Postal delays

Anyone else on Honor Oak Road missing post deliveries? We haven’t had any post since last Wednesday, although we know that there are first class items that should have come at the end of the week.

I’m off Kirkdale and I’ve had nothing either!

I’m in Garthorne Road and haven’t had anything for a few days. It may be some posties are having to isolate? Last year the post was very poor in the run up to Christmas. I ended up going to the Forest Hill sorting office to pick stuff up (only to find that postal deliveries recommenced next day!)

I did read elsewhere (and no idea how true the statement was) that quite a few people were off or isolating with COVID which I guess will affect deliveries.

Was wondering the same thing. Upper Kirkdale Road and nothing either. I would pick up from the sorting office if I could but not even received a card to help.

Thorpewood Ave hasn’t had any post deliveries since Monday 29th October. I have important legal papers in the delayed post. Have sent an email for information on website about delayed post. Have today tried to book a parcel collection, where the information was that no collections available due to staff shortage due to covid. Would be nice if this information was available for the post deliveries customers, nothing online when I sent an email to them today. Come on Royal Mail I know things are difficult but you could at least give your customers information. I am unable to collect from Forest Hill Sorting Office as disabled

Can you just pick post up from the sorting office without a card (but taking ID)?

I did last year - I think I took passport and proof of address and I was able to pickup - I didn’t have a card. I recall I went early doors just after 8am.

Thanks, I might try that. Though obviously not an answer for KimD.

I asked about the “Christmas Posties” and was told that no temporary staff had been recruited this year, remember the Royal mail is being fattened up for sale. This coupled with at least 26 staff off either isolating or +ve tested, and you have your answer.

Do you know something we don’t? It’s a public company and the govt sold the last of it’s holding in 2015.

Same problem. Last delivery was Mon 29th. Now 8 days without mail!

Spoke to a postman delivering parcels in Royal Mail van this morning.
In Forest Hill area 9 posties are off with covid, leaving only 8 working at present. Management have told them to deliver parcels only, apparently there is piles of post waiting for delivery & no date to start deliveries again.
Does make me wonder what is happening with post box collection & is this also in piles at the sorting office. As lateral flow tests & PCR test are usually delivered with letterbox post, what is happening to these deliveries. With so many affected with covid may be collecting your post from the sorting office is not such a good idea especially for those who are vulnerable & at greater risk of getting very unwell from covid

I remember now it was the same issue last year - parcel delivery only.

I understand the problem / issue, but a little surprised their is no communication about this (at least that I have seen) advising that non-parcel post could well be severely held up due to COVID, need to isolate etc. Went on the post office website and it has the last posting dates for Christmas, but no recent news that I could see.

So are the working ones still doing their normal routes? I’m still getting letter post more or less daily so assuming so.

It would seem so as like you we seem to have been getting post most days and I’m the other side of Forest Hill from you!

Our lovely local postie, Sid, was back on his round today having recovered from Covid-19. He confirmed that there are a lot of staff isolating at the moment.

My friend & her family live in Bellingham. They have had problems with receiving post for months now, & have gone to the sorting office on numerous occasions to collect their post. So yes, you can go without a card.

On the other hand, we have such a good & reliable postman, who I have seen delivering post on the road running alongside Sainsbury’s (sorry forgot the name of the road ) that if there is any post to be delivered we get it promptly.
So I don’t know what has happened.
He is the short guy always wearing knee length shorts in all weathers & very pleasant.

Could he be Simon? Simon used to deliver to Upper Kirkdale but they moved him to a different route some years ago. He was really nice and very good.

I moved house recently and paid £60 for the Royal Mail redirection service. It hasn’t worked.

I don’t know his name, but as you say he is always very cheerful come what may, & I also say hello to him whenever I see him.
He isn’t young, so wonder how long he will keep going, especially wearing those knee length shorts (even when it snowed ) although maybe it’s the walking he does that keeps him healthy!

Forest Hill (and Sydenham) is going through the same issues residents in SE22 experienced earlier this year. As soon as the local postie and others catch Covid, they’re in isolation for 10 days and the more people are off, the remaining staff prioritise parcels and tracked mail instead of standard 1st/2nd class mail for delivery which leaves a huge backlog of mailbags at the sorting office.

Yes on Wednesday I did see a postman in Ballina St, but the deliveries didn’t extend to Garthorne Rd (or at least my bit of it - close to the barriers). Nothing happened on Thursday so I strolled down to the delivery office this morning about 8:30am and picked up the post - there was a notice there about there having been cases of Covid amongst the workforce.

It’s not just deliveries that Forest Hill sorting office aren’t doing. I moved house a month ago, having paid £60ish to have my mail redirected. It hasn’t happened. Yet I’m getting the post that didn’t go via Forest Hill with no problems.

I also moved from SE23 to SE26 and have no idea whether my redirect has worked as I’ve no post, redirected or otherwise. It’s a bit nerve-wracking. Hospital appointment letters, mortgage payment schedules, legal docs…these are pretty important things.

If I go to the Perry Vale collection point are they likely to have it there or is SE26 covered by somewhere else? I’m just at the very top of Dartmouth Road.

Sydenham has been covered by the Forest Hill office since the Silverdale sorting office was closed a few years ago. Things haven’t been efficient ever since.

I’ve just moved into my late mum’s house in Hampshire and everything addressed direct here arrives fine. (With packages, the really friendly post people actually wait for you to get to the door!) But post that had to get redirected … nothing for weeks. Including medical test stuff that the hospital sent on a 48 hour delivery.

I may have spoken too soon. I got letters at the end of last week but I’ve got 4 parcels that were expected to be delivered (from various Etsy shops) between Weds and Fri last week which haven’t arrived. And no post on Sat/Mon. I do hope my postie is OK!

Anyone been to the sorting office this year? A couple of those parcels need sending on so I’d rather get them moving sooner than later.

My postie is OK.
I saw him today.

I saw a postie today in Grierson Road - but no deliveries on Garthorne Road, or at least not to me! I am scheduling a trip down to the delivery office for Friday. Lets hope its not required - but with the recent news re Omricon it may be.

I’ve just been to Forest Hill sorting office and there was only 1 person in front of me. I imagined it would have been mobbed!

Apparently, they were running at only 45% attendance last week, as so many posties had Covid, but some are back now.

We have the brilliant Sean, who is working through his backlog and aims to clear it this week.

Here’s hoping you all get your letters and parcels soon!

Yep spoke to my Postie today when he delivered a parcel said office had come down with Omicron virus asked abot going to pick up letters he sid pretty much waste of time as the letters are not getting sorted as they are concentrating on getting the parcels out… They are employing some casuals to start sorting though so hopefully will get some soon.

I nipped in at lunchtime today but left empty handed. I was told that the mail was clear (and my postie as apparently around and confirmed that - so glad he’s OK) but that there was a backlog on parcel post. But that they had been short but were getting more people back. Fingers crossed they arrive before the last date for posting back out!

If Forest Hill sorting office is so dysfunctional it seems insane that even more post is going through there. I think all new post should go via another sorting office till the current backlog is at least sorted. There are time sensitive items in there. FH don’t need to deliver my post. It just needs forwarding to Hampshire. Or I want my £60 redirection fee back.

Any other organisation would hire additional temporary staff.

Pretty sure I read elsewhere most posties were coming back now and they hoped to get through the backlog before Xmas.

Suspect hiring extra staff very short-term like this is difficult as you need to actually hire them, but then also train them which takes take away from those there, and they may have thought best to just wait for people to start coming back.

Also I imagine there are security checks to be done on staff handling mail? Which takes time.

I asked our postie how he was feeling after his Covid and he said it had gone through FH sorting office, with lots of them off sick.

He said that Sydenham was even worse - at one point only 7 of the 25 posties were in work. No wonder we are missing important letters and parcels!

However, let’s be fair to the posties- they are trying so hard to clear the backlogs and deliver as many parcels as possible.

There’s a long tradition of taking people on short term over Christmas to cope with extra deliveries. That’s carried on through various terrorist campaigns over the years, so I don’t think security is an issue. Back in the 50s my Dad was a Christmas postie out of Mount Pleasant one year, working alongside actor Frank Thornton. I don’t think they ever stopped hiring … unless profit before all privatisation led to changes.

The current job market is crazy though with people offering bonuses for starters etc. I can understand if they’re finding it hard to recruit on short notice.

On a positive note, one of my three delayed parcels arrived this morning. It was expected last Fri/Sat. The other two were expected Weds/Thurs so might be further down the pile! Our posties are a great bunch and I’m sure they’ll be working flat out to clear the backlog as soon as they can.

The bad news… is that it’s a gift to myself rather than the two that have further travels ahead

Sure, but I suspect that hiring is planned and done in advance taking account of the increased workload around Christmas. I assume they recruited as normal for this (assuming they could find people to work).

This is different though as it’s sudden, short notice illness you could not foresee affecting a huge percentage of the workforce, which is much harder to deal with than planned extra workload you know will happen months in advance.

I am some what surprised that nobody has commented on the continuing postal delays. We haven’t received any post at Thorpewood Ave for almost 3 weeks. I have three parcels not delivered, can’t imagine where they are & in what state they are in after all this time. They are Christmas presents which are now too late to send on. I am expecting legal papers for probate & hospital letters. The Royal Mail phone number now cuts off immediately so there is no way of getting any information. Last week the number was answered you waited ages before giving up. There were a few postman delivering parcels last week but that seems to have stopped. I know there has been posties off with covid but I think things have also got political with the non employment of extra staff for Christmas deliveries.

We had none all week and then a small pile yesterday. There is a parcel force van in the road at the moment (9.30am on a Sunday) and the poor guy has absolutely tons to deliver. I think they’re trying their best, but they are dramatically down on staff.

Also seen the van, but also a regular postie doing the rounds on foot today (Sunday).

It is tough when you’re waiting for stuff - I’ve got a fairly urgent prescription in the post… a few people have suggested going to the sorting office - or sending someone with your ID Kim if that’s not an option?

My doctor sent my last prescription electronically to the chemist across the road. The prescription was waiting for me when I got there.

If it’s not a private prescription you can use the NHS App (not the Covid one) to have it sent to the pharmacy of your choice.

Alas it has gone from online doc to online pharmacy - who posted it out last week… they are normally very good and very fast, but it’s stuck in the post somewhere

Our postman told us that he’s delivering so many packs of Lateral flow tests at the moment that he can’t carry the letters as well!

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Doesn’t look like anyone will be getting their pcr test results anytime soon.

I hope they have gone off, my partner posted ours off at 10.30am on Monday and still no results. It’s a priority box so surely should be emptied although he did say it was completely full on Monday morning.

Same I crammed mine in there about 3pm and I’ve not had my results either.

We still have not got our results, it’s been over 48 hours so I am getting concerned now.

When I did ours (we used a drive in place though) they did say if we had no answer in 48 hours we could call with the relevant barcode to chase up the results. Not sure on the timeline for posted entries.

Our first PCR from drive in took around 30 hours to come back, the second one a few days later took 13 hours to come back (this was Saturday and Monday this week we tested) so they are getting through them, once they receive them, though I guess it’s getting busier and busier…

Not sure how these are prioritised from a post point of view though.

I don’t have results yet for one posted and then collected on Saturday morning (my OH saw the postie collect from the post box). It’s certainly the longest I’ve waited. I know they’re overwhelmed but I really hope they arrive today!

Do they post the results back? I assumed they would call / email / text with results.

For the positive tests, we also had track and trace call the same day of the results

No they email the results, usually within 24-36 hours.

Previously results texted and emailed within 48 hours max. Fingers crossed for today!

I did a PCR last week. Put it in the priority postbox at 8am on Friday, tracked the package through Royal Mail and it was delivered just after mid night. I received my results through an email at 6 am on Sunday morning. Hope this timeline helps

Thank you, hopefully the results will come through by tomorrow morning,

East Dulwich still has problems as well with deliveries, but if you want to send post, go to a SE22 postbox (there’s one right on the end of Lordship Lane by Wood Vale or take a walk to Forest Hill Road Post Office if you live in Honor Oak) instead as it took two days for a card to go from there to Norwich this week.

@Zoe_Webb mine have just arrived, from posting Saturday morning - hope you get yours soon too!

That’s good, I hope it’s negative! Hopefully we will get ours soon, I wouldn’t usually be bothered but my sister, niece and her young children were supposed to visit today, we rearranged for tomorrow but will have to cancel if the results don’t arrive in time.

I got mine this morning, so yours should have been picked up too. Just a delay in the lab I imagine.

We still don’t have any results but if you have yours then ours should come through today. It doesn’t matter now as our visitors have now been cancelled until next week.

Oh my that is unbelievable it’s that full.
Posties collecting from there will certainly have full sacks. Well fingers crossed for all of them being negative. Especially as Lewisham’s figures are up 4,054 compared to previous week. which is quite alarming.
Trying to get lateral flows isn’t easy either as a lot of chemists don’t seem to have any at the moment. So can’t check yourself if wanting to meeting family & not showing symptoms.

My partner got his about an hour ago and mine has just come through finally, both negative so could have seen family but obviously not worth taking the risk.

Big thumbs up to our postman on Trilby rd, Knocked this morning with a large envelope that wouldn’t fit through the letter box, Thanked him and wished him Merry christmas. About 30 mins later knocked with a LF test from NHS for us , Had found it among other post , He must have walked a long way on his round to come back to us .You hear these stories of postman leaving post at other address in the road knowing that people will drop it off to neighbor’s
Top man.

No regular post or postman seen for the whole week before Christmas in Winsford Road. Lots of post was due to arrive. We’ve had a registered parcel delivered as a one off van delivery but nothing through the letterbox at all.

Still had no post here… I’m waiting for a package that was posted next day delivery on 17th December still…

Is there still problems with post awaiting letter since Nov still not got it

I’m still waiting for parcels and letters from mid December, so I’d guess so. I do see postmen delivering parcels and I’ve received letters/parcels from later in December. I spoke to a postman who said ‘some things are still in the depot and some are somewhere else’. I hope they know where ‘somewhere else’ is.

My brother-in-law’s a postie and he said that Forest Hill and Sydenham sorting offices have been devastated by Covid, with less than half the postmen able to work. As a result, the offices were full and physically unable to accept any more post.
The mail is stuck in Croydon mailing centre. This makes sense as I ordered some presents on 18th December on 48 hour tracking. They reached Croydon MC on 20th and weren’t delivered to our house in FH until 31st.
The issue is apparently further complicated by LFTs. They must be delivered first, before any letters or packets.

I am waiting for 4 or 5 parcels that were posted in early December for SE26. Would you advise me to go to the sorting centre on Perry Vale? I haven’t received any post for the last 3 weeks probably.

If you and neighbours have had nothing, it might be worth doing since there might be post in your ‘bin’.

When I went pre-Christmas, my parcels were stuck in the backlog. The ‘bin’ for our postcode was clear but the parcels hadn’t reached it yet.

Meanwhile, in Ulster …

Looks like the sorting office are still resolving things - I just received a parcel (at 9am on a Sunday!) which was posted in Morpeth on 13th December.

That could explain why I saw a postman in a Royal Mail van attempting to deliver a package to a house in Sunderland Rd at 8am on Sunday!

Enormous delivery today, including some Xmas cards and several hitherto missing editions of various periodicals.

Despite all the local news here on postal delays, we’ve not noticed any of consequence in Sunderland Road. Periodicals arriving on time, and Royal Mail packages too… other than a couple a couple of days late. I just assumed our Postie has continued working as normal.

Yes same here which is why I was so surprised to see the Royal Mail van stop over the road from us and attempt a delivery so early on what isn’t even a normal working day for deliveries! I’ve also seen late deliveries being attempted as well so think they must have some workers doing overtime and covering a wider area as each time it hasn’t been one of our regular delivery drivers for Sunderland Rd.