your lucky i sent something down to london and they are still waiting!!!

Time this dinosaur was privatised! People can't remember just how bad the telephone service was until BT was floated. My parents had to wait 6 months for a shared line to be installed, they didn't get their own for several years! There was a choice of one phone - although you could have a choice of a few GPO inspired colours which were awful. Trunk calls cost an absolute fortune, much more than a mobile does now!

A decent privatised carrier would reduce cost streamline service and replace the truly dreadful 'management' that exists today, and hopefully the unions too.

It's just a big cover up by the Post Office doing Christmas on the cheap and now paying for it by having to deliver packets on Sundays. I was waiting for a packet posted on the 19th December and it finally arrived last Sunday. It's time the Royal Mail admits it got it wrong..

I posted something to my brother on the 3rd December. It arrived on the 30th December, with a post mark dated 23rd December -- it had obviously just been stashed somewhere for a few weeks first!

Still waiting for the kids' xmas cards from their grandparents in Northumberland, posted on the 8th December to ensure they got here on time, Post Office needs a huge overhaul, they're losing to many letters/parcels, that or someone is theiving... which could it be I wonder?

Why do we use the post office postal service at all any more, there are electronic ways (and much quicker) for every post office service.

Sending electronic cards would also see the card companies outof business as sending cards is very old fashioned anyway.

use the internet and stop using the postal service is rubbish !

PS sent 3 birthday cards recently (last 6 months) none of which never arrived at all ......

For every piece of mail that gets lost or delayed, there are thousands that get there in good time. I do a great deal of shopping on the intranet and have never experienced anything being lost or delayed. I got all my Christmas cards and all the ones I sent got there ok.

Strange that he didn't hand deliver a card to friends only down the road, even stranger that they didn't investigate when they didn't hear from him.

The service level of the Post Office has been awful, specially over Xmas, too many cards just haven't arrived.

Scrap the Royal Mail and give the business to firms with employees who actually have some pride in their service. Then we can be rid of the existing poor, shoddy service and increasing number of workshy thieving posties. I personally would rather pay a little extra if I knew the service would improve by giving it to the private sector.

I think most of the delivery companies suffer the same at the hands of bone idle managers and even more bone idle staff!! Example, I live FACING the delivery office, I see daily from 4.30am postmen arriving and leaving, only when my old old postman retired, I got this really dumb one, who for 3 weeks posted all my mail to the house next door! Considering out front doors are on the side of the house and face each other, I wouldnt call it a genuine mistake! When I complained, the dumb postman actually ran over and knocked on my door, finding it very easily, to ask why I had complained and why had he been warned about losing his job and that if he lost his job 'I would be in S**t'! I complained that he came to my house and the words he used, and what a shame he was moved to a different area, that was 6 months ago and he hasnt been back to my door! My point being, I see them using their OWN cars to take mail to various areas for delivery, who is to say that mail is ever leaving the boots, or if it does, is it leaving the boot for a bin?? Its common knowledge some of them are a bit dodgy, and the staff overturn at my local delivery office is crazy, there are only 6 postman I see on a reg, the other come and go quicker than I can eat my shreddies!!

my neighbour is a postie, and we have a chat about thing whilst having a smoke outside, and he explained that the bosses are morons, they keep changing the route plans, closed Bolton sorting office so every thing is redirected from Warrington. they have not hired any extra vehicles over the busiest time being Christmas and hardly any extra staff compared to previous years. so the figures speak for themselves over burdened with mail with no hope of delivering them. may be if you purposely break the system to make it defective and not work is a way for the government to off load a perfectly good business on the cheap !! and for the Royal Mail to be privatised is not in everyone's interest apart from the share holders, where we will see massive increase in postage especially for rural customers where the cost of delivery the mail is not cost effective, so will they get subsidy's from the government to provide them a service. or will they get there mail delivered to a mail box and have to pick it up themselves ?. what ever the case the decisions probably already been made and not in the general public's interest, selling off more of the silver like the public forests who gives them the right to sell public land and ancient forests. it only benefits people who have money !! to make more money.

What most people dont realise is that Royal mails idea of progress in the north west was to shut 4 mail centres, our friend whos card has only just arrived would have had his mail sorted at manchester because unlike in the past it was sorted at Stockport but royal mail closed the Sorting office in Stockport and transferred sorting to Manchester along with 3 other offices Oldham and 2 in bolton,
You now get the ridiculous scenario of posting a card/letter from say Brinnington to Reddish and it goes via manchester to get to the addressee.

Royal Mail = militant employees stuck in the 1970-s, Stinking attitudes, lazy beyond belief, never ask for recorded deliveries to be signed just throw them in the letter box or if too big any where including the wheely bin and write on a card, recorded in bin, regularly deliver post at 3-4pm.Special delivery before 1pm come on average at 12.55-12.59pm and if you are not in it takes 4 yes 4 working days for it to be ready for collection usually from a sorting office 5 miles away manned by a fat useless gobby employee slurping tea and a queue of 20+. Now have the cheek to put prices up by massive amounts in next few weeks.

The post around Christmas was a joke! I understand bad weather affects transport but jesus, i waited a couple of weeks for a parcel and sending a parcel took just as long! Sort it Royal Mail, employ more staff at your busy periods.

the Official Royal Mail Explanation and Appology1

Service update: January 2011
Royal Mail recognises and apologises for the service disruption and delays recently experienced by some of our customers.
Mail services in December
The pre-Christmas period presented an unprecedented challenge for Royal Mail as we dealt with the impact of severe weather, high volumes of mail passing through our network in a concentrated period of time, along with delivery changes in some offices. Throughout these challenges, Royal Mail continued to collect, distribute and deliver our customers mail.
Severe weather conditions did, however, mean we were unable to collect and deliver mail normally to many parts of the country during periods before Christmas.
And although not all areas were directly affected by the weather, the widespread impact on UK and Royal Mail air, rail and road transportation networks for a protracted period, significantly impacted the normal movement of mail nationwide.
In the run up to Christmas, we handled huge quantities of parcels and packets that were much greater in size and bulkier than expected; this required more equipment and absorbed capacity quicker than usual as mail passed through our network more slowly and in greater quantities.
What we did to respond to the conditions in December
We quickly deployed extensive contingency plans to continue processing and distributing as much mail as possible, using all available network capacity and resource. This included using additional air services and contingency airports, like Prestwich, to reach more distant parts of the network when other Scottish airports were closed. When flights were grounded and mail couldn’t be sent by air, we used extra trains and trucks to move mail across the country. We moved mail out of the most affected areas and assisted the sorting and distribution of mail through alternative centres less affected by weather conditions, to keep as much mail as possible flowing through the network.
We employed 20,000 temporary staff to help sort the Christmas mail volumes and, when weather conditions worsened, we invested £20m in additional people to sort mail including 3000 additional sorting staff and 500 extra HGV drivers. We also took on 250 extra large lorries and ensured larger volumes of equipment were available to move mail through the pipeline.
We know that, unfortunately, some items were still delayed and we’re sorry for the inconvenience this caused. Royal Mail utilised all available resource, transport methods and routes to keep these delays to a minimum.
Recovering service in January
The protracted nature of the weather conditions in December and the additional (but welcome) high volumes of mail entering our network throughout January: mean we have taken longer to recover normal service than we expected or would like. There have also been some specific delays in a small number of areas, where offices, have been affected by office and delivery route changes implemented just prior to the severe weather hitting the country.
Current service outlook
Our network of mail centres, distribution centres and delivery units have now returned to normal service levels.

Card posted second class on 7 Dec in Canterbury. Arrived Manchester sorting office 9 Dec - according to second franking. Delivered to us in Bolton 20 January.

Says everything that needs to be said about Royal Mail's closure of local sorting offices.

It is not just Christmas cards that get lost - I have just today (27.01.2011) had the bailiffs at my door due to them not send me something so I can stick to payment arrangements now my bill has gone up since December 2010 to now by £120. Is this really what this world is coming to.

The postal service used to be early in the mornings (first post), dinner time (second post) now when they do deliver it can be 2pm. Is this what we truly pay for. I accept that this article is about Christmas post been delayed, but some people out there have more problems than Christmas post other mail can be far more important.

I have been more concerned by the amount of mail over the Christmas period that had been opened!!! One envelope was practically ripped to bits. Some other friends had similar problems - disgusting!

Chances are that this man wrote out an incomplete or incorrect address/postcode on this card for it to take so long. As a (Handworking, honest and non-thieving) postman i see these cards everyday; "Pat and Jane, 93 Windmill street, sk?" when Windmill street only goes up to number 25...and doesn't have an "SK" Postcode. The card often then gets passed around in an attempt to find someone who can figure it out. A little tip - if you don't know the address, don't send the card. Readable handwriting is also a good idea, many cards get delayed due to the address being scribbled so badly. If the details are correct and clear the card will get there A.S.A.P - simple. I can spend up to 20 minutes every morning playing detective trying to figure out the correct address for said cards, because, believe it or not, i actually care about people getting their mail, evidently more than the people sending them sometimes.

Opened/chewed mail is caused by the machines that sort them, or the recipients own letterbox 99.99% of the time. In the two years i have worked in the job i know of not one person who has been sacked/disiplined due to theft of post.

The problem is that due to the recent "modernisation" of the service one postie is now doing the work of what 2 posties would have done just 2 years ago. You try taking twice as many calls, writing twice as many reports, serving twice as many customers in the too little allocated time you have. The person who gets up at 5am, walks 10+ miles a day with a 15-20 kilo bag on his back isn't lazy, which is more than i can say for some "customers" who answer the door at 1pm dressed in a nightgown while yawning.

And to those after privitisation, it's coming, be carefull what you wish for...