covid everyone seems to have taken up arts and crafts and classes themselves as a small business even if sending a few packages a week. Does my head in , people constantly whinging on social media that there wax melts are delayed

We're a Medium sized business, if this helps. We've lost a six figure sum due to the strikes and cyber attack. No end in sight to the losses either. If you don't like customers, why do you work in the service industry?

[Bex123]

Every 'small business' has to start somewhere. Maybe they're trying to make a living so they don't have to be employed by large companies were no ones happy with the pay or conditions and have to strike.

[post6675]

Every 'small business' has to start somewhere. Maybe they're trying to make a living so they don't have to be employed by large companies were no ones happy with the pay or conditions and have to strike.

Yes but when they are on twitter throwing abuse at people due to the delays because of strikes thats when it becomes annoying

[post6675]

'small business' is starting to really annoy me. Since covid everyone seems to have taken up arts and crafts and classes themselves as a small business even if sending a few packages a week. Does my head in , people constantly whinging on social media that there wax melts are delayed

We're a Medium sized business, if this helps. We've lost a six figure sum due to the strikes and cyber attack. No end in sight to the losses either. If you don't like customers, why do you work in the service industry?

For the money , its a decent gig. RM goes to s**t i leave and take my skills elsewhere. My annoyance is coming from the amount of abuse coming from 'small business' due to the strikes.

[passengerpigeon]

'small business' is starting to really annoy me. Since covid everyone seems to have taken up arts and crafts and classes themselves as a small business even if sending a few packages a week. Does my head in , people constantly whinging on social media that there wax melts are delayed

We're a Medium sized business, if this helps. We've lost a six figure sum due to the strikes and cyber attack. No end in sight to the losses either. If you don't like customers, why do you work in the service industry?

For the money , its a decent gig. RM goes to s**t i leave and take my skills elsewhere. My annoyance is coming from the amount of abuse coming from 'small business' due to the strikes.

You should try dealing with hundreds and hundreds of unhappy emails, sometimes filled with abuse, every day. Small business are collapsing everywhere and the attitude of RM management is that they don't give a toss and the attitude of some people is to strike forever. I think the abuse in this case by small business is fully justified.

[enskied]

'small business' is starting to really annoy me. Since covid everyone seems to have taken up arts and crafts and classes themselves as a small business even if sending a few packages a week. Does my head in , people constantly whinging on social media that there wax melts are delayed

We're a Medium sized business, if this helps. We've lost a six figure sum due to the strikes and cyber attack. No end in sight to the losses either. If you don't like customers, why do you work in the service industry?

For the money , its a decent gig. RM goes to s**t i leave and take my skills elsewhere. My annoyance is coming from the amount of abuse coming from 'small business' due to the strikes.

You should try dealing with hundreds and hundreds of unhappy emails, sometimes filled with abuse, every day. Small business are collapsing everywhere and the attitude of RM management is that they don't give a toss and the attitude of some people is to strike forever. I think the abuse in this case by small business is fully justified.

I do sympathise with small business people, it must be frustrating for them as customers. However if they only knew the skewed priority that parcels receive over and above everything else in the workplace and for not a great deal of money, as the original poster states Royal Mail is the cheapest option.
Royal Mail delivery offices are chronically understaffed due to cost cutting, there simply are not enough hours in the offices to do the work. That is why mail is left undelivered for days on end. Packets and parcels are delivered daily almost without fail.
The cyber attack is not having an affect on UK wide delivery.

No one wants to be on strike forever, you must realise that. All we are asking for is that our terms and conditions at work are improved an end to the bullying and harassment that we endure every day because management refuse increase our hours to enable us to do the job.
Abuse from anyone is not justified.

[passengerpigeon]

'small business' is starting to really annoy me. Since covid everyone seems to have taken up arts and crafts and classes themselves as a small business even if sending a few packages a week. Does my head in , people constantly whinging on social media that there wax melts are delayed

We're a Medium sized business, if this helps. We've lost a six figure sum due to the strikes and cyber attack. No end in sight to the losses either. If you don't like customers, why do you work in the service industry?

For the money , its a decent gig. RM goes to s**t i leave and take my skills elsewhere. My annoyance is coming from the amount of abuse coming from 'small business' due to the strikes.

You should try dealing with hundreds and hundreds of unhappy emails, sometimes filled with abuse, every day. Small business are collapsing everywhere and the attitude of RM management is that they don't give a toss and the attitude of some people is to strike forever. I think the abuse in this case by small business is fully justified.

I do sympathise with small business people, it must be frustrating for them as customers. However if they only knew the skewed priority that parcels receive over and above everything else in the workplace and for not a great deal of money, as the original poster states Royal Mail is the cheapest option.
Royal Mail delivery offices are chronically understaffed due to cost cutting, there simply are not enough hours in the offices to do the work. That is why mail is left undelivered for days on end. Packets and parcels are delivered daily almost without fail.
The cyber attack is not having an affect on UK wide delivery.

No one wants to be on strike forever, you must realise that. All we are asking for is that our terms and conditions at work are improved an end to the bullying and harassment that we endure every day because management refuse increase our hours to enable us to do the job.
Abuse from anyone is not justified.

You are right. I mis-spoke. I should have said that complaints by small business are justified rather than abuse.