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A postie hoarded at least 15 months of mail from a large rural delivery area apparently after being "overwhelmed" by the task.
NZ Post has apologised to the customers, belatedly delivering stacks of mail which included appointment letters for medical specialists which were many months out of date.
The Heraldwas told there were 22,000 pieces of mail that had not been delivered. The quantity was put to NZ Post which said it could not comment on the amount of undelivered mail as it was part of a police investigation.
Locals who were provided their mail told the Advocate it had been recovered from the garage of an "overwhelmed" postie.
The late mail was finally delivered in late May to those on rural delivery in the Mata, One Tree Point and Takahiwai areas south of Whangārei.
The late delivery came with a letter of apology from NZ Post's general manager of service delivery, Matthew Riordan.
In it, he said: "Last week we identified a number of undelivered items in your area and we wish to sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and disruption that the delay to deliver them has caused.
"As a result, we are reviewing our systems and processes and would like to reassure you we have taken steps to ensure we will deliver your mail and parcels as expected going forward."
Riordan's letter didn't reveal the reason for the late delivery - and he also didn't reference it when the Advocate approached NZ Post.
In a statement, he said: "Unfortunately, NZ Post recently identified a significant number of undelivered items that were overdue to be delivered to customers in a rural area south of Whangārei in Northland.
"We wish to sincerely apologise to customers for the inconvenience and disruption that the delay of delivering these items has caused them.
"We have since successfully delivered the delayed mail to customers and have communicated with impacted people directly to apologise.
One of the bundles of mail eventually delivered to residents south of Whangarei. Photo / Supplied
"NZ Post takes delivering New Zealanders' mail seriously and we are disappointed that on this occasion our service has not met our own and our customers' expectations."
Senior Sergeant Darren Sullivan said Whangārei police had been approached in June "in relation to a large volume of mail going undelivered in rural Whangārei".
He said an inquiry was still underway and no charges had yet been laid.
The Advocate has learned the extent of the mail hoarding was revealed after one local, frustrated at such sporadic deliveries, insisted on going beyond NZ Post's call centre to speak with a senior local manager.
The One Tree Point Facebook page showed the local compiling complaint "case numbers" from locals in an attempt to show NZ Post the extent to which mail was going missing.
That post went up on May 13 and the feedback showed people missing medical correspondence, letters from ACC, birthday cards and car registration details. The Advocate was also told of someone fined for failing to report for jury duty and missed speeding tickets.
Riordan's letter apologising on behalf of NZ Post was dated May 25 and said NZ Post discovered the issue "last week", suggesting the local's efforts revealed the scale of the issue and tipped the company to take action.
Lucy Hyndman was one of those who received a large bundle of undelivered mail - including a letter from a medical specialist with notes from a consult she wished she had received at the time it was sent.
She said she wanted the notes to consider and reflect on what a neurologist had told her.
One Tree Point Road was one of the affected rural addresses. Photo / David Fisher
"I was pretty pissed. That sort of information would have been great to have a year ago."
Neville Pomana also received a thick stack of mail with the oldest in the bundle dated March 2021.
"How long has it been going on? They must have been receiving complaints," he said.
Pomana said the missed mail included a bill for Road User Charges which wasn't paid in time and incurred a $12 late fee.
A resident on One Tree Point Rd, who did not want to be named, said NZ Post should explain why the mail fail had taken so long to be discovered.
The Advocate spoke to another local who missed check-up appointments from Whangārei hospital's oncology department and an appointment with an eye specialist. With the eye specialist, she went private, having not heard from the hospital.
Postal Workers of Aotearoa Union organiser John Maynard, not speaking directly about this case, said posties in some parts of New Zealand had been overwhelmed.
He said the union had raised it with NZ Post earlier this year and the company had responded positively.
"The company does try to make sure the rounds are evenly distributed. The problem at the moment is where there is a shortage of staff."
The Advocate has asked NZ Post about its systems for detecting large-scale mail issues. A response has yet to be received.
