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As the coronavirus pandemic has seen many staying at home, the number of deliveries has increased dramatically, putting a strain on the service and leaving many people without post. Agnes Peyser, a resident of Kilburn, north-west London, was sent a letter by the Metropolitan Police on September 22 to appear as a witness at a trial in a Magistrate’s court.

However, that letter arrived on October 6, exactly two weeks after it had been sent.

Similarly, insurance renewal documents that were sent on September 4 still had not arrived by September 23. She is still waiting on another important document, the contents of which she did not want to divulge.

She described the situation as “ridiculous”, repeatedly being fobbed off by Royal Mail’s customer services with “stupid answers”.

It was only after the seventh time of complaining to Royal Mail that she was told that “there was a local issue” that had “now been resolved”, she claimed.

Another person, who lives in nearby West Hampstead and did not wish to be named, said on October 22 that he had received a call from his hospital about an appointment taking place the next day, which he had been unaware of.

The hospital receptionist explained that the appointment was the following day, and that they had sent an appointment letter four weeks beforehand.

He told the Express: “If I hadn’t had the phone call, I’d have had to wait another month for a new appointment and I’d be unwittingly contributing to the NHS’s costs of missed appointments.

“Frankly, Royal Mail is not fit for purpose.”

In Shepherd’s Bush, two residents of the same building had to wait one day shy of a full calendar month for post to arrive.

Ian Cohen, also a West Hampstead resident, tweeted on October 6 that his postcode had not received mail “for two weeks”.

After removing their postman of six years, “we have [had] mail delivered three times in eight weeks, despite complaining about lack of service.”

Another, Lynette, said that Brent Council had sent her a council tax bill due on September 19, but the letter only arrived on 23 Sept.

She said she was “somewhat ‘relieved’ to see it’s not just me.”

The Citizens Advice Bureau told the Express that it had “raised concerns” with both communications regulator Ofcom and Royal Mail about a “lack of information and actionable advice” about delays.

Ms Peyser told the Express she has a business account with Royal Mail, entitling her to daily updates from the courier, but claimed that there had been no notifications about issues with the Kilburn delivery depot.

“It is the first time they acknowledged that there is an issue at this delivery office,” she said.

Ms Peyser said that she had spoken to her postman, who explained: “Royal Mail decided to reshuffle the delivery routes for postmen at the beginning of September”.

She continued: “They have reduced the number of postmen and extended the size of the routes” – a claim which Royal Mail contested.

When Ms Peyser visited the Kilburn delivery depot on October 13, she said the manager told her “they’ve employed ten temporary agency staff, that only started last week on Tuesday – so it took them a whole month.”

It is understood that the first agency workers towards the end September, with more joining in October – bringing the number to a total of ten.

She described the situation as “ridiculous”, adding: “that they have a problem is fair enough – every organisation has a problem, but that they don’t recognise openly that they have a problem is rather pathetic.”

A CWU spokesperson said they could not comment on the specifics of local cases at the moment, but said generally workers were under “frustrating and difficult circumstances”.

In Shepherd’s Bush, one resident had to wait one day shy of a full calendar month for post to arrive, after complaining multiple times and escalating the situation.

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One item of 1st class mail was supposed to arrive on September 15, but took until October 14 to land on their doorstep.

The remainder of their post arrived on October 20.

When they initially complained on September 27, Royal Mail said the delays were down to “local, technical issues and whilst staff get used to new routes and equipment which have recently been implemented.”

Two days later, they said that the local delivery office had “advised us that they’re currently undergoing a full delivery office revision.

“This can involve a complete reorganisation of the delivery office and rounds, and can result in some temporary disruption to deliveries.”

However, residents should still be receiving mail “at least every few days”.

On October 8, Royal Mail claimed the delays were due to “staff absences”.

A person who lives in the same building was sent a football season ticket 1st class on September 21, which was supposed to arrive for a game on September 25.

When it did not arrive by the game, they had to pay £5 to get into the grounds and were facing a further £25 to replace it.

Luckily, the ticket eventually arrived on October 20 – nearly a full month after it was sent.

It is understood that the decision to revise delivery routes was because many had not changed for a decade. New housing and growth of parcel deliveries required more balanced routes between local delivery offices.

A Royal Mail spokesperson told the Express: “We apologise to any customers who have experienced any disruption to their service in recent weeks in these specific areas. The vast majority of mail and parcels are delivered safely and on time.

“There are a number of factors that can disrupt our service, including absence, vacancies and revision activity.”

The revision was “progressing well”, the spokesperson said, and “is designed to ensure postmen and postwomen’s routes have equal workload and are therefore fairer and more balanced to reflect the growth in parcel deliveries.

“We continue to advise and assist any impacted customers through our customer touchpoints and customer helplines.”

A spokesperson for the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) noted that Ofcom is currently reviewing postal regulations, adding: “Earlier this year, we raised concerns with both Ofcom and Royal Mail about the lack of information and actionable advice to those consumers that were in areas on Royal Mail’s list of exceptions during the regulatory emergency period.”

In a submission to the Ofcom review in May, CAB said that consumer advocacy bodies “aren’t able to access sufficient data to fully understand the severity and impact” of postal delays

It added: “current reporting only shows whether something has been delayed, not by how long.”

It called on the watchdog to make Royal Mail continue to publish quarterly and annual reports on “so that consumers can see and understand” performance in their local area.

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