Why is Royal Mail so rubbish

[Dan00001]

I buy and sell a fair bit on second hand sites like Vinted, Depop, eBay etc. and typically send or receive through either Royal Mail, Evri or InPost. I have to say that Evri and InPost are absolutely brilliant, they almost always hit their target delivery times, in fact I cannot remember the last time I had a late delivery from either one of these couriers. Royal Mail on the other hand consistently miss their target delivery times. It's really annoying when you're trying to plan your day around receiving a parcel for it to not arrive. The last parcel I had from RM, I wasn't in work and expected delivery time was between 9:30 and 12:30, then it change to between 12:30 and 7pm, and then it changed to 8pm, and then I received no more updates until the next morning when it updated saying delivery inaccessible, even though I'd spent the day in the house waiting for the delivery, and have a motion detection camera on the front of my house!

I ordered an insulated jacket from Poland this week. It took 38 hours from the parcel label being created in Poland to departing from Heathrow customs. It's now been 49 hours with zero update from Royal Mail.

 

[hughtrimble]

I suspect Black Friday (and seemingly every day in November being called the same) has something to do with it at the moment. I do like InPost but their lockers are unreliable and what's more, if you can't collect because the locker computer has crashed, it doesn't extend your 72hr collection time, it just gets returned to the sender.

 

[Dan00001]

I've had deliveries from Evri and InPost this week which were completely fine. But I don't even have an tracking update from RM yet on my parcel from Poland.

I've never used lockers so have no experience with them, I have a small shop close to my house which takes InPost, no lockers.

 

[slowworm]

I've found the opposite. Royal Mail in general are very good, tracking if fine and parcels turn up when expected.

Evri used to be ok until the good delivery driver left and now our route seems to he without a driver so often items are not delivered for several days. Last item took 12 days and the tracking suggested it was ready to be delivered after 5 but the delivery never left the depot.

I do like sellers that at least allow me the option of paying a bit extra for RM as I tend to select that option.

 

[Dan00001]

I've found the opposite. Royal Mail in general are very good, tracking if fine and parcels turn up when expected.

Evri used to be ok until the good delivery driver left and now our route seems to he without a driver so often items are not delivered for several days. Last item took 12 days and the tracking suggested it was ready to be delivered after 5 but the delivery never left the depot.

I do like sellers that at least allow me the option of paying a bit extra for RM as I tend to select that option.

I wonder if different locations have better or worse services with the different couriers.

Although something I've noticed is that on Trustpilot, Evri has 4.1 stars, InPost has 4.7 stars, and Royal Mail has 1.5 stars!

 

[Toddy]

I think they do.

Our RM used to be absolutely dire, but in recent months it has been superb
Evri has had the same delivery driver on this route for five years, and he is excellent

Yodel used to be awful but had a change of delivery man a year ago and he's really sound.
DPT likewise.

I think it's the people who matter, and if they don't pay them enough, they move along.

 

[Broch]

Yep, totally the opposite for me too - I have to tell suppliers not to use Evri or they are likely to lose their items (about 80% of all items using Evri have disappeared).

The postal service is brilliant; I know exactly what time they will deliver and have never lost an item yet. We live in a rural area in the back of beyond; once it's dark Evri seem to just drop the parcel off where they've got to, even if it's miles away, or throw it in the hedge (literally, we've had both).

 

[Toddy]

How do they get away with that though ?

Every single delivery we have is photographed on the delivery person's phone as proof. It clearly shows the parcel, and my front door, etc.,

 

[HorseGuy]

Deleted post.

 

[Broch]

How do they get away with that though ?

Every single delivery we have is photographed on the delivery person's phone as proof. It clearly shows the parcel, and my front door, etc.,

Yep, we've had photos of parcels in a doorway in the village three miles away and several photos on the side of a road we have no way of identifying. But, very often, they just don't turn up and provide no delivery updates - we have to go through the seller to complain.

At one time it was so bad I suspected criminal activity.

 

[TeeDee]

Tbh - I think this maybe very dependent on the individual with ref to Evri etc.
I've had good service with no issue from them lately.

Royal mail- not so much.

Amazon - Good , but I use them so much now I leave biscuits out for them like a year round Santa Claus.

 

[Dan00001]

Amazon are usually really good although a few days ago I had coffee beans delivered whilst I was in work so they put them in a safe place, the safe place being hidden in the skip that was outside my house, which I thought was pretty risky seeing as the skip was full and waiting to be taken away!

 

[matarius777]

I can’t remember what parcel company it was, but the last two Sofirn torches bought from their website have been left on my doorstep, which is basically a terraced house where the front door opens onto the street- with no garden, pedestrians walk inches away. Luckily, I came home within 10 minutes of it being left, otherwise they would have gone- value about £60. The most galling thing about it was, it said on the tracking that it had”been left in a safe place”! Now I think, I’m pretty sure it was FedEx.

 

[Dan00001]

I can’t remember what parcel company it was, but the last two Sofirn torches bought from their website have been left on my doorstep, which is basically a terraced house where the front door opens onto the street- with no garden, pedestrians walk inches away. Luckily, I came home within 10 minutes of it being left, otherwise they would have gone- value about £60. The most galling thing about it was, it said on the tracking that it had”been left in a safe place”! Now I think, I’m pretty sure it was FedEx.

This is a very common occurence where I live in South Wales where they are all terraced houses. Walk down the street during the day and you will likely see numerous parcels left on doorsteps.

 

[slowworm]

If you're not in and don't have anywhere for the parcel to be left what do you expect to happen?

I'm at the opposite end, house on its own with a long drive. I know the drivers don't get much for each delivery so I leave an obvious lidded box at the top of the drive so parcels can be quickly and safely dropped off.

I think my Sofirn orders have been delivered without problems by Evri, and considering the price of the torches and delivery via air mail from China there can't be much money left for the poor driver.

 

[Dan00001]

Good news, my tracking has finally updated and delivery is due today

 

[TeeDee]

I can’t remember what parcel company it was, but the last two Sofirn torches bought from their website have been left on my doorstep, which is basically a terraced house where the front door opens onto the street- with no garden, pedestrians walk inches away. Luckily, I came home within 10 minutes of it being left, otherwise they would have gone- value about £60. The most galling thing about it was, it said on the tracking that it had”been left in a safe place”! Now I think, I’m pretty sure it was FedEx.

Knowing where you live yourself - did you provide information in advance of where to leave the packages? alternative friendly neighbour etc ?

 

[Dan00001]

Well I have to say, Royal Mail delivery my parcel within their initial estimated timescale. They must have seen this post.

 

[matarius777]

Knowing where you live yourself - did you provide information in advance of where to leave the packages? alternative friendly neighbour etc ?

I didn’t, the tracking was a Chinese company which I’d tracked up to when it entered the country, but then it changed to FedEx without informing me, so there was no opportunity to select an alternative pick up point, such as my local Spar, which is what I normally do. I would have expected them to leave it with a neighbour rather than abandon it on the street, which is basically what happened, then to add insult to injury and have the gall to suggest that was a” safe place “ to leave it….. Other courier companies, in the past, have left it with neighbours despite me not saying to do that. I know the couriers gave a time constraint, but they just don’t seem to care, I’ve had previous parcels where they didn’t deliver on three occasions because “there was nobody in” which was utter tosh because I was waiting by the window all day. After the first non-delivery, I put a note on my door saying I was in, it would appear the company didn’t care as the vans have gps which would show they hadn’t even been near.

 

[matarius777]

If you're not in and don't have anywhere for the parcel to be left what do you expect to happen?

I'm at the opposite end, house on its own with a long drive. I know the drivers don't get much for each delivery so I leave an obvious lidded box at the top of the drive so parcels can be quickly and safely dropped off.

I think my Sofirn orders have been delivered without problems by Evri, and considering the price of the torches and delivery via air mail from China there can't be much money left for the poor driver.

For me personally, £60 or £70 is a hell of a lot of money and I would expect it to be left with a neighbour not just abandoned for someone to pick up which is exactly what would happen. All that said, there’s a gunnel gate which is obviously mine and my neighbours which it could have been put through which other couriers regularly do. Actually, it wasn’t Sofirn, it was Wuben.