Royal Mail apologises after Islanders report long postal delays after loss of Jersey’s mail plane

ROYAL Mail has apologised after scores of Islanders reported major delays in receiving post from the UK – within weeks of the withdrawal of the daily plane service.

Some first-class letters are now taking almost a week to reach Jersey, with Royal Mail conceding there had been some ‘congestion’ and that it would be monitoring delivery times for post from the UK to the Island.

At the time the axing of the mail plane was announced, the UK company said that using a ferry for deliveries would be likely to add an extra 24 hours to delivery times.

But numerous Islanders have reported much longer delays – even those who sent their mail via special delivery.

One St Helier resident said three birthday cards sent to him first-class from Edinburgh, Gatwick and Medway in Kent on 15 August took six days to reach Jersey, while a fourth, from Inverness, took five days. A special delivery item from Aberdeenshire also took five days and arrived on Monday, in spite of having cost the sender £6.85.

All five items arrived the day after his birthday.

The aggrieved customer said he had raised the issue with his postman, adding: ‘He said that it was something a lot of people had been noticing and telling him – it does seem that we are getting a worse service, which even affects those who pay extra for special delivery.’

Other Islanders took to the JEP’s Facebook page to report that they too had experienced long delays.

One wrote: ‘My sister-in-law posted a birthday card in Tavistock on 11 August, delivered in Jersey on 18 August. Before the mail plane stopped, cards posted in Tavistock to Jersey were taking two to three days.’

Another commented: ‘I had a letter sent from Jersey to Guernsey. First class with recorded delivery and it still hasn’t arrived. According to the staff at Guernsey Post, post between the islands is now sent via the UK rather than going on the Condor between the islands. Makes zero sense and is just causing delays.’

Another added: ‘Sent a birthday card to UK on Monday 14th for birthday on 22nd. It didn’t arrive in time.’

Royal Mail offers a guarantee that special delivery items will be delivered to Jersey by 5.30pm, two days after posting.

A spokesperson for the company said: ‘We are sorry to residents who have experienced delays to mail entering Jersey.

‘We are committed to ensuring mail is delivered to the Island on time using the pre-existing ferry service – we encourage anyone who has concerns about their deliveries to please get in touch with Royal Mail customer service on 03457 740740 or via royalmail.com.’

Some Islanders said post had also been taking longer to get to the UK following the withdrawal of the plane service on 7 August.

Royal Mail has previously said that Islanders with concerns about post they had sent to the UK should contact Jersey Post.

Julie Thomas, postal and logistics director for Jersey Post, said the company’s practice was that it would not have custody of items of post for more than 24 hours.

She said: ‘There’s been absolutely no delay as far as we are concerned – everything has been on a normal time-scale, and any delay would have come on the other [Royal Mail] side.’

Ms Thomas said that items of post arriving in Jersey on the evening boat would be sorted until midnight, or sometimes later, in order to be delivered the next day, while post landed from the morning boat was sorted during the day and delivered the following morning.

She added: ‘We have no way of measuring how long post coming to Jersey has taken, given that the volume of mail we have been receiving has remained steady.’

Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel said he was worried if Islanders were experiencing longer waits for incoming post.

He said: ‘I would be concerned if it has deteriorated, because we were assured [before the mail plane service was stopped] that it wouldn’t.

‘Anyone who is unhappy with the length of time post is taking to arrive should complain to Jersey Post – they need to know about their customers’ experience so that they can work with their partners to improve the situation.

‘I believe from what I’ve read in UK media that there are problems with Royal Mail – that’s not something I can influence directly, but I hope these issues can be addressed.’