Failure to deliver gets postie sack

Branch manager, Catherine Maxwell, said they had referred the matter to the police. Photo / APN

An Auckland postie who left thousands of letters undelivered has been dismissed by New Zealand Post.

After "several" complaints about missing mail from customers, NZ Post launched an investigation and discovered more than 17,000 letters had been left undelivered by the offending postman between May 20 and June 25 in an area of Onehunga. Affected streets included Boyd Ave, Symonds St, Normans Hill Rd and Quadrant Rd. About 2500 houses missed out on their mail.

While residents found going without mail for several weeks inconvenient, there was some sympathy for the man. One Norman's Hill Rd resident suggested the postie might not like the route: "I can understand it with the streets round here - it's really hilly."

The lack of mail had been disruptive for the resident when she incurred $250 worth of PAYE late fees. But she did not have to pay the fines after explaining the situation to the IRD. The woman, who did not want to be named, said she had received two apology letters from NZ Post and eight letters that had been missing.

Geoffrey Rodgers, another Onehunga resident, said he did not get a lot of mail but did receive the NZ Post apology. "I didn't actually notice because I don't get much [mail], but it was delivered with a letter a while ago once they'd found it and sorted it."

NZ Post's Marua Rd delivery branch manager, Catherine Maxwell, said they had referred the matter to the police. She said the staff member had been with the company for about a year. She said posties were encouraged to discuss issues with team leaders, but it was a "physically demanding role" and terrain was not a reason for a route change.