Mischief rages around letterboxes and postmen, tempers boil

In our previous article, based on a reader’s complaint, we reported that more and more people are complaining, the postmen don’t even try to hand over items that require personal delivery, they simply throw in the notification slip.

Responding to the article, one of our readers also shared his own experience on the subject, according to which he was previously waiting for an ID card for his young child, so he often checked the mailbox.

He found the notification in the mailbox around 10 a.m., despite the fact that he had last checked it at 8 a.m., and that he had been at home since then, and his doorbell was working.

After that, he immediately went to the post office, where he wanted to talk to the delivery person, and if that was not possible, to get some contact information for him. There, they told him that this was not possible, as the postman was still working at an external location, but the package was at the post office and he could pick it up.

To our reader’s question about how the package returned to the post office in the past 1 hour, if the delivery person unsuccessfully tried to deliver the package to him at his home at 10 a.m. and he has been working outside since then, he received the answer that he probably misunderstood something.

The same reader experienced another interesting phenomenon. He received a notice, but with the date of the previous day, so even though he was at home all day that day, it also created uncertainty for him that he might not have heard the delivery person the day before.

In this regard, he contacted customer service to express his displeasure. From there, he was finally informed that an internal investigation had been conducted and that the delivery person had not made a mistake.

It’s hard to do justice

It is not difficult to find similar complaints when browsing social media groups. One commenter also complained that the postman does not try to deliver the package, but just drops the registered mail.

Another of them made an entry in the book of customers, but his complaint was rejected on the grounds that, according to the investigation, he was not at home at the time in question, so his complaint was unfounded.

This is how Posta sees the situation

In response to Economx’s question about the delivery procedure, Magyar Posta previously stated that strict rules apply.

According to their information, when delivering to the house, in the case of postal items requiring personal delivery, delivery is attempted to the addressee or other authorized recipient. In the absence of an authorized recipient, the post office will leave a notice.

In the case of consignments that do not require personal delivery (e.g. unregistered, recorded registered consignments), the consignments are delivered – without acknowledgment of receipt – via letterbox.

They suggested that if customers have a specific question or complaint about the service, that’s it with their customer service they can get in touch.

Deliveries are not in an easy situation either

It is also worth examining the situation on the other side, as a lot of news has come to light in the recent period about the fact that delivery people are overworked, as the profession is on the verge of extinction, there is little supply, and the salary is also low.

At the beginning of 2023, a significant downsizing took place at the company, as part of which 1,200 employees were dismissed. At the time, the post office explained the decision by saying that in the economic situation affected by the sanctions, this is how they can maintain the stability of the operation.

The situation of the existing staff is further aggravated by the fact that the number of acts of violence against postal workers has increased significantly in recent years. The situation has gotten so bad that Magyar Posta recently launched an awareness campaign with the slogan “Being a postman is not a fighting sport”.

Last year, around 70 atrocities were committed against postmen, which is 10 percent more than in the previous period.

Barnabás Balczóthe President and CEO of Magyar Posta, also spoke at the press conference that launched the campaign that one of the delivery men was shot with a rubber bullet, but there was also a case when a delivery man was surrounded by several people and was not allowed to continue for more than an hour.

The position of the trade union

Zsuzsanna Tóththe president of the Postal Union, to Economx’s inquiry, namely whether the union is aware of cases similar to the ones described above, stated that “because of the remuneration of the delivery person, he is interested in successful delivery. If there is an offense against the rules also sent by the employer, an investigation will be started after the customer reports a complaint”. Since these take place at post offices, they have no information about them.

The union leader said that the delivery must be carried out on the basis of a specific regulation, which consistently details the procedure for leaving the notice behind.

To our question about whether the significant workload of the postmen could have something to do with the lack of personal delivery attempts, he answered that “the personal visit of the customer is the priority during regular work” and reiterated that the worker is also interested in successful delivery.

They received no indication that the increasing number of acts of violence against postal workers could be related to the problem discussed above.