WATCHDOG – Royal Mail deliveries
Published 15 November 2023
Royal mail has had centuries to get its postal system right, but when it comes to delivering on time, it’s been getting it wrong. OFCOM state that 93% of First-Class mail should arrive the next working day. But stats for the year 2022/23 show only 74% arrived on time, for which Royal Mail has been slapped with a massive fine.
Watchdog wanted to put the service to the test. We sent out one first class letter a day for 8 days, to four watchdog viewers who told us they’re experiencing issues with Royal Mail delivery. Inside each envelope was one letter in sequential order that make up the word watchdog.
If Royal Mail is doing its job properly, they will arrive in order consecutively to spell out the word watchdog.
Those 8 First-Class letters in order went to Peter in Stroud, Elaine in Liverpool, Emma in Birmingham and Jerry in South East London.
Jerry has had problems since 2018. He told us how things have now gotten so bad, he has to go to his local sorting office to get his post.
“I can wait three weeks for delivery. A letter a day a postman a day is what you come to expect. We get one delivery a week on a Sunday for the last four weeks.”
“I was getting penalty notices for parking fines, things like that. The most important thing to me, very silly it is, is the Radio Times because If you don't get it on Friday, I’m going up to the corner shop and buying it again”. He added.
We sent the first letter first class on a Monday – so it should have arrived on Tuesday.
The second letter was sent on the Tuesday, so should have arrived on the Wednesday, and so on…
So how did our four get on?
Out of the 8 letters we sent Jerry - none of them arrived on time. Elaine in Liverpool fared better – with 75% of our letters hitting her doormat within the next day target.
And finally, Peter in Stroud and Emma in Birmingham only received 12.5% of our letters on time. That’s just 1 out of 8 letters!
A result Emma, who relies on the postal service for medical information about her son Alfie is not happy with, as she explained to us.
“We need to know exactly what they've prescribed him and the only way we know that is if we get the letter to say that's what he's been prescribed.”
“You see a parcel delivery from Royal Mail and everybody sort of pounces on the driver like where’s my letters”. She added.
On average, our simple but not very scientific test, showed just 25% of letters arrived on time. That’s way below Royal Mail’s target of 93% and the 74% it was fined for.
We asked Royal Mail for it’s response, it told us.
“Our postmen and women deliver to 32 million households every day, and while we fully acknowledge there are delays in some areas, the majority of people receive their mail on time.
“We have investigated the reasons behind the delays in the areas highlighted. They have included singular issues like a retirement and a broken lift, but also high levels of vacancies and sick absence – in each, these problems have either been resolved or an action plan is in place.
“We are committed to delivering an excellent service to our customers and making this festive period a success. As we enter our busiest time of the year, we have hired 8,000 new permanent staff and are recruiting 16,000 seasonal workers across our delivery and mail centres.”
Royal Mail response to the OFCOM decision is contained within the following release
