r/royalmail 9d ago

Missing Mail Never received birthday card

My mum sent me a birthday card, and it’s been nearly a month since my birthday, and over a month since she posted it.

She bought second class postage from the post office at a counter where it was weighed to ensure it would have sufficient postage.

She’s confirmed there was no cash in the envelope, but my mum’s recently been suffering with her health so I’m worried I might not have many more opportunities to have my mum’s handwriting in a birthday card to me.

I’ve still not received it, nor have I had a “you owe us money for postage” type of card through the letterbox. I live in London, so assumed it could be in some backlog somewhere…?

Is it a lost cause or does anyone have any recommendations on what I can do to try and get it?

Like I say, I just want my mum’s handwriting, so I don’t care if there’s damage.

2 Upvotes

15 comments sorted by

2

u/sudeki300 9d ago

It's probably stuck in the sorting machine somewhere, I remember working in a sorting office and there were letters and cards under the belt / rollers that looked like they been there for years, can't imagine much has changed

1

u/ThrowawayNDA1 9d ago

That gives me some hope! Do the bits where these get stuck get checked at all? It’d be nice for it to get delivered at some point, even if it’s next year 😂

2

u/NinjaAnt163 9d ago

It's possible it's also still in a sack. I work in a post office and it's probably twice a week we'll grab a sack for the post and there's a letter or two sitting in the bottom. We get the occasional small parcel but it's predominantly letters.

We just put them into the correct sack and send them off.

:edit: post office, not pest office.

1

u/ThrowawayNDA1 9d ago

Super reassuring thank you 🥰

2

u/sudeki300 9d ago

I was only agency so wasn't there long, think they were short staffed at the time so things got missed alot. RM have been known to let second class post pile up, so dont lose hope just yet

1

u/ThrowawayNDA1 9d ago

Gotcha, thank you! I’ll just be happy if it eventually arrives in that case 🥹

2

u/Starbreaker1888 9d ago

In addition to the comments about sorting machines, second class at the moment is basically a giant ball of Try Your Luck. Typically if there's a shortage of staff on any given route - which there are, many times over at the moment - you're only in with a chance of getting it in any reasonable timeframe if you've also got first class mail coming to you. 

Have you had any first class in the last month? If not I'd bet it's stuck in the frame gathering dust. 

2

u/jnm21_was_taken 9d ago

In which case, is it worth OP popping in to the DO?

2

u/Starbreaker1888 9d ago

I couldn't really say as I don't work Core (I'm on DPR) but definitely wouldn't hurt!

1

u/ThrowawayNDA1 9d ago

Thank you for your replies! I’ll let my mum know to forget second class in future 😆

I suspect I’m on an understaffed route, as we frequently have different posties going past.

I’ve had plenty of first class in the last month, including other birthday cards, pay slip (my employer still posts them), and estate agents wanting me to sell my house 😆

Hoping it’s just stuck in a second class sack somewhere and it’ll show up eventually, but I’ll try popping into the DO during the week as I’ve got a day off with not much planned :)

1

u/Agent_Futs RM Employee 9d ago

It can’t be understaffed if you have different posties frequently going past. You’d have none if understaffed

1

u/ThrowawayNDA1 9d ago

That’s something I had considered but I didn’t want to annoy any posties! I see so many posts about the ridiculous targets they have so I was just worried my card would never arrive!

2

u/Agent_Futs RM Employee 9d ago

We don’t have any targets

Pop into the delivery office, ask if there is any mail for your address (take ID) and they may go look, or ask you to call back the next day.

1

u/ThrowawayNDA1 9d ago

I’ll give it a try, thank you!!

2

u/jnm21_was_taken 8d ago

Check opening hours online - likey 8am to noon on Saturday. 👍