Royal Mail delivering advertising flyers

[Mag_seven]

I've just had my Saturday postal delivery which was a single item - an advertising "flyer" for a furniture store. Personally I don't think the Royal Mail should be putting this through my door. They should be restricted to delivering addressed mail only. What do others think?

 

[Tetchytyke]

It's an important revenue stream for them, and i don't massively care who's delivering fliers. If it's intetesting I'll keep it and if not it goes in the recycling.

 

[The_Train]

Are there not ways that you can stop unsolicited mail being delivered to you? Mail Preference Service or something like that

 

[big all]

you have to apply to the royal mail but you need to update it every two years otherwise it starts again
https://personal.help.royalmail.com...leaflets-or-unaddressed-promotional-material?

 

[gazthomas]

Mail preference service only covers personally named and addressed mail not anonymous flyers

 

[Mag_seven]

My main objections are environmental and the fact that it inevitably slows down the rate of delivery as the postie has to stop at every door when they don't have to.

 

[NSB2017]

Royal Mail would struggle to exist on addressed mail only, surely?

Given it’s a dying form of communication, anything that keeps people in work a little longer has to be welcomed, surely? Removing flyers would lead to job losses...

 

[Lucan]

Without the income from junk mail contracts, door-to-door Royal Mail deliveries would cease, at least in rural areas. At the same time the Royal Mail have failed to cash in on the boom in internet-ordered parcel delivery thanks to an insanely long list of prohibited contents. Letter delivery could be combined with parcel delivery, saving costs, if they could get their act together. The PO are looking like BR wagonload all over again.

As for the junk mail, firstly I post back any pre-paid envelopes (stuffed with the rest of the junk mail). Sometimes I fill in any forms requesting more info and (if it's an option) for a rep to phone or drop in, giving the email, address and phone number of a spamming company (find them by searching for "Tailored Marketing" or some such BS). Anything left over I use as kindling to light my wood burner or garden bonfires.

Anyway, it seems to me that the volume of junk mail is much less than it used to be, with the advertising focus having moved to the internet these days.

 

[big all]

my paper recycling box is under the letter box so needs minimal intervention

 

[Paddy O'Doors]

As for the junk mail, firstly I post back any pre-paid envelopes (stuffed with the rest of the junk mail).

I also do this. Or I just put it all in the post box at my local supermarket so they get it all back.

 

[big all]

if you want the advertising company to pay the cost you have to open the envelope and put it all in the return envelope then they get charged
if you just repost then they will either be return to sender so free or dumped by the posty in the nearest bin

 

[cjp]

Excepting say birthdays and stuff one may have ordered does anything good come by post?

Bin the lot

 

[Lucan]

Excepting say birthdays and stuff one may have ordered does anything good come by post? Bin the lot

Indeed, its mostly bills. Binning them does not lead to good outcomes though.

 

[cjp]

Indeed, its mostly bills. Binning them does not lead to good outcomes though.

My bill are advices of forthcoming Direct Debits which are just junk around a circular. (without exception things are prepaid or settled by DD) plus monthly (?) things from the TV licensing people which having no tv I ignore

 

[Lucan]

without exception [my] things are prepaid or settled by DD

So how do you know how much to pre-pay if you are not informed by post? Let me guess - by email? In that case you have merely shifted the matter from post to email, and probably brought more spam on yourself than you would have got from those entities by junk mail, it being cheaper and automated for them.

 

[DarloRich]

I've just had my Saturday postal delivery which was a single item - an advertising "flyer" for a furniture store. Personally I don't think the Royal Mail should be putting this through my door. They should be restricted to delivering addressed mail only. What do others think?

delivering those flyers might well keep the Royal Mail somewhere close to solvent! If you don't like them chuck them in the recycle bin.

Without the income from junk mail contracts, door-to-door Royal Mail deliveries would cease, at least in rural areas. At the same time the Royal Mail have failed to cash in on the boom in internet-ordered parcel delivery thanks to an insanely long list of prohibited contents. Letter delivery could be combined with parcel delivery, saving costs, if they could get their act together. The PO are looking like BR wagonload all over again.

I am not sure it is quite that straightforward!

As for the junk mail, firstly I post back any pre-paid envelopes (stuffed with the rest of the junk mail). Sometimes I fill in any forms requesting more info and (if it's an option) for a rep to phone or drop in, giving the email, address and phone number of a spamming company (find them by searching for "Tailored Marketing" or some such BS). Anything left over I use as kindling to light my wood burner or garden bonfires.

Anyway, it seems to me that the volume of junk mail is much less than it used to be, with the advertising focus having moved to the internet these days.

That seems a lot of effort to cause a little bit of fuss. I doubt most people have time for that level of investment. However, When I was a student there was a craze for signing people up to mailing lists for elderly persons equipment, dodgy sex aid sales, gay dating agencies, gay porn magazine catalouges etc etc. Such jolly japes! Obviously i never did anything like like that. So immature.

Personally I keep the pre paid envelopes and use them for my own letters. The only paperwork i like to send back is that from the Conservative party. Everything else goes into the recycle bin.

 

[Tetchytyke]

My main objections are environmental and the fact that it inevitably slows down the rate of delivery as the postie has to stop at every door when they don't have to.

The postie wouldn't be in a job without the revenue from advertising mail.

I'd agree with the environmental aspect, but that's more about the junk mail itself. If it's going to be sent anyway, I've no issue with RM delivering it.

 

[Tetchytyke]

The only paperwork i like to send back is that from the Conservative party.

I normally add a few rocks from the garden too.

 

[Calthrop]

Royal Mail would struggle to exist on addressed mail only, surely?

Given it’s a dying form of communication, anything that keeps people in work a little longer has to be welcomed, surely? Removing flyers would lead to job losses...

Selfishly: people being kept in jobs, quite aside -- I'm a "dinosaur" still making use of, and valuing, "snail-mail" for communication purposes. If including advertising flyers helps to keep this service functioning; I'll happily accept the small inconvenience of having unwanted advertising flyers delivered to me.

 

[sprunt]

So how do you know how much to pre-pay if you are not informed by post?

At the risk of putting words in the mouth of the poster you're responding to, I think they meant "without exception [my] things are (prepaid or settled) by DD" rather than, as you've interpreted it, "without exception [my] things are prepaid or (settled by DD)" - ie in either case, the party requesting the DD also sets the amount.

 

[Typhoon]

The postie wouldn't be in a job without the revenue from advertising mail.

I'd agree with the environmental aspect, but that's more about the junk mail itself. If it's going to be sent anyway, I've no issue with RM delivering it.

In fact I prefer RM to deliver it. We have had the same team for years - even the relief postie is a 'regular' (next due Feb half term). Better than having people who I don't recognise pushing something through neighbours doors and taking slightly too long over it.

Also, at least the postie pushes the mail through the door and doesn't leave half of it sticking out (like the estate agents' junk mail often is).

 

[JamesT]

The posties round here are useless.
Last week I found a parcel on my back step, no card through the door. If I hadn't gone round the back it would have been very wet by the time I spotted it. Previously they've managed to leave stuff with someone over the road, but didn't put that on the card so I had no way of knowing where it was. They also like sticking the card through without bothering to ring the bell.
At least they don't seem to be on strike every other week like it used to be when the sorting office was in Oxford.

 

[PeterY]

Straight into the re cycle bin, along with all other junk that comes though my letter box . Occasionally I may even get a letter

 

[mallard]

Without the income from junk mail contracts, door-to-door Royal Mail deliveries would cease, at least in rural areas.

Only if the government allow it. Currently, (under the Postal Services Act 2011) OFCOM has to ensure there is a "universal" postal service (which has a definition including providing "At least one delivery of letters every Monday to Saturday to the home or premises of every individual or other person in the United Kingdom or to such identifiable points for the delivery of postal packets as OFCOM may approve"). Therefore, only OFCOM can approve the withdrawal of door-to-door deliveries and must approve the collection location.

Technically, there's no requirement for OFCOM to use Royal Mail exclusively for said deliveries, but they can compel RM to make the deliveries until/unless an alternative arrangement is secured.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Therefore, only OFCOM can approve the withdrawal of door-to-door deliveries and must approve the collection location.

If RM were losing buckets, OFCOM would approve it. Think of the shareholders!

 

[whhistle]

I find it amazing that people are saying we should allow junk mail to be delivered to keep Royal Mail post people in a job.
I mean, in that case, we should build more coal power stations and have less machines to keep people in jobs...

If Royal Mail aren't working out what they can do to keep people in jobs, that's their own problem.
And if Royal Mail employees are worried about being kept in a job, look for another job.

Perhaps a medium priced but reliable parcel delivery service, attempting to take on deliveries from supermarkets maybe... people will always need parcels.

 

[underbank]

If Royal Mail aren't working out what they can do to keep people in jobs, that's their own problem. And if Royal Mail employees are worried about being kept in a job, look for another job.

Royal Mail shot themselves in the foot by not capitalising on the internet shopping market. They were too slow to recognise the potential, and have to be dragged kicking and screaming to modern needs such as parcel tracking, which other couriers introduced years earlier whilst RM just hung onto their special or recorded offerings which were from a different century in terms of cost and function! They still don't do a Sunday delivery service and they only do deliveries maybe 5/6 hours per day. Other couriers such as Amazon, yodel, hermes are out delivering 7 days per week upto 7/8 pm. If they'd been more focussed on what the customer wants rather than trying to pander to heavily unionised staff, they maybe could have been ahead of the competition and grown into the new home delivery market. They were in a perfect position to storm the home delivery market as they had the infrastructure in place, sorting offices, delivery vans/people, pick up/drop off points etc - they failed miserably to see it and as a result, we could pick up and drop off parcels at your corner shop instead - a massive wasted opportunity for RM! As it is, they're now on the back foot, losing business not just in parcel market, but also in the bulk letter market too. Their ultimate demise is inevitable I'm afraid - they're too late and slow to adapt in everything now. It won't be long before junk mail is all they do, besides the odd birthday card from great aunt Maud! You really can tell it's the remnants of a state controlled dinosaur that only existed due to its monopoly position - as soon as more responsive, more business minded competition came in, focussed on the customer not the staff, RM lost it's prime position. Things could have been so different for them.

 

[trainmania100]

I remember doing advertising flyers, personally not that bothered. It's just as bad as the stuff concealed inside an envelope, cheap credit cards etc
My dad is also a postman, terrible job his knees are starting to get bad and the bags are always heavy, bad shoulders etc

 

[Groningen]

Does this also include Wehterspoon News?

 

[ainsworth74]

Other couriers such as Amazon, yodel, hermes are out delivering 7 days per week upto 7/8 pm.

To be fair those named are renowned for exploitative business practises that keep their costs rock bottom at the cost of staff welfare and wages. I'm not sure we should cheering on Royal Mail to embrace the same model. I'd suggest pressure should be brought on those companies to offer better conditions and wages to their staff!