I have worked out if a parcel has to go through London that is where the delays are. A parcel sent from Glos to Hants 3 days and viceversa.
Yes, Iâve noticed that too. One of my 1st class signed for parcels going to London took just over two weeks to arrive! Luckily the customer was absolutely fine about it as sheâd ordered in plenty of time.
Yes, even during the first lockdown, parcels going through London had quite big delays.
My biggest delayed parcel was one that went from Hampshire to Stoke on Trent.
Iâve had one customer letting me know a parcel hasnât arrived yet , only sent it on Monday ! I know theoretically it should turn up next day or so, but youâd think they would be a little more patient . I really hope it turns up soon !
When I was checking a recorded delivery item I saw this message on RM site 'Weâre working hard to meet our usual delivery aims. If we canât â because of the continued effects of Coronavirus on our people and ways of working â weâll deliver as soon as possible. Between now and Christmas, weâre delivering parcels up until 9.00pm and you may get two deliveries in one day. â
Interesting to know theyâre delivering into the evening.
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That is such a good idea this time of year (and gives staff the option for over time if they want it, which seems like a nice side effect given the state of the economy).
Yes, I sent my a parcel to my daughter in London this week and it was delivered in the evening. Probably makes sense where she lives too because there would be less traffic and easier parking in the evening.
I think theyâre doing an amazing job, considering the circumstances, but oh my goodness itâs frustrating as a seller, dealing with the ââwhereâs my parcelââ emails!
Iâve upgraded all UK items for free to first class during December, as it seems to be a tad more reliable than second class at the moment.
A relative working in the Swansea depot told me that if theyâre snowed under or at capacity they offload whole sacks of mail to out of area depots with space available, prioritising first class mail, so itâs the second class parcels that are off loaded first.
Which would explain why some are taking around two weeks to arrive.
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I send all my items 2nd class signed for. The last one I posted went from Kent to Birmingham. I posted on the 10th which was a Thursday and it was received on Monday 14th. Pretty good considering the weekend, Christmas and covid.
just thought iâd pop on this thread to say;
posted an order to an american customer of mine on tuesday the 8th, and it arrived yesterday (the 18th) - neither of us had expected it to arrive before christmas so, much happiness 
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Thatâs brilliant! Similar here, I posted a package to a customer in Germany last Friday 11th and it arrived with her this morning. We were both expecting it to arrive after the new year. Iâve had Xmas cards to the UK take longer! I sent my last order out this morning to the UK by special delivery, keeping fingers and knitting needles positively crossed 
x
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thatâs awesome, natalie! clearly the trick is to have exceeeeeding low expectations, and elation will follow! 
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Well said! 
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Snap!
Posted Monday, first class, email Thursday night asking why if hadnât arrived!
these people ! Probably because Christmas is fast approaching. I had another message today thatâs itâs still not arrived. Iâve had to ask them to wait further, as I wonât be able to remake and send in time for Christmas anyway 
Oh I wondered if thatâs what they were doing. I reckoned that stuff getting posted now probably had more chance than that posted 2 weeks ago as theyâd want to isolate the issue as much as possible, rather than create an even bigger back up so is good to have it confirmed, thank you. I reckon 1st class is also about perception at the moment as sends the message âI did my best to get it to youâ.
At this stage I am emailing anyone who orders to say âyou do realise it will not arrive before Christmas, if youâre ok with that I will post it out on xxxâ
Having said that I dropped a couple of parcels off at my local sorting office this morning and the guy was quite cheery, total contrast with the first lockdown when he snatched the parcels off me, glared and slammed his window shut! And the sorting office open hours are a more reasonable 8 til 11am rather than the 7 til 9am they were before.
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It definitely depends on the part of the world you are posting/receiving to. Iâve had major delays in receiving items from the South East/London.
I have to give a shout out to my usual postman though. He has been a legend this month.
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Royal mail have suspended post to Europe https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5317/~/international-incident-bulletin
Well, that is certainly a problem.