|
By Nick Holland
BBC Radio 5 live
|
The strike has caused problems for many people who rely on the post
|
Bob, a warehouse manager in south London, reaches into his jacket and shows the crumpled letter he pulls from his inside pocket. It is a demand for £40 from an insurance company who he no longer wants to provide him with damage cover for his car. What makes him angry is he told the company over a month ago he had switched to a new provider. But it is not the insurance company he is angry with. Instead he is angry with Royal Mail. Lying undelivered somewhere in a Royal Mail sorting depot is the declaration form which the insurance company requires him to sign in order to formally end his policy with them. But like millions of other letters, delayed in the backlog of mail that has been piling up since postal strikes started in June, it has not reached its recipient. In Bob's case it means he is still officially on the books of the insurance company and therefore owes them money for cover he no longer needs or wants. "I am really angry that I owe this £40," he says.
 |
I have now got to write a letter to sort this out. But if I post a letter is that going to get lost as well?
|
"Basically I think Royal Mail should be paying the £40, not me." He stares at the letter demanding the overdue payment which he's still clutching in his hand. How it managed to reach him before the declaration form is also a source of frustration. There is no obvious explanation. He is at a loss as to what to do next. "I have now got to write a letter to sort this out. But if I post a letter is that going to get lost as well?" he says. He is just one of many Royal Mail customers affected by delays to the service. The company estimates there is a backlog of 9m pieces of undelivered mail. The Communication Workers Union claims the figure is much greater than that, somewhere between 20m and 25m. Whatever the real figure, what customers really want to know is when will normal service resume. Wedding woes None more so than Vicky from Wimbledon in London, who is worried about preparations for her wedding. She has already picked a venue and a date. But she fears deposits she sent in the post to pay for other arrangements may not arrive. "Suppliers normally give you seven days to get the booking forms back to them," she says. "They'll hold the dates for that long, then after that it is open season if someone else gets in there before you." It appears she is not the only bride in fear for her big day. Vicky contributes to a forum on the web for couples who are about to get married. "There are a number of brides to be on there who are just so stressed out because their wedding is in a couple of weeks," she says. "Their veil hasn't turned up, people haven't replied to the invites and they don't know what else is stuck in the post." Others are looking at the situation more positively. A chef for a catering company said he was pleased about the postal strikes. "If the mail doesn't arrive, I don't get my bills," he said. "And as long as I don't get my bills, I don't have to pay."
|
One-Minute World News
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version
BBC News
Bookmark with:
What are these?