Royal Mail in Crisis?

The poor performance of the Royal Mail in Oxford, and especially in Headington, has been a recurring theme of this site.

The closure of the sorting office at Lime Walk, the problems of missing post (either stolen or mis-delivered), long queues and unanswered phone calls - all this has been a cause of real frustration for local residents who rely on Royal Mail.

You will find here an archive of articles I've posted on this site about the Royal Mail. Please do let me know about any problems you experience, or, indeed, if you have a positive story to report (I do try and present a balanced picture!) - the usual e-mail address, stephen@stephentall.org.uk. This helps give a clear picture of the local situation, and enables us to make more effective representations to Royal Mail about the problems in our patch.

To sign the Lib Dems' petition to 'Save Our Post Offices', please visit www.libdems.org.uk/commerce/issues/postoffice.html

How to register a complaint against Royal Mail

Cllrs Stephen Tall (centre), flanked by Patrick Murray (left) and David Rundle (right): campaigning in Headington to save the Post Office

This is the most frequent question I'm asked by residents, either in person or by e-mail:

* Step 1:

To register a complaint (or raise a query), customers are advised to ring 08457 740740 or visit www.royalmail.com - this will ensue that it is properly recorded and that any claim for compensation can be correctly processed. A 'P58' claim form would then, if appropriate, be sent out to the complainant.

* Step 2:

If you are still dissatisfied with the response to your complaint contact: Consumer Council for Postal Services (CCPS), 28-30 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W 0TT (Tel: 0845 6013265; Complaints tel: 0845 6013265)

* Step 3:

If you are still unhappy after complaining to CCPS you have the option of taking court action against the Post Office, or seeking arbitration through the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. For details of how to apply for arbitration, for which you will have to pay a fee, contact: Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, 12 Bloomsbury Square, London WC1A 2LP (Tel: 020 7421 7444; Fax: 020 7404 4023)

Tony Wright MP, Chairman of the Public Administration Select Committee, detailed the various steps to take in complaining about the Royal Mail in a very helpful article in The Guardian, back in July 2001: you can read it in full here - http://www.guardian.co.uk/post/story/0,11489,630010,00.html

Archive of articles relating to Royal Mail:

'Oxford Lib Dems stick up for local Post Offices' (28th Jan, 2007) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/000485.html

'How to get satisfaction from the Royal Mail' (3rd Dec, 2006) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/452.html

'Royal Mail: latest complaints' (29th Jan, 2007) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/000483.html

'Royal Mail's phone line delivering again?' (18th Dec, 2006) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/000463.html

'Is 0845 6 113225 working for you?' (26th Nov, 2006) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/449.html

'Royal Mail - another batch of complaints' (19th Nov, 2006) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/445.html

'Royal Mail: "a terrible system for processing compensation claims"' (1st Oct, 2006) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/414.html

'Royal Mail - latest complaints' (25th Sept, 2006) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/409.html

'Royal Mail - what happens to the complaints made?' (21st Aug, 2006) - http://www.stephentall.org.uk/news/383.html

'Royal Mail - welcome to those of you joining us from Google' (7th Aug, 2006) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/371.html

'Royal Mail misery - another complaint' (25th Jul, 2006) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/362.html

'Royal Mail in Crisis?, No. 2 - don't blame the staff' (24th May, 2006) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/311.html

'Royal Mail in Crisis? No. 1 - YES!' (24th May, 2006) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/310.html

'Royal Mail complaints (again)' (17th Apr, 2006) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/287.html

'Lib Dems pledge to secure the future of the Post Office and Royal Mail' (7th Mar, 2006) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/264.html

'Royal Mail - another crop of complaints' (7th Mar, 2006) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/263.html

'Royal Mail - latest correspondence' (12th Oct, 2005) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/181.html

'How to save the post office and Royal Mail' (18th Sept, 2005) - www.stephentall.org.uk/articles/63.html

'Your local Royal Mail service - is it delivering?' (8th Sept, 2005) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/163.html

'Another day, another complaint against Royal Mail' (13th Jul, 2005) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/131.html

'Royal Mail: gotta complaint?' (11th Jul, 2005) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/130.html

'Headington Sorting Office: the Royal Mail's version' (13th Jun, 2005) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/113.html

'Headington sorting office - a bit of good news' (5th Jun, 2005) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/111.html

'Headington sorting office to close on 6th June' (17th May, 2005) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/101.html

'So, what's the story at the Headington sorting office?' (15th May, 2005) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/98.html

'Royal Mail in crisis? - UPDATE' (9th Feb, 2005) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/51.html

'Royal Mail in crisis?' (8th Feb, 2005) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/49.html

'Headington Sorting Office: another update' (28th Jan, 2005) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/40.html

'Headington sorting office: UPDATE' (11th Jan, 2005) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/11.html

'Last post for Headington?' (1st Dec, 2004) - www.stephentall.org.uk/news/6.html