Related Articles
Royal Mail has apologised amid a complaint that Covid related staff shortages ‘ruined’ an Exeter man’s birthday.
Matthew Bedford was distraught when his birthday presents didn’t arrive on time, despite his parents paying for a next day delivery service.
After spending last year’s birthday in lockdown, Matthew was excited to celebrate with a sense of normality.
But he was left without a single card or present to open.
Read more: Devon sees Covid rise but one area has lowest cases in England
On Friday morning, he got in touch with Royal Mail to see where was holding his deliveries up as his tracking number showed his parcel had been at the Exeter sorting office for four days.
Matthew said he spent a while on hold and was then told that Covid was to blame.
He explained: “I contacted Royal Mail, which told me my parcel, that was next day delivery, (was) held up at Exeter sorting office for four days due to staff shortages.
“When I asked [if] she knew when my priority mail recorded next day delivery parcel was going to be, she put me on hold for 40 minutes, then came back to me and repeated that due to staff not working, all post is held up at Exeter sorting office.
“So my birthday was fun. Not even a single card to open.”
Royal Mail has now apologised for the inconvenience caused to Matthew and anyone else still waiting for important deliveries, but said the majority of mail is still arriving on time.
A spokesperson said: “The vast majority of mail is delivered safely and on time.
“We aim to deliver to all addresses we have mail for, six days a week.
“In Exeter, we have been experiencing some delays to service due to Covid and sickness absence.
“We would like to apologise to customers for any inconvenience experienced.
“We are working hard to get our levels of service back to normal as soon as possible and the situation is improving.
“Anyone who has concerns over the delivery of their mail should contact the Royal Mail customer service team on 03457 740 740 or via the Royal Mail website.”
Get the best stories about the things you love most curated by us and delivered to your inbox every day. Choose what you love here
