Royal Mail agrees to examine customer concerns about earlier final collections

Postcomm has secured Royal Mail’s agreement to assess further the needs of its customers in all those geographic areas where the final daily mail collection is being made before noon.

Postcomm’s intervention was prompted by concerns raised over Royal Mail bringing forward some final collection times, mainly in rural areas, to as early as 9am. Postcomm wanted to find out how widespread these practices were and whether these changes cause significant problems for mail users.

Postcomm has reached an agreement with Royal Mail which has been informed by some extensive market research and by a public consultation. The consultation found that, although earlier collection times do not present any widespread problems, final collections at 9am do not meet customers’ needs.

Postcomm chairman Nigel Stapleton said:

“Royal Mail has responded positively to Postcomm’s consultation by agreeing to review all of its morning collection times. We expect the company will strike an appropriate balance between the needs of all mail users and the cost of satisfying such needs when it makes changes to current practices.

“The research has found a generally high level of customer satisfaction with the services provided by Royal Mail and that, overall, most people are satisfied with current collection and delivery times. For this reason, Postcomm have decided against taking any regulatory action at this time. We will, however, keep these collection and delivery issues under close scrutiny and will continue our research into how effectively Royal Mail is meeting customers’ needs from the Universal Service.

“We attach the highest priority to Postcomm’s duties to secure the Universal Service and also to protect the needs and interests of all mail users, especially vulnerable users and people in rural areas. Early collections or later deliveries could have adverse effects on these mail users’ ability to communicate by post, and therefore on the future health of the mail market.”

Notes for editors

The document “A Review of Royal Mail’s Collection and Delivery Times – The Way Forward” is published today and is available on the Postcomm website (http://www.psc.gov.uk/).

The results of the market research, carried out jointly by Postcomm, Postwatch and Royal Mail, are also available on Postcomm’s website. A media briefing summarising the key findings of the research is attached to this press release.

The purpose of the research was to establish customers’ needs, and relative willingness to pay for increased or decreased service levels (by using price as a common denominator) and willingness to accept changes in service levels. The research was not designed to provide detailed pricing information for Royal Mail’s services.

Most post is collected and delivered by Royal Mail, whose universal service obligation means it must make at least one collection from every post box and at least one delivery to every home or business premises every working day. (The universal service also includes the ‘one price goes anywhere’ stamp.) However, the times by which Royal Mail should make these collections and deliveries is not regulated.