Happily, it is the Corporate Name that has changed - to Consignia - and not the name that we all recognise and love (and occasionally hate). The Post Office (We shall continue to refer to them as such) said "On March 26th, when we become a Government-owned plc, we will change the corporate name of The Post Office, which operates Royal Mail, Parcelforce Worldwide and Post Office branches, to Consignia". They explained that the purpose of the change was to provide a corporate brand name that could be used world wide. They were also at pains to assure everyone that they were making no change to the familiar and trusted branding of Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide services, or to Post Office branches. The vehicles, uniforms, signs, pillar boxes and shop fronts will stay the same.
Those strange acronyms, POAC and POUNC, have disappeared though probably not from your local Post Office. A new body with more powers and responsible for not just The Royal Mail but also the Common Mail (i.e. other carriers) has arrived, the Consumer Council for Postal Services (CCPS). POACs were local bodies devoted to solving problems with all the Royal Mail family of businesses, and the National Body was The Post Office Users National Council (POUNC). This did not have enough authority to exert much influence on postal matters, but the new body seems to be much better equipped. It will work closely with POSTCOMM, the Regulator, in setting performance targets which the Post Office must achieve if it is to continue to hold its licence.
However the CCPS decided that it needed a catchy name and chose Postwatch. In fact there is no mention in the smart green and blue leaflet that announces Postwatch that it has anything to do with the CCPS. Neither does the leaflet mention that the CCPS had set up committees for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and regional committees to look after the interests of postal services customers. The leaflet gives good advice about what steps to take should you have a problem with your postal service, and provides the phone numbers of the customer service departments in each case, which are
Royal Mail Customer Service 0845 774 0740
Post Office Counters Customer Service 0845 722 3344
Parcelforce Worldwide General Enquiries 0800 22 44 66
You are invited to visit the Postwatch website at www.postwatch.co.uk to find out about the performance standards being set. Should you have a complaint that remains unresolved after you have brought it to the attention of the appropriate service provider, then Postwatch's address is 28 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W OTT, its phone number is 08456 013265 (local rate), and its e-mail address is info@postwatch.co.uk
Yes, still more changes for telephone numbers but, OFTEL says, this is the last stage in a three-year process. On April 28th, all mobile and pager numbers that did not already do so were changed to begin with 07, all special rate numbers now start with a new 08 code and all premium rate codes start with 09. This will not come as too big a shock as the new codes have been working alongside old ones since September 1999.
After 28th April any calls made to pager or mobile numbers using the old codes will not be connected, and a message will be heard telling the caller to use the new ,code. This change has created 300 million new mobile phone numbers. Another benefit is that it is somewhat clearer what the codes mean, as shown in the next column:
00 International codes
02 New area codes such as those introduced last year,
03 Reserved for area codes
04 Reserved for future use
05 Reserved for corporate numbering
06 . Reserved for future use
07 Mobile, pager and personal numbers
08 Freephone and special rate numbers
09 Premium rate services and multimedia
OFTEL sent Consumer News a press release recently announcing that new, updated, information for domestic consumers of telephone services was to be found on the industry website www.phonebills.org.uk, though the Edinburgh Consumer Group's version is probably just as up-to-date and more colourful. Interestingly ntl:, the cable company in the Editor's area, has withdrawn from the initiative so you will not find their tariff on the website.
New information on the quality of service from 13 fixed line telephone companies, including service provision, faults, fault repair and customer satisfaction, has also been published recently as Comparable Performance Indicator (CPI) booklets. These are published by Unitech on behalf of the industry and copies may be obtained by phoning 0131 472 5556 or e-mailing cpi@cpi.org.uk
OFTEL has also published four new leaflets to help consumers make the best use of the wide range of telephone services now available:
Did you know that you can take your phone number with you when you change phone companies, and that you can stop expensive calls from made from your phone? Many users are unaware of these facilities but all is revealed in one or other of these leaflets, which are available from Citizens' Advice Bureaux, Trading Standards Offices, and libraries around the country, or from OFTEL by phoning 020 7634 8761.
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