Royal Mail website technical problems continue

The Royal Mail website has suffered problems over the last week as households prepare to send cards and parcels for Christmas.

The technical difficulties do not bode well for delivery times in the run up to Christmas when the Royal Mail is expected to deal with an estimated 750 million Christmas cards in the run up to December 25th.

The Price Finder Page, used to calculate the cost of sending items based on size and weight, has been closed because of technical problems caused by a migration of online services to a new computer server.

The technical problems do not apply to services at Post Office branches and by telephone.

A message on the Royal Mail Price Finder section of the website reads: "We are sorry for any inconvenience this is causing. We are working hard to fix these problems as quickly as possible."

Other services that have been affected since Monday 21st November at different times include businesses ability to print directly onto envelopes, online redirection and redelivery services and paying for postage online.

An updated message from Nick Landon, Director of Customer Experience said: “While Pricefinder remains unavailable, we have placed a price guide on the website until we are able to restore Pricefinder; we are hoping to do this very soon, once we have completed some final testing.

“Some customers also continue to experience technical difficulties with parts of our Smartstamp and Online Postage services. Again, we are working around the clock to fix these individual issues as they arise. I know how important it is that we restore full service for all users as quickly as possible.”

Second-class stamps cost 36p and first-class stamps cost 46p. Royal Mail has reported a large increase in profits in the six months to the end of September 2011, up from £50 million in the same period last year to £187 million, though its letters and parcels division is still running at a loss.

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