Royal Mail has changed its delivery office depot opening and closing times amid the coronavirus crisis, as well as changing the way it makes deliveries.
The depot changes came into force on Monday and have been put in place to ensure a safe and reliable service for its patrons.
To protect workers and the public, Royal Mail has changed the opening times of Customer Services Points in local delivery offices.
The largest locations will now be open between 07.00-11.00am. All other Customer Service Points will be open between 07.00-09.00am.
All will be closed on Wednesday and Sunday.
To support the Government’s advice to stay at home and avoid non-essential journeys, bosses are asking customers to only visit Customer Service Points where necessary, and as a reminder, workers can also redeliver items for free.
To give patrons longer to collect or have their item redelivered, Royal Mail has provisionally prolonged the time it will keep parcels and post to 30 calendar days before the item is returned to the sender.
This applies to the following:
Items we’ve left a ‘Something for You’ card
Items that have a ‘Surcharge to Pay’
Items that have a ‘Customs Charge to Pay’
Local Collect items where the parcel is addressed to the Customer Service Point.
Due to increased absence levels, staff reviewed timed guarantees for Special Delivery Guaranteed by 9 am and 1 pm services and will make the subsequent changes:
For items posted from Tuesday 31 March 2020 onwards, guaranteed delivery for Special Delivery Guaranteed by 9.00 am the next working day will change by noon the next working day.
Guaranteed delivery for Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1.00 pm will change to by 9.00 pm the next working day*.
*existing postcode exceptions apply.
To protect both workers and patrons as much as possible, Royal Mail says it’s minimising contact during delivery.
Staff will not be handing over the hand-held devices to customers to obtain signatures but instead, log the name of the person receiving them. Additionally, for all customers where they need to deliver any item that won’t go through the letterbox, postmen and women will put the item at the door.
Having tapped on the door, they will then move away to a safe distance while you retrieve your item. This will guarantee your item is delivered securely rather than being left outside.
The Government has introduced measures to protect our most vulnerable groups, including those in residential care. These include restricting all but essential access to care homes for external contractors.
Royal Mail said it recognises post is important to the ageing, especially those away from their friends and families in care homes.
Hence, to support the effort to keep the post moving but stop the spread of coronavirus, workers have made arrangements to deliver to a central point, eg. reception, rather than specific locations within care homes from March 19.
These changes will serve to ensure the health, safety and well-being of staff and the vulnerable.
Staff will deliver unaddressed door to door advertising postings to consumers who are getting addressed letters or packages at the same time, wherever realistically feasible.
Door to door postings provides a really important service to small businesses and companies of all kinds as they endeavour to provide their goods and services.
Numerous small businesses require that support now more than ever. They want to send it, many consumers want to receive it.
Door to door postings also includes important communication from local government.
I would like to say that the Postal Service is doing a fabulous job because this is an indispensable service that’s needed more than ever in these times of self-isolation.
But in times like this, why is junk mail still being delivered, and why would people possibly want it at a time like this?
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 