Delays at South West Distribution Centre?

[hey.jude]

It's not stuck there,the tracking info has not been updated,fingers crossed it's in your local delivery office and weather permitting it can be delivered to you.[/quote]

Hope your right! I wish I could figure out how to check, then I could go and get the bleeding thing mi-sel!

[TrueBlueTerrier]

my Amazon parcel has also been sat in South West Distribution Centre since 10th December with no sign of it moving.
Can anyone give a statement as to whether its going to make it for Christmas??

Jude
Ref; FJ211506703GB

Check the money savings article which is in this section as a Notice - They are advising contacting Amazon but warning it could be a long wait, apparently Amazon will resend it on Special Delivery so get on the phone soonest as tomorrow is the last date to get it before xmas.

However, looking at recent posts, and that fact that today I got my last parcel as well (Sent 6 Dec 10), the log jam appears to have eased and most of it is getting delivered.

Although I have to say I cant see RM when its privatised will be able to cope better. The other private courier and parcel services have suspended new deliveries for a week and in some cases passed on their parcels to us. ATM RM can operate at a loss because it has Government backing, however when we are privatised it may be too expensive to keep deliveries going when 50+ Posties have broken bones in the last 2 weeks, and to bring in extra deliveries. It may not be but the bottom line does not figure in RM at the moment - it will when we are privatised.

[LoobyLou76]

Despite mine showing as 'out for delivery' for the last two days from my local depot , it has still not shown up. There has been no-one here and I've not received any calling cards, I've been in all the time so I'm a bit confused now? Does out for delivery not necessarily mean that its physically on the van ready to be delivered that day? Was really hoping it would arrive soon after having sat in North west and the South West depot since Dec 6th! BAH!
Never mind, it's the last thing I'm waiting on, but i really do feel for those who are waiting on many parcels.

My husband went to our local delivey office to pick up a different parcel and asked if we could just pick up our missing one as we know it is there - he was told under no circumstances will parcels be given out regardles of what identification the client has. Why can't RM relax the rules a wee bit in this situation? My husband said there were loads of people asking for their stuff but RM wouldn't hand it over, he said things were getting a bit nasty. Surley RM should ne glad of the help and the fact that it would get rid of some of their backlog?

Louise

[Broxi51]

My husband went to our local delivey office to pick up a different parcel and asked if we could just pick up our missing one as we know it is there - he was told under no circumstances will parcels be given out regardles of what identification the client has. Why can't RM relax the rules a wee bit in this situation? My husband said there were loads of people asking for their stuff but RM wouldn't hand it over, he said things were getting a bit nasty. Surley RM should ne glad of the help and the fact that it would get rid of some of their backlog?

Louise

Hi Louise,
Am sorry that you cannot collect your item directly but there is usually only one person in the callers office. He
doesnt have the time to look for one parcel in the delivery office and he cannot allow any members of the public in either
because of security. I am waiting for a parcel from City link, which is just along the road from me but they wont allow
people to collect the parcels either.

[RTR]

RTR wrote:
That is a typical knee-jerk reaction from someone who knows the criticism is due and coming their way.

What makes you believe that a Delivery Officer who doesn't even work in the unit that your parcel is allegedly stuck is a legitimate target for criticism?
If the manager in your local bank screwed up and took all of the money out of your account would you feel justified in criticizing every employee of every branch of that bank right down to the cleaners?
If Royal Mail management have screwed up by not resourcing the issue properly....take it out on them.
They are very highly paid to make the decisions that affect you...we are just paid to deliver what is put in front of us...which we have been doing.

It was aimed at them, not the Posties, Fishtank. Sadly, I dont know who is who on here so cant direct my wrath selectively at those who have crippled the whole process. I actually have a pal who manages the rounds up here in Yorkshire, and he has told me a lot about how some of these backlogs have occurred. I do have a lot of sympathy with the "doers" who have to try to do so with one hand tied behind their backs.

The knee-jerk reactionism comment, though, is just and accurate. Why try to defend something which you know to be broken (and not your fault). Agree with the customers, as others have. In summary.....

[*]RM's customer service is laughable, but is probably a victim of the cuts too. Try it yourself - talking to another person is virtually impossible.
[*]RM's website is laughable. This should be seen as a positive efficiency measure (channel shifting (phone to web, for example) is a massive cost saver). Someone should be working up new content right now given the lessons learnt over this past month. Sadly, I doubt the powers-that-be have even taken their heads out of the sand for long enough to even notice the backlogs.
[*]RM's posties shouldnt feel obliged to defend the company.

Anyway, my parcel's status remains unchanged - still at SWDC since the 6th Dec. Good job it isnt a christmas present, eh!

[endreas]

[***I do agree with you that it's bad you can't get in touch with anyone, I would suggest trying your local office. Keeping in mind that they probably only have 1 person answering the phone, while manning the front office, due to more cutbacks. You're more likely to get the information locally than going through the normal customer services number.]

The local office never answers the telephone. I did once get through to someone who called himself a "manager", very rude patronising and said he was donald duck.


[Ok now I ask the question, would you like to walk 8 miles in those conditions, whilst carrying 16k of mail on your back?

I can't tell you what's happening in Swansea, I live up north and can only tell you what it's like up here. If you are getting no information from RM customer services, then contact your local office. It could be that they are doing part deliveries every day, and you will get a delivery a couple of days a week. I really don't know, this is what we did up here when things got bad, Of course there is always the option to collect your mail in person on these days.

We did have a small delivery today, a handful of recently posted mail for each house. The postman did not carry a sack, he had all the mail in his hands or pockets. His car was in the next road. Many professions walk miles daily and every postman knows what they expect from the job. It used to be that they chose being a postie because of the fresh air and exercise.
What concerns everyone now is that all our mail and parcels reach us safe. I suppose it's too late to expect everthing to arrive before Christmas.

[RTR]

Dont give up hope, Endreas. The posties are doing all they can to see that deliveries are made. I had our postie knock me out of bed on Sunday morning with some parcels, and we had about 15 items of post today, so stops are being pulled out, and it is appreciated.

Just one more parcel I need now and Christmas will be complete!

[HawickBalls]

Well my Amazon package arrived today. For anyone that is interested, the Track and Trace details were:

Date Time Location Event Details
21 Dec 2010 04:14:56 PM Edinburgh SE DO Out for delivery
14 Dec 2010 08:44:36 AM South West Distribution Centre Arrival Scan
13 Dec 2010 12:59:12 PM Crymlyn Burrows Swansea UK Order has been handed over to the carrier and is in transit

Good luck to everyone else

[mazza111]

From what I hear thru the grapevine, everything that can be done is being done. Had a huge increase in stuff from Amazon and Play (being the major ones) both tracked and untracked today. There are still 2 days left of posting so fingers crossed for you guys.

Endreas, I'm not asking you to feel sorry for your postman. I'm just stating, he's walking 8 miles a day carrying each bag that ways 16kg. Ok this guy is working from his car, which is another thing RM will be stopping, and quite rightly too. So he can't be compared to a paper boy etc. I find it ridiculous that you were spoken to that way calling your local office. Throughout all the bad weather, I've only terminated one call(due to the lovely gentleman swearing at me), and gone out of my way to help as many people as possible, a customer today was so glad I found their wayward package that they bought me a massive box of chocs, I was rather pleased to say the least. It's nice when regular customers appreciate you, but even nicer when random customers do.


Louise :( Sorry that's happened. In our office we tried to dig out the ones that we could find, but that was a couple of weeks before xmas. I'm guessing they just won't have the time to do it at this time of year. As stated, one person to run the offices at this time of year is a nightmare. Don't think we'd be able to go thru tracked packets for people at this late stage either.


I wish you all well in the hope that you ALL get your packets in time for the big day

[TrueBlueTerrier]

My husband went to our local delivey office to pick up a different parcel and asked if we could just pick up our missing one as we know it is there - he was told under no circumstances will parcels be given out regardles of what identification the client has. Why can't RM relax the rules a wee bit in this situation? My husband said there were loads of people asking for their stuff but RM wouldn't hand it over, he said things were getting a bit nasty. Surley RM should ne glad of the help and the fact that it would get rid of some of their backlog?

Louise

Hi Louise,
Am sorry that you cannot collect your item directly but there is usually only one person in the callers office. He
doesnt have the time to look for one parcel in the delivery office and he cannot allow any members of the public in either
because of security. I am waiting for a parcel from City link, which is just along the road from me but they wont allow
people to collect the parcels either.

I found a link for City Stink Delays http://blog.parcelmonkey.co.uk/city-lin ... e-summary/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[LoobyLou76]

Now here is an interesting thing.....my parcel has been at my local depot now for 3 days, and every single day the tracking has been changed to say 'we recived your parcel at Livingston DO on 20th, then the next day it said 21st, then 22nd, now today 23rd! So obviously it is being scanned every day at the depot just to update the tracking info (presumably to make the time delay seem less bad than it actually is!). Instead of shifting about parcels and constantly scanning them WHY aren't these being delivered? Starting to lose hope now that this will ever be delivered.
Louise

[fishtank]

Instead of shifting about parcels and constantly scanning them WHY aren't these being delivered?

It's much more likely Louise that the software will change the arrival date automatically rather than the parcels being physically rescanned every day.
We don't really have time to do that.
I work just a few miles west of Livingston D.O. and i know the guys are trying their best to clear the office.
There have been local changes to deliveries which are making things more difficult.

[RTR]

I just managed to get through to a real person to find out about my parcel, and Jason in Plymouth told me that it was now in Yorkshire (although the Track and Trace info doesnt say that, as others on here have mentioned due to no time to scan them all). There is a chance I will get it before christmas after all!

UPDATE!!!! - Just got off the phone with MrsRTR and it has come today!!!! Whooo hoooooo!!!! I believe in Santa all over again!!!!

Good luck to everyone else; I hope you all get your parcels (even foul mouthed Jellybelly!) and thanks to the posties for their hard work and dedication!!!

[Free Forester]

Yes, signing off now. Good luck for tomorrow all those who are still waiting. Happy Christmas all.

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

Now here is an interesting thing.....my parcel has been at my local depot now for 3 days, and every single day the tracking has been changed to say 'we recived your parcel at Livingston DO on 20th, then the next day it said 21st, then 22nd, now today 23rd! So obviously it is being scanned every day at the depot just to update the tracking info (presumably to make the time delay seem less bad than it actually is!). Instead of shifting about parcels and constantly scanning them WHY aren't these being delivered? Starting to lose hope now that this will ever be delivered.
Louise

nothing untoward here, its actually just the correct process of scanning, it is scanned out ready for delivery each day, when no delivery attempted scanned "back in" (doesnt mean it actually left the office) and then scanned back out then next morning, thats what ive been doing at my do since the start of the week when the mountain of amazon parcels arrived