You What?

[securespark]

Just been to the Post Office to send a 60g package in a jiffy bag.

Said I needed it there fairly quickly.

She said "I can do next day?"

I said "How much is that?"
"9.25."

"And it gets there in the morning?"
She actually laughed.
"No. If you want it there in the morning, it will cost..."

Get this...

"...£49.95."

"Do you still do Signed For?"
"Yes, 5.05, but it will take a few days."

"A few days? Is that first class?"
"Yes."

"How many days will second class take?"
"A few days."

"So why are Royal Mail charging more for first class?"
"......."

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Just been to the Post Office

There was your mistake. Post Office/Royal Mail is just an idiot trap these days.

Use Evri or Yodel.

Obviously you'll pay more with any company if next day and/or you want VIP treatment.

Standard Special Delivery is 1pm. So not quite in the morning, but it costs vastly less than the 10am option.

£50 is actually reasonable considering a genuine human being will need to make a special trip in a diesel van to deliver it. How much would you charge for doing it?

You always have the option of getting off your backside and taking it yourself if you don't want to pay someone else to do it.

 

[securespark]

Thanks for the snarky comment. You're forgetting they have economies of scale.

If I didn't have bad eyesight and could still drive, and if the address was local, I'd do it.

My point, which went completely over your head, was that the service has gone downhill rapidly. There was a time (and I'm not talking the 1930s) when you'd get prompt regular early morning deliveries as a matter of course and two deliveries a day and first class meant next day.

No longer.

 

[Trazor]

Use Evri or Yodel.

The worst 2 delivery companies.

Best and worst parcel firms for customer satisfaction revealed

Ofcom's report on parcel firms performance, including people’s experiences of sending and receiving post in 2024-2025.

www.ofcom.org.uk

 

[Ihavenojob]

"9.25."

Doing it online is cheaper, not a lot, £8.75 Special Delivery before 1pm, or £1.55 2nd class signed for, this one usually takes 2 days, but sometimes is there the next day. Pay for it online and you get a QR code, which PO scan and print label. Wouldn't touch Evri with a bargepole. You may even have a shop closer that takes RM items and also print the label, but they do not take SD items.

 

[blup]

Spare a thought for the poor Post Office and its overheads e.g. compensation to the sub postmasters, over a billion so far.

 

[Dec27]

Just been to the Post Office to send a 60g package in a jiffy bag.

Said I needed it there fairly quickly.

She said "I can do next day?"

I said "How much is that?"
"9.25."

"And it gets there in the morning?"
She actually laughed.
"No. If you want it there in the morning, it will cost..."

Get this...

"...£49.95."

"Do you still do Signed For?"
"Yes, 5.05, but it will take a few days."

"A few days? Is that first class?"
"Yes."

"How many days will second class take?"
"A few days."

"So why are Royal Mail charging more for first class?"
"......."

Really ? 50 notes….

 

[SimonH2]

My point, which went completely over your head, was that the service has gone downhill rapidly. There was a time (and I'm not talking the 1930s) when you'd get prompt regular early morning deliveries as a matter of course and two deliveries a day and first class meant next day.

And that was a time when there wasn't competition from carriers with no USO (universal service obligation) - meaning they could cherry pick the bits they could make a profit on and leave the PO & RM to handle the non-profitable stuff.
And it was a time before email crashed the number of letters posted.
And all the time, leaving PO & RM with the same overheads of daily deliveries etc.
So you are forced by law to keep the same overheads, while one part of your business is killed by email, and the most profitable bits are cherry picked by competitors without the USO handicap. And when service levels drop against rising prices, the surprise is ?