I was slightly
misinformed yesterday. Hugh's Honkers pics will not appear till later in the week - to coincide with his reports. And I was excited prematurely (a recurring problem) about the Blog being fixed. No sooner had I posted than the whole thing began to grind like the gears of Dame Shirley Bassey's helicopter. I've been in touch with the always helpful Nigel who tells me the techy people are looking at it. The fact I'm able to write this suggests things might be on the up. Let's see if it posts.
Just been recording an interview with a chap from Postwatch. We were talking about the suggestion that the Royal Mail might stop delivering on Saturdays. It could happen.
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How's your tooth today, Eddie?
On our local news, much was made of Dame Shirley's unplanned visit to Camberley and the buzz she caused in seeking out a friendly loo .......
If you're running an item on Royal Mail, perhaps you could flag up the concern of their many users that, not only has the service declined seriously in terms of meeting its targets in recent months, but also it is becoming increasingly unreliable about delivering at all. I've never known so many items to go missing, and often they are cards (which could include tokens and cheques) or other items of potential value.
A delivery on each weekday would be an improvement around here...
News on the grapevine is that Dame Shirley is the new presenter of Channel 4's "How Clean Is Your Bathroom?".
The post on our street is often delivered to the next house up: 84's post goes to 86 and 86's to 88 and so on. Perhaps this is the Post Office's way of encouraging neighbourliness??
And Eddie, I'm not sure you should be admitting to premature excitment so soon after posting the Fred pix.....
Don't know if it's too late to raise this point, but have they considered mail boxes at Post Offices. I have relatives in Canada and the following system seems to work quite well. It is an urban arrangement - people out of town in the countryside or in small communities still get daily deliveries.
Their local Post Office has mail boxes, which the staff directly sort people's post into. The public side of the boxes have a locked door, which the person the post is for has the key to. You go down to the Post Office any time of the day or night, open your numbered box and take your mail. They even supply a recycle bin that you can put your junk mail directly into.
This system has a number of advantages; fewer household deliveries for Canada Post to pay people to deliver, no notes through your door for parcels they can't deliver, and your doormat is not subjected to an avalanche of junk mail. The downside for the public is that you have to go to the Post Office to get your mail.
Thank goodness the Paris Hilton comments bit isn't working.
Silly season really is here already, isn't it....?
Fifi
Eddie;
I'll second BigSis in a major way. I have cause to send discs of imagery, booking letters and other business information out by post. It reached a point where fully half of everything never made it to it's destination. I quit using first class right there and then. Now I use e-mail. If I absoltely have to send stuff snailmail then I always use Royal Mail Special Delivery, which conveniently costs a fortune by comparison.
I never bothered complaining because it wasn't worth it. There was nothing of real cash value in that mail, so it would never have been investigated. It also didn't matter where it was posted, nor the destination.
Who audits the Royal Mail to ensure that they meet their performance targets? Or is it an internal assessment, as I suspect?
Si.
I've just paid £15.50 for three months' worth of mail redirection. Didn't seem expensive at all for a reliable service. Oh how naive am I? I've had one thing via that service and everything else has been passed on by the people who now live in my house*. Good job they haven't just got frustrated and decided to throw it all away really, isn't it?
*Don't dare say a word -- it will always be MY house!
I don't mind them not delivering through the letterbox on a Saturday - means I can go out without worrying about missing the postman.
However, I will need the sorting office open on Saturday to pick up the stuff they didn't deliver during the weekdays....
Royal Mail's performance is monitored by an independant agency over whom Royal Mail have no influence. If anyone would like to check the targets have almost all been exceeded. Saturday deliveries are an expensive luxury that should have been dropped years ago. Overall Royal Mail provide a fantastic service to anywhere in the UK for pennies. Long may it continue.
Mic Errington: Up until about a year ago, I would have wholeheartedly endorsed your comments, and I still have a great deal of time for most of the individuals who contribute towards the service. However, targets aside, I'm afraid the service has declined of late. I understand in part why this has happened, but I am still concerned about the present and the future for this, very essential, service.
Sit on yer honkers wee lawd!
Well I didn't know things were so bad for the army until yesterday, when I was queuing at my local sub-post office (wonderful place & staff by the way). There was a poster affixed to a window which said "_______Sub-Post Office sponsors _____ Regiment".
I've omitted the first name to spare the Post Office, & the name of the Regiment because I've forgotten it. But - really - what are things coming to? And how much does it cost to sponsor a regiment? Should we all do it? Could the blog adopt a regiment & sponsor it?
Annasee, you've got me thinking.
And while I was looking at regiments, I came upon the following:
As we didn't raise a glass to him last week, may I propose a belated toast to Mr. Patch on his 109th birthday.
Mr. Harry Patch.
Mr Harry Patch!
Thanks Sis.
xx
ed
I'm sorry Me Errington, what grounds do you have for claiming that 'Saturday deliveries are an expensive luxury which should have been dropped years ago'.