Last Thursday a Birthday card containing a £25 Voucher Card was handed over the counter of Salisbury Post Office, for it needed to be weighed. Its destination was clearly written; as was the Post Code written both back and front. A 50p stamp was attached and the envelope retained by the Post Office Counter Clerk.

Today all of six days later that envelope has still not arrived at an Address at COOKHAM, Maidenhead. I believe this is not good enough. Is the Royal Mail worth the postal fee it charges , or is it time for a change in its Management ? As a student I worked for The GPO in both its Reading Sorting Office and on one of its Delivery rounds. Then in the early 1950’s. my Seniors took no end of pride in their Profession, what one may wonder has happened to the Service then offered at time one could post eighty letters such as ours for £1.

One might hope that it would be possible to report such a complaint, however attempting to do so involved one pushing buttons, in answer to several sets of questions, and still one never got to speak to anything other than an automated woman, and one landed up with the promise of a complaint form, without the opportunity of being able to mention which my complaint was.

I would not know whether my experience illustrates monstrous inefficiency by The Royal Mail, or the possible dishonesty of one of its operatives, probably the former, however if the latter or not maybe the Royal Mail might have a better method of reporting losses.

Last Friday an Oath needed to be sworn emanating from our home. The Commissioner for Oaths in Tisbury Village administered the Oath as an over the Counter Service. There was no opportunity to post the letter from ‘our’ available Post Box before 4.10 pm on the following Monday. Heaven knows whether the Document has or has not as yet been delivered to Winchester . (P) Either way maybe it is high time the Royal Mail got its act together, before all its business gets taken over by e.mail. Personally I am getting less and less enthused about posting Christmas Cards. My Broadband brings with it anytime free telephone calls, certainly we intend to use the facility this Christmas where possible.