Pat Collocott, Sunningdale
I was shocked on Friday March 31 to open my mail box at my front door to find it crammed full of mail.
To my utter amazement, I found it was seven months worth of mail that the post office had been keeping somewhere and only delivered to me on Friday.
I know we live in a country where nothing works anymore, but where has the mail ethos gone?
I remember back in 1965 a postman in King Williams Town had hidden away three weeks of mail as it was too much for him to deliver at Christmas time, and when it was found in the stormwater drain near the cemetery, he was sacked from his job.
As there were no computers then, I had to sit and hand write a letter of apology to each person for the hold-up in delivery, which the postmaster signed personally.
Yesterday no letter, nothing. When the post office decided it was too much trouble to deliver my mail, why did they not put a notice into my mail box to tell me where I could go to collect it myself, as I have a post office box at West Coast Village. I could have had them re-direct it for me.
But nothing, so I have been unfortunately involved in heated exchanges with DStv for non delivery of my monthly magazine, which, if it does not arrive before the first of the month, becomes an issue, as one cannot plan viewing without the information in the magazine.
I wonder just how many people and how many letters and magazines were involved in this cock-up?
I also received 14 traffic fines from Beaufort West, Laingsburg, and Cape Town for the previous owner of the house.
If each one is R1 000, the post office has caused a loss to the local authority of
R14 000.
Martie Gilchrist, SA Post Office spokeswoman responds:
Thank you for bringing this matter to the SA Post Office’s attention. We would like to apologise to Mr Collocott for this misunderstanding and inconvenience.
The area where Mr Collocott resides is a relatively new area, and we have not yet appointed a postman to service the area. At the request of the local ratepayers’ association, the mail was kept at the Big Bay Post Office for collection for residents.
Delivery was rolled out in the Sunningdale area on Monday March 27, and this is the reason for the amount of mail Mr Collocott received.
Only 28% of 16 100 plots are fully constructed and occupied, therefore the frequency of delivery in the Sunningdale area will be once a week for the interim.
Current mail volumes are not sufficiently high to warrant daily delivery. The frequency will change subject to increase in volumes and population density.
Mr Collocott was contacted and informed of the reason for receiving his mail items late. (The Post Office offered to redirect his mail addressed to his street address to his postbox, but he declined, saying he wanted to create work for a postman.) He was satisfied with the response and the enquiry can be considered amicably resolved.
