Tag: Royal Mail

Royal Mail pays GBP 4 million compensation to customers

Posted by | Jun 23, 2008 | |

Royal Mail paid GBP 4 million compensation to customers in the first three months of the year as complaints rose to 4,200 a day.

The figure included GBP 2.7 million for lost mail, an increase of GBP 1 million on the previous quarter.

It also paid out for damaged goods, late deliveries, failures to redirect mail and letters sent to the wrong addresses.

The total of GBP 4,004,834 in compensation was up from GBP 2.6 million in the previous quarter.

The figures heaped further pressure on Adam Crozier, the company’s chief executive, as union chiefs called for him to go.

Last month it was revealed that, while his basic salary remained unchanged at GBP 633,000, Mr Crozier’s income rose to GBP 843,000 because of a performance bonus and other benefits.

Customers claiming for lost items can claim up to 100 times the 36p first class stamp or the market value of the item, whichever is lower.

Some of the increase in complaints against Royal Mail is thought to be due to industrial action over pay and the end of last year.

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New Post Office trial of atms offers convenient, Commission-free euros and dollars at selected branches

Posted by | Jun 20, 2008 | |

UK holidaymakers can now get commission-free foreign currency from new specially designed cash machines at selected Post Office branches.

Foreign exchange ATMs are being trialled in thirteen branches nationwide, giving people even more convenience when it comes to buying their holiday cash.

Customers using the ATMs will simply be able to insert their debit cards and select one of two mainstream currencies (euros or US dollars). There will be no charge for withdrawing cash, they get the same great exchange rate as over the counter and withdrawals are commission-free too.

The new machines supplied by Bank of Ireland are being trialled to complement the extensive range of counter services already available from Post Office bureaux de change, making it even easier for holidaymakers to get their Travel Money quickly and efficiently.

The announcement comes as recent figures show that there were 309 million overseas transactions on UK-issued cards last year (three per cent of all transactions on UK-issued cards). In fact using a debit card to withdraw cash abroad is so popular with UK holidaymakers that a total of GBP 7.1 billion was withdrawn from overseas cash machines in 2007.

For those who still want to shop abroad with plastic, the Post Office® credit card is one of the few cards which offers 0 pct commission on overseas transactions or the pre-paid ‘Travel Money Card’ is available in Sterling, Euros or US Dollars.

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Post Office calls for ID contract to cut closures (UK)

Posted by | Jun 20, 2008 | |

Ministers are being urged by the Post Office to give it valuable contracts to take over the distribution of ID cards, biometric data, and e-passports, in a bid to save it from a further round of politically-damaging closures, and loss of customers.

The organisation is arguing in private talks with ministers that it is best placed to take on some of these contracts since it is already responsible for checking passport applications and has an existing national network to draw upon. Ministers in both the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Home Office are stressing that they cannot hand out the contract without open commercial competition, but see both political and business advantages to a deal.

Ministers have met top figures in the Post Office to discuss the contracts, and other ways in which government can provide customers, after the Post Office was criticised for a sweeping closure plan.

Post Office retention of such contracts of national necessity is vital if ministers are to persuade the European Union that government subsidies remain lawful under EU law. Brussels has approved a subsidy of GBP 150m a year to enable the parent company Royal Mail, wholly government-owned, to run a network of 11,500 post offices by keeping loss-making branches open.

The government has sanctioned the closure of 2,500 post offices by the end of the year in a programme that has met fierce resistance across the country, but is designed to cut post office losses. The network lost GBP 200m in 2006-7, while Royal Mail is handling 3m fewer letters a day than last year.

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UK Post office bureau de change kiosks now in selected WHSmith stores (UK)

Posted by | Jun 19, 2008 | |

People going abroad this year can now pick up their holiday money at the same time as their summer reads. Shoppers dashing around the high street for last minute holiday bits and pieces will be able to use 50 new Post Office bureau de change kiosks at selected branches of WHSmith.

Most of the kiosks – located in prime shopping centre and high street locations – will be open seven days a week and close later than traditional Post Office bureaux, giving holidaymakers even more choice and convenience in how and when they purchase travel money in advance of their break.

The kiosks are opening at a rate of five per week; participating WHSmith shops will display a Post Office sign showing the latest foreign exchange rates in the store window.

Post Office kiosks have already opened in 30 WHSmith stores including Exeter, Bristol, Brent Cross, Kingston-upon-Thames and Sheffield. All fifty branches will be fully operational by the autumn.

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Royal Mail wins city contract (UK)

Posted by | Jun 19, 2008 | |

Royal Mail has won a contract with Manchester city council worth GBP 4.2m initially, with the potential to grow to GBP 8.4m.

Royal Mail will handle all of the council’s mail and expects to cut the authority’s bills by increasing the amount of post which can be sorted mechanically and by introducing more cost-effective mail products.

The contract will run for two years initially but will be extended for a further two if savings targets are met.

Dave Hulton, Royal Mail’s relationship manager in Manchester, said he was confident of doing so.

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