Page 1 of Its the end of the post as we know it

How many of here have complained about the postmans moning\afternoon\whenever delivery?

Most of us here & more details here.

The Royal Mail`s 350-year monopoly is to end at the start of 2006, 15 months earlier than previously planned.

The UK`s postal service market will be fully liberalised from 1 January 2006, regulator Postcomm announced, following three months of consultation.

From that date, any licensed operator will be able to deliver mail to business and residential customers.

Royal Mail, which controls 99% of the market, welcomed the news but the main postal union said it was "ill-advised".

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) warned the decision will place "the country`s cherished universal service in jeopardy".

The CWU also criticised what it said was a "competition at all costs" ethos which it says will put the Post Office at a serious competitive disadvantage to its European rivals.

Thoughts & viewpoints.......



If we don`t take care of the customer, maybe they will stop bugging us.

Quote:
The CWU also criticised what it said was a "competition at all costs" ethos which it says will put the Post Office at a serious competitive disadvantage to its European rivals.

Why perhaps they will get the deliveries done in the morning & within cost?



If we don`t take care of the customer, maybe they will stop bugging us.

It`s most likely to result in you being charged by the mile for postage, the end of rural services altogether so you have to go to a mail collection centre for your post, and of course an enormous rise in pilfering as some cowboy operators will subcontract to casual staff. On the up side for London residents (but cold comfort for the rest of us), they`ll wind up with a virtually free service because of the feeding frenzy between the companies.

J Mark Oates

---

The twins keep us on Alpha Centaurian time
-- a 37-hour day. Give it a few months --
you`ll get used to it. Or you`ll have a
psychotic episode.

Been there, done that, got the teeshirt

Quote:
On the up side for London residents (but cold comfort for the rest of us), they`ll wind up with a virtually free service because of the feeding frenzy between the companies.

Well that makes it alright then - I mean, so long as London isn`t inconvenienced, it must be good. >:(

Okay, plus points:

(1) competition can be good because it creates greater efficiency
(2) if subsidies are abolished, it might ram home to hotheads amongst e.g. Scottish nationalists how heavily basic services have been subsidised for the celtic fringes when a letter from Aberdeen to London costs 20 quid. It might stop them bleating so much about how the English have appropriated profits from North Sea oil, etc.

Minus points:

(1) we`ve seen from other attempts at denationalisation what a complete ****-up it can be (e.g. British Rail)
(2) it`s arguable that some parts of the infrastructure like the Royal Mail should be available to all - profit should be secondary. Competition is unlikely to assist in this.
(3) watch how after initial promises of `oh yes, of course we`ll service rural communities` these promises fall short. Think I`m exaggerrating? Look at the privatised bus companies.
(4) extra companies means a hell of a lot more stamps to collect for philatelists. :B
(5) Just who will have the spending power to set up post boxes and post offices everywhere? Answer - nobody. The big firms will cream off the profitable runs between big cities and leave Royal Mail with the unprofitable runs to the smaller towns and villages. The situation will thus get worse.

We had a tiny taste of what is likely to come in 1971 when there was a national postal stirke and the RM`s monopoly was temporarily suspended. Hundreds of companies sprang up to deliver mail. The most efficient delivered between a limited number of set points or solely worked very locally (i.e. at most within the boundaries of a town). Those attempting a wider delivery service either lost letters by the sackload or delivered them (literally) weeks late.

However, why should Tony `when I`m not kissing Bush`s **** I`m giving everything to London and the rest of you can **** off` Blair care? A government that can support the Millennium Dome when it was obvious it was already a disaster is capable of anything.

This item was edited on Friday, 18th February 2005, 17:27

All the political parties favour the capital, not just Labour.

J Mark Oates

---

The twins keep us on Alpha Centaurian time
-- a 37-hour day. Give it a few months --
you`ll get used to it. Or you`ll have a
psychotic episode.

Been there, done that, got the teeshirt

Quote:
All the political parties favour the capital, not just Labour.

I agree - but don`t you think the present lot are rather more blatant about it?

Some milk dairys have had their franchise milkmen deliver mail, and some have been caught binning it instead of delivering it door to door,
A sign of things to come for sure.

My biggest greif with the Post office, is deliveries that dont turn up, even with recorded delivery.

So far this month, I have lost a package with a CD in it, and at least one letter that I know was posted to me, that did not turn up either.

The postman that delivers to my house needs glasses, as a lot of my mail ends up with the neigbours, and I get theirs.

Postmen do not seem to have any pride in their work anymore :(

This will be a complete disaster. The area that I live in is not really very delivery friendly - mixture of houses, purpose built and converted flats, where the numbering system can be really confusing. I`m sure lots of others are in similar areas.

Whenever I get a delivery from someone not used to the area, things go wrong. New postmen, couriers, Tesco`s - all struggle to find where we are exactly. Only the regular postmen seem to have little problems with my address.

Now we`re going to have to deal with all those couriers also trying to find us. Who do we go to when something hasn`t arrived? Royal Mail will say `it might not have been us`, along with all the other companies. Packages for collection could end up at depots 30 miles away.

The Royal Mail work will be cherry picked by the courier companies leaving them to deal with all the expensive and unattractive work. If four different companies need to come to my address every day to deliver the same pile of mail that one used to, surely there is wastage there, too. Someone will have to pay for all of this - it will be the customers.

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nd of course an enormous rise in pilfering as some cowboy operators will subcontract to casual staff.

i thought they did that already...

jc808