Ordered something from Amazon US on Tuesday (26-Nov) and it was delivered on Sunday (1-Dec) afternoon in Tokyo. Shipping costed £8.34 (I picked the cheap option for international shipping). Quite astounded really, both by Amazon's efficiency during presumably a busy period (Black Friday week) and the post office service on both ends.
Nice idea. I'd be up for it, but the usual pensioners / mothers / disabled / one-eyed banjo players / random entitled groups would be up in arms.Originally Posted by virtuo
On the other hand, here in the UK, I am still waiting for something that is "out for delivery" since 10AM. I guess that "next day delivery" is pretty much guaranteed to be late in the day. Bit frustrated because there are a bunch of things I needed to do today, and I could've gone and come back by now.
(I know this is an old thread, but I just needed a place to vent. I've gotten way too spoiled by Japanese mailing service).
Always feels like a wasted day when you're just waiting for a parcel to turn up.
this ....with bells on
OK posting something to the other side of your City feels expensive...
but posting something to the other side of the nation.. is v cheap
I think that RM have been hit with a double whammy.
Whammy 1 : The nature of the internet age and email, and before that fax, means that postal volumes have dropped massively. A VERY large proportion of my business communications, for instance, are electronic these days, from submission of copy to sending of invoices. Personally, I bet that for business I use about 1 postage stamp for every 500 I'd have used 25 years ago, and maybe even less than that. That's a huge drop in revenue from postage stamps.
Whammy 2 : RM still has the universal service obligation, and competitors don't. So competitors will cherry-pick profitable locations and ignore everybody else.
I think RM are right and, especially in relation to Whammy 2, the situation is unsustainable. A bit like small, local shops, the butcher, greengrocer, baker, fishmonger, etc, you don't realise, or appreciate, what you've got until it's gone, and all you have is a handful of massive supermarkets. Me? I get all the meat, veg etc I can from one of two local butchers and a new, small greengrocer.
I use email, etc, for speed, cost and because some clients require both work and invoices be submitted that way, but for personal stuff, I'll stick to RM. I think the universal service obligation is wonderful, and "use it or lose it".
mycarsavw (20-12-2016)
It really does.. even though it did give me the time to read pages and pages of insurance policies (re: another thread).
I just checked the price of 1st class postage in Japan and the UK, and it's nearly identical to the penny! And keep in mind that only months ago, the exchange rate would've put UK as being the more expensive of the two (edit: looking at my post from the first page, it looks to be the case).
I suppose that Japan is still holding onto paperwork more than most developed countries (to my chagrin), so it gives the post office more business than over here. But the fact remains that receiving a parcel in Japan is a much less stressful because every delivery service, from couriers to the post office, allows you to select from delivery slots 2-4 hours apart for redelivery (until 9PM!), with same day delivery not out of the question.
Amazon Logistics are pretty much the definition of an RM competitor here.
I'm not sure what, or why, made you read the above and come to the conclusion that it 'screamed desperation'. The sentence above is factually correct and more to the point, simple common sense; if competitors are able to cherry pick the easiest, cheapest to run and most profitable routes, whilst leaving RM obliged to service the more expensive ones whilst losing the income from the more profitable ones, then a Universal Postal Service will not be sustainable. Competition is only competition if it is on a somewhat equal footing, and that is definitely not the case with RM.
Maybe you're not particularly bothered about the UK having a Universal Postal Service, in which case your attitude to the flyer is predictable, and reasonable. But if you think a Universal Postal Service is a good thing, then you'd probably want to rethink that attitude, because by almost any reasonable assessment of that particular market, it is hard to see how RM will be able to continue to (cough) deliver.
It seems to have a similar universal service obligation - the 'free p&p on any order over £20' still counts anywhere in mainland uk, right? Bad news for the isles of scilly, and frustrating for the isles of man & wight of course
But RMs obligation is to deliver whatever has valid stamps on it, without having sold or made a profit on whatever's in the item bring delivered. The package might be a card, or letter, or whatever, with zero intrinsic value, yet they have to deliver 6 dats a week (IIRC), anywhere.
perfect concise wording
and it means RM lose even more revenue in those areas while other people cheer pick
if someone wants to compete with RM they need to offer the same exact deal.
Or, of course, remove the Universal Service Obligation from RM and let them drop unprofitable locations, or charge cost-plus.
But that's a political decision, and a pretty loaded and contentious one at that.
?? letter .. hmm don't get many of those .. cheaper everything if done online .. even my 74yr old mum does email to friends in Canada .. ohh and Skype ..
do I see a use for rm .. some but not much ..
I had people I know work for rm .. they would slow down the week so they got there extra time on sat at dbl rate. would work bank hols at dbl plus shift allowance .. and make £800 for a 50 hr week .. not sure what they do now .. but it's not hard to throw up a few letters and deliver them is it ????
What does it matter now if men believe or no?
What is to come will come. And soon you too will stand aside,
To murmur in pity that my words were true
(Cassandra, in Agamemnon by Aeschylus)
To see the wizard one must look behind the curtain ....
i think that's a loaded, slightly trolling post, and flearider that I have interacted with on HEXUS previously, is a cleverer, wiser poster than that.
wished someone but royal mail would deliver here i might actually get my mail then and not mail from 3 streets away
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
