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Residents in several Manchester post-codes have spoken of their worry and frustration after going weeks without receiving any post.
Hospital appointments, test results, Christmas cards and even letters of condolence are just some of the items that residents are waiting for, in wide-spread delays that Royal Mail say are down to staff shortages and sick leave.
The postal service updated their website on January 22 to confirm that two Greater Manchester delivery offices were experiencing issues. Heywood and Manchester South East encompasses OL10, M11, M12, M13 and M18.
READ MORE: Royal Mail announces 14 areas with postal delays including FOUR Greater Manchester postcodes
It comes as Royal Mail reported a 2.4% rise in revenue in the three months to the end of December, with revenue from parcels and letters rising by 3.2% and 1.4% respectively
Katherine Yates first became aware of the delays in the middle of January. She lives in Gorton (M18) and says her neighbours on a local Facebook group say they had not received any post since before Christmas, around December 20.
“Post has started to trickle through in the last day or so but we don’t believe the deliveries are complete,” she said. “People have only just received Christmas cards so it’s been going on for a while.”
She believes that affected residents “did not notice” an issue at first because of the Christmas period, where demand on postal services reaches its peak.
“People really started to notice around a week or so ago – people who had bank cards in the post or hospital appointments, or test results. So Royal Mail probably got away with it for a couple of weeks.”
The delays have come at a tragic time for Katherine, who has recently suffered a personal loss.
“My dad died two weeks ago, on January 9. Up until today I hadn’t received any condolence cards, and I know I had been sent some because my brother got some – but I hadn’t received any,” she said.
“Obviously it was upsetting because I felt people had taken the time to write down words, offering to try and help, support us and reach out in their own way. Not being able to receive them really hurt me.”
(Image: Submitted)
“On a practical level, my brother has had to take on the lion’s share of admin relating to Dad, because I just can’t rely on anything being posted to me.”
She complained to Royal Mail about the situation on January 16. “I just got the generic, no explanation, bog-standard response, just parroting ‘we aim to deliver 6 days a week’, even though that clearly wasn’t happening, nor had it been.”
“There was no personalisation at all, it was pretty insensitive to the information I’d provided. It was just a generic response which felt a bit like an empty gesture”
She also contacted her MP and local councillor on the 18th. “Usually if your MP gets involved in something it gives people a kick and you see a fast response, but I felt like even they weren’t getting anywhere with it.”
“You’d think there’d be a some kind of response, action plan, acknowledgement of the failure – but we’ve had none of that.”
Katherine was also waiting on the results of a medical test she had recently undergone. “My GP in Gorton – so a lot of our constituents’ GP – doesn’t give us access to test results through the online app. So I was relying on the result coming through the post.”
“When you do these tests, sometimes your brain builds it up in your head and you start to worry that ’cause you haven’t heard anything, something must be wrong.” She finally received those on January 22.
She also has family members who were affected by the delays. “My mum lives near me and she’s awaiting a hospital appointment. She’s really worried – they don’t mess around with appointments nowadays and if you don’t attend, you can be referred back to your GP and essentially join the back of the queue.”
In Beswick (M11) 33-year-old David Gettings said that he had only been receiving post “once every two weeks”.
“I don’t think I’ve missed anything, but then again I wouldn’t know,” he joked. “I’m lucky because I do everything online and don’t really rely on it – but I feel for people that do.”
Meanwhile, in Heywood (OL10) there was a mixed picture. Some residents said they had not noticed the delays, while others said they had been waiting weeks for deliveries.
One of these was 88-year-old Rita Casey. She had been expecting a birthday card from her daughter, who lives in Spain.
“She gave it to a friend to post it from England ’cause international post takes even longer,” Rita said. “That was on the 4th, well in advance of my birthday on the 13th – and it still hasn’t arrived.”
“It’s really annoying when your child lives abroad, you mis them and you feel like you’re waiting for their words. There’s more thought and effort that goes into a card.”
“What about hospital appointments? They text you but not everyone’s got a phone. What if they write to cancel it but you don’t see it?”
“I know Royal Mail have just been bought but they are very poor.”
It was announced in December that International Distribution Services, who own the 508-year-old service, was being taken over by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s EP Group for £3.6bn.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “Deliveries in Heywood were affected in mid-January by the snow and icy conditions. Since then, the service has largely recovered, mail is being delivered daily and any routes that aren’t completed are being prioritised the following day.
“The vast majority of items that enter the delivery office are being delivered within the expected time frames with no issues that could cause significant delays.
“At our delivery office in Manchester South East. Initial weather and freezing temperatures also led to delays to the service for a good portion of January.
“This has been further affected by higher levels of sick absence than usual. We would reassure customers that we are working to recover the service and ensure all items of mail arrive within expected time frames.
“Our posties are in the area daily making deliveries and we thank customers for their patience and understanding.”
