Some households claim they are only receiving mail in large parcels after delays of up to two weeks… but Royal Mail insists there is no problem

Households across the UK appear to be receiving their mail weeks late and in huge parcels due to staffing problems, but Royal Mail has said this is not a widespread problem.

Last week This Is Money revealed that Royal Mail was delivering mail less than once a week in some cities.

Since then, we’ve heard from more readers across the country who have been waiting for the mail, only to find it either disappeared or showed up weeks late.

Royal failure: Readers have missed hospital appointments and birthday cards and received utility bill fines due to delays

Nick, who lives there Dorking, Surrey, said he last received a job on October 6 and has noticed a deterioration in service since the summer of 2022.

He says he is facing a £50 fine from his water supplier for late payment because the bill arrived in the post after it should have been paid.

He keeps a log of the amount of mail delivered each day. This shows that since March 2022, numerous days have passed until a huge package of letters is delivered.

In Birmingham, Annette says on October 21st she received 12 pieces of mail from September 23rd to October 17th. It was the first time she had received mail in 12 days and luckily nothing was time sensitive.

However, Manish is there Glasgow, missed letters from the NHS and the bank because letters were not delivered daily.

The same goes for another reader Cheadle, Cheshire, who received a huge stack of 20 to 30 magazines, letters and appointments on October 7th and again on October 14th. They say it’s been going on like this for months.

A reader who lives in Sutton, South London, said since their usual mailman retired six months ago, mail deliveries have all but stopped.

“Every now and then a guy comes in a big van and delivers stacks of mail. Four days after the operation, I received a letter for eye surgery. Luckily I had called the hospital just in case.’

Jim, who lives there Yeovil, Somerset, said he received one delivery a week and, over the summer, three Radio Times magazines on the same day.

Donna, who lives there Stalybridge, Greater Manchestersaid: “If we’re lucky, our deliveries were already every two weeks before the summer.”

“I missed a hospital appointment because the letter wasn’t delivered and suppliers also refunded me for the goods I purchased, only for the items to arrive three weeks later.”

She says she spoke to her local postman who said the sorting office in Ashton-under-Lyne was understaffed.

When she went there to pick up her packages, she claimed that “the man behind the desk said his bosses had no intention of hiring additional staff.”

Royal Mail said letters would not be delivered in Stalybridge every two weeks, but accepted that while letters and parcels were scheduled to be dispatched every day, routes would rotate and mail would be delivered the next day.

Donna said: “If they delivered daily or next day, why were my neighbors receiving refunds from the Radio Times, missed hospital appointments and letters with postmarks that were 7 to 10 days old?”

Royal Mail has not clarified whether there were any staffing issues at this particular office.

A current employee said many of the delays were due to Royal Mail prioritizing parcels and tracking, and postal workers were instructed to block mail if necessary.

“Royal Mail is literally making our work impossible. We have to work more indoors before we can even really concentrate on preparing rounds to go out.”

Ceri, who lives in reading She says deliveries have dropped to one per week and her “disgruntled” postman said there aren’t enough people to deliver the mail, which is being held in the sorting office.

A reader in Farnborough, Hampshire, said that although their mail only comes once a week, package delivery continues to be regular.

“Our mail comes once a week at best, but parcel delivery is quite regular and there are additional staff for parcel delivery.

“I saw a local ad for a postman, but it stated part-time employment. With such major delays, why isn’t there full-time employment in the area?

Royal Mail said it treats all postal items equally and “does not have a policy of prioritizing certain items over others”, but admitted there were “issues with vacancies” in Farnborough due to the competitive labor market in the area.

They added: “We recognize that delays sometimes occur, but of the 7 billion letters we deliver each year, the majority are delivered successfully.”

“If a person experiences a significant delay, that is the exception and not the norm.”

‘[These] Cases where one person has suffered a week’s delay are not representative of our business when we deliver to 32 million addresses across the country.

“Deliveries occurring less than once a week are not a national problem and are not a problem that we recognize.”

There will be little consolation for households in towns and cities who have missed appointments, bills and birthday cards due to Royal Mail delays.

Last week, Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton, told This is Money: “My constituents are experiencing very real problems with postal deliveries, which is causing them to miss hospital appointments because letters don’t arrive on time, and the delays are adding to their grief.” and Heart pain.’

Meanwhile, Tim Loughton, Conservative MP for Worthing, said his constituents were seeing major problems with supplies.