Royal Mail has shut collection points at its three Dundee delivery offices in the afternoons and evenings after their opening hours were slashed.
The offices at Dundee Central, Dundee East and Dundee West are now only open for two hours each day during the week and four hours on a Saturday morning.
The changes – which took effect last week – mean locals will be unable to collect parcels after noon.
On some days the opening hours have been cut by more than 80%.
Local councillors have branded the move “rubbish”.
New opening hours at Royal Mail Dundee offices
The new opening hours at the Royal Mail delivery offices in Dundee are as follows:
- Monday to Friday – 8am-10am
- Saturday – 8am-noon
- Sunday – closed
Previously, the Dundee West delivery office on Baird Avenue was open as late as 8pm on Thursdays while locals also benefitted from 6pm closing times on certain days at Dundee East, and 2pm at Dundee Central.
Broughty Ferry Councillor Craig Duncan has hit out at the changes.
He said: “I have been inundated with complaints about the really rather rubbish new opening hours.
“It will cause significant problems for residents who need to pick up a parcel in person after choosing the local collect option of deliver, following a failed home delivery or incorrectly paid postage.
“Another negative impact of reduced opening times is likely to be for businesses who rely on delivery offices to inject their e-commerce sales into the postal network.”
West End Liberal Democrat councillor Michael Crichton said: “In the West End, the area is split between the Dundee Central and Dundee West delivery offices – both have seen the same slashing of opening hours.
“It is simply unacceptable.”
Complaints over Royal Mail in Dundee
The news follows a succession of complaints about the Royal Mail service in Dundee.
Last month a pensioner was left without a bank card for nearly a month after blaming a “blunder” by the firm.
And earlier this year, The Courier twice reported how residents in the Mid Craigie and Broughty Ferry areas had not received post on time.
Royal Mail explains changes at Dundee delivery offices
Explaining the changes to opening hours, a Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We understand the importance that some customers attach to customer service points (CSPs) as one of a number of ways in which they can access our services.
“An increase in doorstep services such as Parcel Collect and Safeplace are helping us to enhance customer convenience and deliver more parcels first time.
“In May this year, we also introduced automatic redelivery of parcels the next working day across the UK for customers who are not at home when posties attempt to deliver the first time.
“Over 99% of parcels are now successfully delivered to customers on the first or second delivery attempt. This is reducing the need for customers to collect parcels from CSPs.
“To keep pace with the changing behaviour of our customers, we are amending the opening hours of CSPs.
“We have a range of options free of charge for customers who want to arrange for an item to be delivered.
“Details of how to arrange this can be found on our website.”
