Post has gone missing here so my wife tried to complain to Royal Mail (we were referred on by our postman). We were told to register the complaint by email (ironic that!).Have a look at the really useful (not) pdf they sent her to look at:
ftp://ftp.royalmail.com/Downloads/public/ctf/rm/Complaint_Handling_Process_Flowchart.pdf
The basics of customer care have been missed at every level (starting with the sexy URL!).
They offer no attempt to listen, understand, empathise or say those magic words “We are sorry”. Typical behaviour from a company that still has the nationalised industry mentality.
Clearly they think they are above doing any of the basics of common courtesy.
We, the complainers, are just the inevitable consequence of not meeting their delivery targets. So it is not their fault. After all they have put a process in place!
The odd thing is that they have a representative that visits our address every day – they call them postmen/women – and in the old days they could have got him/her to sort it out.
And what about your business?
If you EVER make people who complain feel inconsequential or irrelevant then you deserve them to leave you and spend their money with someone else. (Unless of course you run what is in effect a monopoly.)
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9 comments:
We can thank Tony and Gordon for this fiasco, and not least "Lord" Mandelson.
I think it is absurd that the Royal Mail still carries the Crown, and the name 'Royal Mail,' as it is no such thing these days. To quote the Postal Services Act of 2002: "the Royal Mail is under no contractual obligation to deliver most mail, including Special Delivery items."
Since this incredibly useful to citizens law was passed, they have been losing around 50 Million letters per Year, that's about 192,000 each business day! No sign of improvement, I'm afraid.
The Royal Mail Group Investigations Division, has stated that around 20% of this sum is actually stolen, and this includes Special and Recorded Delivery items, which are not much safer than ordinary class mail, save the fact that one can prove a loss, and claim more than the fee, if and only if, insured.
The remaining 80%? All 'lost' due allegedly to most of it being Business mail, and as such using the barcode and character recognition system that was supposed to automate sorting and improve delivery....
Adam Crozier, now 45, the Chief Exec, joined just after the new law, and the start of the problems. Royal Mail has gone from being over half a Billion in profit at the start of his tenure, to now being 20 Million in the red per year. Meanwhile he has systematically slashed the workforce, closed post offices, and given himself an annual pay rise of 25%, every year.
Why was he hired? Well, after failing as a soccer player, he was a graduate apprentice for Pedigree Pet Foods mid '80's, then a Journalist, then an advertising exec for Saatchi and Saatchi, then chief exec of the Football Association for 2 years, until his appointment. He has not held a job in the same industry for more than 2 years.
What's amazing about Mr. Crozier, is his insistence upon the Royal Mail receiving special protection, despite their private status, and terrible performance.
He is apparently earmarked to receive a life peerage from the Tony, Gordon and Peter gang imminently, (in exchange for him making their life easier by agreeing to the 30% sell off to TNT) so that his excellent work can be repaid, and he can carry on helping Britain get back to Great, and, no, sadly, I'm not joking!
He has been quoted several times as saying "Every letter is important." His email address, as of May 2009, was firstname.lastname@royalmail.com
You ought to try writing, Robert. Hopefully you'll at least get a response, which is presumably more than you got from Mandy?..
Andrew
Thanks for filling in the gaps in my/our knowledge.
Bonnie
Just got the link from LinkedIn. Like Business Link, the Royal Mail is a disgrace. Despite years of Thatcher and post-Thatcher politics we still have what are basically nationalised industries delivering a nationalised service. Organisations that are only inward facing.
These institutions will only get sorted when enough people complain and when these bureaucracies need to take notice and listen. In the meantime all we will get is the same old same old.
Tim
Try running a large organisation and you might not be quite so easy with your criticism.
Chris(?)
Thanks for the helpful comment above [not]. Have you run a large organisation or are you just defending your boss? They have to work so hard and take so much money for making a loss. Shame.
Jeremy
yes - an ex-banker
Never use R Mail unless we have to.
Tony
Funnily enough this little posting got me into a lot of trouble.
Two sites that run some of my blogs/articles refused to publish it as the publication might compromise their relationshiop with their (potential) sponsors.
So much for editorial freedom! Big Brother is alive and well. But on the other hand...
Robert
Never use R Mail unless we have to.
Tony
Funnily enough this little posting got me into a lot of trouble.
Two sites that run some of my blogs/articles refused to publish it as the publication might compromise their relationshiop with their (potential) sponsors.
So much for editorial freedom! Big Brother is alive and well. But on the other hand...
Robert
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