Royal Mail Disruption in Evington
The Royal Mail post box on Main Street has been wrapped in black plastic sheeting with a sign declaring ‘OUT OF SERVICE-Automated System Coming Soon’. The post-box been sealed and post disrupted before the new system is up and running it seems.
Like the closure of our post office, it appears the Royal Mail has little regard for its customers and simply treats them as pawns in its efforts to cut the cost of letters while it concentrates on the more lucrative parcel and package delivery services. It has no competition in the letters market, thus having a monopoly it does not need to work so hard to maintain its customer base.
Royal Mail is installing about 3,500 new post-boxes across the UK that use solar panels to power onboard electronics. These post-boxes have a barcode scanner that lets users scan a pre-purchased postage label (especially for parcels) to activate the box. Below the traditional letter slot, there’s now a drawer that opens, after scanning, to accept small parcels up to shoebox size, something the classic design never could.
After scanning and posting, customers can use the Royal Mail app to get proof of postage and tracking information for what they’ve dropped in. Even with the new tech, there’s still a separate slot for posting letters just like before, so you can post letters the same way you always have.
So why is it happening? Letter volumes have been declining for years, while parcel delivery has grown sharply due to online shopping. The upgraded boxes are a way to modernise the network and make posting parcels more convenient without going into a post office.
These changes are focused more on customer convenience and parcel handling than altering how letters are automatically sorted inside mail centres. So, the disruption in the letter service is due to the rollout of the post office new digital post-box.
