Royal mail have revised their last shipping dates (thank you to Jo Jones Creative who put this in the Clubhouse, I thought it was worth repeating here in case anyone didn’t see that). Even though they have brought the dates forward I still think they are being optimistic.
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Thanks for that Sasha, I have posted most of my cards now, but there will inevitably be the ones I have forgotten. 
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Thanks Sasha. I was chatting to my postie this morning, he said that he’s so very sorry for all the inconvenience the strikes are causing everyone, but the CEO and shareholders are leaving them with no choice but to strike. He was so upset about it all and said that he and his colleagues are going to be made redundant in January as they are already getting loads of temps in to replace them. He said it’s not just the money they are fighting for, but also the conditions and stress they are put under.
My postie is always rushing and practically running from house to house every day due to all the time limits they are now made to work under. He also said that all the local sorting offices and the main ones and national hubs are all absolutely stacked up with sacks of post that still needs sorting through. He said its crazy how backed up they are, but the CEO etc don’t want to listen to them or even try to understand.
He was on the verge of tears when he was telling me, then apologised again about it all and had to run off to carry on delivering…
I felt awful for him…
xx
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My brother used to be a postie and he says his old colleagues tell him they are having to go back to the depot with bags still half full because they can’t get everything delivered in the timescales given and there’s no overtime available. It’s very frustrating all round and I do feel for both the posties…and us, all caught up trying to do a good job for customers.
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I’m basically shutting up early for Xmas as I already have orders very delayed.
Please don’t think I’m having a pop at the Posties though - they kept my business running smoothly throughout COVID. Watching them slog through the wet winter months blimey I wouldn’t do it heroes the lot of them.
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I recently (for the first time) had a card that just didn’t get to the customer so I had to send out a replacement - bye bye any profit on that transaction! I’m not sure what to do if it happens again I’ve got announcements up saying there are delays but if more items go missing I might have to suspend selling card and small value items. I wonder if we will have a postal service left if this continues? I gather working conditions are pretty bad now at Royal Mail and management are not listening to genuine concerns - the poor postmen are stuck in the middle.
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@Fififoxi If you have proof of posting you can claim up to £20 compensation (for normal 1st or 2nd class, it’s £50 if its the signed for services). You have to fill in a claim form online, you have to wait for 10 working days after the last predicted delivery date before you can submit your claim.
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Does anyone know what has changed recently that is causing so many problems? Has management changed perhaps? Or have existing problems accumulated over time?
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I think its accumulated problems - Royal Mail needs to restructure (letter post is no longer really profitable and needs an overhaul, increasing costs of petrol etc), workers want/ need a pay rise and guarantees about overtime/ working weekends etc. RM can’t/ won’t agree to what the CWU want and the CWU can’t/ won’t compromise on their demands.The postal workers barely have enough time to deal with each day’s post so the back log barely gets touched and with each new strike day the back log increases. The whole system is screwed and we’re stuck in the middle.
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Thanks for the info Sasha @SashaGarrett - unfortunately I post cards in the post box as I’m rather far from a post office (so no receipt) but if I get more ‘lost in post’ items I shall have to take everything to the PO counter so I can claim if necessary!
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Sorry to hear things have gone missing. Are you able to buy postage online and use their collection service at all as that currently is the same price? Gives you a digital receipt and you don’t even need to print a label - not as helpful if you are out all day but you can also leave items in a safe place for collection.
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In the early days of the strikes there was something on the news where RM management were trying to make out it was about the postal workers not wanting to embrace change e.g. collections. The union rep said they had agreed and geared up for this already and it was actually about RM being in discussions to outsource their work.
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I might have to give it a try - thanks for the tip.
I think you might still be able to make a claim without PoP but compensation will be in the form of stamps (with a max ‘pay’ out of a book of 6). Might be worth investigating.
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I’m using it where possible now as the queues are too long and it has worked well (when it first launched I had a couple of late pick ups and one that was missed and had to be rebooked, but recently they’ve been turning up good and early).
Good thing is that you can normally always get a collection for the following day (apart from Sundays and strike days) and if you have a collection booked in already you can ask them to also take other items that have just sold without having to necessarily book them - means that you can potentially end up with a same day pick up for some items 
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I shall certainly look into this Sasha @SashaGarrett especially if it happens again. I seem to be getting more card sales lately (probably just the Christmas effect but very welcome). Thanks for all the info @feelfeltfound it does make a lot of sense and would save me a journey.
Outsource their work? Where? Outside the UK?
I don’t think they said exactly but I presumed to some sort of agency or another company operating in this country. There was something said about ‘a foreign company’ but it was probably in reference to a foreign owned company. That was weeks ago, so the issue may have changed but at that point the union guy said that they had evidence RM had been off having discussions about it and that was the union’s main bugbear at that time.
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Thank you Sasha x
I had a bear lost in the post a few weeks ago, i sent her 2nd class signed for which didn’t cover the value of the bear in compensation of £50, she was £75. Claiming was a nightmare and they actually turned me down and sent a book of stamps as compensation ! I sent copy invoices, proof of posting etc and cist breakdown. It went on for weeks, they said they needed the actual cost of materials plus wages. They eventually sent the £50…after i sent a breakdown showing i earnt £1.00 per hour wage, a very stern email, I asked whether they thought i earnt too much, i was fuming so i wasn’t over polite by the end of it. My first ever claim. Obviously i refunded the customer and ended up seriously out of pocket as i had already paid fees then paid again on a refund. The bear is still out there somewhere, my customer was very upset but luckily a regular customer who fully understood I could not make a replacement as it was the last of the mohair. I sent the next few special delivery and suffered the extra cost myself, not sure my customers would want to pay £8.95 delivery but i do need to rethink it as i can’t pay £4 extra on every order.
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