12/14/2009

Can't deliver, won't deliver.


Will you be watching Panorama’s “Can’t deliver, won’t deliver” on BBC One this evening? I have it bookmarked and shall watch with interest.

I enjoy sending and receiving cards and letters and go to special lengths to select an appropriate card for each recipient. Recently though, I have been dismayed that some of these cards have not reached their destination despite being properly addressed and having the correct postage stamps. Is it a coincidence that the cards that failed to arrive had unusual envelopes and were slightly fatter than a standard card? Have you had similar experiences with missing mail? If you have ever tried to complete a complaint form you will probably have been put off by the fact that you cannot prove that you sent the letter in the first place, so I suspect the problem is under reported.

Over the years I have enjoyed working with many greeting card companies, in fact, there have been times when this has been the only kind of work available to me and as a freelance artist, an outlet on which I have become to rely. If we loose confidence in our postal service we will look for alternatives, e-cards are looking like a more attractive alternative which will be bad news for the many people like me who make their living in the greeting card industries.

Our own regular postman is lovely, he goes out of his way to provide a good service but I fear that his job is being made very difficult by the volume of junk mail he is expected to carry and by other staffing problems.

There was a time, not so very long ago, when the post arrived first thing in the morning, when stamps did not cost an arm and a leg and we had two deliveries a day. Letters hardly ever went missing and first class post arrived the next day. I would like those days back again please dear Santa. I am becoming a grumpy old woman, sorry for the rant.