What is the point

by bristol170kj Sun Dec 01, 2019 10:23 am

We have ordered something which is to be delivered by Royal Mail.

We have been given a tracking number by the sender. I should be here in the next 2 or 3 days - fine.

To try to schedule our week, I've just gone to the Royal Mail web site found the tracking page (why isn't it at the top of the page - it is a delivery service after all) and keyed in my tracking number.

Royal Mail does want to tell me where it is in the network or when it will be delivered except to say.....

An update will only be provided when we attempt to deliver your item

What is the point of a tracking number when they can only tell me when they have tried to deliver it.

Come on Post Office - improvement needed.

by rgermain Sun Dec 01, 2019 10:27 am

When I looked for tracking info on a parcel recently, was told Oh it's only tracked for the sender!

As for improvement, well they did that when they shut local Post Offices. confused3

Best of luck with your Parcel.
----------
Richard

by rogerblack Sun Dec 01, 2019 11:30 am

Royal Mail offer different levels of service which have different levels of tracking, depending on how much the sender wishes to pay. The most basic is a Signed For service which only shows after it has been delivered. as you have been told. If you wanted full tracking throughout its journey, the sender would have had to use a higher level of service, e.g. Tracked 24, Tracked 48 or one of the Special Delivery options.

Full details here (click the drop-down symbol at each level to check level of tracking offered, where relevant)

https://www.royalmail.com/sending/uk

by willy eckerslike Sun Dec 01, 2019 12:02 pm

bristol170kj wrote:We have ordered something which is to be delivered by Royal Mail.

We have been given a tracking number by the sender. I should be here in the next 2 or 3 days - fine.

To try to schedule our week, I've just gone to the Royal Mail web site found the tracking page (why isn't it at the top of the page - it is a delivery service after all) and keyed in my tracking number.

Royal Mail does want to tell me where it is in the network or when it will be delivered except to say.....

An update will only be provided when we attempt to deliver your item

What is the point of a tracking number when they can only tell me when they have tried to deliver it.

Come on Post Office - improvement needed.

This will all be fixed when Mr. Corbyn takes over !!!

by burlingtonboaby Sun Dec 01, 2019 2:48 pm

I posted a set of thermal screens down to Cornwall via Parcel force 48 , it was delivered the next day, I could track it once it was collected from Bridlington ( barcoded)
Happy with the service, remember the 70's Willy.
Boaby

by paul bullock Sun Dec 01, 2019 3:11 pm

Hi, Ive just been delivered a set of stamps from the P/O (Star wars commemorative) for my son in law , the P/O sent them UPS !! Crackers Regards Paul wave

by bikeralw Sun Dec 01, 2019 4:28 pm

willy eckerslike wrote:
bristol170kj wrote:Come on Post Office - improvement needed.
This will all be fixed when Mr. Corbyn takes over !!!

Well I'm thinking of ordering my new free van on the strength of Mr Corbyn's pledge to pay back the WASPI women, of which my wife is one.
She qualifies for the maximum of 30k or so, to be paid back monthly over 5 years.
That'll just cover my repayments thank you very much...
I'll buy the flying pig stickers in advance.
Al.

by Paulmold Sun Dec 01, 2019 4:51 pm

bikeralw wrote:
willy eckerslike wrote:
bristol170kj wrote:Come on Post Office - improvement needed.
This will all be fixed when Mr. Corbyn takes over !!!
Well I'm thinking of ordering my new free van on the strength of Mr Corbyn's pledge to pay back the WASPI women, of which my wife is one.
She qualifies for the maximum of 30k or so, to be paid back monthly over 5 years.
That'll just cover my repayments thank you very much...
I'll buy the flying pig stickers in advance.
Al.

That couldn't possibly be to get all those women to vote him in , could it? Cynical, me?
Sorry - just remembered, I don't do politics!

by rgermain Sun Dec 01, 2019 6:06 pm

willy eckerslike wrote:
bristol170kj wrote:We have ordered something which is to be delivered by Royal Mail.

We have been given a tracking number by the sender. I should be here in the next 2 or 3 days - fine.

To try to schedule our week, I've just gone to the Royal Mail web site found the tracking page (why isn't it at the top of the page - it is a delivery service after all) and keyed in my tracking number.

Royal Mail does want to tell me where it is in the network or when it will be delivered except to say.....

An update will only be provided when we attempt to deliver your item

What is the point of a tracking number when they can only tell me when they have tried to deliver it.

Come on Post Office - improvement needed.
This will all be fixed when Mr. Corbyn takes over !!!

No problem if that happens. End of the World as we know it.

by groundhog Sun Dec 01, 2019 6:33 pm

We send many parcels back and forth to Canada, one really good thing about the Post Office is that they are excellent at paying out compensation when they lose them....oh, wait a second! rolleyes

As for tracking which we always payed for ( note the past tense) you could track a parcel internationally as far as Heathrow and then the tracking just said "passed to our partners Canadapost"
We now use parcels2go and pick the best rates from one of the major shippers who manage to get the parcels there in half the time, usually a lot cheaper, get them through customs quicker and don't lose them! allthumbz

On the other subject, don't be churlish, what is £58 billion between friends, we just borrow some more, we are looking forward to renewing our sun lounge at the working classes expense. Any left over we will spend on more milk and honey.

by Gromit Sun Dec 01, 2019 8:04 pm

by kaspian Sun Dec 01, 2019 9:03 pm

Rather than trying to turn a' post ' about postal delivery into a political farce, I would just like to report that I have just seen the opposite side , a stressed out young chap just delivered a parcel at 8.48 pm driving an old Transit van and says he still has half a van load to go ! Zero hours contracts , long unsociable hours welcome to UK 2019.

by Paulmold Sun Dec 01, 2019 10:25 pm

Royal mail - salaried position, delivery drivers for the likes of DPD and Amazon - 50p per parcel, 100 parcels to earn £50 less fuel cost, absolutely agree, totally unacceptable yet CityLink still went bust back in 2014.

by bristol170kj Mon Dec 02, 2019 8:42 am

bristol170kj wrote:We have ordered something which is to be delivered by Royal Mail.

We have been given a tracking number by the sender. I should be here in the next 2 or 3 days - fine.

To try to schedule our week, I've just gone to the Royal Mail web site found the tracking page (why isn't it at the top of the page - it is a delivery service after all) and keyed in my tracking number.

Royal Mail does want to tell me where it is in the network or when it will be delivered except to say.....

An update will only be provided when we attempt to deliver your item

What is the point of a tracking number when they can only tell me when they have tried to deliver it.

Come on Post Office - improvement needed.

Parcel arrived at 07:10 this morning - does the Post Office not understand that us retired people like a lie in in the morning smile!

.

by modelman Mon Dec 02, 2019 9:31 am

With reference to the tracking No. I don't understand this, as we've been using them for over 30 years, always tracked, many dozens a week, but now since 'retired' only 5 or 6, but they are all 1m long by 400 x 400mm, so not small. We receive the tracking No. from the PO & email it to the customer, where they can happily track it for themselves, & it always seems to work ok for them.
Having said that, they are no-where as efficient now as they were a few years ago, but we have tried ALL the various carriers over the years, many have fallen by the wayside, UPS are very good, but again, not as good as they used to be!!
Once we sent a large box the Hong-Kong & the customer had it the next day!!
So the system SEEMS to work now & again.
Many times however, the Parcelforce guy turns up in a 'White-van', I ask, 'where's your red van' & he tells me that its HIS van & HE pays all the running costs, so some ARE Parcelforce & some are contract.

by nuevoboy Mon Dec 02, 2019 9:42 am

I've been using myHermes a bit lately, sending cycling bits which are too heavy for the PO and find them alarmingly inconsistent.
Last week I was having a parcel delivered by them and received a text saying it would be delivered on the Wednesday between 1:28 pm and 3:28 pm.
Great, we thought, we'll be in all afternoon anyway.
When we got in on Tuesday, there was my parcel in the garage.
Wednesday morning I got another text reminding me of the delivery time, saying my parcel would need signing for. That's a bit weird I thought, I've already had it.
Later that day I had another text, confirming delivery and that it had been signed for.
I managed to go online and was able to check who supposedly signed for it.
In the box marked signature, the driver had just written "delivered".
I was impressed he managed to delivery it ahead of schedule, but concerned that it had not been signed for correctly.
Incidentally, the Post Office achieved exactly the same scenario a few days later. scratch head

by groundhog Mon Dec 02, 2019 10:01 am

Paulmold wrote:Royal mail - salaried position, delivery drivers for the likes of DPD and Amazon - 50p per parcel, 100 parcels to earn £50 less fuel cost, absolutely agree, totally unacceptable yet CityLink still went bust back in 2014.

Delivering 100 parcels in Central London must be a very different prospect to 100 parcels in the Highlands and Islands? DPD are offering drivers jobs in Cornwall at between £21K and £40K, not sure how that is achieved though. confused3

Post Office offering £12 per hour for 8 hour day.

by Peatlander 2 Mon Dec 02, 2019 2:33 pm

Deliveries are a bit hit and miss up here in the wastes of the far north... Had an order delivered from Cornwall, arrived the next day. One from Inverness ordered the same day arrived three days later. Both royal mail. So you can't believe despatch notifications.

I ordered a water pump. £16 for the water pump, £18 for the delivery. Because... And this is the bit that grates, I live in a surcharged area. Okay, I'm out of the way, I accept it will take longer, but why should I have to pay for the privilege of waiting for it? Plus... I don't pay a surcharge to send it back! Its the exact same bloody distance!

I once ordered a large item. It didn't arrive, so I rang the seller. Initial answer was that they "don't deliver north of the Caledonian canal". They got stroppy when I asked if it was coming on a barge....

"Anyway you live on an island. We don't deliver to islands"

Actually, I don't. I live in the Highlands, not the islands. Look at a map! And whilst you are looking at that map, take note of the fact that you live on an island too.

"No I don't.....". I hung up at that point. :)

by nuevoboy Mon Dec 02, 2019 5:05 pm

Peatlander 2 wrote:

I ordered a water pump. £16 for the water pump, £18 for the delivery. Because... And this is the bit that grates, I live in a surcharged area. Okay, I'm out of the way, I accept it will take longer, but why should I have to pay for the privilege of waiting for it? Plus... I don't pay a surcharge to send it back! Its the exact same bloody distance!

by Dbvwt Mon Dec 02, 2019 6:00 pm

I was a part time Saturday Royal Mail postie for 5 years recently but often delivered parcels for a bit of extra cash during the week.

Firstly, there does seem to be a bit of confusion that the PO is still connected to Royal Mail. The government sold its remaining shares in RM back in 2015 (I think).

Back to my experience as a RM employee.
I can’t comment on the tracking before it reached our sorting office but all ‘Tracked’ items were treated with a very high level of importance as soon as they arrived at the depot and were scanned at all points in our delivery process to the point of the customer.
We were ABSOLUTELY not allowed to dump parcels outside a property unless agreed by the customer.

As mentioned, RM employees are not on ‘per parcel’ rates.
Couriers are, and from chatting to a few, they are expected to deliver 100+ parcels a day.
Sounds easy but from experience it’s not, hence the reason that parcels are randomly left without care by drivers at the mercy of courier companies demands otherwise there will someone else happy to replace them working under even more competitive conditions.
We might moan but we may just have caused all this awful service ourselves by the demands we have placed for rapid delivery!

Anyway, things will soon be running perfectly in 2 weeks when RM will be renationalised smile!

by Peatlander 2 Mon Dec 02, 2019 7:04 pm

Am I right in thinking parcel force is a separate entity too, now?

I had a set of hood sticks coming with parcel force and they turned up in a John Menzies van/courier.

by Dbvwt Mon Dec 02, 2019 7:13 pm

Peatlander 2 wrote:Am I right in thinking parcel force is a separate entity too, now?

I had a set of hood sticks coming with parcel force and they turned up in a John Menzies van/courier.

5 years working for Royal Mail and I still haven’t a clue!!

I will say that at a local level we had no interaction between RM and Parcel Force.

by Peatlander 2 Tue Dec 03, 2019 8:09 am

That says it all, really!

by steamdrivenandy Tue Dec 03, 2019 9:17 am

I ordered a case of wine from Majestic a couple of months ago. They emailed me when it was despatched from their Hatfield, Herts warehouse. Yodel tracking then showed that overnight it got sent to a depot at Basildon, Essex, approximately 50 miles in the diametrically opposite direction. At that point everything went blurred on Yodel's tracking and my 24 hour delivery stretched to 120 hours, with no sign anything was actually happening.
I phoned Majestic who apologised on Yodel's behalf and sent out another consignment, with an extra bottle for free and it was delivered next day.

by Gromit Tue Dec 03, 2019 4:41 pm

Today's delivery from Amazon takes the biscuit!!

I know they never use a small box if a big one will do, but this is ridiculous!! shrugg

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