Collecting Missed Mail

Dear E Page,

Thank you for your request for information received on 11/11/08, which we
are considering under the Freedom of Information Act. Under the Act you
should expect a reply from us to be sent by 09/12/08, which is twenty
working days from receipt of your request.

If for any reason we are unable to provide you with a full response within
that time, we will contact you explaining the reasons for this and giving a
revised date by which we will reply.

If in the mean time you have any questions or would like to contact us
about your request, please contact us by telephone 01252 806513 or
alternatively email or write to us at the address below. Please be assured
that we are giving this our attention and will get back to you shortly.

Yours sincerely

Marie Teasdale
[Royal Mail Group request email]
Freedom of Information Unit
PO Box 341, ALDERSHOT, GU11 1WW

Royal Mail is a trading name of Royal Mail Group Ltd. Registered in England
and Wales.
Registered number 4138203. Registered office at 148 Old Street, LONDON EC1V
9HQ

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Dear Ms Page

Re: Freedom of Information Request

I am writing in response to your email dated 11th November 2008 requesting
information regarding the collection of undelivered packages and parcels.
You asked for an explanation as to why it was necessary to wait 48 hours
before collecting a package from our Edinburgh Delivery Office and what
happens to packages in this 48 hour period.

I am sorry if you are unhappy with the service you received but it may be
useful perhaps if I provide a little background on the approach we take
when we are unable to deliver an item of mail, such as a parcel that will
not fit through a letterbox and no-one is at home to receive the item. In
these cases, the postman or woman will leave a card saying we were unable
to complete the delivery and provide information on when the parcel can be
collected in person from the local delivery office or alternatively arrange
a redelivery. In the case of Brunswick Road delivery office which attempted
delivery to your address, parcels are normally available for collection 24
hours later. In this particular case, I cannot explain why the card that
we left for you said the item would be available 48 hours later. We don’t
keep a record of the time allowances specified on ‘while you were out’
cards and therefore are unable to provide a full explanation as to why 48
hours was used on this occasion. Perhaps the following day was a Sunday –
when the delivery office would not be open – or it was a public holiday,
again when we would not be making deliveries but I cannot comment further
as we do not have a record of this particular case.

You also asked for minimum times which Royal Mail sets for collection of
parcels at Delivery Offices and what factors allow the time scales to be
adjusted. All Delivery Offices have different opening hours and times for
customers to collect undelivered items and, therefore, there is no set
standard time allowance in operation. The minimum time for collection of
items at Brunswick Road, is normally 24 hours. This can be reduced to as
little as 2 hours in some circumstances when van deliveries are unable to
be made as the van has to return to the Delivery Office with any
undelivered items. This reduced collection time will be dependent on a
number of other factors, including the time of day when delivery was
attempted. Clearly we are also anxious to avoid situations where a customer
goes to a local delivery office to collect an undeliverable letter or
parcel but the item of mail is not ready for collection.

I’m sorry not to be able to provide more precise information but in the
absence of more details, I’ve have tried to explain the general approach we
take. I hope this is helpful but if you have any queries or further
information needs in the future then please do contact me. Also, if you
are dissatisfied with this response for any reason you do have a right to
request an internal review, in which case please write to the Head of
Information Compliance, Royal Mail House, Company Secretary's Office, 5th
Floor, 148 Old Street, LONDON, EC1V 9HQ. An internal panel will then
review the request, and you will be advised of the outcome.

If, having requested an internal review by Royal Mail, you are still not
satisfied with our response you also have a right of appeal to the
Information Commissioner at:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 700
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Marie Teasdale
Freedom of Information Unit
Company Secretary's Office

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Dear Ms Page

I am writing in relation to your email dated 18 December 2008 regarding
your request for information from Royal Mail Group. We want to help you as
much as we can with your request. It may be helpful to discuss this in
order for us to explain our previous response and give you the best reply
we can.

We explained in our previous reply that when we are unable to deliver an
item of mail, the postman or woman will leave a card, which advises the
addressee that we are holding the item for them. The postman or woman
decides the appropriate time to allow before the item will be available for
collection and writes this on the card. We don't hold a record of the time
allowances specified on individual cards and therefore cannot provide the
specific reason that 48 hours was given in the case of your item.

The time to allow before collecting an item is provided so that items can
be returned to the local delivery office ready for collection or redelivery
to be arranged. During the 48 hour period therefore, your mail item would
have been returned to the callers office at your local delivery office and
sorted so that it was ready for collection. As we said in our reply, we
wish to avoid situations where a customer contacts a local delivery office
to collect an undeliverable letter or parcel but the item of mail is not
ready for collection or redelivery.

I would be happy to call you to talk about this if you are able to provide
a contact number. However, if you still wish us to complete a formal
Internal Review of our previous response, we will of course do so and will
reply to you in full in writing.

Yours sincerely

Colin Young
Freedom of Information Manager
[Royal Mail Group request email]

Royal Mail is a trading name of Royal Mail Group Ltd. Registered in England
and Wales.
Registered number 4138203. Registered office at 148 Old Street, LONDON EC1V
9HQ

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Dear Ms Page

I am writing in response to your email dated 18 December 2008. You have
not replied to my last email dated 14 January 2009 and therefore, we have
completed an internal review of our response to your request for
information under the Freedom of Information Act. Our internal Review
Panel has now considered this in full and I am writing to advise you of
their decision.

In your original request dated 11 November 2008, you asked for an
explanation of why you “had to wait 48 hours to collect a package from your
Brunswick Road Edinburgh delivery office when I was not at home on the day
of delivery”.

As we explained in our reply dated 09 December, we do not hold a record of
the reason for 48 hours being specified as the time to allow before
collecting a specific item which could not be delivered to you. We tried
to explain the reasons that it is necessary to allow time before attempting
to collect such items and the approach Royal Mail takes in handling these
items for our customers. In reviewing this request, our internal review
panel were satisfied that Royal Mail does not hold any recorded information
which would provide you with the specific explanation you requested.

In your original request, you asked three further questions:
“What happens to the packages in this 48 hour period?”
“What is the range of minimum times that Royal Mail sets for
collection of parcels at its delivery offices?”
“What factors allow the time scales to be adjusted and who decides
what times should be written on the red cards which are left at the
address?”

The review panel were satisfied that these questions were answered in our
emails dated 09 December and 14 January.

In your request for an internal review, dated 18 December 2008, you did
complain that you did “not know who decides the times that are written on
the cards, or where my parcel is during the time it is unavailable for
collection.” I hope my email dated 14 January has now clarified this.

When a postman or woman leaves a card to advise the addressee that we are
holding an item for them, the postman or woman decides the appropriate time
to allow before the item will be available for collection and writes this
on the card. In the time we ask you to allow before collecting an item,
that item is returned to the local delivery office and sorted so that it is
ready for collection or for a redelivery to be arranged.

I hope that this suitably explains our response, if you have any further
questions please do not hesitate to contact me. However, if for any reason
you are not happy with the outcome of this review, you also have a right of
appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Waterlane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

Colin Young
Freedom of Information Manager
[Royal Mail Group request email]

Royal Mail is a trading name of Royal Mail Group Ltd. Registered in England
and Wales.
Registered number 4138203. Registered office at 148 Old Street, LONDON EC1V
9HQ

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