One in every four post boxes still without a tab
A nationwide survey undertaken on 19th September by Postwatch, the watchdog for postal services, has revealed that one in every four post boxes fails to display the correct collection tab – despite Royal Mail’s commitment to fully reintroduce the tabs by June.
The survey found that of 1,647 post boxes visited:
” 301 did not display a collection tab
” 95 displayed an incorrect tab
” Leaving 1,251 post boxes displaying the correct tab – 76 percent of the total surveyed
Collection tabs are important to customers as they indicate the daily final collection from a post box has been made. Royal Mail removed them in 2002. Following customer complaints and a Postwatch campaign, the company then agreed to reintroduce collection tabs.
Commenting on the latest survey results, Millie Banerjee, Chair of Postwatch, said:
“The good news is these results show an improvement in Royal Mail’s performance in reinstating tabs compared to our previous survey. However it is still unsatisfactory that one in every four post boxes does not provide the basic information that a correctly displayed tab gives customers.
“Tabs are a straightforward way of informing customers whether the day’s final collection has been made. Customers have said that they want and need them. Royal Mail must honour its commitment and ensure it is standard that every post box able to display a tab does so, and does so correctly.
“Customers who notice a tab is missing or incorrect should complain to Royal Mail by calling its 08457 740 740 helpline. It will be customer pressure in conjunction with nagging from Postwatch that finally makes Royal Mail adopt a quality approach to resolving this matter.”
