The mail regulator OfCom announced this time last year that a major reform to the Universal Service Obligation (USO) would be take place which would allow Royal Mail (RM) to reduce the frequency of 2nd class letter delivery.
After small area trials, RM said that this process would be rolled out across the country and that they would deliver 2nd class letters on alternate days only, Monday to Friday, with no 2nd class letter delivery on Saturdays. First class mail will continue six days a week and parcels seven days a week.
Several people have sent me copies of the door-drop leaflet which explains this to households (thank you!). As these seem to be spreading across the country I didn't give it a high priority while I had other things to write about and it was very hot.
But here, especially for international readers, is the leaflet.
That isn't specific, and you have to visit the website to see it explained. But the 3-day promise might mean delivery on Day 7.
The Royal Mail website has the to be expected "why we're doing this" and this will enable us to "deliver a more reliable and sustainable service for you in the future".
The 'deliver in three days' aim will produce this, which clearly shows that there are some days when it makes no sense to send 2nd class.
I'm not sure how this works. If a letter is posted to be on Monday then I might get it on Thursday. But if this is the week (Week A) when I get three 2nd class deliveries, I won't get it until Friday - unless by some error it is delivered on Wednesday. And if it's posted on Tuesday on a B Week, then I won't get it until the following Monday.
That is probably acceptable for most incoming mail, but the charts they show on their website are not accurate.
Australia Post did it differently when they made the change, but I'm not sure their leaflet is any easier to understand, and they certainly should have corrected a few typos here.
Some 2nd class mail doesn't have a clear date on which it was posted, so we can never be sure how well the service is performing.
But I doubt it will persuade many of us to pay twice as much for 1st class.
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