A heartbroken couple say a condolence card for their beloved dog arrived five weeks after his death because of 'disappointing' postal delays at a new but 'forgotten' city estate.
Derek Barnard and his wife, Moira, were saddened when the sympathy card for Barney arrived five weeks late at their home on the new Regency Gate estate in Worcester, while his own birthday cards still haven't come. After several weeks, they went to the city's sorting office to pick them up.
Mr Barnard, who called it a 'right Royal Mail fail', said all the cards were sent first class and in good time and now he is scratching his head about why the correspondence is arriving so late, even asking a random postman if he knew what was going on.
Regency Gate is a new Taylor Wimpey estate
The 66-year-old has lived at the four-bedroom detached house at Crowcroft Drive on the new Taylor Wimpey estate off the A44 Bromyard Road in St John's, Worcester, with his 71-year-old wife for the last 18 months.
The grandfather turned 66 on June 2 and still hasn't received birthday cards from family, despite being assured they've all been sent first class to his house, which has a WR2 postcode.
The couple says the situation has got progressively worse but there is no clear complaints procedure with Royal Mail - and others have complained in the Facebook group for Regency Gate residents, some saying they get post 'every two weeks if we're lucky'.
BUNDLE: Derek Barnard ended up driving to the sorting office in Wainwright Road to pick up his mail (Image: Supplied)
The handwritten card for Barney by the 'amazing' team at Severn Vets was sent out by first class post the day the adorable 15-year-old Jack Russell- Shih Tzu cross, who was blind and had diabetes, had to be put to sleep on April 21. The thoughtful card, which meant a lot to the couple, dropped onto the doormat five weeks after Barney died.
"The card arriving late really upset my wife. She was just getting over it and putting her life back together when it arrived," said Mr Barnard.
MISSED: Barney, who was nearly 15, had to be put to sleep but his condolence card from Severn Vets arrived five weeks later because of delays at Royal Mail (Image: Supplied by Derek Barnard)
Meanwhile, they have been waiting for three weeks for any further post and say it often arrives in 'a bundle'. However, he noticed 'Amazon find us okay'.
When they first moved on to the new estate, he said they had a 'cracking' postwoman, but the service deteriorated again when she went on holiday, only to resume when she returned.
'No Postman Pat, just the black and white cat'
They had felt post would be 'sporadic' when they first moved in, because it is a new estate, but would have expected things to have improved by now.
He said: "Whether it's postman Pat or postman Patricia, all I see is the black and white cat. There's no sign of Pat or Patricia."
On Wednesday, he drove to the sorting office in Wainwright Road, picking up seven late birthday cards (three for his wife whose birthday was on May 27) and seven for himself (his birthday was on June 2).
When giving directions to his home, Mr Barnard says: "Don't follow the postman because he's obviously not coming here."
He added: "Over the last 18 months we’ve seen the cost of postage increase, a first class letter/stamp now costs £1.80. Sadly, our post is nowhere near 3rd class letter alone 1st class.
"We’ve not had any post for three weeks, which is very disappointing especially given we’ve had two birthdays with the same period. We have tried making contact with the customer service department at the main sorting office in Warden Villages, unfortunately there is no direct number or email address."
'I asked a postman what was going on'
Mr Barnard, a complaints compliance manager, even spoke to a postman he spotted at Tesco to ask him what was going on.
When asked if he knew who he should complain to, the postman said: "No, not really. All I can do is apologise. It's rubbish isn't it?"
He said he was also told by a postman that Royal Mail was prioritising parcels, something other people on Regency Gate have also noticed.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We’re sorry to hear about Mr Barnard’s experience. We know how important cards like these are and have raised his concerns with the local delivery office.
“We deliver to every address we have mail for, six days a week. Customers will not necessarily receive post every day, but currently more than 92% of letters arrive on time and over 99% within a week.
"A delay of five weeks would be very rare and suggest something had gone wrong with the individual item.
“Our First Class stamp price of £1.80 is in line with the European average, while a Second Class stamp costs 91p. For those prices, we provide a nationwide service to every UK address, six days a week, which we believe represents good value.”