Royal Mail Strikes Delays

9/12/2022 (updated 12/12/2022)

Hi all,

I just wanted to give you an update on the current situation with Royal Mail…

I’m sure you’re aware the strikes have caused delays in parcel deliveries. Here at Heima we are managing to get most orders made before 2pm packed up and collected the same day. Unfortunately delays after this point are out of our control and we have access to no more information than your tracking link provides.

The Tracked 48 service in normal times has a delivery aim of 2-3 days and the Tracked 24 service 1-2 days. Note these are not guaranteed times and Royal Mail won't even open claims until 7 working days have passed after the due date. As a guide we are noticing that T24 may take 4-5 days and T48 may 8-12 days; but that is varying between parts of the country where the backlog is seemingly higher. These times will probably slip the closer we get to Christmas.

I have noticed the tracking information not updating as frequently as normal; so tracking info may go from showing it has been collected, with no new info for several days before going straight to ‘out for delivery’, with no detail in between. This may seem a hopeless period but parcels are getting through!

Clearly delivery times are often being missed but we have found that Royal Mail is the most reliable service for small items and having sent thousands I don’t remember them ever losing a parcel since we used the Tracked 24/48 services. I recently tested using another budget courier, whose name will remain unmentioned, and out of five parcels two were lost!

Please be as patient as you possibly can with us. We are a tiny shop in York of myself and the equivalent of one other full time staff just trying to find our way against the rising might of Amazon. This is a nightmare scenario for us at he busiest time of the year which enables to us to continue operating at times of the year when the shop wouldn't otherwise be profitable. We simply can’t afford to be sending out replacements if the item is not being delivered within a week.

Bear in mind we do have an option for £9.99 DX courier delivery for all but the Age Verified deliveries. We have found DX to be supremely reliable.

I hope this puts your mind at ease, I'm confident you'll see your parcel soon :)

All the best,
Maff (owner)

Royal Mail have updated their last posting dates to counter the delays and can be found here: https://www.royalmail.com/christmas/last-posting-dates#lastpostingdates

• Tracked 48: Friday 16th December
• Tracked 24: Monday 19th December

Please order early. These dates are not guarantees and are issued for guidance only.

Details of future strike dates can be found at https://www.royalmail.com/latest-news.