Did Your Post Office Match Up?

Around two hundred post offices UK wide will have been visited, anonymously, by a researcher from MORI this Christmas as part of the Postwatch nationwide research survey. This is to gauge the level of service customers received when posting their presents via Royal Mail and Parcelforce.

Each researcher will have recorded whether they were given the correct advice when posting their Christmas parcels. They will also have noted such information as whether they were informed they had missed the last posting date (for the 50 or so parcels which were deliberately sent after the last posting date) and whether they were sold the correct level of insurance. In addition, they will have recorded if they were advised to use the correct service for the nature of the gift being sent. For instance, Special Delivery must be used for a fragile present as this is the only service that pays compensation if the article is broken.

The survey will also have recorded whether the parcel arrived within the time advertised, its condition upon arrival and where it was left (eg if the parcel was left with a neighbour). The researchers will also have recorded how long they waited in the queue to be served at the busiest time of the year for sending parcels.

Consignia suspends all its service standards over the Christmas period due to the huge increase in demand for its services. However, according to Peter Carr, Chairman of Postwatch, 'this does not mean to say Postwatch should. For most people, Christmas is the only time of year when they send a parcel and Postwatch needs to understand the service customers are experiencing.'

The results of the survey will be published next month.

All articles 2006-22 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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