Southwark residents have hit out at the Royal Mail after it slashed the opening times of a local delivery office to just two hours per day.
Peckham and East Dulwich delivery office has only been open from 8am to 10am on weekdays since summer when Royal Mail made changes to its schedule.
The delivery office was previously open from 8am until 6pm or 7pm on most weekdays, except Monday.
The changes to the opening times coincided with Royal Mail’s introduction of automatic parcel redelivery when a person isn’t home in May. But locals visiting the Peckham and East Dulwich Delivery Office last week said the changes were inconvenient and would make them think twice about using Royal Mail again.
Peckham resident Marian Holt, 70, branded the reduced hours ‘disgusting.’
She said: “I came here once just before 10am and they didn’t let me in.
“Something needs to be done but they are bigger than me. There’s nowhere online to complain about it.
“The amount of money they get paid and the amount of money for a stamp, it’s disgusting.”
Ms Holt added that she had to visit the delivery office once a week to collect her mail, because her street had been without regular postal deliveries for months.
East Dulwich residents say postal service is still ‘bad’ despite Royal Mail taking on more staff
Alfie Thorenwaite said it was her first time visiting the delivery office, but would probably choose another postal service in future because of the limited hours.
The 23-year-old, who had just got up after working a night shift, said: “I only found out about the hours because my housemate told me about them.
“I think it’s a shame because me and my housemate are going to get stuff delivered to the InPost lockers on our road in the future rather than use Royal Mail.”
A number of Royal Mail’s customer service points, including Peckham and East Dulwich delivery office, have only been open between 8am and 10am on weekdays since the postal company made changes to its delivery service in May.
Royal Mail says that over 99 per cent of parcels are now delivered on the first or second attempt, reducing the need for people to collect items from delivery offices. But some of the people the Local Democracy Reporting Service [LDRS] spoke to on October 25 said they also used the delivery office to send letters and parcels.
Elaine Rodriques, who is disabled and uses a walking frame to get around, said the reduced hours had made life more difficult for her. She said: “I’m very concerned about the hours.
“I got here one afternoon about three weeks ago and it was closed. I had to come back the next day which makes it hard. I can’t walk for the next few days if I go out.
“It’s difficult for me to get up to get here for 10am. It takes me an hour to sit up in bed. It’s a real struggle. I had to get up at 6:30am to get here. I used to come at about 12pm.”
Fiona Aber, 30, added: “It’s sad because it makes the place redundant. It becomes less of a go to option. I think it’s going to put a lot of people off coming.”