Royal Mail has been forced to apologise after telling an angry customer that there are "no delivery problems" in Dundee East, which has been struggling to clear a crippling backlog of mail since before Christmas.
More than 100,000 items of mail were left undelivered in the Pitkerro Industrial Estate sorting office as posties struggled to come to terms with a new working system and the effects of the December blizzards.
Despite erratic mail deliveries and hundreds of items being posted to wrong addresses, the customer services advisor told Monfieth woman Maggie Ann Cameron she had not received a delivery because she had "no mail."
The latest embarrassing blunder emerged on the same day that Paul Kelly, the head of Royal Mail in Scotland, offered a full apology to customers in Dundee East for the disastrous service over the Christmas and New Year period.
He admitted that around 40,000 letters and parcels are still awaiting delivery.
Although Royal Mail had hoped to clear the backlog by last weekend, hundreds of customers in the DD4 and DD5 postcode areas are still waiting for mail posted weeks ago.
Thousands of items were even sent to the south of England for sorting to help the beleaguered Dundee East clear the backlog.
Mrs Cameron, from Grange Road, emailed Royal Mail to complain about the situation on December 31 and was shocked at the reply she received two weeks later.
In an email sent last Friday, Royal Mail customer services advisor Terry Heptonstall said there were "no known problems" with the deliveries in Dundee East.
His email said, "I am sorry to learn that you have not received any mail for a number of days and fully appreciate your concern.
"Having said this, I have checked our records and can confirm that there are no known problems with the delivery of mail to your address or your area."
It continued, "Furthermore, all our delivery offices operate a clear office policy whereby all mail is delivered on the day it comes into the office.
"With this in mind, it would appear that no mail has arrived in the delivery office for you on the days mentioned."
Mrs Cameron said, "It took them two weeks to respond and although I asked for a written reply, they could not even give me the courtesy of doing that.
"It is unbelievable and just shows complete disdain for the customer."
A Royal Mail spokeswoman said, "Royal Mail would like to apologise to Mrs Cameron for the response she received which was incorrect.
"This has been raised with customer services to ensure this doesn't happen again and Mrs Cameron's complaint is being reinvestigated as a matter of urgency."
Meanwhile, customers are still expressing their dissatisfaction with the service.
Ian McRae, from Monikie, said, "We have just today, Monday, received a Christmas card posted on the 17th December, a month ago.
"I still have outstanding mail that I know has been posted in December, so the backlog is not cleared."
Paul Kelly said there are still around 40,000 items waiting to be delivered.
He said, "The majority of problems have been due to the weather. Nobody was predicting we were going to have the worst weather in 31 years coinciding with the peak volumes.
"I really apologise that people have suffered but in terms of the circumstances we faced we have worked our hardest."
A spokesman for the company said they expect the backlog to be cleared this week.
She also apologised to Monifieth woman Jackie Smith who received 46 items on Friday, although only seven were actually for her.
She said, "Royal Mail would like to apologise to Mrs Smith for any inconvenience caused and this complaint is being investigated as a matter of urgency.
