Postal services 'second-class'

4 January 2007

According to a recent survey by Which?, satisfaction with postal services compares poorly with ratings given to other service providers such as banks, broadband providers and mobile phone companies.

Only 16 per cent of Which? members surveyed say they are very satisfied with Royal Mail services, and 28 per cent very satisfied with Post Office services.

Leading the list of members’ concerns with postal services is junk mail (31 per cent of those surveyed), followed by post office closures (21 per cent), missing post (15 per cent) and long queues (11 per cent).

A large number of post offices have been closed in recent years, and the Government recently announced plans for further closures. According to our research, closures can result in unacceptably long queues in the remaining post offices. In rural areas particularly, the impact of a closure can be devastating, especially for older residents for whom the local post office can be a real lifeline.

Which? advises people to take the following steps to improve their postal service:

• Register with the Mail Preference Service to reduce junk mail by up to 95 per cent.
• Include a return address on mail to reduce the risk of it going missing.
• If you have a complaint about lost, damaged or delayed post, ask for a compensation claim form at your post office.
• All post office closures are subject to public consultation, so if you are concerned about the closure of your local post office then make sure your voice is heard. You can also contact the regulator, Postwatch.

Neil Fowler, Editor, Which?, says:
“In most cases, if you are unhappy with a service provider you can easily switch to another one, but postal services are the exception to this rule with a real lack of choice available. There are ways in which you can improve the service you receive, by taking steps to reduce junk mail and claiming compensation where applicable.

“Most worrying is the closure of so many post offices and the impact this has on communities, particularly in rural areas. We wait to see the effect of the Government’s latest proposals, but in the meantime our advice if you are concerned about local closures is to contact Postwatch, to voice your views.”

Notes to editors
A full article “Keeping you posted” appears in the January edition of Which? Magazine. For further information, the full article or an interview, contact Nicola Frame.

Footnotes
1 In September 2006, 1,029 Which? online panel members took part in a survey about postal services. Comparison with percentage of respondents to Which? surveys in 2006 that were very satisfied with their current account (46 per cent), broadband providers (37 per cent) and mobile phone services (33 per cent).

2 The number of UK post offices fell by nearly 20 per cent between April 2001 and June 2006. Greater London was the worst affected with 30 per cent closures. The Government has recently announced the closure of thousands more post offices but is keen to stress alternatives such as greater use of mobile post offices.

3 More than 40 per cent of the people surveyed have had mail go missing in the last year, but less than half the respondents in our survey were aware that they can claim compensation for lost, damaged or delayed post – compensation ranges from 12 to 100 first-class stamps.

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