SE1 postal service campaign

xtine cop - it is possible to park 'around the back' of the sorting office, not sure of the street name, but if you go up Mandela Way to Tesco, then turn left onto dunton road, and then first left, there are lots of parking spaces, and there is a cut through to walk back to the pick up place.

Willow Walk!!!

JonR wrote:

xtine cop - it is possible to park 'around the back' of the sorting office, not sure of the street name, but if you go up Mandela Way to Tesco, then turn left onto dunton road, and then first left, there are lots of parking spaces, and there is a cut through to walk back to the pick up place.

There was a very interesting article in The Week, (first published in the Telegraph) in which one of the big internet DVD sellers admitted (off the record) that they no longer even question the customer's honesty when something doesn't arrive because theft is so bad.

I'm desperately trying to find the article online to link to, but can't. Apologies!

yes Willow Walk, that's the one. Thanks Pops

xtine cop wrote:

Hope I am not going over old ground. I am an SE16 resident but work in the SE1 area. We now have to go and collect our mail from Mandela Way (a decision that we were not informed of) .
[SNIPPED FOR SPACE]

OK rant over!!!

I too am a resident of SE16. My husband had two parcels he had to collect from Mandela Way on Saturday morning. He noticed numerous disgruntled SE1 folks as they were told that THEIR office closes at NOON, while SE16's closed at 12.30. But anyhow, that's not the half of it.

The 'while you were out' cards left in our post box, of course listed 'Mandela Way' as the address to collect from, while actually listing the OLD, INACCURATE postcode for SPA ROAD - THE FORMER SE16 SORTING OFFICE. In other words: not only have they not given Mandela Way's postcode, they have given the wrong, old, inaccurate postcode for the former SE16 sorting office on Spa Road and not Mandela Way!!! (Checked it on Streetmap.)

So as you can imagine, because like so many others, my husband went to collect these on Saturday. They claimed neither one could be found, and he told them to check again. One was finally found on the handwritten, Stone Age era list (what the £$!"%"%^&* do they think electronic tagging is for??) With the other package, he requested the receptionist give him a card to fill out so he can be called if it is found again. You'd think he'd asked the woman for a kidney with the amount of attitude she displayed.

To top it all off, on the 'while you were out' cards left in our box, it said that the office closed at 4 (or 4.30, anyhow point being) - they actually close at 5. So, yes, he could have avoided the huge queues by going to the office on a workday.

Just want to mention: the one time I went to the Spa Road former SE16 sorting office, they were fairly helpful. Of course that means that the office be closed.

We feel your pain, fellow SE16'er!

Saturday 8th April 4:35pm. Blimey, it's the postman
Just heard the letterbox rattling and amazingly the postman is doing his round at 4:35pm on a saturday !.
I looked out to make sure it was the postman. I hope he didn't take the bag of mail home first to have a
browse and then set off on his round.
As the sorting office in Mandela Way is closed on saturday afternoon, I imagine the postman must
now take any mail he couldn't deliver home for the weekend.
I'm only missing 2 letters that I'm aware of this year. I suppose that's an improvement.

My mother sent me a parcel from The Netherlands on 20 May, in order to make sure it would be here by 2 June.
The parcel never arrived. This is the 5th time a parcel from The Netherlands disappears, not to mention the post that gets lost when posted in England. I am so sick, tired and angry about this.

On 2 June, I received a "Sorry, you were out..." card at my house in Canada Water, SE16. Usually, Royal Mail delivers these when I am actually in, because they hardly ever bother to ring the doorbell. However, on this occasion I was genuinely out. So, all OK thus far. First problem was that the sorting office listed on the back of the card was in Streatham, SW18 1QA. Usually, I would collect parcels from Mandela Way (formerly Spa Road) myself, because on every single occasion I have ever arranged a redelivery, the parcel has not turned up, and I have had to phone Royal Mail to find out where it is. However, because Streatham is a good half an hour away by train, I decided to ask for a redelivery. Of course, when I tried to call the redelivery line, no one answered. I tried 2-3 times a day for about a week, each time letting the phone ring until the line went dead (sometimes after about 30 minutes - I have a speakerphone, thank God). Eventually, I decided to travel to Streatham because the parcel in question contained materials I desperately needed for work (and still need, though we'll come to that later). Notwithstanding a recent foot injury, which left me barely able to walk, I was reluctant to go because the Streatham office seemed too far away to affect me like this - a good half an hour by train - but of course, I had no way of establishing where the parcel actually was without turning up in person (it was a 'Special Delivery', by the way, so I was later able to establish its last location by contacting the sender). When I finally hobbled into Streatham's sorting office yesterday (19 June), I was told - quelle surprise - that I should be at Mandela Way. "Why didn't you call the redelivery line?" the woman behind the counter asked. When I managed to control my breathing and explain the situation, she seemed genuinely apologetic, though not for the lack of anyone answering the Streatham redelivery line, of course. So, I got back on the train and went to Mandela Way. There, one of the staff told me that the parcel had definitely arrived, but that he couldn't find it. "Can I speak to your supervisor?" I asked. "No, I'm sorry, he's not here," came the reply. It was about 2.30pm. "Why isn't he here?" I asked, eyeing the TV behind the counter that was blaring out a World Cup match. The man shrugged. "The managers finish at 1pm," he said. He then took my mobile phone number and promised that a manager would call me the following day (today). "I'd really rather wait," I said. "Because, with all due respect, people at Royal Mail have said they will call me back before, and they never have." He shrugged again and said there was no alternative. It's almost 5pm, I've yet to receive any phone call and I'm not holding my breath. So far, I have "only" wasted about a day on this, although I am now running late on the work in question. In aggregate, over the past few years, I would estimate that I've wasted weeks over post problems. Would anyone consider joining me in a class-action law suit for loss of earnings? As far as I am concerned, the day Royal Mail finally collapses and is replaced with a competitive market place that isn't so heavily unionised, Britain should rejoice.

Just to remind everyone that Tony Phelan, the manager at Mandela Way is registered on the site, so please send him PM's directly to complain about missing post/bad service etc etc. If it's not reported, it doesn't apppear in their figures and nor will it be investigated. Maurits it sounds like you were being sent birthday presents - if so, happy belated birthday, and have they turned up yet?

Hat

I returned from holiday to find one of these red and white cards.
In the past I have simply faxed a redelivery request, but now the fax number just rings and rings (and has done, for two days now).
The phone number given, of course, is useless.
I tried the numbers given on here: "Latest news: New contact numbers for Mandela Way office: 020 7740 7773 for complaints and 020 7232 2994 for redelivery of parcels." but, if not engaged, they just rang and rang, too.
Is there anyway to get my mail delivered without actually going all the way to Mandela Way (I'm near Waterloo)?
Any help gratefully received.