Inverness-shire postcodes excluded from new Royal Mail service

A ‘UNIVERSAL’ parcel pick-up service offered by Royal Mail doesn’t apply to some Inverness-shire postcodes.

The service – Parcel Collect – launched last month, was meant to cover the whole of the UK, but potential customers seem to be having problems.

Saying the Royal Mail is treating him as a “second-class citizen”, photographer Ian Evans from Invermoriston, said people in the Highlands are being discriminated against.

He said: “I saw the item on the Inverness Courier website about this new service. It would indeed be of huge benefit to people living in, and businesses operating in, the Highlands – if only it was available to us!”

Mr Evans is a photographer and sends his work from his home in the Highlands to locations all over the world.

“Despite the nationwide launch and headlines in all the papers and online, it simply doesn’t work for all addresses up here,” he said.

“I tried to send a small package using the new online system. The website took me through all the screens into which I entered all the required information. But when it came to asking me if I wanted a collection it said ‘we do not collect in that postcode’.

“Once again we are being treated like second-class citizens and a service which is supposed to be ‘nationwide’ actually isn’t.”

After raising concerns with the Royal Mail, the company confirmed there was a problem in parts of Inverness-shire.

A spokeswoman for Royal Mail said: “We have a small number of postcodes that are affected with some system integration issues which IV63 is part of, we are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.”

For more details see www.royalmail.com/bookcollection or via the Royal Mail app and opt for Parcel Collect.

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