Collections Booked Have Failed Every Day for a Week

[rebradfordharris]

Hello everyone,
I book mail order parcels in for Royal Mail collection most weekdays and they hardly ever fail to be collected. However, every single day last week all collections failed. I sell plants, so they cant be left packed up for 5 consecutive days! In the end I had to open every parcel, pack up different fresh plants and upgrade all my buyers to the fastest service to try to make up for the delays. My local sorting office is only open 08.00-10.00 while I'm at work 2 miles away. I don't drive. I had to have the morning off of work to take all the parcels in and on a shopping trolley to the sorting office. I have two new parcels booked in for collection tomorrow. I just hope things are back to normal. I book using the Click & Drop website, but when I rebooked every day last week, I tried the RM personal website too. In each case I got the confirmation emails and apology emails when the collections failed. One new difference on the Click & Drop website during this failure period is that the dates to choose for collection no longer have a time estimate next to them. Has this change scuppered the collection process and if so, has it been corrected? I need to know I can rely on my plants parcels being collected. I am in PE21, Boston, Lincolnshire.
Thank you,
Ruth

[TopperGas]

Hello everyone,
I book mail order parcels in for Royal Mail collection most weekdays and they hardly ever fail to be collected. However, every single day last week all collections failed. I sell plants, so they cant be left packed up for 5 consecutive days! In the end I had to open every parcel, pack up different fresh plants and upgrade all my buyers to the fastest service to try to make up for the delays. My local sorting office is only open 08.00-10.00 while I'm at work 2 miles away. I don't drive. I had to have the morning off of work to take all the parcels in and on a shopping trolley to the sorting office. I have two new parcels booked in for collection tomorrow. I just hope things are back to normal. I book using the Click & Drop website, but when I rebooked every day last week, I tried the RM personal website too. In each case I got the confirmation emails and apology emails when the collections failed. One new difference on the Click & Drop website during this failure period is that the dates to choose for collection no longer have a time estimate next to them. Has this change scuppered the collection process and if so, has it been corrected? I need to know I can rely on my plants parcels being collected. I am in PE21, Boston, Lincolnshire.
Thank you,
Ruth

This is a website for RM employees not RM's own forum, given there's no management on this site who can answer your query, you would be better contacting RM via X/formally Twitter with your query.

Did RM give any explanations for failing to collect the items?

[rebradfordharris]

Thank you. This site is advertised as for employees AND Royal Mail customers. I'm not sure where else I can go. I'm not on Twitter. No explanation given as you get an automated basic apology email for the failure!

[TopperGas]

I stand corrected as there is a section on the forum for "customers" although the answers given seem to be fairly generic from helpful posties rather than anybody who can answer specific questions,

Personally I'd just ask for one or two items to be collected tomorrow and see if normal service has now been resumed, if the postie does arrive to collect the item(s) ask them if they knew what was the issue with collections last week.

[Basildon Bond]

Thank you. This site is advertised as for employees AND Royal Mail customers. I'm not sure where else I can go. I'm not on Twitter. No explanation given as you get an automated basic apology email for the failure!

It can be very frustrating when you do not know what to do, what is going on, nor whom to talk to.

This thread has been posted in News. There is a customers board here: viewforum.php?f=6

However, posting to this site (any board) will only highlight to the current members that there is an issue at a particular office or on a particular round - and it probably will not resolve the issue satisfactorily for you. It's unfortunate but no postie from the Bolton PE21 office is going to jump to help - it's mostly anonymous users who guard their UK location for fear of Royal Mail management coming after them.

It could be that your delivery office is struggling to complete all rounds daily. If so it could be that no one is scanning in on the round/duty/walk for your address and hence missing that there is a collection on a day when the round is "failed".

I can only suggest you print off evidence that you have a collection booked on a particular day. If/when the parcel(s) fail to be collected you visit your local delivery office (during their very limited opening hours with the items. Saturday is eight till noon if that helps at all) and ask why they repeatedly failed to be collected - you could try calling as an alternative (03457 740 740). Ask to speak with a manager. Get their name. Ask what the problem is and can they guarantee that future collections will be completed. Ask "is the office clearing?". If not ask if rounds not going out are being checked for customer collections and a nearby duty is being told to add the collections on to their round - that is doable. Tell them when you likely have another collection scheduled and request that they are collected - during the round or by a neighbouring duty. If you need to escalate the issue I would suggest joining X (formerly Twitter) and messaging https://x.com/RoyalMailHelp

It's probably not the fault of the local postie failing to do it - though it could be a new member of staff that is missing it. It certainly is the fault of the office manager to not ensure all customer collections registered in the system are completed - hence talk to a manager (ask of the COM or DOM only). Try to stay polite - if you can!

Best of luck.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Thanks, Basildon Bond as you mentioned this is not a News Item (as in written by a journalist) so have moved it to the Customer forum. As to the OP, I can only reiterate that this is an unofficial site so we cannot help in specific incidents, however, we will always try to point you in the right direction and provide any insight and advice that might be applicable.

This page may help https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/contact you place an online query/complaint. If any subjects are not applicable, there is a hidden link at the bottom that lets you email Royal Mail.

[Deadly]

If you are having a collection most weekdays you will probably be better off arranging a permanent collection with Royal Mail. This means once it is set up you wouldn't need to book a collection every day and it should be collected by a permanent collection driver (depending how Royal Mail work in your part of the country).

[BenacreNick]

The everyday collection with a collection template is a chargeable service.

The free collection of parcels is not.

All customers really should be visiting the Post office with their letters and parcels, because they rely on the extra trade in the shop etc. Once these post offices close, they won't re-open again.
We all watched the recent TV drama, I really feel for the Post Offices at the moment.

We simply don't have the time to be running around for free with sticky labels for customers. It needs to stop asap.

[Deadly]

Business collections are free if using a tracked service or spend over 20k a year.