More complaints about postal delivery service

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ROYAL Mail deliveries in North Devon are in a state of chaos, according to a number of people who say post has been lost, delayed and delivered to the wrong addresses.

The Journal revealed last week that a new delivery system introduced by Royal Mail in North Devon had caused problems and complaints. The Barnstaple sorting office has been "restructured" and postal staff given new routes. The Communication and Workers Union (CWU) was furious with the new system, which it claimed was unworkable.

Our story prompted a number of calls and emails from angry customers.

A North Devon postman, who did not want to be named because he was afraid of repercussions from Royal Mail, said there were fewer posties even though the number of items being delivered had not fallen. Morale among his fellow workers, he said, was "awful".

"I am angered by Royal Mail saying things will improve; they will not at all," he said. "They are putting more work on to each round. It's causing mayhem. I'm on a 30-hour contract and I'm doing a round which used to be done by a man on a 40-hour contract, plus they have put on an extra 83 houses.

"Royal Mail is expecting us to work overtime but sometimes it's not convenient. There is innuendo that there are lots of people on the dole."

And it's not just the posties who are unhappy. Cllr Silvia Harrison, who is married to Cllr Mike Harrison, the leader of North Devon Council, said sensitive local authority papers intended for them had been delivered to the wrong address in Newport, Barnstaple.

She said: "Two postmen stopped me and didn't know where my street was. Our mail had gone to the wrong address. We have complained to the Royal Mail but they haven't responded."

Sharon Morgan, who lives in Forches, said: "We didn't get any post for more than a week. I asked the sorting office if they had anything for me and I had a pile of post and they didn't ask me for any ID. I had a cheque and a solicitor's letter.

"The postman said all we can do is complain but there is a waiting list because there are a lot of people complaining."

Yvonne Pearce, from Harracott, was upset because letters and a Mother's Day card sent by her daughter, who is at university, never arrived.

Lyn Bates, the landlady of the Rolle Quay Inn pub in Barnstaple, said a birthday card her daughter had posted had never arrived, and tickets for Exeter racecourse had also "gone missing". She said her post used to arrive by 8.30am and now arrived at different times after 11am.

Ruth Maclaren-Stradling, from Newport, said: "We have noticed a sudden decline in service very recently with mail coming at any time in the afternoon. Some days we get nothing at all, then a large amount arrives all at once, which looks suspiciously like they have been unable to deliver for a few days.

"We too have had mail for neighbours, and they have given us our mail that has been mis-delivered. I met a postman last week delivering our mail at 5pm. He looked hurried and was lost, unable to find some of the houses."

Gwenneth Rowe, from Swimbridge, said her son, Robert Hall, posted a Mother's Day card to her at lunchtime on Thursday, March 20, from Rochdale but it didn't arrive until the following Thursday; the envelope had been franked at 7.30pm on March 20 in Rochdale. And Bruce Luff, from Black Torrington, said his post used to arrived at 9am and now came at any time up to 3pm.

He said: "Our postman is actually running around the village to keep up with his workload."

Royal Mail said it had nothing to add to its previous statement, which was: "Within the last few weeks, Royal Mail has made significant changes to the way in which deliveries are organised in the Barnstaple area. As a result of these changes there has been some disruption to deliveries and deliveries times. However, the situation is improving on a weekly basis and, within a short space of time we expect our customers to notice an improvement to the service we are offering."

● The Journal did not have space this week to include all the individual complaints from readers about the post service in North Devon.

[Stormproof]

● The Journal did not have space this week to include all the individual complaints from readers about the post service in North Devon.

Is a supplement being printed to be delivered as a D2D

[Big Daz]

The 30 hour/40 hour bit was interesting, my delivery was 40hr FT which I now do as a 3O hr AG since my buy down of hours and under pegasus 20 mins work came off. Still took me the full 3 and half hours to deliver due to a high level of attendance calls on the last third of the delivery and taking out 40% of my door to dustbins.