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Degree may be lost in the post

Marie Burchill
8/ 5/2008

A STUDENT claims a Royal Mail backlog could cost him a grade in his final exams.

Rob Cooper, a law with politics student at Manchester University, says a text book vital for a crunch essay has been stuck in a sorting office for more than a week.

He also faces paying for a new suit for his department ball on Saturday because the tuxedo his parents posted almost a fortnight ago is also missing.

Rob, 21, believes the parcels are among a backlog which he was told was ‘a week long’ at the Manchester South sorting office, in Fallowfield, which serves much of Manchester’s student population.

Royal Mail said there have been problems caused by unusually high sickness rates and changes in work patterns.

Rob needs the £35 textbook to complete a politics essay for his degree. It was dispatched on April 22 and should have been at his address a week ago.

He says his parents posted his tuxedo first class on April 21. Rob said: "It’s a farce. Friends of mine have also faced delays at that sorting office before and it’s frustrating that my packages are probably just sat there. I could see other textbooks waiting to be collected when I went in, so I’m not the only one in this situation.

"I am on the borderline of a first, and just two per cent could make all the difference to my degree."

Last week the Reporter also highlighted problems faced by Didsbury resident, Chris Coldwell, who waited for 13 days for two parcels to arrive at his home.

One parcel had been posted first class from Northern Ireland and the other had been sent by registered post from within the UK.

Chris – who works as an anaesthetist in North Manchester – said: "My parcels actually arrived on a Sunday. When I asked the post man why he was out delivering then he told me that Fallowfield sorting office had a large back log of parcels that they were trying to clear.

"There has been no explanation from Royal Mail whatsoever, this is just unacceptable."

Other customers are also experiencing delays at the Granville Road office. Pharmacy student Alan Baird-Smith, 23, has waited two weeks for a clothing package from an Australian internet retailer. A 19-year-old history of art student, who asked not to be named, collected a parcel on Wednesday that had been sent first class on April 14.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "Due to unusually high sick absence and revisions to work patterns which are taking a little time to settle in, a number of parcels are unfortunately being delivered from Manchester South Delivery Office later than they should be.

"We apologise to affected customers for any inconvenience and we’re doing all we can to return deliveries to normal."

He added that the sender of an item can claim compensation if it arrives five or more days late.