[DLC]

Iv not received my pre payment December voucher yet.. said it was issued on 5th delayed because of post strike.. said they put me £7 on my key and pay back … said no why would I do that I’m entitled to my voucher and should of had it… they said we will re issue it might take 3-5 weeks… I’m fuming I was without all Christmas until payed yesterday.. my January one will be here soon.. anyone else had problems.
think they trying to get me to have smart meter

[Moomin17]

Originally Posted by retrotecchie

@Moomin17

According to other folks, the vouchers now appear to be starting to arrive. One poster said theirs had been posted out on 5th December and arrived yesterday, so keep an eye on your post. My contact at the local sorting office here tells me that the backlog is now down to about 70 percent of what it was before Christmas but there are still overtime bans in effect so there is nothing they can do to clear anything any quicker than they are.

So, some vouchers are starting to come through at last, but depending on where they are in the postal system some may be delayed a bit longer.

Fingers crossed for a quick avalanche of vouchers now 🤞

Got mine today, but had to phone them to make sure I could still use it, as they are having to re-issue them, due to people not getting them. Luckily I was told I could use it and the re-issue will be voided, which was the complete opposite from what I was told via email.

[meldrewreborn]

With so many vouchers issued via Royal Mail it was inevitable that lots of people would be affected by strike delayed post. While suppliers can’t be held to account for that, the absence of a plan B is highly regrettable.

[Moomin17]

Originally Posted by DLC

Iv not received my pre payment December voucher yet.. said it was issued on 5th delayed because of post strike.. said they put me £7 on my key and pay back … said no why would I do that I’m entitled to my voucher and should of had it… they said we will re issue it might take 3-5 weeks… I’m fuming I was without all Christmas until payed yesterday.. my January one will be here soon.. anyone else had problems.
think they trying to get me to have smart meter

I have not got mine. I have been back and forth with them regarding this via email. I have been given conflicting information. I got told it would take 4 weeks to re-issue the voucher. I also got told that if the first one turns up I could use it and the re-issued one would be voided, they then told me, my first one would be voided and to wait for the re-issued voucher. They have now lodged my correspondence to them as a complaint, due to me not being happy being given conflicting information. I also pointed out that despite the Royal Mail strikes in October and November, it did not hold up my vouchers. I told them the December one has blatantly gone missing, as I have had all my other mail with no issues and no delays. And I also pointed out to them I have a regular postman who knows me and what number in my flat is in the building I stay in. So it had not gone through the wrong letter box in the building.

[retrotecchie]

@Moomin17

According to other folks, the vouchers now appear to be starting to arrive. One poster said theirs had been posted out on 5th December and arrived yesterday, so keep an eye on your post. My contact at the local sorting office here tells me that the backlog is now down to about 70 percent of what it was before Christmas but there are still overtime bans in effect so there is nothing they can do to clear anything any quicker than they are.

So, some vouchers are starting to come through at last, but depending on where they are in the postal system some may be delayed a bit longer.

Fingers crossed for a quick avalanche of vouchers now 🤞

[Tommysgirl]

@retrotecchie
I received post today, 2 Christmas cards, one posted 3rd December and the other posted 5th December. Our Postie said to me today they are working slowly through the backlog, but this situation need not have happened. He says they had almost reached an agreement months ago but "The bloke at the very top at Royal Mail blocked it". Small consolation for those still waiting for their December vouchers etc, but hopefully they will arrive quickly now. I totally agree with @meldrewreborn that the suppliers should have had a Plan B in place which did not rely on the Postal Service. 🤞

[meldrewreborn]

@Tommysgirl

There are always different versions of what is the root problem in a strike, and what might have been done to solve it. The Royal Mail dispute is already accelerating the loss of business to other companies, and so the workers will face even greater demands for efficiencies and cutbacks when they eventually return to work.

What I do know is tat the Government have cushioned the blows faced by all families from rising prices, and that needs to be factored into any settlement process. I think there is a problem with the NHS strikes in that the pay rise they're arguing over is that from April 2022, when inflation wasn't at todays level. And when pay has been held down for a long time there comes a big catch up exercise which is then seized upon as the benchmark for everybody else.

When my pay was held down for a while a lot of people left, which allowed duffers like me to get promoted. In the long term recruitment and retention are the factors that affect pay rates in the market place.

Unfortunately, UK PLC has been adversely affected by world energy and other prices, which makes us poorer. Raising pay for all merely embeds the inflation into the system, which is ultimately of no real benefit. So to some extent we have to recognise that pay will lag inflation for a while. The government doesn't have the ability to protect us all.

[Tommysgirl]

@meldrewreborn
Hear Hear!

[retrotecchie]

@Tommysgirl

I just got my bank statement for November this morning. Dated Nov 22!

Not that I was unduly concerned as I use online banking anyway, but it did flag up another issue which a chat with my postie just now may help explain why some mail is delayed more than other types.

Companies like the banks, credit card companies and the big postal users don't just pop down the post box and chuck a handful of letters in. They have dedicated collection services that in some cases quite literally involve collecting a lorryload of mail. These services have been more heavily impacted by industrial action than the day to day collection of normal mail from post boxes. Whole trolleyloads of bulk mail have been wheeled into the depots, which then get backfilled with sacks of regular mail. Nothing happens on strike days, so as soon as the mail workers get back to work, not only is there a whole pile of previously unsorted mail, but more collections have happened which get piled up in the sorting centres.

You would think that everything gets sorted 'first in, first out' but that's not often the case. Most of the time, they have to work through the newest stuff first in order to even get to the pile of older stuff.

So, quite possible that the vouchers were dispatched in the appropriate timescales by the suppliers but have just been at the back of the backlog, so to speak.

I can testify that letters posted by, for example, my GP or the hospital, or a few locally posted Christmas cards have trickled through without too much delay, but everything coming via the bulk mail stream (bank statements, DWP, local council, etc.) have experienced much longer delays.

Not that this helps anyone waiting for a voucher, but does explain why bulk mail has been impacted more than some other post.

[retrotecchie]

Just to add, although the posties round here have technically been on strike as in 'not collecting, sorting or delivering mail', the vans have still been out and about.

Our lad likes to just do his round to check up on some of the more vulnerable folks in our area and indeed was out dropping off bottled water to some of the elderly folk in our village when we were off supply. Not entirely altruistic, he says. If he's not at work, he's having to suffer with the kids at home for the Christmas holiday!