Customer Services
Royal Mail

Dear Sir or Madam
I’m writing to complain about your parcel delivery service, partly because I’m annoyed, and partly because I love and support Royal Mail, use it a lot, and don’t want to lose it. So it matters to me that the service doesn’t keep letting itself down.

A parcel failed to be delivered to me this morning, even though I was in the house. I am not deaf or noisy; my doorbell was not rung, a card came through my door, and I had to slog up the hill to the Post Office and stand in a queue of twenty people to collect my parcel. Why?

Last time this happened, I followed the instructions on the card, rang the Post Office to arrange for re-delivery, and was told this was not possible, even though the card said it was. So on this occasion, I rang the number on the card and asked if someone could perhaps speak to the delivery team about ringing doorbells. I was told that the Post Office staff have no connection with Royal Mail. What is the point of giving us the Post Office’s number if the Post Office can’t help?

The Post Office did however give me the Royal Mail’s helpline number. It proved unhelpful. I waded through a long, irrelevant menu, hoping to eventually speak with a human being, but was at last defeated by lack of any more wasteable time. It’s very poor. What started as a simple failed delivery became a catalogue of unhelpful contacts, and I’m much more annoyed now than I was by the original failure. Could you make sure all ‘helping ‘ phone numbers can do what you say they can, please, and have sufficient personnel on the line. You wouldn’t need so many if the service was better.

In addition, I have in the last three months received letters addressed to other houses on my street, or to other streets in my town. I always deliver them if they’re close, or put them back in the postbox. I wonder how many of my letters have gone astray in this way? Look, we rely on the Post to be accurate. Please, please, pull your socks up. I don’t want to send packages by courier. I love the post. I’ve never written a letter of complaint before, but I’ll keep complaining about Royal Mail till it’s as magnificent as it could and should be.

Yours sincerely