Delayed post protests stack up in Brighton once again (From The Argus)

Delayed post protests stack up in Brighton once again

4:20pm Friday 18th May 2012 in Sort It Out By Bill Gardner

Angry Royal Mail customers and staff are still complaining about the ongoing problems at a city sorting office.

People claiming to be postal workers have taken to the internet to criticise changes to delivery routes and working practices that have caused packages to pile up in the North Road depot in Brighton.

On the Royal Mail Chat website, one person who says they work for Royal Mail in Brighton, said: “The office is full of letters, packets and casual workers.”

They said “five or six” mailbags were being left at the office after every round because workers did not have time to deliver them.

When the changes were first introduced to the routes in Brighton three months ago, there were reports of parcels stacked up in the North Road sorting office for weeks as staff struggled to complete deliveries.

In response The Argus launched the Sort It Out campaign to put pressure on Royal Mail bosses to tackle the delays.

Last month managers and union reps announced the troubles at the North Road depot were finally over.

But less than two weeks later a whistleblower claimed the office was still in a “horrendous state” and sent The Argus pictures of piles of undelivered packages.

Since then customers have continued to contact The Argus to complain about late deliveries.

Week without

Lena Johansson, who lives in Miller’s Road, Brighton, owns a printing business that relies on the Royal Mail to keep going.

She said: “We didn’t have any post on Friday and items we sent to another business in Brighton last week didn’t arrive.

“It is causing serious problems again as the things that are missing or delayed are items without which I will not secure our next order.

Identity theft “Either we are the most unlucky Royal Mail customers in the UK or the delivery success rate is nowhere near what Royal Mail tells us.”

Margaret Loveridge, who lives in Tivoli Copse, Brighton, is now starting to get post that is a month overdue and says she is “really worried” about identity theft. She said: “I don’t know where the idea comes from that there are no problems – because there are.

“My husband and I have realised that several items are missing including bank statements and a newspaper that my husband has on subscription.

“I have complained to the Royal Mail and the Customer Resolution Team, but they just say “sorry”, and there is no account of where the missing post can be.

“Royal Mail is clearly trying to drive down costs – but this is no good if one loses faith in the service altogether.”

A Royal Mail spokeswoman apologised to “our customers who are experiencing delays in deliveries in some parts of Brighton.”

“Extra staff have been put on duty in the office and postmen and women are continuing to work hard to ensure all mail is delivered on time, day-in, day-out, as quickly as possible.

“We apologise once again to customers and would urge anyone with queries to contact our customer service department on 08457 740740. Our deaf and hard of hearing customers can use our Textphone on 08456 000060.”