Consumer Focus Post, the Northern Ireland arm of UK watchdog Consumer Focus, is calling on Royal Mail to be more transparent about the performance of First Class mail delivery between Britain and Northern Ireland. It must also make sure the service meets the UK-wide standard for 93% of first class mail to be delivered the next working day, set by the regulator Postcomm.
The calls come as new Consumer Focus Post research1 shows that only 80% of First Class mail between Britain and Northern Ireland is delivered the next working day. More than one in five items of First Class mail take two or more working days. For consumers this means an estimated 13 million items annually posted between Britain and Northern Ireland, are likely to fail to arrive the next working day.2 The average time taken for mail between Britain and Northern Ireland is 1.26 days.
For residents in rural areas, the situation is worse because last collection times at some post boxes can be as early as 2.00pm to allow Royal Mail sufficient transit time to meet connections within their logistics network.
Mail expert Chris Thirkettle for Consumer Focus Post said,
“Most consumers expect that if a letter is posted First Class between Britain and Northern Ireland it should arrive the next working day. However, our research shows that more than one in five items take at least two days.
“Royal Mail advertise First Class as a next working day service. But while they are achieving this standard within Northern Ireland, and the UK as a whole3, the performance of mail between Great Britain and Northern Ireland appears to be falling considerably below target.
“This is very important for time-sensitive mail like bill-payments, insurance documentation and birthday cards. Indeed, if mail is not time-sensitive, we would suggest that consumers should consider using Second Class mail and save themselves the extra cost.”
Ends
Notes to Editors:
- Consumer Focus Post commissioned Ipsos MORI to carry out a mail survey exercise between 30 locations in Northern Ireland and 60 locations across Great Britain, in both directions. The research was carried out between February and March 2010. The full report by Ipsos MORI, including their findings, can also be found on our website.
- There are 25 million items of first class mail posted annually from Northern Ireland to Britain and 42 million from Britain to Northern Ireland. If one in five deliveries take two or more days this equates to 5 million and 8 million items of post respectively.
- Royal Mail Quality of Service performance results show that Retail First Class mail achieved the 93% target in 2008/09 in the UK.
- Consumer Focus Post is a statutory organisation that champions the interests of postal consumers across Northern Ireland. Consumer Focus Post started operating on 1 October 2008.
- For further details on the Consumer Focus Post report ‘First Class mail….. Next Working Day Service’ please go to our website
The main recommendations of Consumer Focus Post’s report are:
- The Regulator, Postcomm, should require Royal Mail to publish postcode area to postcode area performance figures for First Class mail (subtracting mail posted and delivered within an area) to ensure transparency on delivery times for mail travelling across the United Kingdom.
- Royal Mail should review its logistics to ensure that First Class mail sent between Northern Ireland and Great Britain conforms more closely to the UK-wide performance target
- Postcomm should review the practice by Royal Mail of moving last collection times forward - to ensure greater transparency over the ‘real’ time taken for mail to be collected and delivered
- Royal Mail should ensure that collection tabs are in place at all postboxes and that collection staff change the tab, as directed, at every postbox, so that customers have a clear idea when their mail will be collected
- If mail items are not time-sensitive, consumers should consider using the Second Class mail service, in order to save money.
