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Thanks to the 80’s Conservative government and further attempts by the subsequent governments since then to privatise everything, there aren’t that many industries left where only one company holds a monopoly.
However, the Post Office is one that still enjoys their status as the only standard mail delivery firm. And despite the legislation which now allows other firms to legally deliver standard mail, it doesn’t seem to have taken off, while parcel delivery has grown.
This means that the Post Office can pretty well do what it likes (or this is how it seems). Yes, the general postmen (and women) are a decent bunch, but they’re not really regulated very well and the sorting offices are a joke. Thousands of letters get lost each week and many people suffer from it. Cheques not appearing, bills not getting paid on time and important documents go missing. All the post office can say is ‘Oh, it’s not our fault. Have you seen how many things we have to deliver?’ Um, well, it’s your job isn’t it? Aren’t we paying for a service?
This brings me to the point of accountability. Just how accountable should the post office be about the letters they send? We pay for a service, so we should expect results, as with any other service. Just because something is sent second class, doesn’t mean it should be any less likely to be delivered. The idea of the postal class system is the time it takes to reach the destination.
Oh well, some will say, you should send it Recorded. Ah, great, so the Post Office admits that you’re letter may not reach its destination unless you pay extra. Isn’t that some form of protection racket? What the hell do we pay for when we buy a stamp then? At this rate it should come under gambling regulations.
Almost as bad are Water companies. Though, again, regulated by a central company, they seem to be able to get away with murder. And unlike Gas and Electricity, you can’t usually choose your water company. South West Water alone has managed to notch up some incredible feats, including poisoning the water supply of 3 areas and then charging a fortune because it needs to replace its own dodgy piping. Their argument for additional costs is that down here we have more beach area than anyone else. Well how to other countries manage then? The taxes in many European cities and towns are substantially lower and the water rates are too, but they have miles more piping and tidier beaches than us. What do they know that our water companies don’t? (how to do the job in the first place, probably).
However, the Post Office is one that still enjoys their status as the only standard mail delivery firm. And despite the legislation which now allows other firms to legally deliver standard mail, it doesn’t seem to have taken off, while parcel delivery has grown.
This means that the Post Office can pretty well do what it likes (or this is how it seems). Yes, the general postmen (and women) are a decent bunch, but they’re not really regulated very well and the sorting offices are a joke. Thousands of letters get lost each week and many people suffer from it. Cheques not appearing, bills not getting paid on time and important documents go missing. All the post office can say is ‘Oh, it’s not our fault. Have you seen how many things we have to deliver?’ Um, well, it’s your job isn’t it? Aren’t we paying for a service?
This brings me to the point of accountability. Just how accountable should the post office be about the letters they send? We pay for a service, so we should expect results, as with any other service. Just because something is sent second class, doesn’t mean it should be any less likely to be delivered. The idea of the postal class system is the time it takes to reach the destination.
Oh well, some will say, you should send it Recorded. Ah, great, so the Post Office admits that you’re letter may not reach its destination unless you pay extra. Isn’t that some form of protection racket? What the hell do we pay for when we buy a stamp then? At this rate it should come under gambling regulations.
Almost as bad are Water companies. Though, again, regulated by a central company, they seem to be able to get away with murder. And unlike Gas and Electricity, you can’t usually choose your water company. South West Water alone has managed to notch up some incredible feats, including poisoning the water supply of 3 areas and then charging a fortune because it needs to replace its own dodgy piping. Their argument for additional costs is that down here we have more beach area than anyone else. Well how to other countries manage then? The taxes in many European cities and towns are substantially lower and the water rates are too, but they have miles more piping and tidier beaches than us. What do they know that our water companies don’t? (how to do the job in the first place, probably).
Mumbai Duck wrote:
> But yeah, when it goes wrong for you, it's freaking annoying.
> A few years ago, at uni, someone in the postal system was
> 'bent'. We could never ascertain whether it was on the post
> office side, or the uni halls porters - though I suspected the
> latter. Letters coming through opened, expected parcels not
> showing up, and who knows what other letters didn't make it
> through.
What bugs me is when a story of a bent postie is in the news and everyones up in arms saying the lot of them are all the same.
With the amount of staff they have it's inevitable that some will be unscrupulous but the chances of it effecting your mail is small.
> But yeah, when it goes wrong for you, it's freaking annoying.
> A few years ago, at uni, someone in the postal system was
> 'bent'. We could never ascertain whether it was on the post
> office side, or the uni halls porters - though I suspected the
> latter. Letters coming through opened, expected parcels not
> showing up, and who knows what other letters didn't make it
> through.
What bugs me is when a story of a bent postie is in the news and everyones up in arms saying the lot of them are all the same.
With the amount of staff they have it's inevitable that some will be unscrupulous but the chances of it effecting your mail is small.
I have a bit of sympathy with the postal system generally.
They have a shed load of letters and a mass-system that must be very hard to run smoothly.
Yet post something at 4.30pm, and for 27p (or whatever it is now), it'll be delievered to somebody's door, on the other side of the country, next morning, in like 17 hours time.
But yeah, when it goes wrong for you, it's freaking annoying.
A few years ago, at uni, someone in the postal system was 'bent'. We could never ascertain whether it was on the post office side, or the uni halls porters - though I suspected the latter. Letters coming through opened, expected parcels not showing up, and who knows what other letters didn't make it through.
They have a shed load of letters and a mass-system that must be very hard to run smoothly.
Yet post something at 4.30pm, and for 27p (or whatever it is now), it'll be delievered to somebody's door, on the other side of the country, next morning, in like 17 hours time.
But yeah, when it goes wrong for you, it's freaking annoying.
A few years ago, at uni, someone in the postal system was 'bent'. We could never ascertain whether it was on the post office side, or the uni halls porters - though I suspected the latter. Letters coming through opened, expected parcels not showing up, and who knows what other letters didn't make it through.
I've never understood the 1st and 2nd class system and I think it's just a way to get more money from people to have next day delivery although that's not guaranteed.
I rarely send anything 1st class (well I rarely send any post at all these days) as I always send items in plenty of time.
Thinking back the only item in the past few years that I know has gone missing is my credit card bill which was quite worrying as I'd got visions of someone creating a card from it but thankfully nothing happened.
As far as the utilities go I've never had any problems, a few months ago the phone was down for 2 days as were all of them in our village but when we reported it BT actually took my mobile number and text me when it was back up which was good.
I rarely send anything 1st class (well I rarely send any post at all these days) as I always send items in plenty of time.
Thinking back the only item in the past few years that I know has gone missing is my credit card bill which was quite worrying as I'd got visions of someone creating a card from it but thankfully nothing happened.
As far as the utilities go I've never had any problems, a few months ago the phone was down for 2 days as were all of them in our village but when we reported it BT actually took my mobile number and text me when it was back up which was good.
Fortunately Ive not had too much trouble with either of these. I orderd a cd that got lost in the post about 3 times, but fortunately the website just sent me another until it finally arrived.
Its terrible that you are only protected if you pay extra. Thats the way the world seems to be going though. Nobody can ever take responsibility for their own actions these days.
Another problem is that the companies are simply too big. Even I can remember back to being a little un and having the same regular postman every day and Im only 20 (21 in less than two weeks, yay!!)
Its new people all of the time now and they dont know who is who. Our old postman knew all the names as well as addresses so there was rarely a misstake with the post. It seems like every week now that we get a letter for Eaton Road even though we live at Eaton Road NORTH.
At the end of the day, the Post Office and all the other problematic corporations, dont care about the service as long as they are making money. In order to sort out the problems they would have to sacrifice proffits, and I cant see that happening any time soon.
Its terrible that you are only protected if you pay extra. Thats the way the world seems to be going though. Nobody can ever take responsibility for their own actions these days.
Another problem is that the companies are simply too big. Even I can remember back to being a little un and having the same regular postman every day and Im only 20 (21 in less than two weeks, yay!!)
Its new people all of the time now and they dont know who is who. Our old postman knew all the names as well as addresses so there was rarely a misstake with the post. It seems like every week now that we get a letter for Eaton Road even though we live at Eaton Road NORTH.
At the end of the day, the Post Office and all the other problematic corporations, dont care about the service as long as they are making money. In order to sort out the problems they would have to sacrifice proffits, and I cant see that happening any time soon.
Thanks to the 80’s Conservative government and further attempts by the subsequent governments since then to privatise everything, there aren’t that many industries left where only one company holds a monopoly.
However, the Post Office is one that still enjoys their status as the only standard mail delivery firm. And despite the legislation which now allows other firms to legally deliver standard mail, it doesn’t seem to have taken off, while parcel delivery has grown.
This means that the Post Office can pretty well do what it likes (or this is how it seems). Yes, the general postmen (and women) are a decent bunch, but they’re not really regulated very well and the sorting offices are a joke. Thousands of letters get lost each week and many people suffer from it. Cheques not appearing, bills not getting paid on time and important documents go missing. All the post office can say is ‘Oh, it’s not our fault. Have you seen how many things we have to deliver?’ Um, well, it’s your job isn’t it? Aren’t we paying for a service?
This brings me to the point of accountability. Just how accountable should the post office be about the letters they send? We pay for a service, so we should expect results, as with any other service. Just because something is sent second class, doesn’t mean it should be any less likely to be delivered. The idea of the postal class system is the time it takes to reach the destination.
Oh well, some will say, you should send it Recorded. Ah, great, so the Post Office admits that you’re letter may not reach its destination unless you pay extra. Isn’t that some form of protection racket? What the hell do we pay for when we buy a stamp then? At this rate it should come under gambling regulations.
Almost as bad are Water companies. Though, again, regulated by a central company, they seem to be able to get away with murder. And unlike Gas and Electricity, you can’t usually choose your water company. South West Water alone has managed to notch up some incredible feats, including poisoning the water supply of 3 areas and then charging a fortune because it needs to replace its own dodgy piping. Their argument for additional costs is that down here we have more beach area than anyone else. Well how to other countries manage then? The taxes in many European cities and towns are substantially lower and the water rates are too, but they have miles more piping and tidier beaches than us. What do they know that our water companies don’t? (how to do the job in the first place, probably).
However, the Post Office is one that still enjoys their status as the only standard mail delivery firm. And despite the legislation which now allows other firms to legally deliver standard mail, it doesn’t seem to have taken off, while parcel delivery has grown.
This means that the Post Office can pretty well do what it likes (or this is how it seems). Yes, the general postmen (and women) are a decent bunch, but they’re not really regulated very well and the sorting offices are a joke. Thousands of letters get lost each week and many people suffer from it. Cheques not appearing, bills not getting paid on time and important documents go missing. All the post office can say is ‘Oh, it’s not our fault. Have you seen how many things we have to deliver?’ Um, well, it’s your job isn’t it? Aren’t we paying for a service?
This brings me to the point of accountability. Just how accountable should the post office be about the letters they send? We pay for a service, so we should expect results, as with any other service. Just because something is sent second class, doesn’t mean it should be any less likely to be delivered. The idea of the postal class system is the time it takes to reach the destination.
Oh well, some will say, you should send it Recorded. Ah, great, so the Post Office admits that you’re letter may not reach its destination unless you pay extra. Isn’t that some form of protection racket? What the hell do we pay for when we buy a stamp then? At this rate it should come under gambling regulations.
Almost as bad are Water companies. Though, again, regulated by a central company, they seem to be able to get away with murder. And unlike Gas and Electricity, you can’t usually choose your water company. South West Water alone has managed to notch up some incredible feats, including poisoning the water supply of 3 areas and then charging a fortune because it needs to replace its own dodgy piping. Their argument for additional costs is that down here we have more beach area than anyone else. Well how to other countries manage then? The taxes in many European cities and towns are substantially lower and the water rates are too, but they have miles more piping and tidier beaches than us. What do they know that our water companies don’t? (how to do the job in the first place, probably).