It’s null and void. I asked this week.
During the Postal strike I wonder how you stand when posting special next day. I have been sent a watch and have also posted a watch both packages have been posted on non strike days but are now held up in the system with little chance of seeing them for another couple of days.
But are they still charging the full amount for this service, even though it's no longer guaranteed, but still advertised as guaranteed?
My local post office tells me that it might be delayed but still covered for any loss...however i haven't sent a LV bag to find out.
I asked the same at my post office. I had to sign the receipt to say I understood it was not guaranteed to arrive tomorrow and I would not be entitled to compensation.
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I understood that they had suspended the guarantee until someone on here told me otherwise, each time one of my parcels is late I fill in the on-line claim form and they have sent me a cheque each time. The last one being a couple of weeks ago.
I sort of regard it as a free service now and hope the parcel is delayed so that I can claim.
I haven’t had one caught up in a strike day yet, but I would still do the on-line claim and see what they say.
There a big notice on the RMSD section of the RM website saying anything posted Thurs/Fri/Sat 29th/30th/1st will not be subject to 1pm next working day delivery.
I had an SC item I needed to post RMSD on Friday, and my local PO counter in Budgens was closed because of the strike.
I will post on Monday and it probably won’t take any longer to get to its destination.
I've recently claimed and am waiting to see the result. The website said compensation wasn't available between certain dates but I posted outside of those.
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I have just submitted a claim, nothing about certain dates so we will see. The day it was posted was not a strike day.
The girl in the post office did say management to we’re going to deliver SD on Friday obviously not enough of them to cope, or they delivered the more expensive postage costing parcels.
Last edited by hilly10; 1st October 2022 at 10:26.
Unless you were misinformed when posting (i.e. told that next day delivery was still guaranteed), you have no basis for a claim. RM strike days are well publicised, as is the fact that RM will deliver as many RMSD and Tracked24 parcels as possible on these days (i.e. the normal guarantee does not apply).
They are guaranteeing nothing, however the managers have been delivering special delivery mail as a priority, so most have still been getting there.
I just got confirmation that they turned down my compensation request, even though they were not on strike, they called it off, I wouldn't mind but they charged me for a Saturday delivery with no intent to deliver
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It is pretty clear;
https://www.royalmail.com/business/s...ery-guaranteed
Then scroll down a little way.
I get the 'price paid for a service I didn't get' argument but I wouldn't expect next day delivery involving a strike day or claim for late delivery in those circumstances. I think RMSD is great value and support the staff striking so a claim just seems wrong.
Here’s an hypothetical question.
You sell something that gets posted RMSD for say £250. It gets lost in the post, or stolen for example. You get your £250 reimbursed from Royal Mail as compensation, as the seller. You then give the buyer his £250 back as he hasn’t received the goods. However you’re still down £250 as the goods had have gone missing. Obviously we can be talking of much higher amounts of money. How does this work, am I missing a simple outcome for both parties? I can only see that as a seller, you’d be out of pocket.
Last edited by oiljam; 5th October 2022 at 08:58.
Ha it’s just come to me on the drive into work. You’ve basically been paid twice for the goods. Once from the buyer and again from the compensation. Move on.
I presume he got it in the end.
I’m having a tough day.
Read that and was suddenly shocked at the risk in selling anything. I then came to my senses and had a quiet word with myself before I got to the explanation I’m happy to say!
I haven't used in a long time, but I recently ask. Was told delivery dates no longer guaranteed.
Basically buying for insurance and tracking.
This in Canada
DON
To update this I received a cheque this morning from RM for the full amount of the postage cost. They have listed dates on their website when the RMSD guarantee isn't valid. If you post outside of those dates and it is valid and they are paying out. Obviously just my recent experience.
I sent a parcel the day after a strike, it took two days so on-line claim form duly submitted. Cheque for £15.45 received this morning.
If your parcel is not delivered in time, claim…
Mine was declined, posted day before a strike date. It just makes more determined only use them as a last resort.
Apart from giving you the satisfaction of having your item delivered free, what does this achieve? The current dispute is well-documented, it's unrealistic to expect the same level of service at the moment and considering the excellent service RMSD has provided for me over the years (literally 100s of watches posted without problems) I feel more inclined to cut them some slack.
My worry in future is that the RMSD service will cease to exist and we'll all be in the hands of the other clowns.
I'm as pissed off as anyone at the moment, I`ve ordered parts for watches that would normally arrive after 1-2 days and given the strike situation I don`t know when they'll arrive, I've literally got watches in pieces that I can`t complete. That's grounds for being pissed off, not making claiming money back for a service you've received, albeit slightly later than you liked!
I agree with you to an extent, Paul, but if Royal Mail are guaranteeing a next day delivery and it isn't delivered next day I think people should be encouraged to make a claim. If for no other reason than Royal Mail use the number of claims as an indication of how the service is working.
There were some days when strike action (either that day or the next day) would mean next day delivery of Special Delivery items wasn't guaranteed, and Post Office staff were told to make that clear when customers were posting. But there were some strike days when, because of the union striking, Special delivery was still guaranteed to be next day delivery. It really depended on which union was striking and whether the item was posted on the strike day or the day before. Part of the public's confusion is a result of three different unions, each responsible for a different aspect of RM (collection, sorting & delivery) were striking independently on different days. Even Post Office staff were confused at times.
Get a grip, if their business model is flawed then they have no one else to blame but themselves. They advertise a guaranteed next day delivery and offer you your postage back if they fail to deliver. That’s the terms and conditions when I go into the PO. If they are mismanaged and in a lot of cases fail to deliver then why should I accept that. If you are happy with that then great, but I am not.
They could easily change the terms and conditions and give themselves a bit more slack, but they don’t.
Since covid many businesses are being poorly run and are providing a dreadful service and using a never ending series of pathetic excuses.
Royal Mail won’t exist in 5 to 10 years, it is a wounded dinosaur and endless strikes will just speed up their demise.
Royal Mail is a failing business with shareholders who receive dividends and directors who are paid obscene amounts of money. They are not a charity.
The sooner it's renationalised the better.
This, absolutely.
I agree. A company that has a widespread and inherently costly geographical universal service obligation that no competitor is required to match and could not economically match should probably not have been privatised. It did not make sense to privatise such a service.
N.B. I am in favour of privatisation where there can be a legitimate real time competitive marketplace but that did not apply to postal deliveries with a universal service obligation.
In my opinion, based on 100s of transactions, RMSD is an excellent service. I accept tge Royal Mail are struggling at the moment but I shall continue to use them. I’m primarily concerned with security and I can accept a package arriving a little late. I don’t see fit to claim my money back if an item arrives a day late during the current difficulties, to do so is petty in my view.
I get far more annoyed about bus and train cancellations which are rife at the moment, that’s inexcusable and I’ve had a couple of nights out spoiled this way over the past couple of weeks. A RMSD package arriving a day late pales into insignificance by comparison.
No No No!
Unlike London public transport in many areas is very limited, especially in the evenings. My niece lives in North London and she doesn’t get it either, if the one bus or train per hour doesn’t turn up you’re struggling big- style. A £2 bus ride becomes a £12 taxi........not funny! Trans- Pennine trains have just been announced as the worst performing company in the country owing to ‘staffing issues’, Arriva buses are short if drivers..........trust me a RMSD package arriving a day late is nothing to moan about.
I agree. Transport is a strategic national necessity and shouldn't be in the hands of companies who are duty bound to make profits.
The problems have reached crisis point, train and bus services getting cancelled was a rarity until recently. It’s reached the stage where I’m reluctant to go anywhere on public transport. The companies don’t get penalised for cancelling services; as for the buses maybe some of the management should get off their sorry arses and drive the buses themselves!
It needs sorting out, and quickly.
I guess it depends on why you're using Special Delivery.
I'm assuming from what you've said that the main advantage for using SD for you is the security it offers - both in terms of the added security measures in place when the package is going through the SD chain, but also the insurance cover it carries. I can therefore understand why you may not be bothered if the package isn't delivered next working day. The fact is however that Special Delivery does offer a guarantee of next working day delivery, and many people use it because they need the package to get there the next day. Far from being "nothing to moan about", a SD package that is not delivered next working day could be a big problem, depending on what is being sent and how urgent it is.
I understand that in your situation, with your requirement of SD, a late delivery isn't an issue. The fact remains however that any company who guarantees a level of service and fails to deliver on that service should be (IMO) called out on it. Just because Royal Mail isn't as bad as some of the rail networks doesn't mean they shouldn't be held to the standards that they themselves set. It seems to me that the only real difference between a train company cancelling a train and Royal Mail failing to deliver on time a package they guaranteed would be delivered is your perception of how it affects you.
Well I banked my cheque today, the counter (the end bit of the long counter in a local food store and newsagents) was closed for PO activity due to more strike action, but open to banking services, so they were happy to take the cheque.
Our main PO is now a Thornton’s Chocolates shop with a single boxed in booth for PO activities.
Anyone still got a PO that actually looks like an old school PO?