The Royal Mail. Part and Parcel of this country! (Royal Mail)

Member Name: GillMN

Product:	Royal Mail
Date:	17/11/08 (205 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Serves millions of homes.

Disadvantages: Sometimes mistakes happen

The Royal Mail has been serving us for 360 years, it gives people the right to send and receive mail virtually wherever they live in Britain. Every day except Sundays, (and even on Sundays close to Christmas!) the Postie trudges up and down our lanes to deliver communications from all over the world. I wouldn't want to do that job! Getting all that mail sorted and delivered must be a miracle of organisation and logistics.

Now, don't get me wrong, I know the Royal Mail is not a perfect service. Letters get lost, mail gets delayed or misdelivered. As the finances available to support this service are reduced, mistakes happen more often. It does seem to be a phenomena of the increasingly expensive times we live in.

However, if I want to send a letter from Land's End to John O Groats it will only cost me 27p, or 36p if I am in a hurry to get it there. If you think of what it would cost you in time and effort alone to do it yourself, 36p is a small sum to pay. I use Royal Mail very frequently to send and receive parcels. I think only one has ever gone missing. (And I am not entirely sure that the intended recipient was telling me the truth because I foolishly didn't register the item.) I really think that this is a good record on Royal Mail's part.

Our Postwoman is reliable and efficient. If I'm not in she will make an extra effort and take the parcel to my Son's house further down the road. She keeps an eye on the older residents. All over Britain there are Posties going out of their way, (sometimes literally) to do a little bit more than their job. Why don't we hear about this instead of all the complaints?

Royal Mail stamps are collected worldwide, at the moment there are a special set out that commemorates the RAF. Every year there is a new Christmas range of stamps which I love. (Partly because sticking the stamp on means that I have finished writing yet another Christmas card!) Stamps are such simple things but their design can bring a lot of pleasure and I think that this is an area in which Royal Mail excels.

Royal Mail offers a range of delivery services. A few are listed below.
Sending mail in the UK
Sending mail overseas
Sending mail to UK Forces (BFPO)
Sending urgent mail
Sending mail in bulk

All these services and their collection services are priced on the Royal Mail website.

http://www.royalmail.com

It also lists an amazing variety of news and offers.

One of the things I find very useful about the Royal Mail is the ability to track a parcel using my computer. It is very easy to just put in the tracking number you receive when you post an item, (the directions are clearly written on the ticket,) then you are told exactly where the parcel has got to. I have used this facility a number of times and it is very reassuring.

Another useful service they offer is to give the choice of collecting or redelivery of a parcel that you have not been there to take delivery of. A red notification card is put through the door and a number of options are available. The phone number and web address are clearly written so it is simple to arrange a time or date that is convenient. It would be better for me if the parcel was kept for more than a week by the sorting office before it is returned to the sender, but I imagine that this would involve using a huge amount more storage space.

Overall I think that Royal Mail offers us a good service. In an organisation as huge as this is, with the promise to deliver to many millions of homes and workplaces, it seems to me that the problems that arise are only a minute portion of the picture.

I think we should give credit where credit is due and sing the praises of this national institution a bit more readily.

Summary: An amazing organisation.