Post Mortem [May 6, 2009]

Am I the only person in town who wonders what on earth has happened to post from the UK?
I've just been forced to contact Private Eye magazine in the UK after realising I have not had a magazine for about eight weeks.

Private Eye's subscription service keeps sending me emails saying they are terribly sorry about the problem and that everything was dispatched properly their end so my magazine has gone astray en route.

Any attempt to get the delightful Gemma who answers my mails to admit that five or so magazines disappearing is not simply a question of going astray is failing. Back comes the email with the same stock answer. She has promised me all my back copies within seven to 10 days. We shall see.

Then there is the matter of the birthday presents. My brother posted three parcels on the same day in Edinburgh. They arrived on three different days, three weeks apart. At least they got here.

Then there is the parcel of Cadbury's creme eggs which arrived yesterday, after being posted over two months ago in Glasgow.

I've decided to get to the bottom of it, but so far everyone has denied all responsibility. Royal Mail swore blind they delivered only to TNT Post, but that, it transpires is a load of rubbish. Royal Mail parcels go to Selektvracht - part of DHL. But Selektmail too denies all knowledge of my parcel.

So what happened between the parcel leaving Glasgow and arriving in Amsterdam? For all the modern technology, barcodes on parcels etc etc.. can anyone actually tell me? To be continued