Royal Mail overseas postage....

[macliam]

So, on January 10th Royal Mail announced that, as a result of a ransomware attack, it was suspending all overseas postage. Now, I have anti-ransomware software installed on my PC, but no matter..... obviously Royal Mail have procedures for dealing with the situation.......

Some days ao there was an announcement that "as a result of Royal Mail workarounds", overseas postage had resumed, in a limited form - still no parcel post though.

Today I went to send and A5 mail-lite envelope containing a CD to Portugal.... "That's not a letter", I was told - "you can't post it".

So I asked when the service would resume..... no answer. It is now 14 days since post was accepted by this privatised carrier.

How on earth is this possible in the C21st - a postal service that won't accept post?

[Sarah]

It appears that Royal Mail are regulated by Ofcom these days, so not much of a surprise if this 'privatised carrier' is underachieving.

[macliam]

It appears that Royal Mail are regulated by Ofcom these days, so not much of a surprise if this 'privatised carrier' is underachieving.

That'll be the same Ofcom who failed to read the note from the government about inflation. Apparently, inflation is too much to pay nurses, but a 14% increase in Broadband and Mobile pricing is AOK......

[pabenny]

It don't think falling victim to the cyber-attack has anything to do with being privatised vs state owned. Remember that the NHS fell victim to ransom-ware, partly because they were still using Windows 7 (or was it XP?) long after it was desupported

[macliam]

It don't think falling victim to the cyber-attack has anything to do with being privatised vs state owned. Remember that the NHS fell victim to ransom-ware, partly because they were still using Windows 7 (or was it XP?) long after it was desupported

Regardless of the status of the organization, ransomware is a known risk to large companies, so the fact that it appears to have been crippled by a single attack and that it has taken 15 days, so far, to put remedial actions in place suggests that it was totally unprepared.

The fact that it is supposedly regulated by Ofcom yet its security was completely inadequate suggests that the "regulation" is not particularly rigorous. It is yet another example of a British company that fails to meet the needs of its customer, yet is still allowed to be the dominant player.

It is an embarrassment as well as an indication of the failure of its own management and regulation.

[macliam]

As an update to this...... I was told that small letters and cards can now be sent abroad. So yesterday I took a card to the Post office -and sure enough, it was weighed, £1.85 was charged, an airmail sticker was pasted on the envelope and off it went. So after a month, the continent is no longer cut off.

I then asked about the CD I first tried to post back in January. Oh no, I was told "anything that needs a customs declaration can't be accepted". Now then, over a month since we could send packages
abroad, so is it the "ransomware attack" or the need to process customs declarations after Brexit that is preventing postage?

I've asked SWMBO to let me know when she receives the card.... I'm not holding my breath

[Richard Frost]

It would appear that all services have resumed now https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64718824

[macliam]

It would appear that all services have resumed now https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64718824

I find that article quite confusing. Postage via their online app has been available for a while now, postage over the counter was restricted to letters or cards requiring no customs clearance last week. So are they now saying everything is back to normal?

My letter to SWMBO has still not arrived..... 8 days and counting.