Royal Mail Track and Trace

[alan p]

Realising Rm have problems with Cov 19, local posties are doing brilliant, but why do management still insist that they provide a premium service with tracked mail. Especially the 48hr delivery which can take as long as 10days and no tracking available. Sent a substantial cheque recently and had to rely on the payee to advise on whether they had it or not( they were very understanding and helpful).

Uk model suppliers doing their best to provide needed items with in the best service they can only to be shot in the foot by a poor service from RM.

If the service is not available for what ever reason please could RM not say pay a premium and then not provide it and then blame other factors.

Insult to injury they now increase postage rate for bad service.

Gripe over

[J D 8]

As someone who lives on the edge of the world. [ West Wales coast ] I have to say anything sent Royal Mail has turned up on time or before. [ model or other stuff ]

The lot that drive me nuts is Hermes, their tracking reports are nothing but porky pies and some things never come at all. You then have fun sorting repayment from the senders, some are very good others not so.

Got to the point now that if Hermes is the courier I will not order.

[Andy Stephenson]

Royal Mail track and trace is broken, it doesn't trace anything, all it does is confirm when the parcel is delivered.

[cymaz]

RM Track and Trace is a travesty. I get more info from AliExpress on stuff from China.

DPD has the best service ( I know, I used to work for them). I bought an artf from Astra Models.....and watched it all the way across Europe.

Edited By cymaz on 03/01/2021 13:48:27

[Rich Griff]

RM, payed them £6 or so registered post only for them to loose all trace of the package, it disappeared !

Worked for m,/c mail order firm, similar problem, the area sorting office was 200metres away, and yes quite a few bikers worked there....draw your own conclusion...

[cymaz]

Picture and price says it all. Redelivery is free for most other couriers.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

That's a handling and duty fee isn't it? I don't think it has anything to do with redelivery...

[Matt Carlton]

The business model for RM is built on universal priced letter delivery and hasn't changed for decades. The whole premise isn't fit for purpose for the shift away from letters to parcels, especially from other countries.

I have had the best experiences with DPD as a rule. Hermes are very hit and miss and have some rather questionable employment practices, so I try to avoid them.

That said, I have generally had an ok experience with RM apart from the very high prices which some companies seem to have to charge for their services...

[wingcoax]

Just got a card in post box saying i have a parcel to collect. It was posted on 10th DEC and PO tracking said it was still in Uk on 27th. PS we are in Portugal.

[leccyflyer]

The RM Track and Trace doesn't work very well up here. Certain parcels invariably say that they are languishing in Warrington sorting office whilst they are clearly not, since they arrive around about lunchtime on that day. My Hermes is similarly misleading. The most accurate tracking seems to be from DPD, which shows a dot on the map where the van is with the parcel and seems very accurate.

[barry tume]

Reply to Cymaz

I had one of those cards a little while back, it works out as stated a VAT charge, the £8.00 is for a Royal mail employee to open the package.

In my case, I made a purchase of £14.95 roughly, (but under the £15.00 limit for vat)

The sender mistakenly put on the package label that the cost was £20, so incurred vat and handling charges.

I disputed this with customs and excise and showed proof of my purchase order of under £15.00 which they accepted and refunded the vat I had paid.

As to the handling charge, I had to contact royal mail (handling charges nothing to do with C&E) as to this they explained that the £8.00 charge stands as it was the senders mistake and I should seek a refund from them,

As this was a china transaction I just bit the bullet and let it go.

Even my local postie said it was a rip off and they get complaints all the while over handling charges

I hope this explains the matter

regards Barry

[Julian Murch]

To be fair to Hermes I have sold quite a few things on Ebay and never had a problem with them. I did have one package damaged, a wine press made out of stainless steel so the mind boggles at the force needed to dent it. I was warned it would take up to 28 days to decide but sent photos and I received a full refund of price obtained and shipping costs. Maybe I have been lucky but share the frustration over RM tracking where the parcel does not appear to move for several days and then turns up on the doorstep !!

[Nigel R]

Our local postie is great. Of course he is overworked, underpaid, like most RM staff.

Matt sums up the RM problems rather well. Another privatisation that went really well.

[Capt Kremen]

As most of us have had to do during this challenging time, I have ordered numerous items including model goods online.

The higher value model goods e.g. packs of servo, often come with a signed for Royal Mail sticker attached. This must cost the sender extra. I am not having a go at our poor hard pressed posties delivering but the item is usually just pushed through the letterbox or if too big, left outside 'by the flowerpot'! Unless signed for actually gives the sender a degree of insurance, (if the goods are not received), this 'signed for service' is a total waste at this time.

Meanwhile, I add my thumbs up to DPD as one of the better courier with DHL close second. Not had problems, (touch wood!), with Hermes but their deliveries take longer as the parcel is shuffled from one handler to another cross-country. And of course ... Amazon is next day, including Sundays!

[leccyflyer]

Posted by Nigel R on 04/01/2021 11:19:17:

Our local postie is great. Of course he is overworked, underpaid, like most RM staff.

Matt sums up the RM problems rather well. Another privatisation that went really well.

Second that. Our postie has been a vital lifeline during lockdown and does a brilliant job.

[kevin b]

Oh well. another year, another whinging forum thread. Some things in life never change.

My attitude is that tracking systems are there to locate the problem when the item does not arrive. Why do you need to know exactly where it is on its route ? If you want it now, you should go to a shop and buy it off the shelf. If you want it delivering wait until the advised delivery date before chasing it. After that you have every legitimate reason to complain. Provided you paid for it delivering within a specific time period rather than an "advised" one.

Unfortunately we are now all living in a "me, now" world, and problems are all somebody else's fault.

The fact is that the expectations of the consumers are way higher than the abilities of the system providers, neither of whom appear to be living in the real world.

This is just my attempt at putting a simplistic answer to the question and not a rant.

My advice to those wound up over the issue is to go cover a model with tissue and dope. It will lower the stress levels (eventually).

[Martin McIntosh]

On a recent, so called trackable order, RM said that it only worked now when the item was out for delivery, fat lot of good that is. 30mins later it arrived.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Posted by Capt Kremen on 04/01/2021 11:31:48:

The higher value model goods e.g. packs of servo, often come with a signed for Royal Mail sticker attached. This must cost the sender extra. I am not having a go at our poor hard pressed posties delivering but the item is usually just pushed through the letterbox or if too big, left outside 'by the flowerpot'! Unless signed for actually gives the sender a degree of insurance, (if the goods are not received), this 'signed for service' is a total waste at this time.

I understand that the normal signature procedure has been modified in deference to the coronavirus pandemic.

[FlyinFlynn]

The last 'signed for' package I had the French postie told me "it was ok, he had signed for it"... Still, his signature was probably just as close to my proper signature as my 'parcel received' signature I write on their tablets!....

No harm - no foul?

[Geoff S]

Posted by FlyinFlynn on 05/01/2021 10:41:58:

The last 'signed for' package I had the French postie told me "it was ok, he had signed for it"... Still, his signature was probably just as close to my proper signature as my 'parcel received' signature I write on their tablets!....

No harm - no foul?

Can anyone write a reasonable representation of their normal signature on those confounded tablet screens? When I do mine it could be anybody's and completely worthless as evidence of successful delivery.

Geoff

[Nigel R]

"The fact is that the expectations of the consumers are way higher than the abilities of the system providers, neither of whom appear to be living in the real world."

I think the expectations of the customers on this thread are about exactly what the providers are telling them they will do, which does not match what the provider actually does.

There are, after all, different service levels, promising "signed for" (i.e. only proof of delivery) or "tracked" (promising more than just proof of delivery).

[Bill Reed]

I understand that "signing" for stuff at this time could be looked on as "dangerous" . So why on earth don't RM stop using that service,why take some ones money for a service that will not be met, that`s besides the longer time its taking at times. Just sell the 1st class not signed and not tracked,.thats doing about the same as 48hr signed. They will not do that though because that service is cheaper in my experience

[Nigel R]

Our postie will only deliver a 'signed for' in person.

If we're in, our postie signs for us.

If we're out, he takes it back to the local depot.

[Martin McIntosh]

Parcel Force guy knocked the door this morning with my new phone, only ordered yesterday. Since I was not yet dressed I yelled out the window to just leave it but he said that he could not because it was a special delivery, but it would be OK if he left it in the porch cupboard, which is exactly what the sign I left on the door instructed him to do!