Tag: Royal Mail

Royal Mail Talks End – No Agreement

Posted by | Sep 10, 2007 | |

As private talks between the CWU and Royal Mail officials come to an end, somewhat unexpectedly, no deal has been reached.

Royal Mail saw significant losses this year after many of its large customers moved their sorting requirements to rival mail handlers, and the losses look set to continue as Royal Mail is left effectively holding the baby – the Universal Service Agreement, Britain’s backbone final mile postal deliveries.

More disturbing perhaps is that whilst Royal Mail struggles to stand its ground after mail liberalization was effectively bulldozed through, there seems to be a hardcore of postal workers that are convinced that working to their times (a more acceptable way of saying ‘work to rule’) will see some divine presence appear from the blackness (presumably in the shape of Gordon Brown) and save them all.

The CWU have lost the battle so far and no amount of strikes or working to rule are likely save jobs or see any big pay rises in a business that is seeing large chunks of its most profitable work eaten up by rivals. It either works smarter and more efficiently or it fails. The likelihood of Royal Mail being broken up to maintain the Universal Service and allow Royal Mail to compete for business mail seems greater than ever.

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Royal Mail and CWU push back talks deadline

Posted by | Sep 10, 2007 | |

The direct mail industry is on tenterhooks, following the extension of the 4 September deadline for talks between the Communication Workers Union (CWU) strike and Royal Mail.

Following four weeks of talks, in which strike action was suspended, this recent round of negotiations has been given until 9 September to broker a deal.

The extension until Sunday will then be followed by a further meeting on Monday. Neither party is commenting on the progress of the talks until then.

CWU campaign manager John Colbert told printweek.com: “There is a complete communications ban concerning these talks until Monday at the earliest.”

This summer’s strike action was a response to the Royal Mail’s modernisation plan and disrupted mail deliveries across the country and further action will cause more misery to direct mail companies.

The CWU claims Royal Mail’s plans will result in a permanent reduction in customer services and is an attack on postal workers’ jobs, pay and conditions.

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Survey records people’s attitudes to Royal Mail service

Posted by | Sep 6, 2007 | |

One year on from Royal Mail’s introduction of Pricing in Proportion (PIP), MarketingFile conducted a survey to see if business postal costs had increased or decreased.

When asked “since PIP was introduced, have your office mail costs increased”, 44 pct said yes, and 16pct said it had decreased. When asked how the changes affected their Direct Mail costs, 63 pct said costs had increased, with 25 pct staying about the same.

A sharp contrast to the Royal Mail’s initial pitch to Postcomm which stated: “The great majority of our mail will not change in price and this means that most of our customers will not be greatly affected”.

Whatever the opinion of PIP, 65 pct of businesses still use first class post for their office mail, and 44 pct for direct mail. With the British stamp still being the preferred method of payment for 49 pct.

When asked, are you happy with the service you receive from the Royal Mail, 50 pct of business users said no. Despite this, when asked if they would think about using a different provider the majority of participants said yes, but was confused about the available suppliers.

With last month’s debate between Postcomm and the Royal Mail on possible reductions of deliveries to 5 days a week, we asked “How would this affect you?” 28 pct of our readers felt it could have a serious impact on their business; with 60 pct voting they would least like to loose Monday deliveries and 64 pct happy to loose Saturday.

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TNT guilty of false advertising claims against Royal Mail

Posted by | Sep 5, 2007 | |

complaint about a TNT magazine insert that portrayed its service as the cheaper, more convenient alternative.

The front of the insert said: “100 pct Reliability 20 pct Savings 0 pct Hassle – See what you’re missing”. The reverse side said: “Discover our irresistible rates, faster service and ease of use when you make the switch to TNT Post – the UK’s leading competitor to Royal Mail… See how much you could SAVE with this simple savings calculator chart.”

The chart displayed savings per annum achieved when using the TNT service to post a stated number of items per day. Below the chart the text stated: “Prices are for TNT Post’s PremierSort Flex service and compared to Royal Mail 1st Class.”

In its complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority, Royal Mail argued that the comparison was misleading and unfair because it compared TNT’s two- to three-day delivery service with its next-day service.

TNT Post said that the comparison was transparent, specific and was neither unfair nor misleading. It said its postal service competed with several different Royal Mail services and said that a comparison of its two- to three-day services with Royal Mail’s first and second-class services was valid because it enabled customers to make an informed choice.

But the Advertising Standards Authority ruled that although TNT had included the disclaimer stating that prices were for its PremierSort Flexservice, many readers would be unaware that the service had a two- to three-day delivery period. The ASA reviewed further comparisons between the two companies found on the insert about savings, delivery time and reliability and ruled they were likely to mislead because the exact context of the comparisons was not made clear, in relation to distinctions between Royal Mail’s first- and second-class post.

The cASA upheld the complaint and told TNT to ensure that the basis of any future comparisons was prominently stated in the body copy of the ad.

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Royal Mail: Statistics on mail thefts

Posted by | Sep 5, 2007 | |

The Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, has ruled under the Freedom of Information Act that Royal Mail must disclose statistics on the number of thefts from private vehicles being used to deliver mail.

The complainant made a request to Royal Mail concerning the organization’s use of private vehicles to deliver mail. The complainant also requested statistics concerning the theft of mail from private vehicles when being used to deliver mail. Royal Mail did release some of the requested information on the use of private vehicles, but argued that by raising awareness that private vehicles are being used for mail delivery, the disclosure of statistics on thefts would increase the likelihood of these vehicles becoming targets for criminals. In his decision, the Information Commissioner considered whether releasing the statistics on thefts from private vehicles would prejudice the prevention or detection of crime or interfere in any Royal Mail investigation.

The Information Commissioner decided that disclosure of the statistics would not prejudice, or be likely to prejudice, the prevention or detection of crime. The Information Commissioner considers that disclosure of the information would enhance the public’s understanding of the risks of delivering mail by this method and their ability to assess Royal Mail’s performance. These are matters of public interest.

Royal Mail must now disclose the withheld information within 35 calendar days of the ruling. In his decision, the Information Commissioner criticised Royal Mail for failing to respond to the complainant within the statutory deadline.
Either party has the right to appeal against this Decision Notice to the Information Tribunal.

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