A new report on the quality of service performance of An Post shows that 74% of standard mail was delivered within one working day throughout the country in its first quarter of 2006. An Post has a target of 94%. This represents a 2% drop in service quality over the first quarter of 2005.
The Commission for Communications Regulation, in its quarterly report, says that mail posted outside of Dublin for next day delivery in Dublin is only seeing a 71% success rate. Mail posted outside of Dublin for local delivery recorded a success rate of 80%.
The ComReg report reveals that 96% of all mail was delivered within three working days and this is also a 2% decrease over the first quarter results of 2005. It also falls short of An Post's own target of 99.5%.
ComReg says that this is the third consecutive quarter in which performance of mail posted nationwide for delivery anywhere in the country within three days of posting did not perform beyond 96%.
'ComReg continues to be concerned with the quality of service being afforded to postal consumers and the service decline recorded in the past three quarters, particularly in light of An Post's public commitment to quality of service improvement,' comments ComReg Commissioner Mike Byrne.
The Regulator says it is currently awaiting an update from An Post in relation to the implementation of its quality of service improvement programme, approved by the board of the company last year.
An Post said in a statement this evening that PriceWaterhouseCoopers also conduct an independent monitor of standard mail on behalf of An Post, which is directly comparable with ComReg's monitor.
An Post says that for the months from January to March 2006, the PWC monitor gave a figure of 87% for next day delivery - a full 13 points higher than the ComReg monitor.
An Post says the monitor carried out by PWC is audited by NSAI and certified compliant with the mandatory European standard. 'We are not aware that ComReg's monitor has been similarly audited,' the An Post statement said.
'It is unhelpful for customers to have two separate monitors and we have consistently sought a situation where a single independent monitor compliant with the European standard in both design and conduct can be used,' it added.
'An Post is determined to make improvements on next day delivery rates,' the company's statement concluded.
