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Cath McGee, who lives in Woodlands, says she has been consistently experiencing problems receiving letters from Royal Mail for around a year.
Cath, who previously worked as a postie for five years from the late ’80s, first noticed a delay to her birthday cards arriving in January 2024.
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She said: “A few days after my birthday, some of them appeared downstairs and I thought ‘oh they’ve been misdelivered’ but some of them never arrived at all.
“That was the first indication something was going wrong but then it was a gradual thing throughout the year.”
In the past year, Cath says the list of letters disappearing has gotten “longer and longer”.
Cath has been receiving chemotherapy for ovarian cancer and treatment for kidney disease since 2023, and says at first, she had no problem getting appointment letters.
However, in the past year, a letter from the renal clinic failed to arrive which led to her missing an appointment, In addition blood forms from the Beatson Cancer Centre did not arrive, while sample pots and paperwork from the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital arrived torn and damaged.
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On March 20 of this year, five misdelivered letters were also placed outside her front door by a neighbour, three of which were hospital appointments including one changing the time of a chemotherapy appointment for the following the day.
Cath said it has been “really stressful” not being able to rely on getting letters as she is working with three different hospitals.
She said: “I’m having a lot of treatment at the moment so I’m juggling a lot of appointments and it’s really important I know what’s going on and know when my appointments are.
“Not getting those letters did mean I did miss an appointment at the renal clinic and then they put me down as a no show which I wasn’t very happy about because I didn’t even know about the appointment.”
As a result, Cath has now had to make her own special arrangements to ensure she receives all the necessary correspondence.
She said: “If I need to have any additional blood tests I go to the hospital and pick up the forms myself because I don’t trust them to arrive in the post.
“I’ve asked all the departments I’m dealing with if they can tell me either over the phone or by text when my appointments are because I don’t trust I’m going to receive any appointment letters.
“It just adds to the stress of everything.”
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Other items Cath says failed to arrive in the last year include a new credit card, two lots of football tickets, a gift from her niece and a photo sent by registered mail while mortgage discharge documents which should have been signed for were “crammed” into her letterbox.
She says she believes there must be a staffing issues as there are periods where she receives no letters at all before several arrive at once and says her neighbours have been experiencing similar problems.
Cath said: “My theory is that they’ve been misdelivered.
“I don’t think they were stolen, I think they were just shoved in anybody’s letterbox because the five letters my neighbour left for me in March had obviously been misdelivered but I think in most cases the neighbours haven’t bothered to [pass them on].”
She added: “I know a bit about the job and it’s about accuracy.
“I don’t think it’s that difficult to be accurate, most letters are correctly addressed.
“I think the problem is down to the sloppiness of delivery officers.”
Cath has complained to Royal Mail online around three times but says she has just received generic responses.
The Glasgow Times reported last week some residents in Garnethill have been experiencing problems receiving mail with reports of people not getting letters for hospital appointments, jury duty, bank statements and fines delivered in a timely manner.
Both Woodlands and Garnethill are covered by the Glasgow G1-5 Delivery Office which is located on Baird Street.
A spokesperson said the delivery office has been experiencing “resourcing challenges” in recent months but ‘disputes’ any allegations that there are weeks or months-long delays.
They said: “Recent resourcing challenges at the Glasgow G1-5 Delivery Office have had an impact on deliveries in the local area.
“We would reassure residents that mail continues to be delivered daily, with any items not arriving on time prioritised the following day.
“We are working to improve our service and are actively recruiting for more posties.”
