A couple of questions for IoM Post's Chairman

[Ringy Rose]

5 hours ago, Andy Onchan said:

Well, as I say IOMP are not the only users of air freight. The problem is that Stu and his band of merry people think that collaborating with others is somehow beneath them.

Why should IOM Post Office use public money to compete against TNT? 

If it’s urgent there are private sector options that don’t involve IOM Post Office.

[Andy Onchan]

8 hours ago, Ringy Rose said:

Why should IOM Post Office use public money to compete against TNT? 

If it’s urgent there are private sector options that don’t involve IOM Post Office.

Who said anything about competing? AFAIK TNT no longer exists.

[The Bastard]

11 hours ago, Ringy Rose said:

Why should IOM Post Office use public money to compete against TNT? 

If it’s urgent there are private sector options that don’t involve IOM Post Office.

We're not alone, all of the crown dependencies have unsustainable postal services based on moribund business models. The loss of airmail has put them in a unique position of disadvantage compared to the UK though, so they can't sustain the same national business model.

IoMPO have a clear advantage in maintaining points of presence in premium positions all over the island at public expense, but there's also a huge issue in that they couldn't easily fill the service gap by being a portal for private sector business because of the way they're funded.

If that wasn't the case, they could be offering DHL, Evri and a range of services a counter presence, now that the Royal Mail option has dropped back into the slow tier that's no longer a viable option.

For it to have a future, it needs to be rebuilt into a model that can generate profit from private services, or to isolate its commercial counter business further from its public service delivery business. Royal Mail might still have a niche as a small, cheap, slow option, but it shouldn't be the only option offered by a captive counter.

 

Edited December 19, 2023 by The Bastard

[Ringy Rose]

2 hours ago, Andy Onchan said:

Who said anything about competing? AFAIK TNT no longer exists

Dumb typing error on my part, I meant DHL.

DHL, as far as I’m aware, still have their own air service off the island, to either/both (depending on day) Dublin and East Midlands. So if air service is important, you can use them.

41 minutes ago, The Bastard said:

If that wasn't the case, they could be offering DHL, Esri and a range of services a counter presence, now that the Royal Mail option has dropped back into the slow tier that's no longer a viable option.

Post Office in the UK now also offer Evri, supposedly because of complaints about Royal Mail. Feels like the death of the universal service obligation to me.

The whole thing is a car crash in the UK. Deutsche Post have DHL, they were privatised but did it properly, but in the UK everything just gets sold off to spivs.  

Edited December 19, 2023 by Ringy Rose

[Banker]

7 minutes ago, Ringy Rose said:

Dumb typing error on my part, I meant DHL.

DHL, as far as I’m aware, still have their own air service off the island, to either/both (depending on day) Dublin and East Midlands. So if air service is important, you can use them.

Post Office in the UK now also offer Evri, supposedly because of complaints about Royal Mail. Feels like the death of the universal service obligation to me.

The whole thing is a car crash in the UK. Deutsche Post have DHL, they were privatised but did it properly, but in the UK everything just gets sold off to spivs.  

Problem is no one wants to deliver letters ie the USO as it loses money, one price to all addresses across UK including all islands, rural areas etc. There’s loads will do parcels as profitable, maybe all the gig companies should be licensed and have to pay a premium to deliver just parcels or take letters to rural areas, see how their prices stack up then!

[Ringy Rose]

3 minutes ago, Banker said:

Problem is no one wants to deliver letters ie the USO as it loses money, one price to all addresses across UK including all islands, rural areas etc. There’s loads will do parcels as profitable

Absolutely. Which is the real issue with “competition” in the letter sending industry. Courier firms will undercut Royal Mail prices and then the law forces Royal Mail to deliver the last bit and suck up the loss. That loss doesn’t hit the spivs who bought the business, it hits the staff, who are leaving in their droves. Like the water and energy industries, a great example of privatising profit and nationalising loss.

And many of the courier firms won’t do parcels to the highlands and islands either- too expensive and too much hassle. We’re quite lucky that we have MIC and Graylaw who will do the last bit for the courier companies.

[Andy Onchan]

12 minutes ago, Ringy Rose said:

We’re quite lucky that we have MIC and Graylaw who will do the last bit for the courier companies.

But according to a post (NB I think) further up the thread they haven't been doing that... they've hoisted some of it out to IOMP!

 

[Banker]

29 minutes ago, Andy Onchan said:

But according to a post (NB I think) further up the thread they haven't been doing that... they've hoisted some of it out to IOMP!

 

Presumably because they are trying to cooperate whilst others accuse them of being uncooperative, I suppose they should just tell the courier firms bugger off and when they can’t cope they lose contract 

[Ringy Rose]

23 minutes ago, Andy Onchan said:

But according to a post (NB I think) further up the thread they haven't been doing that... they've hoisted some of it out to IOMP!

No it’s the other way around-IOMPO lost the contract to deliver Parcel Force stuff to, I think, MIC.

The gig economy employment model they use is a concern, as we’ve seen with the number of parcels go walkies recently, but at least they bother to send stuff here

[Andy Onchan]

19 minutes ago, Ringy Rose said:

No it’s the other way around-IOMPO lost the contract to deliver Parcel Force stuff to, I think, MIC.

That's right. But then MIC subbed it out to IOMP!

[Gizo]

4 hours ago, Andy Onchan said:

That's right. But then MIC subbed it out to IOMP!

Not yet. 

[Kopek]

Surely our Mail service cannot be so sub-standard as is being made out above? We simply ship it over to England and Royal Mail distribute and gather for our in/out service? It's only the bit between Liverpool and Douglas that can introduce vagaries? So, n theory, our service is as good as the Royal Mail service?

 

Lost mail... There's a scam operating which may be causing some of this. I was waiting for a RM delivery and got a text, purportedly  from Evri, that they needed my address!!! How did they get my email? Evri were not involved in the delivery. According to the sorting office, the hack in at RM and well known about.

What the purpose of the text is. to hang  around my house and steal the package? Get financial details when giving them my address? I don't know.

[Harry Lamb]

1 hour ago, Kopek said:

Surely our Mail service cannot be so sub-standard as is being made out above? We simply ship it over to England and Royal Mail distribute and gather for our in/out service? It's only the bit between Liverpool and Douglas that can introduce vagaries? So, n theory, our service is as good as the Royal Mail service?

 

Lost mail... There's a scam operating which may be causing some of this. I was waiting for a RM delivery and got a text, purportedly  from Evri, that they needed my address!!! How did they get my email? Evri were not involved in the delivery. According to the sorting office, the hack in at RM and well known about.

What the purpose of the text is. to hang  around my house and steal the package? Get financial details when giving them my address? I don't know.

Are they stealing untaxed cars?

[Non-Believer]

6 hours ago, Andy Onchan said:

But according to a post (NB I think) further up the thread they haven't been doing that... they've hoisted some of it out to IOMP!

 

Not as yet in respect of the Parcelforce but it happened earlier in respect of the Yodel contract.

IoMP were so desperate to get some work back that they accepted the Yodel work back from MIC at a huge reduction compared to what they'd been getting when IoMP were the direct Yodel partners. It was a question of less being better than nothing and avoided some redundancies.

[Kopek]

47 minutes ago, Harry Lamb said:

Are they stealing untaxed cars?

That would get some off my hands !