If you’re looking for any humour in this opinion, you won’t find it. I am not in a laughing mood. In fact, I am very angry. Let me explain…

It is my daughter’s 5th birthday tomorrow and as most of my family live 180 miles away, they regularly send cards, money and vouchers through the post. Yesterday, I was expecting a card and £20 Argos voucher which my Dad had sent. The envelope arrived but had obviously been torn down one side. Looking in, I saw the birthday card was there, but the voucher wasn’t. It had just been torn enough to remove the smaller voucher, but not enough for the larger card to come out.

I caught up the postwoman and complained and she said she would report it. I then rang Customer Services who were sympathetic, but said as it had not been sent Recorded Delivery or Registered Post, there was no hope of any compensation. However, the woman said she would send a form to me, which I could fill in to explain what had happened.

I was thoroughly annoyed at the gall of someone stealing from a little girl like this! The envelope was addressed to a ‘Miss’ and the card was clearly for a young child. It must have been done somewhere within the system, as it was intact when my Dad posted it.

Anyway, after the initial anger, I felt a bit better, until today’s mail arrived. Another birthday card, this time with a deliberately torn corner – just enough to see the card was empty! This time, it was from my Aunt and thankfully was only a card, as she is sending a present next week.

Two cards for my daughter opened in the same way in just two days cannot be a coincidence! It must be a local matter and on Monday morning, I will be ringing the local manager to see what he has to say for himself. We have had to borrow money to reimburse the £20 that went missing, so as not to deprive my daughter of a birthday present!

As a child myself, I adored Royal Mail. I g
ot into penpalling big time and at one point, had 250 penpals all over the world! Since growing up and having my own kids, I don’t have the time or money for writing and posting so many letters, but I do my fair share of stamp buying and parcel sending. Let’s face it, there’s nothing quite like receiving a wonderful letter or a lovely gift in the post! So I’m not saying Royal Mail is all bad, but there are disadvantages.

My ex-husband and my fiancé have both been postmen and their jobs are pretty thankless. Besides all the things we know – early starts, being out in all weathers, etc. – Royal Mail are pretty awful employers too.

One of their unfairest of rules is to do with sick leave. You can be sacked for having too much time off – and I don’t mean pretending to be ill, but genuinely being sick. It is calculated on the periods you are off, rather than the days, so if you are off for a month or a day, it’s still one period of sick leave. If you get a stomach bug and are off a day, then the next week you get another stomach bug, that’s two periods of sickness. Once you get a warning, you then get sacked if you are off ill at all for the next so many weeks or even months! Well, obviously, people get ill – especially if they are out in all weathers or working in a sorting office next to others with coughs and colds.

Well, I know this is rather a rant, and is only my experience of Royal Mail and the experience of some of my family. But one thing I have learned is not to send anything of value through the post without it being Recorded Delivery or Registered Post. If this isn’t possible, send a cheque so that if your letter does get opened, it will be no use to them. Meanwhile, let’s hope the thief sick enough to steal a five year old’s birthday present will get what they deserve!