Royal Mail delivery problems hit residents in Chesham

A book business owner John Healy, 58, and his neighbours on Partridge Close in Chesham have been left without their mail for almost two weeks.

John claimed the problems began in early August after the familiar postie, who has been doing the round for years, “suddenly disappeared.”

After contacting Royal Mail on August 11 he was told that on August 7, 10 and 11 “they haven’t been able to complete or even do rounds” because of high vacancies and holidays, John said.

John said he hadn't seen any Royal Mail jobs advertised locally despite high vacancies (Image: PA)

“In my opinion, that’s a universal service obligation failure. I want them to do better.

“I was expecting something from my doctors’ surgery, it was an urgent letter,” he said.

Despite a promise from customer service he would “definitely be getting mail” on Monday August 14, no post had been delivered by the time he spoke to the Free Press on August 17.

“It’s because they have high vacancies. They were putting the deliveries on rotation and they are not doing overtime anymore,” he said.  

“It’s pretty awful to be honest and very inconvenient because the mail is still important despite the fact that many things can be done electronically now. People still do things in the traditional way, so it’s vital.”

John sprung to action after his lodger, who had had an operation recently, didn’t receive her letters from the consultant.

“I didn’t miss an appointment, but other people could. It’s not just me but the whole of this road.

“I have missed business letters and others would have as well.

“You could find that you’ve missed something important like an MOT reminder or indeed a doctor’s appointment as in the case of my lodger, so it’s not good news.

“I think it will keep on getting worse and ultimately the aim is to sell it to a courier company like FedEx or some other private company like DX or DPD and then it will degenerate into them doing what they please basically and maybe even the service becoming prohibitively expensive.”

A Royal Mail spokesperson apologised to any Chesham residents who have experienced delays.

They continued: “Improving quality of service is our top priority and we are committed to restoring service levels to where our customers expect them to be.

“Our postmen and women continue to deliver mail to the area every day. Anyone who has letters and parcels to be delivered, and do not receive them on the day they expect, will always be prioritised the following day.

“Across our business we have plans in place to drive service levels. We hope and expect to see further progress in the coming months.”