Selfsufficientish.com

Annpan wrote:I am not sure I understand what stopping deliveries has to do with our council tax? The post office/royal mail is privatised.

Sorry if I wasn't clear but I wasn't implying that the post and council tax were connected, just that there is a wider malais in the general culture of the UK that complains both when prices and taxes rise or when the services they supply are cut to prevent the rises. It seems to me that societies only work along the Scandinavian model of paying out more for services and then receiving a "full" service (but accepting less money in your pocket) or the alternative of paying less and expecting less (and accepting more responsibility for your own life and that of your family and community). Sure this issue of RM is further complicated because it is a privatised company, but looking back wasn't it privatised because it was believed that it would make it more cost efficient.....and isn't that why the public let the government get away with it?

Guess this is all getting on my t!ts at the mo as I've been in the UK for a week and I've two more to go.....

Clara wrote:

Annpan wrote:I am not sure I understand what stopping deliveries has to do with our council tax? The post office/royal mail is privatised.

Sorry if I wasn't clear but I wasn't implying that the post and council tax were connected, just that there is a wider malais in the general culture of the UK that complains both when prices and taxes rise or when the services they supply are cut to prevent the rises. It seems to me that societies only work along the Scandinavian model of paying out more for services and then receiving a "full" service (but accepting less money in your pocket) or the alternative of paying less and expecting less (and accepting more responsibility for your own life and that of your family and community). Sure this issue of RM is further complicated because it is a privatised company, but looking back wasn't it privatised because it was believed that it would make it more cost efficient.....and isn't that why the public let the government get away with it?

Guess this is all getting on my t!ts at the mo as I've been in the UK for a week and I've two more to go.....

I couldn't agree more, I heard someone say once that Brits want [Northern] European services for American taxes.

There does seem to be a habit of dropping services that the rural communities, or the elderly need... No talk of shutting down methodone clinics, but gladly stop mobile libraries.

I think RM was sold as part of the mass privatisation that happened in the 90s, to raise funds for the public purse and putting more power in the hands of clever business men. Ahh... who would have thought that 10 years later we would be held to ransom by the Royal Mail, British Gas and the railway companies all at the same time....... great

When we first moved here, we had to pop to the village & tell the post lady who we were & tell her what house we lived in...... after about a week the local postie knocked the door with a letter & introduced himself, welcoming us to the village!
He then said that if we had any post to go, we could give it to him with stamps or cash, & he would take care of it!

If we have parcels delivered, the usual practice of local couriers (3 times so far) is to call us & tell us that they have left it in the garage 4 miles along the road.... hubby thinks it's cheeky, but hey, at least we don't ever miss any parcels.
Julie

I'd say its more a case of theres two extremes.
Whereas in America, everyone thinks they can live their lives better than the government, and in France, the idea of taking a leak without checking with the Commune seems heretical to most, in the UK, we are unhappily split down the middle.

So, we get a situation where on side views he universal obligation as more important than their first born and another side who thinks its perfectly ok treat someone who lives 10 miles from the nearest road quite differently than the nice lady who owns the flat above the sorting office.

And we end upwith the worst of both worlds, we overpay but get a useless service

Yep, postal deliveries have ceased here in Swindon as well! Well, some have anyway. Over the last few years, several letters that I've been expecting have failed to materialise. One, was from the House of Commons. Not only did that fail to appear but the replacement didn't arrive either.

I process the invoices that we get at work and at least a quarter of those don't arrive. Most of our suppliers now automatically send me an electronic copy as well. They don't bother waiting for me to call them anymore.

I've given up expecting post. If it arrives it's a bonus.

Zoe

Sad but true, we just received our first bit of mail to our new home - it was from ourselves! We wanted to test the 'Posty' as the barn conversion that is being done at the front of the farm house is going to be lived in by the person who sold us the farmhouse and there was only one post box for two properties, one of which does not even have a name. Add in the fact we are still not entirely sure of the address of our new house (a long story) I can see why they might want to stop them LOL. However, at least we know 'it works'!! :)

Have just received an additional letter from the councillor who sent the original letter. I am now advised that the council met the RM. The council have negotiated that our deliveries are to continue. Good news because our postie brings me some of his spare vegetable plants!

MINESAPINT wrote:Have just received an additional letter from the councillor who sent the original letter. I am now advised that the council met the RM. The council have negotiated that our deliveries are to continue. Good news because our postie brings me some of his spare vegetable plants!

Don't let the RM know about that - or they'll charge you extra! See, it's these additional services that would suffer most, I think...