Royal Mail has reduced the opening hours at half of its customer service points in the UK on Monday, with critics warning it could affect workers and businesses.
The postal giant has 1,200 customer service points in total where customers can drop off parcels or pick up post that could not be delivered to their homes.
Following the changes, about 50% will now be typically operating between 8am to 10am on weekdays, while on Saturday they will open from 8am to 12pm. Some will also open between 4pm-6pm on Thursday.
Previously these points were open until 2pm most days of the week.
Critics have raised concerns about the move, saying it will affect working people, and that redelivered items do not always arrive on time.
They warn it could also affect businesses that rely on these service points to ship orders for next-day delivery.
Royal Mail said it made the decision as doorstep services increase.
In May this year, it introduced the option to have a parcel redelivered the next working day if the original attempt was missed.
Beth Winter, the Labour MP for Cynon Valley in Wales, has written to the chair of Royal Mail, Keith Williams, saying these points were “indispensable” and offer “flexibility” to working people “who cannot always be at home to accept deliveries”.
Others have also highlighted the security offered by collection points at a time when parcel thefts have been rising.
The number of claims for missing parcels jumped by 59% in the year to June compared with the previous 12 months, according to figures from the technology firm Metapack.
Businesses could also struggle if they use a customer service point to drop off parcels.
Harry Gray, 27, who runs a direct to consumer fashion business based in Manchester said: “As a Click and Drop business customer I rely on Royal Mail customer service points every day. They allow me to drop parcels on my own schedule, compared with the strict collection times they offer – which don’t work for my business.”
Labour MP Justin Madders wrote to Royal Mail at the beginning of July about changes to opening hours at the Ellesmere Port centre.
Madders said Royal Mail announced it would be closing service points in January, but there was a “backlash”.
He added: “We can all see the strategy is to make it so restrictive in terms of opening hours that in six months’ time, they can say ‘no is using it’ so they can shut it down. It feels cynical to me. It will drive customers away, and we want the Royal Mail to survive.”
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We understand the importance that some customers attach to customer service points (CSPs) as one of a number of ways in which they can access our services.
“An increase in doorstep services such as Parcel Collect and Safeplace are helping us to enhance customer convenience and deliver more parcels first time. In May this year, we also introduced automatic redelivery of parcels the next working day across the UK for customers who are not at home when posties attempt to deliver the first time. Over 99% of parcels are now successfully delivered to customers on the first or second delivery attempt. This is reducing the need for customers to collect parcels from CSPs.”
