Royal FAIL: Where in Britain has the worst postal service?

The Royal Mail has failed to hit its target for delivering first class mail anywhere in the United Kingdom over the past 12 months, shocking figures have shown. 

There is a legal obligation on the Royal Mail to deliver 93 per cent of first class mail within one working day of its collection. But figures released by the company show that in 2022, delivery success ranged from 30.3 per cent in the Hebridies, to 82.1 per cent in the City of London. 

The Square Mile’s figure fell by 9 per cent during the year 2021/22. 

Users of the postal service have expressed their anger by the unreliable service, with complaints from hospitals that patients are missing important letters advising them of upcoming appointments. 

Magistrates have also warned that summonses are arriving late which is putting further pressure on the criminal justice system.   

One pensioner who spoke with MailOnline said she now sends important correspondence such as birthday cards at least two weeks in advance so they will arrive at their intended destination on time. 

The ongoing failures are part of a major crisis facing the Royal Mail, whose parent company this week reported losses of more than £1bn.  

Residents in Enfield, north London have seen their on-time delivery rates decline alarmingly over the past 12 months. 

The Royal Mail’s own figures show that in 2021/22, 77 per cent of first class mail arrived at its destination within one working day of its collection. In the following financial year this had slumped to 65 per cent – meaning residents and businesses in the area have the worst service in England. 

The only worse places in the UK are Scottish islands. 

In some areas, such as Bromley, Kent, residents are forced to drive to the sorting office to collect their mail as regular deliveries are not guaranteed. 

It has been reported that ‘postal deserts’ are only receiving mail deliveries once a fortnight.  

Between 2021/2022 and 2022/23 the Royal Mail has received more than 623,500 complaints, resulting in compensation payments of £7,591,656. 

Marking the worsening service, the Royal Mail’s own figures show a 25 per cent increase in the number of complaints between 2021/22 and 2022/23. 

The level of compensation paid also rose from £3,511,471 to £4,080,185. 

The vast majority of the compensation figure – some £5.5m – was paid out of lost mail. A further £500,000 was paid out for delays. 

In 2022/23, Royal Mail officials agreed to hand customers £208,036 for damaged letters and packages. 

Such is the crisis facing the company, the firm’s boss, Simon Thompson announced earlier this month that he was quitting the company.  

For 71-year-old Betty Zechbauer, the poor service offered by the Royal Mail is clearly evident. 

She said: ‘It has definitely got worse. Deliveries are definitely slower and deliveries are just less frequent.

‘They have closed too many offices down, I think, which is a shame. Now whenever I go to the Enfield post office it’s so busy it takes so long.

‘If they had more open it would make it easier for everyone: for the staff and for the customers.’

Despite the issues, Ms Zechbauer wants to continue supporting the delivery service.

She said: ‘I still always use the Royal Mail and don’t use any other courier because we need to support them.’

‘But when I send birthday cards in the post I make sure I send them two weeks before, just in case!’

Corina Stefan, 37, also lives in Enfield and has noticed the service go downhill over the years.

The optical assistant said: ‘I have noticed it get a bit slower.

‘Letters I have sent have arrived a few days later than they should have which is annoying.’

She added: ‘But it isn’t too often, just everyone now and again.’

Other locals feel that the postal service is just one of many parts of the UK that have been going down hill over time.

Toga Taci, 25, who has lived in Enfield all his life, has seen services deteriorate around him.

Mr Taci, who works for the local Nuffield Hospital, said: ‘I think everything is going to trash, to be honest.

‘I hate to be a pessimist, but I just say it how I see it.

‘The postal service is involved in that all. It is so much worse than normal. It needs support and help, like all these things at the moment.

‘Everything in society is going down hill and degenerating which is sad.’

Fiona Tripsman, 43, is nervous about sending things with the postal service as a consequence of the service’s poor reliability. The nursery worker, from Enfield, said: ‘You never know if something is ever going to arrive.

‘It may be okay, but there is definitely a risk to sending things in the post, even if that is missing a deadline or a birthday or something because it is too slow.

‘It’s definitely a problem.’

Along with the delays the price of sending post has become a source of frustration for many locals.

Linda Evans, 77, has stopped buying first class stamps due to the rising prices.

Linda, from Enfield, said: ‘I never go first class because it’s so bloody dear.

‘I always go second, even though that’s still a bit pricey.’

However, Ms Evans hasn’t had a problem with delivery delays.

She added: ‘I never have any problems with it.

‘Everything seems to get there all in one piece and on time.’

Despite frustration among many, others in Enfield praise the Royal Mail.

Blerim Guri, 35, has had no issues since he moved a year ago from Stoke Newington.

He said: ‘I have no complaints. It has been fine here – all good. Everything has arrived on time, it is very efficient.

‘I moved a year ago from Stoke Newington and it was a bit of a problem there because we lived in a studio flat, so we would sometimes not get things as we were upstairs.

‘But here it has been great.’

Mirena Tekin also has no issues with the postal service.

The 50-year-old student said: ‘I haven’t noticed a problem which I guess means it’s good.

‘I have no problems with it. It’s all good with me.’

Others in the area don’t even use the service anymore as we they have moved into the modern age.

Vassos Menelaou, 53, hasn’t used the Royal Mail in years.

The building developer from Enfield said: ‘I don’t use it. I just use my phone – much easier.

‘I really don’t find myself needing the Post Office.’

Mrs Akin, 50, also hasn’t had a problem with delays at the Royal Mail.

The housewife said: ‘I never have any issue with the postal services. It’s fine with me.’

Alex Jarvis is from Ramsgate, Kent, and uses the Royal Mail a lot as he sends lots of things on eBay.

The 34-year-old, who works for Waitrose, said: ‘I use it quite a lot for eBay.

‘I use Tracked 48 now which skips out the post office. It’s safer and cheaper but it’s still part of the Royal Mail.

‘I have never had any issues with it and I do send a lot of stuff on eBay so yeah no complaints.’

In Newport, South Wales, the residents are also having considerable problems with their postal service, with complaints about ‘rubbish’ deliveries and mail frequently getting lost. 

Former postman Douglas Goring, 85, said: ‘I’m not surprised to learn it’s got worse. It used to be two deliveries a day when I was working and now it’s just one. 

‘I had a birthday card to my sister go missing recently, it just never arrived and that’s never happened before, she even asked me if I’d forgotten the date, I called her a cheeky so and so and that of course I had sent one. 

‘From the people I speak to who are still on the service I’m told there are a lot of issues with sickness at the moment. I don’t think people want to work. They’ve gone idle and don’t want to get out of bed in the morning.’ 

Mr Goring worked for Royal Mail for seven years after being made redundant from his job as an engineer. He said: ‘I think there are a lot of problems now with mismanagement. You can’t blame the workers for everything.’ 

Retired shop worker Lilian Parry, 78, said she had noticed small differences in her service. She said: ‘The mail arrives a lot later in the day now.’ 

Former school cleaner Janet Stredwick said: ‘I haven’t noticed that it’s been getting worse other than when they were on strike.’ 

Taxi driver Josh Coldrick, 31, said the local postal service was ‘rubbish’. He said: ‘Like most people now I do all of my shopping online but when I have things from Royal Mail it’s terrible. 

‘I ordered some parts for my car and because I was waiting for Royal Mail they took more than a month to arrive, meaning my car was off the road for a month. 

‘Just this week I ordered something First Class and it’s three days later and it still hasn’t arrived.’ 

Mortgage worker Michalina Majer, 25, said: ‘I don’t use the post very often but recently I sent a parcel to Poland and it still hasn’t arrived and that was over a month ago now. 

‘I don’t know if the problem was in this country or in Poland but I wish I had had it tracked now.’ 

Marketing manager Alisha Cadogan, 25, said: ‘I haven’t noticed it’s much different but I don’t use it very often. I live in the countryside and we only have post every couple of days.’ 

Retired factory worker Wendy Lewis, 72, said: ‘I didn’t get any letters when they went on strike a couple of months ago but since then it’s been better and I get usually letters every other day. 

‘It is hard to know whether the service is bad because you don’t often know when someone has posted something.’ 

Former secretary Pauline Davies, 78, said: ‘It was my birthday on the 15th and I have a card off my brother for my birthday every year. He told me he posted it on the 11th and today is the 17th and it still hasn’t arrived. That has never happened before. 

‘I write letters regularly to a friend in Devon and I spoke to her on the phone recently and asked her if she has got my letter and she told me she hadn’t and that was over a month ago.’

The company has blamed strike action for its poor financial performance, claiming the 18 days of industrial action cost the firm £200 million. 

A further £20m was written off after the Royal Mail was hit by a cyber attack in January, forcing a temporary halt on customers sending international packages. 

The figures come after Royal Mail last month agreed a deal with the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which would see staff get a 10 per cent salary increase and a £500 one-off payment.

But it faces further turbulence with chief executive Simon Thompson recently announcing he will step down by the end of the year and news earlier this week that Royal Mail is being investigated for failing to meet its delivery targets in the past year.

CWU general secretary Dave Ward said Royal Mail now faces ‘the biggest challenges in its 500 year history’, adding: ‘We want to work with the company to try and turn its fortunes around and obviously protect our members’ jobs and the services that Royal Mail provides to customers.’

He said he believes Royal Mail is responsible for ‘the biggest corporate failure that this country has seen in decades’, adding that it has created ‘the most toxic atmosphere in every single workplace’.

‘And posties, you know, want to see the company succeed, but the company have got to start taking the pressure off of frontline workers and working jointly with us to put things right,’ he said.