Business man hits at mail’s endless queues

Photo: Anthony Miller

The queue snakes round the interior of the office at Royal Mail’s Hamilton Street depot.

Snail mail is angering a Hollinwood business man who has been waiting three weeks to pick up registered letters.

Lengthy queues at the returns office in the Hamilton Street delivery office, Oldham, are regularly out of the door and into the cold, he says.

And staff are blaming the backlog and the delays on the recent snowfall.

But the business man, speaking before today’s snow, said: “The snow was weeks ago. The office is absolutely jammed at all times of the day.

“I have had to sign for one registered letter which arrived when I was not in work, but I must have tried 15 times and there was a queue out of the door.

“It is an important document and I only got it because on a Friday evening I managed to get in before they closed the doors and stayed there. When I complained about the delay I was told it was because of the snow.

“I’ve got another recorded delivery this week, and it’s been the same again. I’ve been trying to speak to the manager but no one answers the phone and there is no way of leaving a message. This does seem to be a problem affecting business people and private people as well.”

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “We’re sorry that the customer is unhappy with the service he has received at Oldham callers’ office and would urge him to contact Royal Mail customer services on 08457 740 740 who will investigate.

“As an alternative to collecting the recorded item from the office, he can call the phone number on the ‘Sorry you were out’ card and arrange for the item to be redelivered to his address on a day that is convenient for him.

“While the callers’ office has been very busy with customers collecting parcels during and after the prolonged spell of severe weather, we have recently introduced a new system to enable staff to locate items more quickly and have increased staffing at peak times to ensure we can serve customers as quickly as possible.”