Frustrated residents in Stretford say they are still struggling with delayed and missing post causing them to miss medical appointments, important letters, covid passes and even death certificates.
Concerns were first raised last November when people started complaining that their parcels and letters had not been delivered on time due to a postal backlog.
Now, three weeks into January, angry residents say they are still receiving Christmas cards, with some people resorting to physically picking up their own post from the sorting office.
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For some, the anxiety of not knowing what they may be missing is also a major factor - with one woman saying she was worried all over the Christmas break - at a time she should have been enjoying herself.
We spoke to Stretford residents to discover the human cost of the postal backlog.
Retired Geraldine Shires, 61, lives on Turn Moss Road in Stretford and says problems with her post have been going on for months.
"My husband and I had birthdays in October and didn’t receive cards until two weeks later", she says.
"We didn't even get cards in time from our kids.
"My mother, who is 90, hasn’t received two hospital appointments for new hearing aids and we only found out because I called the hospital - we still haven't had that post.
"The worst thing is that my mum is a retired auxiliary nurse and we received a letter from NHS pensions dated December 14 saying she had to reply within 28 days or her pension would be suspended - but she she didn’t receive it until after that deadline had passed.
"I phoned and sorted it out but she could not have done that for herself, without me, especially as she is hard of hearing - what if she had been on her own?"
It's clear missing other seemingly 'less important' post is still an inconvenience - Geraldine says she has lost two weeks of a subscription she has paid out for and missed out on the pleasure of opening her Christmas cards.
"We signed up for a subscription to The Times which hasn’t arrived more than two weeks after the start date, " she says.
"We received Christmas cards every day last week.
"It isn’t good enough when you read that the Royal Mail made over £300 million profit last year."
Eric Birch, 67, lives on Henshaw Street and he too says he has missed out on subscriptions, cards and tickets.
He says: "I received two mail deliveries of a few items in the period from December 6 to January 6 - I usually receive a couple of items per day.
"It was my birthday on December 8 and I am still waiting for cards that were posted before that date.
"I am also aware of numerous Christmas cards that have been sent but not been received.
"I have a weekly subscription to the Radio Times which has not been delivered during the past month.
"These are only the items that I am aware of, there are probably many more important items that are missing.
"The whole situation is deplorable.
"From talks with neighbours and comments on social media (Facebook) it is apparent that this is a situation that has affected the entire Stretford area."
Eric, who also says he received theatre tickets after the performance date, says he wants to claim compensation for money lost as a result of the recent 'appalling' service as well as the inconvenience and aggravation that has been caused to himself and other residents.
Retired resident Herb Booth of Manor Road says he too started to be affected by delays back in October.
He says: "We started to have postal delays as early in October 2021, when my wife got an appointment date for attending Manchester eye hospital two days AFTER the appointment date.
"We then got mail about twice a week during November.
"We got no post from December 6, 2021 until January 4 to January 14, 2022 and nothing since then.
Some of this post was post marked December, 12 there was a bank statement dated December 16 and my wife's Covid-19 travel pass dated December 15 - due to run out on January, 14.
My Covid-19 travel pass arrived on January 12, due to run out two days later.
"My company pension payslip due mid December has still not arrived, so I an glad it was not a cheque or I would have been short of cash over Christmas."
Hazel Gibb, who lives on Haig Road, Stretford said she was concerned about her lack of post as she was waiting for an important letter from the department of work and pensions.
So Hazel, 60, who runs a local magazine went along to the sorting office in person to pick up her post herself.
She says: "I picked up a letter for my daughter which was for a hospital appointment for an MRI scan.
"She has prolapse of the spine and has had three back operations but it's still not right - so she needs this scan.
"Admittedly we have had post since then, but even if it had come through it would not have given us enough time to prepare for it."
Hazel says sometimes Christmas cards may not seem important, but says "for some people it could be the only contact you have with that person every year."
Grandmother-of-six and great grandmother-of-one Rita Jones, 67, lives on Cherry Tree Walk in Stretford.
She runs the residents association and says she hears a lot of complaints about the post.
She says: "On Saturday, January 15, I received a Christmas card posted on December 7 and another dated the 14th.
"I was fuming with that one," she says, "They were family cards, one was from my grandchildren - so I have still put it up.
"Recently I have received cards that had been cut open and stuck down again with tape.
"This also happened last year, this was no accident.
"I want to know why are we getting junk mail from the post but they cant bring our proper mail out.
"The money people have wasted is terrible."
Rita is a cancer survivor and has also suffered a heart attack so she says she is anxious she may be missing important post from the hospital.
"It's a worry - I am still thinking, are there things in the post that I haven't had from the hospital.
"I am under several different departments at the hospital and it is possible I am still waiting - I just don't know.
"It worries me what I still have not got."
Michelle Goulden, who lives on Kings Road, said she is also missing important medical correspondence.
"I am still waiting for a letter from my cardiologist from December 14, " she says.
"I found out my medication had changed/dose significantly increased when I got my repeat prescription but no idea why without this letter.
"My GP wouldn’t give me a copy and I started to worry something was seriously wrong.
"In the end I had to call my cardiologist to find out but was worried all over Christmas waiting for the letter.
"My partner's dad died on December 19 and we couldn’t start closing all his accounts without the death certificate.
"We still haven’t received it."
Resident Carole Bannon said it was a sheer stroke of luck that thanks to the backlog of post she didn't completely miss having her knee operation.
"We have had numerous pieces of mail missing, " she says.
"My husband's driving licence posted out on November 26 was received after Christmas.
"I had a letter from Trafford General informing me of the date for my knee replacement surgery on January 13.
"It was posted out on December 12 but I received it on January 17.
"If they hadn’t phoned to postpone it I would have missed it altogether.
"My husbands birthday present was posted November 26 and has not yet arrived but I have managed to get a replacement.
"Many Christmas cards were received after Christmas."
She observes: "The current post seems to be arriving on time with a few older letters too."
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “Deliveries are operating as normal across most of the country.
"We aim to deliver to all addresses we have mail for, six days a week.
"In a small number of local offices this may temporarily not be possible due to local issues such as COVID-related self-isolation, higher than usual levels of sickness absence, resourcing or other local factors.
"We are providing targeted support to the local offices affected by these issues and we apologise to customers for any inconvenience they may have experienced.
"Our postmen and women are continuing to work incredibly hard, as they have done throughout the pandemic, and we are thankful for all of their efforts and determination.”
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