DUBAI // The public’s view of how Emirates Post works may be very different from the reality of the service provided, experts believe.
The majority of national postal systems around the world have loss rates that are comparable to those of private courier firms, said Torsten Jacobsen, a postal service expert at PA Consulting, an international firm with an office in Dubai.
“The majority of courier firms have loss rates that are as low as 0.5 per cent but, generally speaking, national postal services are not far from that,” he said.
Emirates Post did not provide loss rates for packages, but said the organisation was focused on implementing international best practice.
Mr Jacobsen said the assumed bad reputation of national providers was generally caused by them being the oldest in the market.
“Many of them have been there for many years, and everyone seems to have a story of what went wrong on some occasion in the past,” he said. “It’s not always a fair reflection.”
People’s issues tended to focus on items imported from other countries, which means delivery is a complicated process, said Jeremy Skyrme, executive director of sales for Emirates Post Group.
“In terms of imported parcels and packages, it is a little more complicated and depends on the quality of the postal service at the country of origin.
“The UK, for example, has an excellent service and the mail is dispatched promptly and it’s the same for most large, developed countries.”
Airlines charge postal companies a flat rate for 45kg mail bags, he said. “This means if you have only 2kg in the bag, the postal service will still have to pay for 45kg. As a result, many of the smaller countries that don’t send much post wait until the bag is full before sending it and that could be weeks or longer.”
Another issue was that much of the post is ordered to the office address of companies in the UAE.
“What happens is that a PRO will then come and collect this mail but they may not take something that is important.
“In all our post offices we have recycling bins and they are always filled with unopened mail.
“In many cases it’s Dewa bills because the person collecting the mail knows the company will pay for it.
“However, sometimes that also leads to mistakes and important items can also be left.”
Anyone who has not received mail can contact Emirates Post and they can then contact the postal service in the country of origin to find out what has happened.
Cedwyn Fernandes, a logistics expert and chief executive of the Institute of Management Technology in Dubai, said the only advantage courier firms had over Emirates Post was being able to have items delivered to your home.
“If Emirates Post went into a regular, door-to-door mail system, they have an advantage over courier companies as the distribution system and infrastructure is significantly better.”
mcroucher@thenational.ae
nhanif@thenational.ae
