Guest webicon Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH! Much Better. Background:For benefit of readers outside UK, Our National Postal System is on Strike! Ok, So I'm sure they have it tough - I certainly wouldn't like it if I were working for a company that kept making cuts while asking you to make changes to work times and practices but ... I'm trying to run a business here. I don't disagree with the principle Right to Strike, but I dislike that things like this can get this bad that it can impact small businesses up and down the country. It's not just a company, it is a public service, and while in theory Royal Mail no longer have a monopoly, I can't find any real alternatives for items that are under £20. True to form, my Cubecart store is delivering me customers hand over fist at the moment (probably the same as most of you from this time all the way up to Christmas) - Here's the thing though I can't at the moment get the product to the customer. My products are cheap (inexpensive) and so an average order is perhaps £10-20. Normally with SmartStamps I would just post the items in a postbox and that would be it. However, first there is 2 x two day strikes (4th-5th and 8-9th) - which effectively means nothing is moved for a week, and today I find that an update to Smartstamp didn't happen. They were meant to auto-print as the 10th to allow for strike days (admittedly I didn't check), but it didn't, - and so now customers who do get their items at the end of this week will be asked to pay postage again because the SmartStamps 'expire' while they are in the backlogs waiting to be processed!!! Now they are talking about taking whole weeks off starting the 15th and having more strikes all the way up to Christmas ! I know I cant be the only one affected. How are you lot managing it? I've got a note on the site about delays but really need an alternative in case the union goes ahead with strikes through Christmas... On one site Christmas customers is the only custom I get and so can't afford not to have distribution... I've looked around but all of the obvious choices work out too expensive for my items. Usually I send 'Large Letter' 250 grams and even with track and trace would cost no more than 2.08. I dont mind paying a little more, but one carrier actually wanted to charge more than my order was worth! I'm not particularly politically active but on this occassion I think the government should be using that that terrorism bill to round up the striking staff and have them all arrested until they agree to go back to work I may add an e-petition asking for just such a thing by the end of the week But then thats just me. Can anyone suggest alternative carriers - in UK, , as if this malarky carries on much longer I wont have a business to worry about! (EDIT: I'm not asking you to break rules I not wanting this to turn into an advertising thread for carriers - but if you do know of or use a carrier that would do say a fixed price collection and a reasonable weight based delivery service in the UK, I'd love to get a PM from you) RANT OVER. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brivtech Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 There are alternatives, but they mostly want to handle large volumes. Can only suggest you open your yellow pages, and phone up the different companies. Just so you know the courier companies are under a bit of strain at the moment because of the postal strikes. Our daily driver told me today that he has double the normal deliveries, and about 30 more collections to get done today because of it all. I think this is simply one of those problem you have to live with, keep an eye on when the strike dates are, and only post things immediately after a strike, so you don't get the smart stamps problem thing happening. Strikes aside, Royal mail still offers overall excetional value and service for money for small items. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest webicon Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 Thanks Brent, Your right, they do normally give good service (in 2 years I've not had one item reported not delivered!) - That's why it's sooo frustrating when they are not available... I guess I'll keep looking... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vokf Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 I actually support the Striking workers. Remember, that being on strike does mean they won't be getting paid! Same applies to Rail, BT, Utilities, Hospitals and so on - the only people that have really benefited have been Shareholders - not stake holders! Don't even get me started on dodgy PFI deals... The sodding country is run by accountants! (my rant over now :-) ) The smartstamp issue sounds a mess, but it sounds like they tried to deal with it with an update. A quick check shows that most of the 18 licenced carriers still use Royal Mail for the last stage of delivery ("the last mile") Googling for Royal Mail alternatives brings up lots of discussion forums, with no clear answer. Any alternative is a courier type system. If you want Pick-up, you'll be paying extra, so I can't see them coming close to RM. I suggest giving your customers the choice- Royal Mail, with the chance of disruption that will effect most UK companies, or using a Courier (ie TNT etc) and charging extra, but will a guaranteed quick delivery. I think most of us will be in the same sorry state if the strikes continue. Best to look into selling Digital Goods... (nice picture of a PS3 anyone? lol) A great way forward would be for all the striking posties to start their own distribution company.... A good thread though - hopefully someone will have some kind of alternative. Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest webicon Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 I think most of us will be in the same sorry state if the strikes continue. Best to look into selling Digital Goods... (nice picture of a PS3 anyone? lol) LOL - Maybe I would do better in Second Life? Can Virtual Delivery people Strike? Guess I'll have to just stick it out and hope that someone makes the union a reasonable offer and soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest xceejayx Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 i don't think there really is any alternative to royal mail for small items. i had a quick look the other day and the cheapest i found for a 'large letter' size was £4.99 which is far too much when its 48p by RM. (and even then you're still not guaranteed its gonna get there because as vokf said, most use RM to deliver!) by the way, is anyone else still getting deliveries? we've had post every day of the strike so far :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brivtech Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 If it's any consolation, you won't be the only business affected by it, but putting a notice to help your customers realise that the delivery problems are beyond your control is always a good idea, and shows you are in aware of current and near future events. While it's a big issue to you as a Royal Mail user, a lot of the general public are probably oblivious to it. EDIT: Correction, this is starting to look ugly, and may go on for a while: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7032582.stm EDIT 2: Check this out! Other ways of beating the postal strike! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7033435.stm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ianleopard666 Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 i havnt found any good alternatives to using royal mail. i think that now they havnt got the monopoly on the postal system, richard branson should jump in and start his own postal system. that might make royal mail pull there socks up and give its workers better pay - after all, making big cuts like they are will eventually just cripple them altogether. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest xceejayx Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 richard branson should jump in and start his own postal system ...or stelios! it'd be cheaper EasyPost Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ianleopard666 Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 true, but if you missed the postal deadline it would cost you 20 quid to get your letter transfered onto the next van :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest xceejayx Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 true, but if you missed the postal deadline it would cost you 20 quid to get your letter transfered onto the next van haha! i didnt think of that. we'll stick with branson then :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robsta Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 I actually support the Striking workers. Remember, that being on strike does mean they won't be getting paid!Won't they get paid overtime for sorting out the backlog? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vokf Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Not sure if they'll get 2 days worth of overtime out of it. To my house, that'll be just a few more "For the Occupier" bits of junk mail to deliver.... Oh, and hopefully a tax rebate!! :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JohnD. Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 I dont think that Royal Mail is a reliable postal system. We have been in business now for a year and our business is dependant upon a reliable postal service. So far we have had 5 packages go missing. One of them was for a large contract we were recently awarded, it doesnt look good when you have to tell the client that the order they paid for has been lost in the post. We are now looking for an alternative courier service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vokf Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 Please post back your findings. Apart from the lucky buggers who only sell digital goods, this effects all the UK members here. The main problem is when shipping low value items which cost £1.70 to ship. As far as I'm aware, there isn't a competitive alternative. I've not lost any items in the post. They've taken 5 days to get less than 50 miles, but generally my experiences have been pretty good. I send all my products 1st Class recorded. Most items are <£20, and anything ~expensive/fragile is shipped appropriately. The extra ~75pence does ensure there is a paper trail for the package... If it is lost, at least you can prove it was shipped whilst arranging a replacement. Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brivtech Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 Seems from the news that the dispute is largely settled now. Perhaps it's a good idea to provide your customers with an alternative service they can use in the event of such industrial action, and use Royal mail as the default service otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 I dont think that Royal Mail is a reliable postal system. We have been in business now for a year and our business is dependant upon a reliable postal service. So far we have had 5 packages go missing. One of them was for a large contract we were recently awarded, it doesnt look good when you have to tell the client that the order they paid for has been lost in the post. We are now looking for an alternative courier service. tell me about it, i ordered an M2-ATX mobile power supply for one of my projects. after about a week of waiting, i emailed the company, they looked into it, royal mail sent me a claim form, which was basically "have you received the item? Yes/No" "have you reported it missing? Yes/No" 1 week later, a replacement arrives, this time sent by citylink, as the retailer had "had enough" with royal mails "pissy service" and switched all their deliveries to citylink Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 Hi guys, with regard to postage, we have just turned most of our medium to high weight parcels over to fastway couriers. extremely good value and service with no items lost or delayed in the last year. Up to 25Kg to many post codes in the country for as little as £4.95 + VAT for 60 a month or £5.95 + VAT for any volume per year (min 20 tickets purchase). Collected from your front door during the day. Fully track & trace and usually next day delivery. Local satchels are only £2-50 and cover your group area. Check them out at www.fastwaycouriers.co.uk Hope this helps someone it certainly did me ome good. Cheers Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest webicon Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 Thanks Garry - I do know of fastway - I met a rep last year and continue to update myself on their coverage of UK - but at the moment they do not cover the whole of UK and so are not an option for me... especially as you are paying for books of 'stamps' in advance... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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