Christmas ruined by postal delays - Cyprus blame RM

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/postal-servi ... s/20111228" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

HUNDREDS of people were left without Christmas parcels and letters from abroad over the holiday weekend following unprecedented delays at the post office.

The Postal Services yesterday denied it was their fault, saying the delays were the fault of the British Royal Mail and their counterparts in Greece.

The head of the service, Andreas Gregoriou said: “For their own reasons, Greece and the UK didn’t manage to pass on letters and parcels on time”.

“We received a message (from the British Royal Mail) that they were still holding on to mail because there was no way to send it,” Gregoriou said.

The Royal Mail had said that they could only ensure timely delivery for post sent from the UK by December 12.

“My parents sent us parcels on December 11 and we still haven’t got them,” said Jane Burton, mother of three.

“I was very sad that my children did not get their grandparents’ gifts. Their grandparents are far away and it means a lot to them that my children get their gifts on Christmas day – I was even tempted to lie to my parents and tell them we got their gifts on time!” Burton said.

Long delays in delivering parcels for Christmas – including orders from internet sites - have angered scores of people who have expressed scepticism over the Postal Services’ excuse that the fault lay with the UK and Greece.

“I’m still waiting for an insured and registered letter my father sent me on December 6 from the UK,” Melanie Rogers told the Mail.

“That’s a ridiculous delay.”

Gregoriou said that the Royal Mail had opted this year to send letters and parcels on indirect, rather than direct flights to Larnaca, sometimes via Greece, which had resulted in further delays.

A number of strikes and work-to-rule measures have made flights and post via Greece unreliable in recent months, he said.

But Burton says that when pushed, postal workers have admitted that parcels have been stuck at Larnaca.

“My husband went over to the post office which was full of complaining customers. They made the employee call the sorting office and track the parcels and she told us that they were still in Larnaca,” Burton said.

Additionally Cypriot air traffic controllers and civil servants including postal workers staged strikes in December over austerity measures.

Gregoriou did admit there were delays in Larnaca but he said those were “isolated incidents”.

An announcement from the postal service yesterday said that although disruption in incoming post from Greece and the UK was “causing problems” in the sorting offices, they were doing their best to send post on time.

“We are trying to be organised so we can respond to the increased workload,” Gregoriou said.

For the month of December postal traffic increased to a minimum of 615,000 individual items whereas on an average month traffic is about 550,000. Thousands more parcels are received and sent in December, from about 9,000 on an average month to about 11,500 on December.

Despite the increased workload Gregoriou admitted that the post office had not hired extra staff because of cuts in spending.

Postal services have only been working normal hours, sorting any international post received by 7am each day to be forwarded to relevant centres in Cyprus, Gregoriou said.

“We’ve been waiting for weeks for parcels that were long ago dispatched from the UK and every time we go to complain at the post office we’re told it’s the UK’s fault,” Connie Hughes told the Mail.

Hughes refused to believe that the Royal Mail was to blame.

“This has been going on for years and years. Blaming the Brits is a favourite,” Hughes said.

Postal service said they had relayed people’s concerns to the relevant services in Greece and the UK apologising to their customers “for any upheaval caused”.

[DGP1]

Don't know about Cyprus but I got packets today from Canada that where posted at the beginning of December, so it's not just RM.

[oypostie]

Don't know about Cyprus but I got packets today from Canada that where posted at the beginning of December,

Yes, but who used to run the postal system in Canada ?

[Ahebban]

I am sure Meryl Streep is really looking forward to playing the role of Moya in the 3D version of ... The Rise and Fail of Royal Mail

[demon]

post early then try the start of december i got all mine from oz so good on royal mail first class again at christmas all the posties are class

[TeeferTiger]

I posted a Xmas card to friends in America after the last posting dates, and it got there the week before Xmas. So take that Stavros or whatever your name is.

[CORTINA]

It has to be said that with the increased parcel and packet volume at xmas, and no doubt higher volumes all year round for the near future.

This increase in traffic will like, increased road traffic ...create delays and other problems in years to come.

Thats life as we know it and as we go foreward has to be dealt with or adapt accordingly.

Internet orders and sales appears to be the biggest world growth factor at the moment, and the pressue will increase to deliver. ...... a possible 5 millions items ordered a day by 2020 is a massive growth.......taken away from shops sales.

R M will prosper, but an increase in mall units and shops closing on the down side seems a logicial prospect.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

‘Sudden arrival of 1,000 postal sacks’

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/postal-servi ... s/20111229" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

AROUND 1,000 postal sacks have arrived to Larnaca from the UK carrying letters and parcels sent in December and should be delivered to people by tomorrow, the head of postal services Andreas Gregoriou said yesterday.

The sacks contain letters and parcels sent between December 6 and December 20 and the postal service is “getting organised so we can adequately respond to the accumulated bulk,” Gregoriou said.

“It seems that there are some other sacks,” he said responding to a question on whether there was any more mail waiting to be delivered. On Tuesday the Postal Services said the delays – which left hundreds of people waiting for parcels and letters this Christmas – was the fault of Britain’s Royal Mail and of their Greek counterparts. A lot of mail had been sent on indirect flights they said.

However, the Royal Mail said yesterday that they had been dispatching mail normally, and also taking into account the possibility that mail would not necessarily be sent with direct flights when they were setting end dates for timely delivery.

“Items of mail posted to Cyprus before the latest recommended posting date of December 12 were dispatched as scheduled from the UK,” Royal Mail spokesman Nick Martens told the Cyprus Mail.

Gregoriou yesterday categorically denied that there were any delays at the sorting offices at Larnaca and Latsia.

“This does not correspond to reality,” he said responding to claims by Cyprus Mail readers that they were told mail was stuck in Larnaca.

Gregoriou said that they moved “hundreds of thousands of letters or items each day” and so in “very isolated incidents” there could be some delays.

He said that they had reorganised their workforce to respond to the increased bulk and had taken various actions including communicating with the Royal Mail but “unfortunately there were no immediate results”.

Gregoriou said that due to increased traffic in airports, passengers and other cargo were given priority over parcels and letters resulting in delays. “The problem will be resolved within the next days,” he said

[TeeferTiger]

Me thinks Stavros is telling porkies...

[DGP1]

Me thinks Stavros is telling porkies...

Wasn't he on that 'talent' show dancing with a mini me

[TeeferTiger]

Me thinks Stavros is telling porkies...

Wasn't he on that 'talent' show dancing with a mini me

With a mini you?