POSTAL FUCKDOWN

[Theremin]

Can anyone shed light on what FUCKDOWNS are happening with Royal Mail right now? I presume some combination of Corona slowdowns and LEGEND BOZZA's Brexit antics.

I'm expecting some quite important documents sent from the UK to NL, but also haven't seen hide nor hair of Crimbo pressies sent 3< weeks ago.

Are all these items likely just sitting in vans between here and Dover?

[Theremin]

As someone who quit a Mail Services job back in January, I am really not envying the comrades stuck sorting all this out right now.

[peanutbutter]

They were caught off guard by a surge in the last week of November (basically black friday promotions prompting everyone to get all their Christmas stuff done at once ) which led to huge 2-3 week delays on shit. I imagine the border closures and all that just before Christmas has also caused a mad backlog.

[buttgammon]

There's been massive backlogs with all postal services, and even with couriers to some extent. Due to a technical problem, the main freight centre here had 30,000 shipments stuck on the conveyor belt at one point (it allegedly broke because of overuse).

I'm still yet to receive a Christmas card that was sent from the other side of town about three weeks ago.

[Chedney Honks]

I've ordered the Chinese Ghost Story trilogy on Blu Ray from Hong Kong and I'm really looking forward to it. If that doesn't turn up on time, I don't know what I'll do.

[Head Gardener]

post offices in Scotland say no mail to Europe until further notice but it's OK to America, Oz etc

[George Oscar Bluth II]

We had a whole bundle of stuff turn up at once, basically two whole weeks of stuff, just before Xmas and nothing since. Heard part of the problem is fuck loads of people off ill in one of the sorting offices.

[Blinder Data]

a combination of more people ordering shit and sending Christmas cards, and posties off sick/isolating.

yet my wife dropped off a parcel yesterday and it was delivered this morning?! I don't know how it works

[Head Gardener]

remember that box of china ornaments you ordered?

[H-O-W-L]

Ah fuck. I'm waiting on a fit note to extend my absence from work for mental health. I'm going to get fucking sacked because of this aren't I? I mean, I was trying to leave the job anyway, but-- fuckin' hell.

[gib]

Ah fuck. I'm waiting on a fit note to extend my absence from work for mental health. I'm going to get fucking sacked because of this aren't I? I mean, I was trying to leave the job anyway, but-- fuckin' hell.

If it's in the form of a letter than can easily be machine sorted then it probably won't be delayed too much, round here you'd be looking at a 4 or 5 day delay. It's the parcels that are piling up.

[Attila]

I  hear you -- I ordered a bit of equipment from a company in the Netherlands back in early November; it should have taken a week, but it finally showed up (when I no longer needed it, of course), just before Christmas.

I've also ordered some wool (I spin and weave) from a seller off Etsy; she's based  about 100 or so miles from me, and in the past it's  taken 2-3 days to get something from her. My last order was mid November; still hasn't shown up. She's been having a nightmare with Royal Mail as a lot of her orders have gone missing, and she's getting clobbered on her Etsy feedback.

[flotemysost]

Seems like stuff sent post-Christmas is faring OK round here - I posted off a little care package (medium-sized jiffy bag, First Class) to a covid-ridden mate yesterday afternoon (within the UK) and she received it this morning, which was a relief.

However, my company posted everyone on our team a little gift package thing weeks before Christmas. Two colleagues on my team are currently working from separate locations in Italy (where their families are) and they're the only ones to have received their parcels so far, ironically.

But yeah it seems inevitable, given pre-emptive festive/Brexit panic plus presumably multiple sick/isolating/dead posties. When I went to the Post Office yesterday there seemed to be quite a few people in the queue returning online orders too so I guess that'll add to it.

[gib]

Seems like stuff sent post-Christmas is faring OK round here - I posted off a little care package (medium-sized jiffy bag, First Class) to a covid-ridden mate yesterday afternoon (within the UK) and she received it this morning, which was a relief.

There's a machine that can sort smaller, flatter parcels.

However, my company posted everyone on our team a little gift package thing weeks before Christmas. Two colleagues on my team are currently working from separate locations in Italy (where their families are) and they're the only ones to have received their parcels so far, ironically.

Everything is manually sorted to begin with and anything non UK is immediately tossed into a wheeled cage labelled FOREIGN. These get whisked away the moment the cage is full and presumably go to somewhere that just sorts FOREIGN stuff. The UK stuff also gets sorted into wheeled cages (known as 'yorks'). The yorks are driven around the country to the various regional sorting centres but this only works if there is space to unload them at the destination. Another limiting factor is the number of yorks, a record year for posting stuff meant there weren't enough yorks at the peak. So packages go into crates instead these take up more floorspace than yorks, yorks being taller and also easily moved. Less floorspace means nowhere to unload the next lorry.

But yeah it seems inevitable, given pre-emptive festive/Brexit panic plus presumably multiple sick/isolating/dead posties. When I went to the Post Office yesterday there seemed to be quite a few people in the queue returning online orders too so I guess that'll add to it.

I think the main impact is that everyone bought xmas presents off Zara, Boots.com and the like, and then a lot of these pressies were then sent again to relatives who would otherwise have got them during a visit. My qualification for my pseudo buzby style here is that i worked there for the 3 weeks leading up to xmas as a casual and i'm essentially just guessing based on what i gathered.

[Pinball]

Royal Fail.

[Blinder Data]

Piss Office

[Janie Jones]

Europe is not accepting any items posted from Tier 4 so post offices here in Tier 4 areas of England won't process any items to Europe. This must be a big loss of revenue to them as well as a logistical nightmare, not knowing how long this will continue and how they'll cope with the backlog when the restrictions lift.  I just sell stuff on eBay as a hobby, mainly to the UK but I've got a teetering pile of addressed and paid-for parcels to Europe building up.

[Janie Jones]

I think the main impact is that everyone bought xmas presents off Zara, Boots.com and the like, and then a lot of these pressies were then sent again to relatives who would otherwise have got them during a visit

God yes, as a regular post office customer I felt like one of those gnarled and seasoned lone drinkers propping up the bar at their regular pub and rolling their eyes at the office party pissheads invading their territory. People with armfuls of gaily wrapped flimsy parcels, saying to the weary counter staff, 'This is a pair of engraved crystal glasses, I've written 'FRAGILE' on it, will it be ok? Hmm, the glittery ribbon I used to tie it up is coming off, have you got any sellotape please? Oh and mind you don't tip that one up, it's a jar of my home made clementines in brandy but the lid doesn't quite fit...'  Fucking amateurs.

[dissolute ocelot]

The Guardian is reporting continuing problems due to volume (January sales are in full swing, after Xmas presents) and COVID absences. On the other hand, I just got an eBay purchase from France in 4 days. So I guess it's just going out of the UK that's the problem.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jan/12/royal-mail-areas-covid-deliveries-barnsley-leeds-london-post