Huge Royal Mail delays expected this week in Coventry and 42 other postcodes

[dutchman]

Thousands of cards and parcels may not reach the recipient before Christmas



A postcode lottery beckons this Christmas in Coventry and elsewhere in the UK.

Covid-related self isolation, high levels of sick absence, resourcing and 'other local factors' are impacting on Royal Mail's ability to deliver on time in Coventry and 42 other postcode areas.

Throw in a huge spike in demand and delays at a number of Royal Mail depots and you have a not-so-perfect storm for people hoping their parcels and packages will reach loved ones before Christmas.

Not all mail was processed or dispatched to schedule over the past week in certain mail centres, meaning these items may be delivered slightly later than expected.

The postal service says it is doing its best to get cards and presents delivered on time, but customers in the 43 postcode areas most affected by the ongoing issues have been told delays are possible.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "We aim to deliver to all addresses we have mail for six days a week.

"In a small number of local offices this may temporarily not be possible due to local issues such as Covid-related self isolation, high levels of sick absence, resourcing or other local factors.

"In those cases we will rotate deliveries to minimise the delay to individual customers.

"We also provide targeted support to those offices to address their challenges and restore our service to the high standard our customers would normally receive."

[dutchman]

I had a bank statement delivered this afternoon!

[rebbonk]

I can't be the only one getting rather fed up of hearing the excuse for poor service is either covid or brexit, can I?

[dutchman]

Under-pressure Royal Mail staff in Nuneaton forced to deliver days' worth of delayed post



Under-pressure postal staff in Nuneaton have been forced to deliver days worth of delayed mail.

Yesterday (December 29) postmen and women were making mail deliveries across Nuneaton, some of which had been in the sorting office since last Thursday (December 23).

On top of this, they have also had to deal with an influx of home deliveries of PCR kits.

In fact, CoventryLive understands that yesterday alone they had to deliver 500 kits to homes across the area.

A Royal Mail spokesperson explained that all delayed deliveries have now been made.

They also apologised for any inconvenience this has caused for customers.

"We apologise to our customers in Nuneaton for any inconvenience they may have recently experienced.," the spokesman said,

"All deliveries in the Nuneaton area have now been made and there is no outstanding mail.

"We will continue to work hard to ensure that our customers receive the high levels of service they would usually receive."

[dutchman]

All deliveries in the Nuneaton area have now been made and there is no outstanding mail.

I find that statement extremely difficult to believe unless Nuneaton somehow has a far superior service to Coventry?

[rebbonk]

I walked with our postie for a few yards on Wednesday. He said that the backlog was unbelievable. To say he was brassed off would be an understatement.

[dutchman]

‘Where is my package?’ Royal Mail warns of delivery delays - full list of postcodes



In what is regarded as its busiest time of the year, the Royal Mail has experienced delays over the Christmas period.

The entire festive period can be tough for the postal service and while delays before Christmas are generally the most significant, things are also often a little slower into the new year.

This is the case this year, with the Royal Mail saying that although it is doing its best to get parcels to people on time there are still delays for certain parts of the country.

The company has stated that some mail was despatched or processed with delays in recent days.

People living in certain postcodes will be particularly affected.

The following mail centres and postcodes have been affected by delays over the past week.

• South Midlands Mail Centre: CV, LE, MK and NN postcode areas.
  
• Chester Mail Centre: CH, LL and SY postcode areas affected.
  
• Birmingham Mail Centre: B, HR and WR postcode areas.
  
• Warrington Mail Centre: CW, L, WA and WN postcode areas.
  
• Croydon Mail Centre: BR, CR, SE and SM postcode areas.

Deliveries are believed to have been running close to normal across most of the country, as of December 30 and December 31.

However, issues have been present in some parts of the country, partly caused by illnesses, Covid-19 self-isolation, resourcing and local factors in the affected postcodes.

Discussing the delays in the postcodes affected, the Royal Mail said: “We're sorry for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.

“We will regularly update customers on the offices most impacted here.”

The Royal Mail's website reflects the state of its service and provides updates about what customers can expect.

At the time of writing the service has warned there will be no collections on New Years Day.

They say: "Ofcom has granted an exception to the universal service throughout the United Kingdom for Saturday 1 January 2022. This means that Royal Mail will not collect or deliver mail on that day.

"Normal deliveries and collections resume on 4 January 2022, with the exception of Scotland due to a Public Holiday."

[dutchman]

Received a Christmas Card this afternoon which was posted on the 13th December!

[dutchman]

I've since read that many other households had their Christmas Cards delivered on the exact same day (January 5th)! It's as if Royal Mail deliberately held them back at the sorting offices?

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... ong-delays

Kathleen Williamson, 43, a singer and music teacher, said: “There was barely any post before Christmas and then everything came at once on 5 January."

Martin Tett, leader of Buckinghamshire council, has written to Keith Williams, the Royal Mail chairman, complaining that one resident received 24 Christmas cards on 5 January.

[rebbonk]

I ordered a calendar, Jan 2nd. It's just arrived after (allegedly) being dispatched to RM the same day. I ordered a unit from China a few days later, it arrived before the calendar!

RM is the pits and their parcel tracker is about as much use as a one-legged man in a butt kicking contest.