Customers swap stamps for monitoring so letters arrive on time

Royal Mail prospects have resorted to ditching stamps and sending letters through its tracked service in a determined bid to make sure they arrive on time, insiders have claimed.

Posties have warned that the letter backlog in some depots has worsened attributable to workers shortages, forcing customers to resort to costlier choices to dodge the delays.

Residents of 1 forgotten ‘Bermuda triangle’ city say they’ve to attend so long as 5 weeks between deliveries – with one most cancers sufferer receiving 41 letters when his postman lastly visited.

It comes because the troubled supply large has introduced it would enhance the value of stamps once more subsequent month, with first-class growing by 10p to £1.35 and second-class additionally by 10p to 85p.

A 12 months in the past, a first-class stamp value 95p earlier than leaping to £1.10 in April 2023, with one other 15p rise in October.

Royal Mail’s chief industrial officer Nick Landon mentioned the value hikes have been thought-about ‘very rigorously’, including: ‘It is now not sustainable to take care of a community constructed for 20 billion letters once we at the moment are solely delivering seven billion.’

Last 12 months, the Royal Mail was accused of prioritising profitable tracked parcels reminiscent of Amazon deliveries over letters, leading to Britons lacking out on very important publish together with hospital appointments, financial institution playing cards, and necessary paperwork.

The agency has lengthy denied claims that it is breaching the Universal Service Obligation, which legally requires it to ship letters day-after-day for six days every week.

But posties say that growing numbers of letters are being despatched via the tracked service to forestall them from sitting round and gathering mud.

One postwoman who works within the north of England mentioned her depot acquired ‘an absolute truck load’ of Valentine’s Day playing cards posted with tracked labels.

‘People are paying round £2 to £3 for that label, as a substitute of £1.25 for a stamp. The public are on to it, even they’re realising it’s customary apply that tracked items will probably be prioritised over letters,’ she mentioned. ‘I’ve by no means seen that earlier than.’

A postman based mostly within the south of England mentioned: ‘I’ve instructed all my prospects that if there’s one thing you need to see get there, ship it tracked. The message is getting out to the general public that their stuff is getting ignored in any other case.’

He revealed that colleagues at a close-by depot face a backlog of over two weeks. ‘People have simply given up since you do not stand an opportunity,’ he mentioned. The Daily Mail will not be naming the posties, nor the county they work in.

Sending a letter as much as 750g prices £3.30 for Tracked24 or £2.70 for Tracked48. The service, which was historically a method of sending parcels, ensures will probably be delivered inside both 24 or 48 hours, presents compensation of as much as £150 if the merchandise goes lacking and offers photograph proof that the supply has taken place.

One mom of two from Cheshire just lately instructed the BBC how each her youngsters missed hospital appointments – and one an operation – because the Royal Mail didn’t ship NHS letters on time. Jasmine Moulton’s native hospital referred to as to inform her that her five-year-old daughter, Harper, who has extreme pores and skin allergic reactions, and son Joshua, three, who has issues respiratory and swallowing, had missed necessary medical care.

‘I used to be like, ‘pardon?’ And I used to be in a little bit of shock,’ Ms Moulton mentioned. ‘I defined that we hadn’t had any publish come via.

‘She sounded shocked. It stresses me out day-after-day as a result of I simply assume, what number of different appointments have we missed?’

In November, Ofcom, which regulates the postal trade, fined Royal Mail £5.6 million for failing to satisfy supply targets. A spokesman for Royal Mail, which reported a £1 billion loss in May final 12 months, denied the general public have been ditching stamps, including that Valentine’s Day playing cards despatched through tracked providers was common.

‘This represents a misunderstanding of how and why tracked providers are used. There has been no discernible enhance in tracked letters despatched by members of the general public,’ they insisted.

‘The overwhelming majority of letters are delivered on time. However, extra should be executed and bettering our service stays our high precedence.’ Last month Ofcom outlined cost-saving plans to chop deliveries from six days every week to 5 and even three. Another possibility can be to scrap next-day mail supply until senders pay further.

The extraordinary cost-cutting proposals confronted a backlash from small companies, shopper teams, unions and Downing Street.

Ofcom boss Melanie Dawes, addressing the Philip Geddes Memorial Lecture, has even spoken of struggling delays herself, going for as much as ten days with out deliveries earlier than getting a ‘huge pile’ in a ‘large elastic band’.

‘Bermuda triangle’ the place we are able to wait FIVE weeks for publish 

A each day postal service is a distant dream for residents of a forgotten ‘Bermuda triangle’ city who say they’ve to attend so long as 5 weeks between letter deliveries.

One most cancers sufferer practically missed very important check-ups after his publish stopped arriving, with a staggering 41 letters dropping on his mat when the postman lastly visited.

Meanwhile a widow in her eighties was left with a damaged letterbox after a number of weeks’ value of publish was shoved via directly.

Long-suffering residents of the Lancashire city of Skelmersdale are in despair over the apparently intractable thriller of what has occurred to their once-reliable postmen and ladies, with round 6,000 addresses not receiving each day deliveries.

‘We had nothing for 4 weeks, then lastly 41 letters got here bursting via the entrance door,’ mentioned Bryan Wareing, 87, a retired buying and selling requirements officer being handled for most cancers. ‘I do know Royal Mail are struggling to ship the publish six days every week, however we would accept getting it as soon as every week.’

Neighbour David Jones, 75, and his spouse Dorothy, 76, have gone so long as 5 weeks with out mail. ‘I needed to go right down to the native sorting workplace they usually handed me 15 letters and an Amazon parcel,’ Mr Jones defined.

Widow Celia Fairhurst, 84, a former nurse, usually waits two weeks or extra for deliveries. ‘When the postman lastly turned up he stuffed 14 letters and two magazines via the letterbox, breaking it,’ she mentioned.

Last 12 months residents needed to queue in freezing circumstances exterior the native depot. Royal Mail blamed workers on sick depart, vowing no tackle can be missed two days operating.

Ashley Dalton, Labour MP for West Lancashire, has met native managers in Skelmersdale and neighbouring Ormskirk to demand enhancements. She mentioned that they had pledged each day deliveries for 85 per cent of residents – however that leaves round 6,000 households in Skelmersdale alone lacking out every day. ‘It has been clear there are nonetheless areas the place mail will not be delivered this shortly,’ she mentioned.

A Royal Mail spokesman mentioned ‘distinctive circumstances’ had hit Skelmersdale, however insisted issues have been ‘bettering’, including: ‘As of final week greater than 90 per cent of mail was delivered on time.’