The number of complaints about Royal Mail’s parcel delivery failure cards has fallen over thelast year, although it slipped back in the latest reported quarter, according to analysis by
CEP-Research.Several UK national newspapers yesterday reported that complaints about the so-called ‘Sorry youwere out’ cards had risen dramatically in the most recent reported quarter, June to September 2011,compared with the same period in 2009, suggesting that the company’s attempts in the last two yearshad failed to cut the number of incidents where the cards were left when recipients were at home.Complaints between June and September increased 28% compared with the same period in 2010 and 37%compared with 2009.
British media cited Consumer Focus, the UK consumer protection organisation, as saying: “We hadbeen assured Royal Mail had taken steps to address this issue, but it appears more needs to bedone. We will be taking up this issue as a priority.”
However, the number of complaints actually fell by 16.5% on a 12-month, year-on-year basis,covering October 2010 to September 2011, CEP-Research can reveal. The number was down 12% in thefinancial year ending March 2011.
Royal Mail spokesman Nick Martens told CEP-Research: “We take every complaint seriously andcontinuously strive to improve our customer service. We are a delivery company and we always seekto deliver first time. If we do not deliver to our usual high standard, we seek to rectify thesituation as soon as possible. The number of complaints needs to be put in the context of the 16billion items we deliver every year. We deliver one of the highest quality postal services inEurope. Very few other countries enjoy a 6 day a week service at such a high service standard.”
He added that Royal Mail offered various options when deliveries could not be made because noone was at home. “These include re-delivery or the option to collect the item from our network ofdelivery offices and post office branches. Access to our network of 11,400 pick up points providesunparalleled convenience for customers as the vast majority of people live within one mile of theirlocal post office,” he said.
“We are the only delivery company which is not allowed to deliver to a neighbour. Were we ableto do so – and a pilot is currently underway- we believe this would further enhance the optionsavailable to customers and have an impact of the number of complaints we receive,” he added.
The figures are part of the UK state-owned postal operator’s quarterly ‘Quality of ServiceReports’, which it is required to file for the UK regulator Ofcom.
