Royal Mail is trialling a new doorstep mail collection service for residential customers in Bexleyheath and Rochdale as posties make their delivery rounds.
The test will run over the next two months and represents the first time that postmen and women have collected letters and small parcels direct from customers in urban areas. The trial will run in OL11, 12, 15, 16 postcode areas and DA6, DA7 and DA16. Customers in rural areas have always been able to give stamped letters to their postman or woman, given their distance from a post office branch.
Customers will be able to give First Class or Second Class stamped or online postage paid letters and small packets to their postman or woman for delivery instead of taking them to a post box or post office branch. Customers can also handover prepaid postage such as business replies and freepost items. A special leaflet has been sent to every residential address in the test areas detailing the service.
Royal Mail’s Mike Devanney, said: “We are delighted to be trialling this new doorstep collection service. We hope that it will be well received by customers. This pilot also shows that Royal Mail is listening to its customers and is keen to offer new services which we believe customers are looking for.”
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has been working with Royal Mail in developing this new pilot service. After the two month trial period the new pilot service will be evaluated to assess whether there is demand for the service to be rolled out more widely.
Posties will not be able to collect parcels, International items, items that require proof of posting or Special Delivery items. Customers will be advised to take these items to the nearest Post Office or a Royal Mail Delivery Office. Business mail such as franked mail or Postage Paid Impression mail can also not be picked up by the postman or woman. Business customers need to contact customer services to arrange these collections.
9 Responses
Poor old posties. You can picture them at Christmas, getting back to the sorting office with more than they went out with !
So why not offer this to businesses??
Oh no they want to charge us businesses £100’s each year for a collection.
Not anymore. We now use UKMail who collect our Royal Mail items, for free. Then hand them over to Royal Mail to delivery. Oh and all cheaper than Royal Mail direct. It’s a joke really.
How do you give it to posties? Will only accept at your door. I never know when our postie is at the door.
I live in the Bexleyheath area. Our lovely postman says he has always done this informally for his customers and doesn’t know why the RM are making such a thing of it. And he is happy to pick up the post from the porch as my elderly Mum can’t always get to the door. Can’t get better than that for a great community attitude.
I don’t see how this would work unless they issue each property with a door hanger (like the “do not disturb/please make up my room ones” used in hotels) to tell the postperson to knock on the door.
We don’t use the Post Office any more. Couriers for our UK and overseas parcels now- its collected from your doorstep, cheaper than RM for us and gets there a whole lot faster. Royal Mail….. Royal Who????
What about a post box on the street with a red metal flag like in the good ole USA the post man Knows that there is something to colllect when the flag is in an upright position.
A Red thing in an upright position, at the bottom of the street might upset some folk
Well if you want to lose all your post offices this is the way forward! But don’t complain when they don’t exist anymore and you need to use one for something!! They’re struggling as it is and Royal Mail are desperately trying to cut out the cost of commission paid to post offices. Royal Mail is a large business owned by private shareholders (mostly hedge funds) and post offices are small franchises run by individuals desperately trying to make ends meet as it is. Goodbye post offices!!