Archive for October, 2009

Service Information for customers

Service Summary for all customers – Tuesday 27th October

We are currently experiencing technical problems with the admin side of the site.

Orders are being received and processed. but we are unable to use the notification buttons for proces and delivered to advise on item dispatch.

If you need details about a specific order please use email to contact us.

We apologise for any inconvenience

As it appears that strike action is being targeted at the end of each week.

To avoid items being caught up in the backlog we would like your opinion as to whether to reduce posting out to between Saturday and Wednesday?

Please leave any feedback in the comment box bellow.

Millions of homes and businesses face over two weeks of postal disruption as as the Communication Workers Union start there strike action. Experts think it will take up to 3 weeks for all the backlog of post to get delivered and back to normal.

Jonathan de Carteret, founder of broker Post-Switch, said that Royal Mail was using special warehouses to house the undelivered mail which will get topped up as and when more strikes take place. Letters waylaid by the first strikes will be the last to get delivered because they will be literally at the bottom of the pile.

“While Royal Mail works through the backlog of letters, it’s unfortunately a case of first in, last out,” he said.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has called further national strike action next week. The details that will effect dropshipping orders are as follows:

Thursday 29th October: Mail Centres and Network Distribution Units. Limited processing, movement and collection of mail (if local collections performed by a Mail Centre)

Friday 30th October: Manual Data Entry Centres (MDEC).

Saturday 31st October: Delivery Offices. Limited delivery and collection of mail (if local collections performed by a Delivery Office)

Royal mail has said:-  We are really sorry for the significant disruption and inconvenience national industrial action taken by the CWU is having on customers and for the uncertainty further announcements of CWU industrial action will cause. We are continuing to urge the CWU to call off all strike action and concentrate with us on supporting customers during the autumn and Christmas peak mail period.

In the event this planned strike action takes place, mail services on Thursday and Saturday will be very limited and delay to the collection, sorting, distribution and delivery of mail will be inevitable.

What we will do to maintain and recover service
If national industrial action takes place, Royal Mail has strong contingency plans to do all we can to keep mail moving and minimise disruption for our customers:

• Keep mail moving – over 900 managerial and contract drivers will move mail around the country on strike days.
• Delivering mail – we will continue to deliver premium services (Special Delivery™ and Royal Mail Tracked™) to customers throughout the week.
• Use of around 5000 managerial and support people – to maintain premium services, open callers’ offices and to collect mail from Post Office branches, posting boxes and customers where possible on strike days.
• Support the distribution of packets and parcels – we have five additional dedicated and fully staffed sorting centres to aid the distribution of goods through our network.
• Deploy a targeted service recovery plan – concentrate our substantial support resources in areas most affected to deliver mail after the strikes.

Collection of mail

• Most collections will operate normally Monday-Friday next week.
• If a mail centre or collection unit located on a mail centre site performs a customer collection, these customer collections are likely to be affected on Thursday 29th October. If performed by a delivery office, collections are likely to be affected – and very limited- on Saturday 31st October.
• Wherever possible we will provide more certainty to customers about the day on which their collection is likely to be affected however, the nature of the CWU strike action means we may not be able to provide absolute certainty to all customers.
• Royal Mail service teams will be contacting business collection customers early next week to advise as to how collection services will be affected and, in the event we may not be able to collect, provide alternatives for getting mail into our network.
• We will be continuing to collect mail from all Post Office® branches and from posting boxes, prioritising heavily used boxes, such as those outside Post Offices®.

Delivery of mail

• In most areas, mail deliveries will take place next week Monday – Friday although delivery times may be subject to some variation.
• On Saturday 31st October, mail deliveries in most areas will be limited to the delivery of premium services (Special Delivery™ and Royal Mail Tracked™).
• Where delivery offices are located on the same site as mail centres, deliveries made from these offices may be affected on Thursday 29th October but will take place on Saturday 31st October.

More information
More detailed information about mail services, including the answers to our most frequently asked questions relating to industrial action, can be found on our website at http://www.royalmail.com/serviceupdates.

Alternatively, if you are a business customer please talk to your usual Royal Mail contact or call the Business Service Helpline on 08457 950950. Residential customers can call Royal Mail Customer Service on 08457 740740.

Again we’d like to say we’re really sorry for the inconvenience we know this industrial action may cause you, your business and your customers.

Regards,

Royal Mail Customer Services

Advice to our Customers during postal problems

Royal Mail workers’ union, the CWU, has announced plans for a national strike on 22 and 23 October, 2009. On the first day mail centre staff and drivers will strike. On the second day delivery and collection staff will strike.

Royal Mail have stated that post during the industrial action period will still be delivered, however delays will be inevitable.  We suggest you to contact your buyer and inform them there may be delays during this period.

To help with the current situation we’re taking a number of steps. 

We will be posting out at 1pm and 5pm on 21^st, 22^nd and 23^rd and also 11am Saturday 24th during the disruption,

We have arrangements with alternative postal carriers for delivery of parcels. These rates start at £3.99 for a 3-5 day guaranteed courier delivery for packages up to 2kg this may be reduced to £3.60 soon though.

myHermes is owned by Hermes UK who operate their own delivery network delivering over 100 million parcels each year on behalf of some of the UK’s largest online retailers.
Simple service:

1) You choose the day you’d like us to pick up your parcel

2) Going out? Just tell us the safe place where you’ve left it

3) We’ll make 3 attempts to deliver to your customer

4) Track it online

Interparcel

Offers low cost courier rates, using some of the biggest carriers in the world.

If your item can be sent by an alternative postal carrier we suggest you can this as a new postage option immediately. While the uncertainty lasts, we will have available these alternative courier services to Royal Mail, as these aren’t affected by the industrial action.

http://www.uk-dropshipers.co.uk/

Friday 9th October, staff at most processing and collections centres across London will be taking industrial action, affecting the collection and processing of mail across most of the capital. Deliveries in the EC district and the SW1 postcode area will also be limited on Friday. Stoppages will be taking place at the Bristol and Thames Valley (Swindon) Mail Centres on Friday. Also on Friday, staff at the Burslem (Stoke) DO will be taking action, affecting deliveries in the ST6 postcode area.
Staff at a number of our national network centres will also be taking industrial action, affecting the movement and distribution of mail in several parts of the country on Friday.
On Saturday, staff at most delivery offices in London will be taking industrial action, affecting deliveries in all parts of London except the EC district and SW1 postcode areas.
Please see relevant regional post below, for more information about any industrial action affecting mail services in your part of the country.

We are really sorry for the impact industrial action is having on our customers. We’re doing all we can to keep mail moving and the great majority of deliveries and collections are taking place in all areas. There is however, a delay to mail at the moment of around 1-2 days in most parts of London and around 3-4 days in parts of the SW and SE postal districts. This information is intended as a guide though and in some of our offices delays are shorter or slightly longer than this. We understand the impact delays have on our customers and so we are focusing as much resource as we can into those areas of London most affected by industrial action, to deliver as much mail as we can, as quickly as we can.
In response to the real challenges facing Royal Mail, we have been making changes within our business in a calm, measured and structured way, inviting collaborative dialogue with our unions and employees. We recognise that change impacts on our employees and can be difficult. However, change is essential, driven by the commercial reality of the very difficult business environment being experienced by UK industry.
Last week Royal Mail’s Managing Director, Mark Higson, said, ‘In the first week of October, Royal Mail will have successfully completed the major efficiency changes planned for 2009, both nationally and in London. As always the company will be focusing on delivering excellent customer service in the vitally important run-up to Christmas, when letter numbers reach their seasonal peak. Royal Mail calls on the CWU to abandon its unjustified strikes and to help the business deliver the service our customers deserve.’
Here are details of collection and delivery services in Wales and South West England for the coming week:
Friday 9th October All collections will be made as usual except in the SN1-7 postcode areas where they will be limited. All deliveries will take place as usual.
Saturday 10th October All collections will be made as usual. All deliveries will be made as usual.
Monday 12th October Collections will be made as usual with the exception of those in the following postcode areas in and around Bristol, where they will be limited: BS11, BS15, BS16, BS20, BS21, BS31, BS37 and BS48. Deliveries will be made as normal in all areas, with the exception of those in the following postcode areas in and around Bristol, where they will be limited:
Avonmouth (BS11), Axbridge (BS26), Bristol East DO (BS5), Bristol South DO (BS3,13 & 41), Bristol North DO (BS6 & 7), Bristol South East DO (BS4 & 14), Bristol City (BS1), Clevedon (BS21), Clifton (BS8), Fishponds (BS16), Keynsham (BS31), Kingswood (BS15 & 30), Nailsea (BS48), Portishead (BS20), Westbury (BS9 & 10), Woolavington, Yate (BS37), Yatton (BS49).
Tuesday 13th October Collections will be made in all areas as usual, although times may vary in parts of Bristol due to the unusual volumes of mail to handle, following Monday’s stoppage. Deliveries will be made as normal in all areas, although in the parts of Bristol affected by Monday’s stoppage, times are likely to vary due to the unusual volumes of mail to handle.
Here are details of collection and delivery services in the North of England & Northern Ireland for the next few days.
Friday 9th October All collections will be made as usual. All deliveries will be made as usual.
Saturday 10th October All collections will be made as usual. All deliveries will be made as usual except in the SK13 (1 & 2 sectors) postcode area, where they may be limited.
Monday 12th October All collections will be made as usual. All deliveries will be made as usual, except in the SK13 (1 & 2 sectors) postcode area, where they may be limited.
Tuesday 13th October All collections will be made as usual. All deliveries will be made as usual, although delivery times in Hadfield may be later than normal due to the heavier than usual volumes of mail to handle.

Here are details of the areas and services affected by all planned stoppages in London, the South East and East Anglia for the next few days.Friday 9th October Collections will be limited in the UB1-5, HA1-3 postcode areas and in all postal districts of London: E, EC, N, NW, W, WC, SE & SW. Deliveries will be made in all areas as normal, except in the EC district and the SW1 postcode area of London, where they will be limited.
Saturday 10th October Collections will be made in all areas as normal. Deliveries in the following postal districts of London will be limited: E, N, NW, W, WC, SE, SW. Deliveries will be made in the EC postal district and the SW1 postcode area as normal.
Monday 12th October Collections will be made in all areas as normal. Deliveries will be made in all areas of London as normal with the exception of those served by the following delivery offices: Barnes (SW13), Battersea (SW11), Earls Court (SW5), Fulham (SW6), Mortlake (SW14), South Kensington (SW7), Stockwell (SW9), Streatham (SW16), Wandsworth (SW18), West Brompton (SW10), West Wimbledon (SW20) and Wimbledon (SW19).
Deliveries will be made in all other parts of the three regions, with the exception of the following delivery offices in the CM postcode area: Billericay (CM11-12), Bishops Stortford (CM22-24), Boreham (CM3), Braintree (CM7), Brentwood (CM13-15), Chelmsford (CM1–3), Dunmow (CM6), Harlow (CM17-20), Maldon (CM9), Ongar (CM5), Sawbridgeworth (CM21), South Woodham Ferrers (CM3), Stansted (CM24) and Witham (CM8).
Tuesday 13th October Collections will be made in all areas as normal. Deliveries will be made in all areas as normal, although times are likely to vary in the SW London and Chelmsford areas, due to heavier than normal volumes of mail to handle.
Here are details of the collection and delivery services affected in all parts of Scotland over the next few days.
Friday 9th October Mail collections will be made as usual in all parts of Scotland, except in Kilmarnock where they may be limited in the KA1-4, KA16 & KA17 areas. Mail deliveries will be made as usual in all parts of Scotland, except in Kilmarnock where they may be limited in the KA1-4, KA16 & KA17 areas.
Saturday 10th October Mail collections will be made as usual in all parts of Scotland. Mail deliveries will be made as usual in all parts of Scotland, except in Irvine where they will be limited in the KA11 & KA12 postcode areas and in Bathgate where they will be limited in the EH28, 47, 48 and 52 postcode areas. Deliveries in Kilmarnock may be later than normal, due to the heavier than normal mail volumes.
Monday 12th October Mail collections will be made as usual in all parts of Scotland. Mail deliveries will be made as usual in all parts of Scotland, except in the Irvine area where they will be limited. Deliveries in Bathgate may be later than normal, due to the heavier than normal mail volumes.
Tuesday 13th October Mail collections will be made as usual in all parts of Scotland. Mail deliveries will be made as usual in all parts of Scotland. Deliveries in Irvine may be later than normal, due to the heavier than normal mail volumes.

Here are details of collection and delivery services in the Midlands for the next few days.
Friday 9th October All collections will be made as usual. Limited deliveries in the Burslem (ST6) postcode area.
Saturday 10th October All collections will be made as usual. All deliveries will be made as usual, however times may vary in Burslem (ST6) due to Friday’s stoppage.
Monday 12th October All collections will be made as usual. All deliveries will be made as usual.
Tuesday 13th October All collections will be made as usual. All deliveries will be made as usual.

Delivery of mail
In areas and on days when deliveries are affected by industrial action, these may be limited to premium services, including Special Delivery™ and Royal Mail Tracked™ items.
Whilst we will do all we can to keep mail moving, there may be a slight delay to mail being delivered in affected areas, on days after industrial action.
In affected areas at times of industrial action we may not be able to meet Timed Delivery services for customers. Timed Deliveries may also be affected in these areas the day after IA because of the unusual volumes of mail to sort and deliver.
Delivery times may be later than usual in areas affected by industrial action whilst we work to get services back working normally.
We are unable to arrange redeliveries on the day of and the day after industrial action affects deliveries in any area. Instead items can be picked up from the office listed on the ‘sorry…you were out’ card (or redeliveries can be arranged) after industrial action has taken place. Redeliveries can be arranged to take place two days after any industrial action at a delivery office. In the delivery areas affected by stoppages on Monday 12th October, redeliveries can only be arranged for Wednesday 14thor later. Redeliveries in unaffected areas can be arranged as usual.
Redeliveries in unaffected areas can be arranged as usual. The easiest way to organise a redelivery is via our website www.royalmail.com/redelivery.
Collection of mail
Collections of mail will operate normally in all areas except in those shown in the table above, where lower than usual levels of resource means collections from business customers may be limited.
Service teams will be in contact with affected business collection customers in affected areas to provide information about their services and (in the event we may not be able to collect), suggest alternatives for getting mail into our network.
Business customers in affected areas are advised that when their collections are disrupted, they can take their mail to any Post Office or to the centre shown below to get mail into our network:
 Bristol Mail Centre, Gloucester Road, Filton, BRISTOL, until 18:30hrs
 Thames Valley Mail Centre, Rowland Hill Close, Wheatstone Road, SWINDON, SN3 5TQ
Customers who use a franking machine and usually have their mail collected, can take it to any Post Office. If customers hold their mail until their next collection, they should set their machine to zero and re-frank each item with the new posting date.
In affected areas we will continue to collect from all Post Office branches and as many posting boxes as resources allow, prioritising collections from heavily used posting boxes, such as those outside Post Office branches.
Posting mail
We’re advising customers, where possible, to post mail before or after any industrial action takes place in affected areas. Whilst we are continuing to do all we can to keep mail moving normally, there may be a delay to mail posted in these areas during industrial action.
Post Offices are not involved in this dispute and will be open as usual in all areas for customers to access Royal Mail services, including Special Delivery™.
We recommend that on days when industrial action is taking place, customers use our Special Delivery™ service if posting urgent items into or out of affected areas.
Picking up items from Callers’ Offices
All Callers’ Offices will remain open as usual at times of industrial action for customers to pick up items we have previously tried to deliver and for which we have left a ‘sorry… you were out’ card.
Customers in areas where deliveries are affected by industrial action and who usually pick up mail from their local office, are advised that on the day of any stoppage, mail may not be sorted and available for collection. Mail will be available the day after the industrial action but larger than usual volumes of mail to sort could mean may not be available until later than usual.

http://www.uk-dropshipers.co.uk/