Comreg says An Post's service standard continues to fall

Irish
Comreg says An Post's service standard continues to fall
By Finfacts Team
Jun 20, 2006, 22:43

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The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) today published the results of its first quarterly report on the Quality of Service performance of An Post.

The report shows that:

74% of single piece priority mail – i.e. standard correspondence - was delivered within one working day throughout the State against a target of 94%. This represents a 2% drop in service quality over the first Quarter performance in 2005,
Mail posted outside of Dublin for next day delivery in Dublin is only experiencing a 71% success rate, while mail posted outside of Dublin for local delivery recorded a success rate of 80%, and
96% of all mail was delivered within 3 working days. This reflects a decrease of 2% over the first Quarter 2005 results. It also continues to fall short of the 99.5% target set by ComReg. 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 is the sole organisation statutorily required to set and publish quality of service standards in relation to the universal service. The survey, which was conducted by TNS mrbi, is based on the statistical methods set out by the European Standards Institute (CEN) and is mandated by the European Commission. In accordance with the standard, bulk mail, which frequently receives a lower delivery standard in return for price discounts, is not included.

ComReg Commissioner, Mr. Mike Byrne, said “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.

ComReg 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 An Post last year, which An Post claims is specifically geared towards the achievement of the Quality of Service targets set by ComReg. The speedy implementation of this programme must ultimately benefit business and residential consumers who demand a high quality and dependable postal service - something which is not currently being delivered.”