This week the TV programme Dispatches aired a programme called the ‘Secrets of Missing Mail’. TNT Post was one of a number of companies who were featured and it contained a small number of allegations regarding the security of the mail we handle and comment on the nature of service we provide our customers.

At TNT Post we work hard to provide our clients with the best service we can and we will not do anything to compromise that service. We are judged by the quality of our service and that quality of 98.5% delivery on the first attempt is winning us clients, in part, because of the security and transparency we provide.
 
Here is a video response from Nick Wells CEO on the issues raised in the programme.



Responses to specific issues raised:

Mail security

The main concern highlighted in the programme regarding TNT Post was the security of the mail we carry in the bike panniers. When we launched our trial for a delivery service we used bikes that can be locked and bike panniers that are commonly used worldwide in the postal industry and during the past year, out of 190,000 rounds delivered we have had two reported instances of theft. Two instances of theft are two too many, and we take swift action to deal with these issues.

We are not complacent, and given the concerns raised in the programme, we took immediate action to further increase the security of the mail by adding a further lock to the bikes, locking the panniers to the bike and making the pannier lock even more secure. This was step one, the second step is to introduce a new pannier that has further security improvements.

Mail security is a top priority for us and when we launched the delivery service we invested significantly in a new track and trace scanner for every Postie who scans every letter as it is delivered. For the first time in the UK all mail is tracked and is traceable so if we have an issue, it can be raised quickly and the issue also dealt with quickly.
 
We adhere to and enforce the Mail Integrity Code and all our Posties are CRB checked.
 
To date, we have delivered 98.5% of the mail on the first attempt, a significantly higher success rate than the industry average of 94.3%. However, sometimes, human nature means that we cannot always live up to the standards we set ourselves and where there are issues with service quality or with people who compromise the security of our mail, we will take the necessary action.
 
Non delivery of mail photographs

Photographs were shown highlighting isolated incidents of mail not being posted through letter boxes. This is an issue that the whole postal industry faces but is not acceptable and we work hard to ensure that it does not take place through continued training and quality monitoring. With regards to the incident of dumping a bundle of mail in a skip, we recovered this mail and the Postie was cautioned by the Police and dismissed by the company.
 
Delivery days

Within our trial area of West London and the City of London we currently have a delivery service, where we deliver post six days a week on a rotation of A&B days. Effectively, consumers receive deliveries 3 days a week. As was pointed out, the Farringdon depot covers many businesses in London which are closed on Saturday so, rather than delivering on Saturday, when there is no one to accept the mail, we deliver on Monday. Our customers are fully aware of our delivery scheduling and are very happy with the service.
 
Timing of rounds
 
It is not company policy not to deliver mail, even if a Posties exceeds the expected time it takes to complete a delivery round. The reporter did take more than double the time to deliver his rounds, compared with his colleagues, so we brought him back into the depot to try and understand the delivery issues he was having and help him try and overcome them. This approach helps us to intervene quickly and resolve an issue quickly so we can improve our delivery service and achieve a high first time delivery rate.
 
We have a duty of care to help Posties perform their roles effectively and we provide a buddy for those who may be struggling with delivering in a reasonable time. We also have a duty of care to customers to ensure that the mail we have does get delivered in line with our contractual agreement.

Delays in delivery

We deliver 98.5% of our mail on the first attempt and a small proportion of undelivered mail is delivered on the next round in accordance with our service level agreements with our customers. In addition, we have long-standing arrangements in place where we pay Royal Mail to deliver next day or, if they also have property access issues, to return the mail to sender.
 
Handling complaints
 
Joe Ogden

Following the complaint from Mr Ogden, we began an investigation and discussed the issue with the Postie and, unfortunately, due to a combination of the Postie’s poor performance and the fact that we could not definitively rule out that there may be a risk to the integrity of the mail handled by this person, we had no option but to dismiss this employee.

Satur Fernandez
This is the first time we have become aware of this incident and have no record of a complaint about delivery of this mail. We totally understand the distress felt by Mr Fernandez and his wife and, now that we have been provided with his address, we are able to investigate the complaint, in conjunction with Royal Mail and the hospital, to establish why there were delays to the delivery of his letters.