I can second to having lots of problems sending from the UK.  I have 7 recent buyers logging disputes for non-arrived items.  I fully expect paypal to side with them (even though all but 2 having tracking information) and lose over £250.  If I am lucky the parcels will eventually arrive and the buyer will be honest enough to recomplete payment, but I may be living in hopes there.

Hi,

I would reckon that if the parcels have been missing for more than 4 weeks then they will never turn up, or else turn up in about 6 months, which amounts to the same thing for your purposes.

Its mostly the stuff that came in at the beginning of the strikes thats the problem - it is just sitting in a warehouse somewhere and will probs not be sorted for months, if at all.

At the moment, its just being a bit delayed - when London is Out, then the mail is being taken to surrounding depots to be sorted.

However, when it becomes all-out, I would strongly recommend not posting anything.

Cheers,
Malc

lawrenson wrote:Hi,

of course, what Ian is saying is his opinion, not actual facts.

Personally, I do not agree with him.

"really need to be hiring based on a minimum intelligence level, and not employing people who have broken the law"

I am guessing that all stupid people, and those who have served their time in prison, need to be euthanised - given that apparently they should not be allowed to work, or live off the state.

I'm sorry, but I don't want a discussion with some fascist. Go and play Hitler with your mates elsewhere.

Cheers,
Malc

Malc,

You have the privelige of running your own company and personally selecting your employees. If you interview people, I presume you take on board the individual's intelligence levels and criminal past. Everyone in the UK selects employees based on all availabel criteria, and everyone has their own levels below wich they are not prepared to go.

For example, banks have higher requirements with regard to intelligence and criminality for their tellers, than security companies do for their bouncers. What I am saying is that the post office should aim to set it's standards in line with bank teller staff and not bouncers.

That's not fascism, bigotry, racism, or whatever you care to label it. It is basic customer service and good business sense. The same way you exercise control over those people you employ. Why should I or you, the police, the fire service, or any other company that deals with the public, not have minimun standards to which staff must perform?

Personally I have a fantastic trio of post men. I enjoy talking to them, have known two of them now for 10 years, and wouldn't want to change them. They take good care of my mail. But I have enough experience of the system and the way it works to know that these individuals are only representative of maybe 50% of staff. I'm sure you have similar relationships with your postal staff. Expecting high standards of an entire organisation's staff is not fascist. It's called capitalism.

Back on topic...

As an established mail order business and a relatively heavy user of the mail service, what do you recommend people do, and what are you planning on doing to safeguard your interests during these troubled times?

Of couse, accepting postal orders and cheques is a decent safeguard, but eBay will not allow you do stipulate that in an auction.

astenon wrote:I'm pleased to say that upon checking my feedback earlier today, an item I posted a week last monday arrived in Virginia.
I'm still waiting on some feedback for some items though, so I hope they arrived! I guess that some people just don't leave it.

Was that item sent airmail? I posted a parcel from London to the USA by surface mail around August 25th. I was told it would take around three weeks. The buyer's still waiting.

And this, presumably, is just a byproduct of so-called 'local strike action' we've had to date.

Mike

You may find that the items arrive ok, it depends on where they go through and if the all-out strike happens.

I've today received an item from gyg which was posted earlier this week.

It didn't go through London so it seems to be ok in that respect. I've also received other mail today that has a postmark from Wednesday.

I think it's going to be a case of chance if you do post but most likely you will be better off avoiding London (which I know is a problem area) or trying to use a different postal delivery service.

By all accounts Amazon, Play and other online retailers are already lining up new delivery services to avoid the Royal Mail. With the run-up to Xmas starting for purchases and posting, that will hit Royal Mail massively in the pocket.

Tmesis wrote:Was that item sent airmail?

Yes, it was sent airmail.
One package I sent to the USA surface mail around the time you did still hasn't arrived.

About a month ago, a post office worker told me that airmail should take about 5 days to the states, and surface mail can take up to 12 weeks, although they aim for 6!

lawrenson wrote:I'm sorry, but I don't want a discussion with some fascist. Go and play Hitler with your mates elsewhere.

Cheers,
Malc

Once again, Godwin's Law is proven to be true.

mbassoc2003 wrote:In the UK we reward the lazy, bone idle, beligerant and wasteful.

That's settled, I'm moving to the UK!

(Seriously, you should write travel ads or something.)

yaya wrote:
Once again, Godwin's Law is proven to be true.

Alas, not when someone is talking about euthanising people because they are stupid...

Cheers,
Malc