All posts in the topic Collection point for Royal Mail parcels (Short link)
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- There are 44 posts — by 15 authors — in this topic.
- Latest post made by Mary Clarkson at Jul 12 20:23 UTC
Returning to the subject of our local postal service, how many of the local
city or county councillors would support making the Headington PO in London
Road the automatic collection point for all parcels or other items not
successfully delivered to the door?
> At the moment it is a huge hassle having to go all the way to Sandy Lane just
because somebody has sent something with inadequate postage, or sent it
signed-for. Why should we have to pay 50p to have it sent to the local PO?
> The idea of changing it to something more convenient was discussed some time
back, but nothing came of it.
> Can we now please have the opinions of all our local councillors for or
against. If they are against, I would like to know why.
> If they are in favour, there may be some hope of putting pressure on the
Royal Mail.
> It is too late of course to lament the closure of the local sorting-office,
which has been sold off like so many of Britain's assets, so that we can afford
to rebuild bombed shrines in Iraq.
Whilst not a councillor, and absolutely supporting this idea in
principle, I wonder if the reason everything goes back to Sandy Lane
is that I think the option they actually prefer is that you call them
and arrange a second attempt at delivery when you can be in isn't
it? They would not be able to offer that very easily if the parcels
had already been dispersed to local post offices.
As a city councillor for Headington Ward, I am happy to contribute to
the debate on postal services.
Forum members may be interested to know that I have personally spent
more than ten hours on the doorsteps in Iffley and Rose Hill
collecting signatures on a petition to keep Iffley Post Office open.
The saving achieved by closing the only service available to people
who live in that area was just £4,000 a year. I hope that Headington
residents taking part in this email debate supported that campaign by
signing the petition and writing to their MP and the Royal Mail. The
Oxford East MP helped us out for an hour getting people to sign the
petition and posing for press photos but, sadly, he subsequently voted
through the closure in Parliament a week or so later.
As I understand it, an undelivered parcel is returned to Littlemore
and held there for collection pending receipt of a telephone message
or postcard advising of a more suitable date when the parcel can be
re-delivered free of charge. The suggestion to make Headington a
central location for undelivered parcels would mean that storage space
and admin resources would be needed in two locations rather than one,
and these additional costs would need to be justified.
I am curious to know why there is a particular need in Headington for
this enhancement of service, at a time when insufficient money can be
found to keep post offices open in a significant number of areas
elsewhere in Oxfordshire. Perhaps the first stage in any campaign
would be to find out what volume of parcel traffic is specific to the
Headington area, as opposed to other areas of Oxford, and whether
Headington Post Office could cope with storing this in terms of space.
The reason given for this proposed change in previous email
correspondence appears to be to save the 'huge hassle' of collecting
undelivered items from elsewhere, and this is true for people who live
in any area other than the one in which the collections office is
located. From a wider perspective, and to some extent to play Devil's
advocate here, residents in more socially and economically deprived
areas of Oxford who possess no local post office at all and who have
no bus service to any alternative post office other than the one in
Oxford City Centre at a cost of approximately £3.00 return may well
envy the current level of service enjoyed by those who live in
Headington, and would undoubtedly see any improvement in a
comparatively more affluent area as a further example of social
injustice.
One of the most useful resources that could be invoked in any campaign
to improve services in Headington is the City's core strategy which is
being worked on at the moment. This affirms Headington's role as the
district centre for the North East of Oxford. It is possible that a
reasoned case could be made for post offices in the district centres
to become parcel collection points: this would need to be fully costed
in a business plan for consideration by Royal Mail.
Ruth Wilkinson
Liberal Democrat City Councillor for Headington
Another way might be for each delivery address to be able to nominate the
addresses of two or three trustworthy local neighbours who would be willing to
serve as alternative recipients if the primary recipient were out. This would
be more convenient for both the recipients and the mail services, than opening
alternative collection points. It can't be difficult in these days of handheld
portable computers for a confidential register to be instantly available to the
delivery people so they can look up where the alternatives are.
We could debate whether this service should or should not be extended to
signed-for mail. Myself, I can't see why other trusted neighbours could not
sign for my mail.
This system would have a secondary advantage of improving neighbourliness.
Does anyone know if this idea has been implemented anywhere?
I think that we in Headington feel particularly hard-done-by as regards parcel
collection because:
(1) We used to have our own delivery office at the top of Lime Walk until just
a few years ago. We still mourn this facility that was taken away from us --
collecting parcels from there early the next morning used to be so convenient.
(2) One in three households in Headington has no car, and getting to Ledgers
Close without one is unviable: it would mean two long and expensive bus
journeys in each direction.
(3) Our local postmen already deposit their undelivered packages in Headington
Post Office at the end of their rounds. It seems ridiculous that they are then
taken such a long way away from us, causing so many unnecessary individual
journeys, usually by car.
We realize that we are lucky in Headington in that we still have a main post
office (as well as a branch of MailBoxes); and I reckon there are also four
branch post offices in the area (Underhill Circus, Westlands Drive, Wood Farm,
and Risinghurst). Marston is not so lucky.
It was a sad day when the Sorting Office closed. My understanding is -- as
was mentioned at the time -- Headington PO (which now, of course, serves an
even wider catchment) is simply too small to stock all the parcels. If
that's not the case, then great. But that's the first issue to clarify.
FUMOP (as people on forums say when they have forgotten a point -- "following
up my own post"):
You may think that elderly people in Headington without cars should wait in
until the postman has been. But our "morning" delivery is coming at 4pm this
week, and is always entirely unpredictable: it isn't possible to guess when a
parcel might arrive.
It wouldn't take a lot of space in Headington Post Office if just the small and
signed-for items that the postman brings on foot were stored there. (There
could be a threat that if not collected within three days they will be taken to
Littlemore.)
I think it is the extra work rather than lack of space that might scupper this
idea.
I think that Stephanie's reply has answered any objections raised to keeping
undelivered items at the central Headington PO.
Ruth Wilkinson suggests getting through to the sorting-office by telephone.
Have you ever tried to do that, and have you got any idea how long, slow,
difficult and frustrating it is? Nineteen times out of twenty you get through
the recorded messages to find that the line is engaged. The twentieth time you
are likely to find that it is now their lunch break. The numbers constantly
change and you are often told that the number on the card is the wrong one. You
could spend YEARS trying to get through to request re-delivery. It is a
non-service. I sometimes suspect that they leave the phone off the hook.
It is also inaccurate to suppose that residents of Headington can "easily" get
over to the Sandy Lane sorting-office. There are no direct bus routes and it is
a cycle ride of about three miles each way. I have done it in the freezing
weather only to find that they close it before the official time and there are
six or more people waiting outside, cursing. Go back again and you find that
they have returned the items to sender, as they count five days regardless of
whether there is a Christmas holiday or not.
The subject of Post Office closures has been raised on this forum before, and
Ruth Wilkinson seems unaware that her own Libdem party also supported PO
closures, which are being enforced of couse, by the EU. Go and ask your MEPs,
and insist they tell you the truth. Of course Andrew Smith is an utter
hypocrite on this issue but he is not alone - the Libdems and Tories are just
as bad. If you care so much about the deprived people of Iffley, why does your
own party support EU control of our budget and our postal services? Petitions
and complaints are totally useless when the problem is at Brussels.
There seems to be a separate issue here about the efficiency (or lack
of it) at the parcel collection office at Sandy Lane. This is
something that should be taken up with Royal Mail's Customer Services
department. If people would like me to write a letter to Royal Mail
telling them of residents' concerns, I am more than happy to do so. I
shall need to give evidence for these complaints, so it would be great
if folk could keep a log from now on of their dealings with Sandy Lane
and how well (or badly)these transactions have been handled. This
would also give us a clearer indication of how much parcel traffic is
happening around Headington.
I honestly don't recall saying that it would be easy for people to go
to Sandy Lane. It's more a case of being equally difficult for people
to get to! It is not well served by local buses and there is
virtually no visitors' parking so it is not in a very accessible
location.
If there is lots of concern about this issue, I wonder if we ought to
invite a representative from Royal Mail to come and speak at a public
meeting? It would also be useful to ask the manager of the Headington
post office for comments on how feasible this suggestion might be.
FUMOP One further point I forgot to mention is that the sorting-office down in
Sandy Lane has very limited opening hours, mornings only, whereas the PO is at
least open till 5pm most days and 1pm on Saturdays. For people who have the
curious habit of working, meaning they are likely to be out when the postman
calls, it is just not convenient to go over there during the morning.
Telephoning them is nearly impossible, and while you hold the line a recorded
message repeats over and over again "We have made requesting a re-delivery
easier. Just go to our website, www.royalmail.com..." which is of course
another way of saying "Go away, get lost, buzz off, and don't pester us." It's
particularly frustrating if you haven't got internet or if yours happens to
have broken down!
Would the other Headington City councillors support making the central PO a
collection point?
There has been some incorrect information posted on this topic:
1) At busy times there are two people staffing the postal collection point at
Sandy Lane.
2) It is not just open in the mornings - although it used to be. It is now open
all day as well as Saturday mornings.
Oh! Before anyone suggests something to the contrary; I am not an employee of
Royal Mail and have no connection whatsoever with the organisation.
I am newly arrived here, but shall be on the watch for those who too closely
follow the old journalists' maxim of "Why spoil a good story (or rant) with the
facts."
I thought I ought to check whether Julia or Lindsey was correct about the current opening hours for collection of mail, so I rang East Oxford Delivery Office at Ledgers Close on 01865 747585 as soon as they opened at 7am, and needless to say they were engaged. I set up a ringback, but it did not work. I also rang 08456 113 225, but the chances of getting through on that number are nil, and there is an annoying recorded message saying that they are extremely busy at the moment and that the quickest way to get your parcel is to go to your local delivery office and get it, or to arrange redelivery online at www.royalmail.com/redelivery It is obvious that the Royal Mail just don’t want to speak to people, and this emphasizes the problems of communication that everyone complains about. Perhaps someone who has collected a parcel in the last week or two will be able to tell us definitively what the current opening hours at Ledger’s Close are. I thought we were on mornings only, but the hours change all the time and I have not had to go there for some months. It is not surprising that everyone is confused. It would be helpful if the East Oxford Delivery Office had a webpage, complete with opening hours and a map, but that would make everything too easy. As I remember it: (1) When the Lime Walk office closed down, Headington was initially treated very unfairly: all the rest of Oxford could collect their mail all day, but Headington could only collect in the mornings up to 1pm. (2) Then Headington was brought into line with everyone else and could collect its mail up to 5pm. (3) In November 2007 the closure time was brought back to 2pm for the whole of East Oxford (including Headington), but the Royal Mail was still giving out the old cards causing great inconvenience for all: see http://archive.oxfordmail.net/2008/2/10/223580.html Has there been another change in recent months?
I've long felt that Royal Mail (and other delivery companies) are
going to have to get their acts together in the next few years and
start delivering when we want. THat the whole delivery system needs
to operate more like the supermarkets' home delivery services with
windows you can select. Sometimes I'll pay for "next day delivery
before 9am" so I can be relatively sure of getting it. I would
prefer to be able to "between 6p and 8pm" say.
Anyway, I have a "you weren't in" card from 16th April and it says
07:00-17:00 weekdays and 07:00-12:30 on Saturdays if that helps. So
unless they've changed things in the past two months...
I was at Sandy Lane about three weeks ago, collecting a package at 4.30pm on a
Friday afternoon.
When I've been there at lunch times - which is the busiest time - there are
usually two people dealing with people's requests for mail.
I visit the centre about once a fortnight as I have a lot of packages delivered
and they usually arrive when I'm at work. I usually (but not always) get a
swift and trouble-free service.
Of course, I recognise that getting there is far more difficult for those
without their own transport.
Thank you Stephanie for comfirming how difficult it is to get through to the
sorting-office. I agree that it is very irritating to ring up and be told in a
voice of pseudo- cheerfulness to go to their website.
My description of six people waiting outside the sorting-office at 12.30 in
the morning because it was shut for the rest of the day is not a "rant" it is a
"fact" so please classify it correctly. The date was last December.
I have recently had a message from Royal Mail admitting that they auction off
uncollected items. Could this have anything to do with their attitude? About
six months ago I had one of those cards through my door saying that a "letter"
with inadequate postage was waiting for me at the Sandy Lane sorting-office.
The card, which I still have here, dated 30th January 2008, has no opening
hours at all printed on it.
I tried to get through to them on the telephone and simply could not. They
never delivered it and, having a busy life, I put the card aside. In my mind it
became confused with all the other countless delivery problems one has with
Royal Mail, DHL, Parcel Force etc etc I recently threw away a sheaf of red
cards.
Eventually the sender contacted me and enquired whether I had ever got the
item. The so-called "letter" had actually been a pearl necklace, a late
Christmas present. Unfortunately it had no return address on it. Royal Mail
told me that as I did not collect it within the given time, it would have been
"disposed of" possibly by auction, or thrown away, and they have no idea what
happened to it.
I complained that the item had been inaccurately described, as it was not
simply a "letter" but they said they can take no responsibility for that.
Back in 2004, Royal Mail was forced to sack 100,000 staff to meet what our
government called targets of efficiency and profitability. Frustrating for
them, as most of their profits have been taken by e-mail companies or
parcel-delivery services, many of whom are not of course British, so they do
not seem why they should spend those profits on running things like local Post
Offices or local sorting-offices.
Quote Julia Gasper: "I have recently had a message from Royal Mail admitting
that they auction off uncollected items. Could this have anything to do with
their attitude?"
Dear Julia,
Are you suggesting that Royal Mail are deliberately "losing" items or making
them difficult to collect so that they may auction them to make money?
Please tell me I have misinterpreted what you mean. If you do mean what I have
assumed you mean I think you should be more careful with your comments - unless
you have irrefutable evidence that this is the case.
Presumably you mean 12.30 in the afternoon. Otherwise I can see why the office
would be shut.
----- Original Message -----
From: Julia Gasper
To: Headington & Marston Neighbourhood Forum
Sent: Friday, June 27, 2008 11:42 AM
Subject: Re: [HMNF] Collection point for Royal Mail parcels
Thank you Stephanie for comfirming how difficult it is to get through to the
sorting-office. I agree that it is very irritating to ring up and be told in a
voice of pseudo- cheerfulness to go to their website.
My description of six people waiting outside the sorting-office at 12.30 in
the morning because it was shut for the rest of the day is not a "rant" it is a
"fact" so please classify it correctly. The date was last December.
I have recently had a message from Royal Mail admitting that they auction
off uncollected items. Could this have anything to do with their attitude?
About six months ago I had one of those cards through my door saying that a
"letter" with inadequate postage was waiting for me at the Sandy Lane
sorting-office. The card, which I still have here, dated 30th January 2008, has
no opening hours at all printed on it.
I tried to get through to them on the telephone and simply could not. They
never delivered it and, having a busy life, I put the card aside. In my mind it
became confused with all the other countless delivery problems one has with
Royal Mail, DHL, Parcel Force etc etc I recently threw away a sheaf of red
cards.
Eventually the sender contacted me and enquired whether I had ever got the
item. The so-called "letter" had actually been a pearl necklace, a late
Christmas present. Unfortunately it had no return address on it. Royal Mail
told me that as I did not collect it within the given time, it would have been
"disposed of" possibly by auction, or thrown away, and they have no idea what
happened to it.
I complained that the item had been inaccurately described, as it was not
simply a "letter" but they said they can take no responsibility for that.
Back in 2004, Royal Mail was forced to sack 100,000 staff to meet what our
government called targets of efficiency and profitability. Frustrating for
them, as most of their profits have been taken by e-mail companies or
parcel-delivery services, many of whom are not of course British, so they do
not seem why they should spend those profits on running things like local Post
Offices or local sorting-offices.
Julia Gasper
Headington Quarry, Oxford England
Info about Julia Gasper: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/juliagasper
This topic's messages may be viewed at:
http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/7BGcVCePvC0CjfnPclvh5W
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When the Lime Walk office closed in 2005, we were promised a super new delivery service from the Royal Mail, but I don't see we are getting it. Our former city councillor Stephen Tall quoted the letter from the Royal Mail boasting about its new service at Ledgers Close on his website: http://stephentall.org.uk/news/000113/headington_sorting_office_the_royal_mails_version.html The sentence that will cause most hollow laughter is: "Mail that cannot be delivered, because no one is at home to receive it, will be available for collection from the delivery office which has easier access to a better standard enquiry office." Try telling that to someone who has no car and can't get through on the telephone, or who gets a card giving old opening times. I suspect that what Julia meant with regard to auctions is that because the Royal Mail does not have undeliverable parcels with no return address heaped all around it but is able to take the easy option of sending them off to be auctioned, there is no incentive to make the extra effort after the expiry of the set time to re-deliver items or establish where the recipient actually lives. I have been in the queue at Ledger's Close and seen someone's shock to discover that a parcel that arrived during their absence abroad for a few months no longer existed. I was shocked too: I didn't realize that they got rid of parcels so quickly. The moral of this tale is: Always include a return address. Those of us who have had bad experiences with Royal Mail tend to have our general view coloured by them -- and I am in this group: I take for granted all the items that have arrived safely, but still feel annoyed at having had the unpleasant experience of cycling the six-mile round trip to Ledger's Close on three days running before they managed to find a "signed for" item they had mislaid there -- naturally it was impossible to telephone to ask if they had found it. (Nor do we get any indication of which member of our family undelivered items are addressed to, so we can't begin to imagine what is missing, and we always tend to assume it is something of huge and urgent importance for "JENKINS".) My views of our postal service will be inflenced very much by what happens this morning: I have paid extra to get guaranteed Saturday delivery of six freshly fertilized hens' eggs from eBay, and if they don't come my broody hen and I will be furious. (I fancy a new fascinator for my avatar picture.)
I have to collect a parcel from Sandy Lane this morning. Can I offer anyone a lift? David Clover 01865 765881 Stephanie Jenkins wrote: > When the Lime Walk office closed in 2005, we were promised a super new delivery service from the Royal Mail, but I don't see we are getting it. Our former city councillor Stephen Tall quoted the letter from the Royal Mail boasting about its new service at Ledgers Close on his website: > http://stephentall.org.uk/news/000113/headington_sorting_office_the_royal_mails_version.html > > The sentence that will cause most hollow laughter is: > "Mail that cannot be delivered, because no one is at home to receive it, will be available for collection from the delivery office which has easier access to a better standard enquiry office." > Try telling that to someone who has no car and can't get through on the telephone, or who gets a card giving old opening times. > > I suspect that what Julia meant with regard to auctions is that because the Royal Mail does not have undeliverable parcels with no return address heaped all around it but is able to take the easy option of sending them off to be auctioned, there is no incentive to make the extra effort after the expiry of the set time to re-deliver items or establish where the recipient actually lives. I have been in the queue at Ledger's Close and seen someone's shock to discover that a parcel that arrived during their absence abroad for a few months no longer existed. I was shocked too: I didn't realize that they got rid of parcels so quickly. The moral of this tale is: Always include a return address. > > Those of us who have had bad experiences with Royal Mail tend to have our general view coloured by them -- and I am in this group: I take for granted all the items that have arrived safely, but still feel annoyed at having had the unpleasant experience of cycling the six-mile round trip to Ledger's Close on three days running before they managed to find a "signed for" item they had mislaid there -- naturally it was impossible to telephone to ask if they had found it. (Nor do we get any indication of which member of our family undelivered items are addressed to, so we can't begin to imagine what is missing, and we always tend to assume it is something of huge and urgent importance for "JENKINS".) > > My views of our postal service will be inflenced very much by what happens this morning: I have paid extra to get guaranteed Saturday delivery of six freshly fertilized hens' eggs from eBay, and if they don't come my broody hen and I will be furious. (I fancy a new fascinator for my avatar picture.) > > > Stephanie Jenkins > Headington, Oxford > Info about Stephanie Jenkins: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/stephaniejenkins > > This topic's messages may be viewed at: http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/21zFHhoNvFwBJuUYlUQJGS
Lindsey Doyle asks me for "irrefutable evidence". Yes, I have got some and here
it is, a copy of an e-mail sent to me by PostWatch two days ago dated 26th June
2008.
"T 0845 601 3265
F 02 8902 79340
E <email obscured>
Our Ref: 472218
25 June 2008
Dear Dr Gasper
Thank you for your e-mail of 25 June 2008.
I am concerned to learn of the problem you have experienced with the loss of a
valuable item. I can understand the distress and disappointment that this
matter will have caused you.
If there's no return address on the outside, Royal Mail will send items to the
National Returned Letter Centre (or to Portsmouth for Special Delivery mail and
packets, and to Belfast for letters). Here staff will open the mail and return
it if the name and address of the sender is inside, as long as it's not a
newspaper, magazine or advertising.
If there's no return address inside but the contents are of sentimental, legal
or financial value, Royal Mail will hold it for three months. If it's not
claimed within that time, unfortunately they will dispose of it.
If the unclaimed item is paper it will be recycled, bigger items are passed to
charity and finally any items that do not fall into the above category will be
auctioned off.
Therefore Royal Mail has merely acted in accordance with their policy and no
service failure has actually occurred. For this reason Postwatch will
unfortunately not be able to get involved with your case.
Postwatch is an independent organisation set up under the Postal Services Act
2000, to represent the interests of users of postal services. We do this by
taking up individual complaints when the consumer has already raised the case
with the Licensed Postal Operator and is dissatisfied with the result.
I regret that I am unable to offer you a more favourable response.
Yours sincerely
Jamie Donnelly
Call Centre Advisor"
""Quote Julia Gasper: "I have recently had a message from Royal Mail admitting
that they auction off uncollected items. Could this have anything to do with
their attitude?"
Dear Julia,
Are you suggesting that Royal Mail are deliberately "losing" items or making
them difficult to collect so that they may auction them to make money?
Please tell me I have misinterpreted what you mean. If you do mean what I have
assumed you mean I think you should be more careful with your comments - unless
you have irrefutable evidence that this is the case.""
Let me be more explicit Julia: Your comment which I referred to implied to me
that you were suggesting that Royal Mail were DELIBERATELY making it hard to
collect items in order to facilitate the process of auctioning them for profit.
If that is not what you were implying I think you need to clarify your
statement - I may not be the only one who has inferred something that you may
not have intended.
The email you attached does not provide irrefutable evidence that Royal Mail
are doing what I took your original statement to imply. In fact, read at face
value it shows that Royal Mail do what they can reasonably be expected to do to
get the item either returned to the sender or given to a charity. It seems that
auctioning items is the last resort. Your post which I have quoted implied to
me that you were suggesting that auction for profit was something that was a
motive for making mail difficult to collect.
Once again, please either:
1) Clarify what you meant
2) Provide evidence that Royal Mail are deliberately facilitating the process
of auction for profit
3) Withdraw the statement
Royal Mail must be so grateful to have a loyal fan like Lindsey.
The message I copied to this forum does, I think, provide "irrefutable
evidence" that Royal Mail auctions off some items. Whether it does so for a
profit or makes a loss I have no idea - I never used the word profit in my
original message, but my point is that is is much easier for them to chuck the
stuff away or pass it to a dealer than to actually deliver it.
I think it is a legal point that items of merchandise sent through the post
become the property of the addressee or recipient. Letters remain the property
of the sender. Neither becomes at any point the property of the Royal Mail. So
I would question whether the Royal Mail has the right to dispose of them by any
means, even for charity, particularly when there is a legible address on the
item.
After all, you can't sell other people's property, not legally anyway. So
while I sympathize with their problems, running the Royal Mail under present
conditions, I disagree with some of their actions.
As other posts have pointed out, Sandy Lane is fine if you have your own
transport and are able to get there during opening hours.
It ought to be fairly straight forward to get mail delivered to an alternative
address, but my only experience of this was a nightmare - I tried to redirect
on line to my work address, but couldn't get the form to accept the postcode
(for an Oxford City Centre address). Phoning didn't help - they just said that
they'd delivered it and it had been signed for. The thery's fine, but the
customer service is stuck in the 1950s.
On a practical point, if you're ordering stuff, you can usually arrange to have
it delivered to a different address, such as a work address (if your work is ok
with this) or an address where someone is more likely to be in.
That sounds ghastly, but typical.
To return to my original question: have our other local councillors got any
opinions on whether it would be a good idea to permit parcel-collection from
our central Headington PO rather than Sandy Lane, without surcharges?
Since, as Stephanie says, the parcels go there first before being sent to Sandy
Lane, such a system would surely not entail extra cost.
I am not saying that people in Iffley or wherever have an easy time collecting
parcels - but this is the Headington forum.
A card has just been delivered to me from Royal Mail. It informs me that an
underpaid letter awaits me at Sandy Lane. The cost will be £1.27. A printed
note in bold type says that Recorded Delivery letters are kept for one week and
other letters for three weeks before being returned to the sender. The card is
dated 26th June - delivered five days later - with no indication as to whether
I have to collect a Recorded letter before the deadline in two days!
Marie Vickers
digital cricket: I think the problem you experienced with redelivery is
reasonable from RM's point of view, although they should have explained it
better - I believe you can only have items redelivered to an alternative
address which is served by the same delivery office (in this case anywhere in
the OX3 and OX4 areas). The OX1 and OX2 areas are served by the delivery office
on the Oxpens Road.
Marie Vickers: it's unlikely the letter you have received underpaid is recorded
as it would then have had to have been accepted across a post office counter.
Just send off the card with the stamps (indeed if you post it today it'll be
there in time anyway). It's definitely worth complaining about the lateness of
the card - just phone the national customer service no. - as you'll probably
get sent six first class stamps, which'll pay your surcharge and more.
It is disappointing that neither of our local Labour City Councillors have
expressed any interest in this issue, which is clearly a matter of concern to
many residents. Now that the local election is over, have they switched off? Or
do they think that the concern is not from their voting area?
The vast majority of messages have agreed that Sandy Lane is an unsuitable
collection point for Headington, that the system is unsatisfactory and that the
central Headington PO would be a better alternative.
That surely makes it incumbent on local councillors to take an interest.
To be fair, I think you'll find that only two out of the eight
possible Labour councillors representing wards or divisions in the
north east area are even subscribed to this list.
There used to be a Post Office consultative committee to which the
city council appointed one representative. The last one I remember
was Alan Pope. I wonder if there is still such a body and who now
attends. Though I seem to remember it was a once or twice a year
affair.
Jock is right: only two out of the eight Labour city and county councillors on the North-East Area Committee have joined this forum (it isn't compulsory!). The LibDems score six out of eight (with one counted in twice, because he is both a county and city councillor). The breakdown is as follows: · City Council: Out of a total of 12 city councillors, 5 have joined (3 LibDem, 2 Labour) · County Council: Out of a total of 4 county councillors, 3 have joined (all 3 LibDem) You can see exactly who has joined the forum here: http://forums.e-democracy.org/groups/oxford-hm/members It is alphabetical by first name (which I don't like, but I can't change it).
To my knowledge, that doesn't exist any more -- or if it does, it means in
secret, unbeknown to most councillors!
David
David Rundle
City Councillor (LibDem), Headington Ward
Have been belatedly following the postings on this topic.
I have spoken to the manager of the Headington Post Office this week who has
explained that the possibility of using the Post Office as a collection point
has been discussed, however, because of the limited space and the need to
employ extra staff to handle this increased work load, the idea was dropped.
The Labour government has put large amounts of public subsidy into the post
Office network - some £2 billion since 1997, with up to a further £1.7 billion
proposed up to 2011. But even this large subsidy cannot sustain the current
network, and this has been recognised by the National Federation of Sub Post
Masters.
The recent Opposition Motion referred to by Ruth Wilkinson which Andrew Smith
did not support, proposed a temporary suspension of the closure programme but
did not propose a single pound of more subsidy. Indeed the Shadow Secretary of
State refused to commit to the government's £1.7 billion of extra investment.
To carry the opposition motion would have been putting the network under
further financial pressure with a real risk of more closures.
What has really affected the number of Post Offices which can be maintained is
the switch of business away from the Post Offices and the rapidly increasing
requirement for subsidy.
Dee Sinclair
City Councillor Quarry and Risinghurst
Yes, indeed, the switch away from using Post Offices has meant an increase in
subsidy from Government! But who stopped pensioners being able to collect
their pensions from our Post Offices? ERh?
And child benefits? A New Labour government.
Post Offices were a real asset for many communities, urban and rural, and their
demise is a real blow for many people of all ages.
Cllr Roz Smith
Barton & Churchill Division
Tel. 01865 750 731
Mob. 07722 840 117
Liberal Democrats - Putting People First
The BBC's decision to take away TV licensing from Post Offices made quite a difference to their survival, or lack of it, as well. PG ----- Original Message ----- From: Cllr Roz Smith To: Dee Sinclair ; Headington & Marston Neighbourhood Forum Sent: Friday, July 04, 2008 9:55 AM Subject: Re: [HMNF] Collection point for Royal Mail parcels Yes, indeed, the switch away from using Post Offices has meant an increase in subsidy from Government! But who stopped pensioners being able to collect their pensions from our Post Offices? ERh? And child benefits? A New Labour government. Post Offices were a real asset for many communities, urban and rural, and their demise is a real blow for many people of all ages. Cllr Roz Smith Barton & Churchill Division Tel. 01865 750 731 Mob. 07722 840 117 Liberal Democrats - Putting People First -----Original Message----- From: Dee Sinclair [mailto:<email obscured>] Sent: 03 July 2008 18:09 To: Headington & Marston Neighbourhood Forum Subject: Re: [HMNF] Collection point for Royal Mail parcels Have been belatedly following the postings on this topic. I have spoken to the manager of the Headington Post Office this week who has explained that the possibility of using the Post Office as a collection point has been discussed, however, because of the limited space and the need to employ extra staff to handle this increased work load, the idea was dropped. The Labour government has put large amounts of public subsidy into the post Office network - some 2 billion since 1997, with up to a further 1.7 billion proposed up to 2011. But even this large subsidy cannot sustain the current network, and this has been recognised by the National Federation of Sub Post Masters. The recent Opposition Motion referred to by Ruth Wilkinson which Andrew Smith did not support, proposed a temporary suspension of the closure programme but did not propose a single pound of more subsidy. Indeed the Shadow Secretary of State refused to commit to the government's 1.7 billion of extra investment. To carry the opposition motion would have been putting the network under further financial pressure with a real risk of more closures. What has really affected the number of Post Offices which can be maintained is the switch of business away from the Post Offices and the rapidly increasing requirement for subsidy. Dee Sinclair City Councillor Quarry and Risinghurst Dee Sinclair Info about Dee Sinclair: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/deesinclair This topic's messages may be viewed at: http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/4oduINqESJ5FEACQdgJA8C ----------------------------------------- To post, send your message to: <email obscured> To leave or for daily digest, type "unsubscribe" or "digest on," in subject line and send to: <email obscured> More info about Headington & Marston Neighbourhood Forum: http://forums.e-democracy.org/groups/oxford-hm E-Democracy.Org rules: http://e-democracy.org/rules ----------------------------------------- Technical assistance thanks to our friends at http://OnlineGroups.Net This email, including attachments, may contain confidential information. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender by reply and delete it immediately. Views expressed by the sender may not be those of Oxfordshire County Council. Council emails are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000. http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/emaildisclaimer Roz Smith Info about Roz Smith: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/rozsmith This topic's messages may be viewed at: http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/6yVgKLcHU2dZ1OrH8dJzIv ----------------------------------------- To post, send your message to: <email obscured> To leave or for daily digest, type "unsubscribe" or "digest on," in subject line and send to: <email obscured> More info about Headington & Marston Neighbourhood Forum: http://forums.e-democracy.org/groups/oxford-hm E-Democracy.Org rules: http://e-democracy.org/rules ----------------------------------------- Technical assistance thanks to our friends at http://OnlineGroups.Net
oh dear ..I suppose it is tennis season...
FACT: 8 out of 10 pensioners choose to have their pensions paid into a bank
account even though they can pick their pension up at the Post office if they
choose. Sensible choice when it can put at risk the most vunerable. An elderly
neighbour of mine was followed home from the Post Office having collected her
pension!
No other party has come up with a credible way to sustain all existing post
offices including the Lib Dems whose national line is to privatise Royal Mail
and use the proceeds to subsidise the Post Office network ..... all uncosted of
course!
Can you please translate 'ERh'?
Dee Sinclair
OK kiddies...
If you want to play political tennis then please do it somewhere else.
What those who post here want is proposed solutions to real issues - even if we
don't always agree what those issues are! What we don't want are local
politicians going into 'yah, boo, sucks' mode with each other. This forum has
been mercifully free of that to date.
I think the last message was unnecessary and inappropriate. I am glad to see
local councillors exchange views on this forum and did not notice any
undignified expressions until Ms Doyle used them. We are not "kiddies".
I cannot agree that no political party has put forward a plan for saving the
remains of our PO service. UKIP has. But it depends, of course, on regaining
control of our national budget which is admittedly somewhat outside the scope
of this forum.
I think we ought to leave the Post Office discussion at that, unless there are
any new developments or anyone has any brilliant ideas.
It is good to get messages from local councillors on this forum, and Dee did
actually take the trouble of going to talk to the manager of Headington Post
Office.
Luckily the "two messages in 24 hours" rule is designed to stop the "tennis"
continuing, whether it is being played by councillors or other members.
I appreciate that Dee Sinclair has gone to talk this over with the manager of
the local PO.
Is it too much to pursue this idea to the point of asking him how big a pile of
undelivered items there actually is daily, and why their presence would entail
any more work? I would be surprised if the volume of items we are talking about
were bigger than a small suitcase. The faster we can take them away, the
smaller the pile becomes. If we pay 50p and have them delivered to Headington
PO, they are being taken back and forth three times, which is ridiculous.
I am not accusing anybody of misrepresenting anything, it is just that in my
experience people can sometimes make excuses because they are unwilling to
change fixed procedures.
Both points taken Stephanie! <grin>
But apparently it's OK if you receive a parcel delivered by Parcelforce, which
can be collected from Headington Post Office, as I have just done on behalf of
a friend who lives in Elsfield.
If the PO has got space for Parcel Force items, and can manage the task of
handing them over, why can't it do the same for Royal Mail items? Does Parcel
Force pay the PO for this? Do they have more or fewer items than Royal Mail in
this category?
Parcel Force IS Royal Mail. Just a separate brand. PG ----- Original Message ----- From: Julia Gasper To: Headington & Marston Neighbourhood Forum Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2008 12:20 PM Subject: Re: [HMNF] Collection point for Royal Mail parcels If the PO has got space for Parcel Force items, and can manage the task of handing them over, why can't it do the same for Royal Mail items? Does Parcel Force pay the PO for this? Do they have more or fewer items than Royal Mail in this category? Julia Gasper Headington Quarry, Oxford England Info about Julia Gasper: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/juliagasper This topic's messages may be viewed at: http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/3zo8YEyRkuJN0ZLnTQ7zxF ----------------------------------------- To post, send your message to: <email obscured> To leave or for daily digest, type "unsubscribe" or "digest on," in subject line and send to: <email obscured> More info about Headington & Marston Neighbourhood Forum: http://forums.e-democracy.org/groups/oxford-hm E-Democracy.Org rules: http://e-democracy.org/rules ----------------------------------------- Technical assistance thanks to our friends at http://OnlineGroups.Net
Thank, you, Pippa. To my simple mind, that makes it seem all the more
nonsensical that the managers refuse to hold Royal Mail items at the local PO
along with the Parcel Force parcels.
My experience of managers is that their minds are rather like "read-only" disks
with an inbuilt reluctance to accept input.
I've only just joined the forum, not through any reluctance, but because of a
technical problem getting my password recognised. In answer to the specific
question: yes, I would like to see the Headington PO take parcels, if at all
possible. Ruth Wilkinson blithely talks about the affluence of Headington
whilst ignoring the fact that people in Barton, Northway and Marston also have
to trek over to Sandy Lane to collect parcels too and they have deprivation, or
pockets of deprivation, every bit as severe as Rose Hill.
I fought very hard to retain the two post offices in Marston which were closed
(Old Marston Village and New Marston). Unfortunately, for the people in
Marston, getting to Headington PO without a car is just about as difficult as
getting to Sandy Lane, so it wouldn't help them.