The Post

Mon 2 Jun 2008, 11:41

www.witneygazette.net/mostpopular.var.2307272.mostviewed.oxfordshire_mail_service_one_of_worst.php

Mon 2 Jun 2008, 10:09

I'm concerned to read all the problems people are having with mail slit open. I haven't experienced this yet, though this could be due because my mail isn't arriving at all!?
I recently moved house and decided to use the Royal Mail's redirection service. However I've had mail arriving very late having been on a round about route to Banbury, London, etc. What looks to be happening is that the wrong address labels are being stuck to my mail (at the sorting office?) and sent to somebody else also using the redirection service. Fortunately, I received some mail to my new address that was addressed to my old address without any redirection label - I can only assume that the 'postie' realised I'd moved?

Anyone is thinking of using the service please beware!! I have no idea how much mail of mine has gone missing and I left grateful that the recipient of my misdirected mail has returned it to the post office and not assumed my identity!

Fri 30 May 2008, 00:09

So there you go, story hits local news on Thames Valley Tonight, about a mailman getting sentenced for stealing post.

The Royal Mail now admits that there is a problem. 1300 postal workers have been caught stealing from their mail bags, that’s equivalent to one being prosecuted or sacked everyday.

You can see the story for yourself – fast forward to 7 mins into the recording. www.itvlocal.com/thamesvalley/news/

I’m comforted by those folks who haven’t trivialised our serious concerns. It’s not that apparent sometimes, that post has gone missing, stolen, etc.

P.S. I’ve not had any post for two days. What’s the bet I get a bundle tomorrow? Let’s hope I do!

GMTV yesterday reported Identity Fraud and have some good tips on their website: www.gm.tv/index.cfm?articleid=21547

I’ve had enough of having my post stolen/lost and opened. So who’s going to help stop this!

Thu 29 May 2008, 17:47

hi its not only chalbury i live in finstock and yesterday i recived a envelope slit along the bottom there was nothng it it for anybody else to get use ot of but me.but some days i get no post then i will get loads 3 or 4 days later its not only me my friends have noticed this as well and if anything gets posted in finstock it takes forever to get there. ive been waiting for a parcel for over a week know.

Thu 29 May 2008, 11:36

With regards to Jon's questions, it is certainly not just envelopes containing credit cards or from the bank that have slits in them.

This been going on for some time, but I haven't been able to detect any pattern to it at all.

I haven't been sure that the envelopes have been tamprered with. But, given others' experience, I think I'll try & keep or more systematic record for a while.

Thu 29 May 2008, 09:44

In my case, I can absolutely eliminate the bank after a long discussion with them. There is a real risk for people's security here. To date we have had the following problems over the past couple of years:

1. Credit card stoled in the post. The envelope arrived, already opened with card missing. The bank did stop the card, but it had already been used.

2. Suspiciously late arrival of a card. Bank confirmed it was in the post but we cancelled it anyway. The card arrived many weeks later.

3. Two share certificates never arrived.

4. Non-arrival of a hospital appointment.

5. Non-arrival of a phone bill. Because we did not know, and therefore pay, the phone was cut off.

The risk now is not stealing of cards, but of the numbers. There are many Web sites that trade in these. Rather than pointing these out, here is a recent report which investigated one such site:

www.gss.co.uk/news/article/4913/Stolen_credit_card_supermarket_exposed/?&highlight=Finjan

There are even sites which give ratings, rather like e-Bay ratings, to the quality of these Web sites, and of the dealers trading on them. There are other sites which provide software to verify if a card number is valid, and so on.

My advice would be to take it seriously if a card arrives in an envelope which has been previously opened and have the card cancelled.

For myself, I've asked the bank to stop sending anything at all to Charlbury from now on.

Thu 29 May 2008, 07:46

For starters, what about trying to eliminate the bank as the source of the problem? Are any of you willing to say which bank(s) you are getting slit envelopes from? Then: the envelopes probably indicate which contractor has delivered the mail (eg DHL) to the Royal Mail sorting office. Are they all going via the same contractor? Have you kept your envelopes or have you destroyed the evidence!?

Wed 28 May 2008, 23:21

Uh-oh. A veritable epidemic of slit envelopes is worrying indeed. Normally when something goes wrong with postal sorting machinery the result is a badly torn or mashed envelope--not a neatly slit one as has been described. As I mentioned earlier, a slit is all that is needed to peek in and get the numbers, and of course the billing address is right there. Also, often the identity thief will not do anything immediately, but wait a while for suspicions to fade before acting.
Taking a cue from Jon, I think we need to gather more data. We have observations from several people of envelopes containing CCs arriving with slits. Has anyone noticed an envelope that was not a CC envelope arriving with a slit? Having had some of those unsolicited "balance transfer" cheques stolen from the mail (due to the bank mangling the address; and it did restore the £2,000 billed to my card) when I lived in London, I do look at my envelopes and I have not noticed any with suspicious slits. However, I have not had reason to receive any CCs in a while.

Wed 28 May 2008, 14:36

Thank you, Richard. As I received a credit card only a couple of weeks ago in an envelope slit open in just the way that others describe, I will indeed take care.

Like others, I do often receive envelopes that have been slit open. Nothing seems to be missing, but it always does seem torn in too precise a manner to be merely accidental.

I don't live in Crawborough or Fawler, by the way. I think it a waste of time for Frank to question his neighbours in the way that Jon suggested. It's a more widespread problem.

Mon 26 May 2008, 22:30

Not to add to everyone's paranoia on the topic, Katie, but I would be very concerned in that situation. If that was an envelope with your credit card then just a slit would give a person a chance to get your card number, plus the three-digit security number on the back of the card, and your billing address. That is all that is needed to make an online or telephone purchase, which, of course, would be delivered elsewhere. It could be just a machine accident, but I would keep a close eye on my CC account.

Mon 26 May 2008, 20:20

Hi
We live in Fawler and have noticed the same thing. My husband actually called the bank as it looked as though someone had made a slit in the side of the envelope big enough to slide the card out. Strangely the contents seemed completely untouched. Nothing untoward has come of it, so I wonder if its how a machine handles the envelopes?

Sat 24 May 2008, 16:38

Oh dear, it's me again. There's another possibility: that your bank has a faulty printing/mailing/sorting device that always/often tears the envelopes. Your envelope is probably not touched by human hand for most of its journey (and not by the Royal Mail till the very last stages). You haven't mentioned that you complained to the bank. Do other people who have the same experience use the same bank!? What a lot of leads for you to follow up over the bank holiday: you won't mind all the rain and not being able to get in the garden now, what with all the neighbours you'll be interviewing and those questionnaires you're preparing.

Sat 24 May 2008, 11:51

Frank -- perhaps you should turn detective! Where does Charlotte live? If you both live in Crawborough, and/or both have the same postie, that's interesting. Do other people in Crawborough have the same problem? Ask your neighbours to check. Does anyone else reading this live there? I can certainly say that in Market Street, while post can be late, I've never 'lost' anything, and envelopes from banks etc. are certainly never slit open. And outgoing post is failsafe.

One other thing. Have these problems only arisen since the new work times at the sorting office? In other words, now that the delivery posties are being kept out of the sorting office for an extra hour or more in the mornings, does this give someone else an opportunity...? (If you follow this line of thinking, you might start asking why you cannot get any joy out of management.)

Sat 24 May 2008, 10:29

Yet again yesterday my bank post has arrived having been previously opened. Not an accidental tear of the envolope but neatly slit open over a few inches so that it's posible to check what cards are inside. This has been happening systematically for months now and I'm at a loss as to who to complain to - the police, the post office, who have never responded in the past, or our MP. We have had bank cards stolen here before and it seems impossible to find anyone who's willing to do anything about it.

Sun 18 May 2008, 08:18

well lets hope we get are post in the morning and not at 5pm like i get at the moment.

Fri 16 May 2008, 20:34

You have a point Richard about Oxford's reputation. Lets hope that Swindon are more efficient? It just seems maddness, that post that is sent locally - has to go down to Swindon to come back up again - with these fuel prices!

Fri 16 May 2008, 20:16

I'm not so sure that's a bad thing. Oxford sorting office doesn't exactly have a good reputation, and Swindon really isn't much, if any, further for a post van to drive - ok, greater distance but the roads are faster.

Fri 16 May 2008, 19:33

Have you all heard the news about Oxford's sorting office closing and moving to Swindon, this evening?

This is outrageous, we have to stand together over this and not let this lie – dear Town Counsellors!!!!!!

I got a letter about my missing documents today. They say that one should get free of charge ‘a certificate of posting’ form over the counter - to prove one has used Royal Mail and that this is needed if you make a claim for compensation. One may then receive a minimum payment of 12 First class stamps! Wow. The ripple effect of my documents, which have so obviously been stolen, has destroyed me. I jest not! The police have not been able to do a thing!

I can see things going from bad to worse with our post! What do you all think?

Fri 2 May 2008, 20:15

Dear Harriet, I’ve lived in Charlbury for nearly two years now and know the Chipping Norton sorting office postmen and ladies well. They’ve looked after me very well.

I had an interesting conversation with my lovely postlady today, who explained that they always get the blame, as a result of the Oxford post office sorting office, with regard to the lateness, etc.

I also found out from our post office that some time ago the police caught some Oxford postmen 'red-handed' stealing post near Kidlington. This is why we have no – next delivery!

I have spoken to the police again this evening to report the other missing post that was delivered from Oxford on the 13th April. My important documents were sent on the 14th April. Anyway the police tell me that they are looking into it.

I just don’t want the Chipping Norton Sorting office getting the blame, when all the evidence stems from Oxford around this period.

Fri 2 May 2008, 18:11

Are you new here? I know people who lived 3 years in a house near Stoke, having moved from York. They didn't realise there was any problem with their post until I sent them a package special delivery, which was returned to me as undeliverable, even though the postman delivered to their house on the day and they were in at the time. It transpired that the local sorting office required a letter or something to say they lived there and now they get all of their post instead of only 25% of it. The missing 75% included bank statements, which just vanished into thin air. Why they didn't wonder about the loss of the statements I don't know, but presumably they weren't returned to the banks or something would have been done. Unless the banks don't actually care what happens to statements once they are sent out.

Fri 2 May 2008, 12:28

Thanks Mandy – however this problem doesn’t stem from Chippy sorting office. This problem is national and is a great deal more serious.

Regarding my lost and stolen post -I have just found out that the only thing you should do - is to fill out a form!

That doesn't really help our immediate problems does it? And, what’s being done about it?

Fri 2 May 2008, 11:27

the best thing would be to get intouch with the sorting office at chippy.

Fri 2 May 2008, 11:13

Just to warn you all - Yet again another important letter never arrived to me so has gone missing. There are some serious issues going on with our post. Something has to done about this.

Fri 2 May 2008, 10:26

it just gets better my post on wed came ay 4pm and my mum who lives round the corner from me got heres at 4.50pm when i came home from work at 1.20pm he was in the high street finstock is not a big place
why so late.its 10.30am and still no post i rember when mr merry from charlbury was a postman we always had are post by 8.30am.

Wed 30 Apr 2008, 19:34

Please may I warn you about the importance of missing post, etc. due to the current identity frauds going on?

When an important document is sent with all your business and personal details, without being recorded delivery – it makes is harder for the police, etc. to trace the trail.

From what I understand is that all our post in our area goes to Oxford Post Office sorting office, before it goes to Chipping Norton. I’ve always found the Chipping Norton Post sorting office, very helpful. However, there are delays from Oxford, which maybe the ripple from around the country.

My most recent local issue stems from Oxford Post Office sorting office? There are also a serious issues going on in London, even with next day delivery service. May I remind you that I witnessed and reported a crime of theft of Royal Mail?

One of the most important things you have to do - is to report the missing post directly to Oxford’s Post sorting office – customer services. That is only way that anything can be done about this.

One of the most annoying things is the junk mail, which just wastes everything, in my mind. We don’t want anymore small post offices closing!

Maybe Alan Leighton, who I’ve met, should stop worrying about the Post Offices financial crisis, stop the junk mail and make sure that theft is dealt with by proper HR checks on who they employ!!! He normally sorts it out in the end, by the by - judging on his CV. But what is Brown doing about it?

Mon 28 Apr 2008, 23:38

Sadly, I also have to warn you all about important missing documents delivered via our Royal Mail post, locally.

I have also recently heard about other issues regarding this issue.

It is a crime, when our Royal Mail post is stolen. That may explain the lateness recently.

I witnessed this happening when I was in London after reporting it to the police twice. The CID did ring me back to thank me for my co operation.

Please can everybody log in to the police at Thames Valley police on their 0845 tel number - if you too have had important identity information gone missing in our Royal Mail post recently?

There is serious fraud and scams happening at the moment. We all have to be careful.

Again the police say that they are incapable of helping us until the crime has been committed, when they can then be allowed to investigate. Obviously too late when our money has gone missing out of our accounts, when we are all broke!

What is happening in this country? It’s all too sad that there is no responsibility, no powers to control and no manners!

So what is Alan Leighton and Gordon doing about this?

Thu 3 Apr 2008, 08:45

The Cooperative Bank being one of them.

Caution advised: the staff at the post office can get a little fussy about having the correct printed bank envelope to dispatch paying in cheques. Also, they dispatch the following day's post so you add one day to your clearance time.

Mon 31 Mar 2008, 12:30

The full list of which bank customers can do what is at
ftp://ftp.royalmail.com/Downloads/public/ctf/po/F7532A5BankservTable31012006.pdf

Alas HSBC isn't one of the ones who can pay in, but there are quite a few other banks to choose from who can!

Sun 30 Mar 2008, 21:52

Nick: do you know if this applies to HSBC customers, i.e. can we get free banking facilities at Charlbury P.O.?

Sun 30 Mar 2008, 20:01

thankyou thats good to know but dont the post office close at 12pm on a saturday as well.but thakns for the info.

Sun 30 Mar 2008, 19:45

Nick: do you know if this applies to HSBC customers, i.e. can we get free banking facilities at Charlbury P.O.?

Sun 30 Mar 2008, 13:16

Possibly quite a large change to work around the post being late, but why not change your bank? Quite a few of them allow you to pay in cheques at the post office. That way, as long as the post arrives before half 5, you can still nip into the centre and pay it in. Also, all the banks that let you pay cheques in at the post office also allow you to take cash out for free there, which is also handy.

Sat 29 Mar 2008, 18:26

sorry for moaning about the post but i was waiting for the post today as i was expting a cheque which needed to go into the bank the post never got here till 12 mid day which ment that i couldnt go to the bank as they close at lunch time.the postman that we had today didnt have a clue what he was doing he posted mail to me 3 times.and some of it wasnt mine.

Fri 28 Mar 2008, 14:20

Oh dear! I do hope this isn't going to turn into another moan-fest like the FGW thread. How long before someone sets up a post blog? Anyone from outside Charlbury having a look at this forum must think we all have nothing better to do than sit at our computers complaining endlessly.

Fri 28 Mar 2008, 11:49

This time last year, my family and I were living in the London Borough of Hackney. Our postpeople invariably delivered the wrong post to our house (who knows where they posted ours!)and deposited trail of red rubber bands up the garden path and along the pavements every day. They squashed great handfuls of post through the letter box, breaking it every few months, and tearing the mail in the process. So imagine our relief on moving to Charlbury that one of its many delights has included a cheerful and reliable postman. The post may arrive at lunchtime rather than breakfast, but at least it arrives and in one piece!

Wed 5 Mar 2008, 09:45

Last week, friday I think, it arrived at 4.30. Has been better this week - never before 12 tho'

Sun 2 Mar 2008, 22:41

POSTIS ARE HAVING EXTRE TIME IN BED OURS ARRIVE AT 12 MID DAY ??????

Thu 28 Feb 2008, 17:19

You seem remarkably tolerant of the situation Nicola! Am I missing something here? Surely if you are afraid of dogs you don't apply to become a postman? It would be like someone who is terrified of heights training to be an airline pilot or a person who faints at the sight of blood trying to qualify as a heart surgeon! The Royal Mail slide still further in my estimation...

Thu 28 Feb 2008, 15:35

One of the postmen will not deliver to our house because of the dog - a small, friendly animal. Despite putting a box on the gate I have to go and collect the mail from the Post Office every day. I believe there are now 3 or 4 houses on Ditchley Road who are in the same position. His manager agrees that it is ridiculous, but if he says he is scared of the dog it is his call. The other posties have been told to support him and they won't deliver either! They kindly let me know by post...but wouldn't deliver the letter...

Sat 23 Feb 2008, 12:05

wow its saturday and are post was here before 10am thats the earlist its been all week.

Wed 20 Feb 2008, 17:43

i dont think it matters where you live i live in finstock and we never get are post before mid day oh only on a saturday as they get to go home early.

Thu 14 Feb 2008, 14:00

DC - if Charlbury is a town, can you please direct me to the Town Hall?
Jon is quite right in that the birth of the internet has reduced in one way the amount of post that the PO delievers and i guess that is one of the reasons for them making these cost cutting decisions, coupled with a militant workforce (well in oxford sorting office anyway) we are never going to have what we had in 'ye good ol days'.

On the other hand the birth of the internet has bought a huge amount of post to the network, imagine how many ebay parcels pass through the posties hand everyday??

Wed 13 Feb 2008, 18:45

I've asked two posties why the post comes later. They both say that they now start work 1 hour 15 mins later, and are not allowed to start earlier even if they want to. So there we have it: late postal deliveries are company policy.

Wed 13 Feb 2008, 13:18

"Does it really matter if the post omes at 8.30 or 11.30?" Well, yes, it does. If I am expecting urgent post, I need to get it early enough for me to get out and about and do a decent day's work; it's usually not a simple letter but a package of documents or a CD, and if it arrives late morning I am - in effect - delayed by a whole day. It's not so very long ago that I could depend on post arirving in good time as a matter of course. Now I can't, but I haven't noticed that we're paying any less for the service.

Wed 13 Feb 2008, 10:07

My gripe is the lack of consistency.
If it's morning or afternoon, only once or even only one every other day, I'd like to be able to factor in a consistent delivery into everything else I have to do in a day. Even FGW can maintain consistent lateness in the running of their trains; a reliable I can depend on.

Tue 12 Feb 2008, 21:25

I think the local postie,s have been reading the web site as we had are post before 9 this morning which is very rare

Mon 11 Feb 2008, 12:48

We have also noticed that some days we get no post and bumper amounts the following day. My suspicion is that the post persons run out of allocated time for their particular rounds, or rounds are doubled up if there are staff shortages. I would love to hear from a postman if this is correct.

Mon 11 Feb 2008, 11:27

I complained to PO couple of weeks ago as I realised there were days when we were not getting any delivery (most unusual) and then bumper amounts the next day, and 1st class mail taking 3 or 4 days. It has also become very late, often not til close to 3pm. Yet I know other roads receive mail by 10 am, so why such a huge time difference. It has got marginally better. Their service committment is to a delivery before 2.30pm (on web) but thats for 'rural' - I don't feel we are that rural!

Fri 8 Feb 2008, 10:21

Whether it matters or not to a small business depends partly on how you pay and get paid. I send and receive most payments online, and I suspect that the reason there isn't uproar from Charlbury businesses about the abysmal postal deliveries (and there is not) is that most of us work that way. Society is divided into those who can make full use of the internet (I guess 20 per cent at most?) and those who can't. Not a happy division. Of course the proportion is probably higher among businesses.

As to getting documents in the post, here again there are those people who communicate with .doc files and pdfs, and those who wait for the postie or sit out the postal strikes. As a publisher, some of the authors I deal with communicate instantly, whereas with others it takes a week or two to get feedback. Needless to say, if only for purely economic reasons, I try and avoid the latter. I guess that many businesses who rely on the post will become increasingly precarious.

On the other hand, 'emailings' are probably less effective than postal mailshots in terms of the proportion that are read: the advantage is that they are free to send. So I tend to focus on the customers I can email, and ignore the rest. The decline of Royal Mail is a mark of the decline of the democratic process.

It's a short step to saying that voting should be done online, and that if you can't get it sorted on your computer, or use your password to log in on a library computer, then that's your problem and you 'choose' not to vote.

Thu 7 Feb 2008, 22:25

I can't remember a weekday when our post was delivered AM, it always seems to be PM now - as late as 4.30pm!! And weekends are a complete lottery, and despite 'Royal Mail' rules we have stuff left on the doorstep when no one is at home!!

Thu 7 Feb 2008, 18:35

11.30 where we live in charlbury that would be early to get are post as we normally get it between 12 and 2.30 every day but early on a saturday!

Thu 7 Feb 2008, 17:15

Now Now Derek!!

Thu 7 Feb 2008, 11:58

Well firstly can I say that Charlbury is a town not a village (!!!).

Late delivery of the post may not matter to you Derek but it certainly matters if you are running a small business and are anxiously waiting for work to arrive or for cheques to arrive that will stop you from going overdrawn at the bank.

The situation in Oxford that I was describing also declined markedly over the years so that by the time I left it was worse than it is now in Charlbury. One day the letterbox rattled at about 2.45 pm. A friend who was with me said "Oh, aren't you lucky here, getting a second post!" "Second post be damned" I replied, "that's the first post!"

I stand by my previous comment that Royal Mail are in (probably terminal) decline. The service has been steadily eroded in recent years in a number of ways: the abolition of the second post; frequent strikes; the abolition of Sunday collections; increasingly late deliveries. All of these problems make it very difficult at times to run a small business and I know other people who feel the same way. The situation seems to be the same right across Oxfordshire regarding late deliveries. When the second post was abolished, Adam Crozier said that it would ensure that everyone received their post at a decent time in the morning. In my experience this has not happened.

We are all going to hell in a (shiny red) handcart, with "Royal Mail" embossed on the side!

Thu 7 Feb 2008, 09:22

does it really matter? 'We' get a regular post delivery, so does it really matter if it comes at 8.30am or 11.30am ?

Reading between the lines in Alex's comment, and in this i assume he is like the vast majority here, he has only noticed this as he is off work, so he would normally administer his post when he returned home in the evening. so it really does not matter for the majority of people when during the day it is delivered.

And surely the service we receive in the village today will differ to your example of 13 years ago in the City, but it is a little melodramatic to say it is a case of the country going to the dogs, do you not think?

Wed 6 Feb 2008, 19:01

What you are describing is nothing unusual Alex. I would guesstimate that over the last 2-3 years my post has arrived on average at about 11.30 am. Sometimes (esp. Saturdays) it is a little earlier; often quite a lot later. It was worse when I first moved here (2.30 pm was not uncommon in those days!).

When I first started working for myself in 1995 in Oxford I could guarantee that the post would be on the doormat when I came down for breakfast (8.00 to 8.30 am); now it often doesn't arrive much before lunchtime. When they abolished the second post, Royal Mail promised that the one and only postal delivery would arrive at a reasonable time - that worked well didn't it? Yet more evidence that the country is going to the dogs! "Change and decay in all around I see" etc. etc.

Wed 6 Feb 2008, 11:20

Been off this week i.e. on holiday and amazed at how late the post seems to arrive these days! It's 11:20 and they still haven't been! This happens daily too! What's going on?