Changing shipping during postal strike

[martinkay]

So assuming these strikes go ahead there is little point putting small parcels into the Royal Mail till things are back to normal. It looks like I will have to pay maybe £3-5 extra per packet and send them by courier, and pass some if not all of this cost on to the customer. What would be the easiest way to approach this in Actinic, in such a way that it's easily undoable if and when things get back to normal? Wondering if just switching on the currently unused handling charge selector and putting a value in there would do the trick. Don't really want to have to go through changing all the shipping price bands if I can help it for what "might" be a short term thing. What options are others considering?

[Mike Hughes]

I sell a lot of low priced items and no-one's going to pay extra for delivery for that stuff.

If you already have a 'next day' delivery option why not just explain the situation, use RM for most stuff and customers can choose the 'next day' option if they want it.

I'm thinking of sticking with RM but not posting anything on strike days. What I tend to see is that stuff delayed by a strike is pushed to the side and only gets processed when there's spare time. Stuff posted after a strike is processed as normal and often arrives the next day (when sent 1st class).

I guess this makes sense for RM as it means they can hit their targets for the majority of mail and only miss it for stuff posted during a strike. i.e. in their view it's better to delay a few items for weeks than delay everything by a few days.

This kind of suggests that avoiding the strike days is probably the best strategy.

Mike

[leehack]

I agree with Mike, i have a mate whose a manager at Royal Mail and he'd unofficially tell you the same. All you need to do is be clear on your site, don't presume that everyone knows about the strike. I'd be looking to relay the message on your site, particularly right by where they select their delivery options.

[Darren B]

agreed

make it clear and add a carrier method that costs more, some will use it and its there for the higher value items aswell. If people want it they have the option - i use interparcel for this

[TraceyHand]

I'm thinking of sticking with RM but not posting anything on strike days. What I tend to see is that stuff delayed by a strike is pushed to the side and only gets processed when there's spare time.

This is exactly what we're doing.
We just won't dispatch the RM stuff on strike days (and possibly the day after, depending on volume)
We always give an over-estimated lead time anyway so can absorb a couple of extra days (not that customers ever read the lead time even though it is plastered over the site!)

[spooky]

I agree with Mike, i have a mate whose a manager at Royal Mail and he'd unofficially tell you the same. All you need to do is be clear on your site, don't presume that everyone knows about the strike. I'd be looking to relay the message on your site, particularly right by where they select their delivery options.

Nice point, cheers

[Sean Williams]

(not that customers ever read the lead time even though it is plastered over the site!)

You can say that again!
One of our delivery options is 'up to 7 working days delivery' (alonside the next day option) but fully half the customers choosing the slower, cheaper option are still on the blower within 2 days looking for their order

[PatchworkRabbit]

My husband works for RM as an engineer. They lay on thousands of extra staff and managers roll up their sleeves and get dirty to ensure that mail has a minimum of delays.

I would simply remove "guaranteed next day" as an option for the time being OR state that the customer is taking a risk selecting that due to the postal strikes.

Is it possible to print that on the invoice as well?


As a small political statement, if you move away from using RM during this period, you're driving a nail in its coffin. As an American used to USPS, I have to tell you that you don't know how lucky you are to have it.

[/plea]

[chris ashdown]

As a small political statement, if you move away from using RM during this period, you're driving a nail in its coffin.

Sorry reverse logic being applied, We are the innocent here trying to run companies, they are the ones who don't want their company to continue.

Its a bit like the old print unions who would not change, they have gone but we still get daily newspapers

[mpwildeman]

As a small political statement, if you move away from using RM during this period, you're driving a nail in its coffin. As an American used to USPS, I have to tell you that you don't know how lucky you are to have it.
[/plea]

Who's driving a nail in who's coffin! If RM can't deliver my goods in the lead up to Xmas I'm out of business. I was nearly put out of business two years ago when they try this rubbish before.

"don't get me i'm NOT part of the union"


I'm switching to courier for Xmas and will proberbly stay with them, though small items are more expensive. No one driving a nail in my coffin thank you very much.

[LHorton]

Did anyone try using RM Special Delivery option during the last strike?

We’re sending everything this way at the moment in the hope that RM won’t want to pay compensation for late delivery and will get there managers out delivering the specials first.

[Darren B]

payment is only made for late deliveries if they accept it in the 1st place, i am warned by the post office that next day may not happen and do i still want to send it, im guessing this is the get out