muninnhuginn | Post from the Postie

Just in at 11.45 am, from Allan Leighton, Chairman of Royal Mail:

"Dear Customer", it says.

"I would like to apologise personally to you [that is, to the person addressed as "The Occupier"] for the delay in getting your post due to the recent unofficial action in your area [the action was over several weeks ago and we can't say we noticed much].

"Now our postmen and women are back at work, we are working together to ensure that your postal service is maintained in the future [that is, service comprising only one delivery a day rather than the two we used to have and collections from post boxes with only a latest collection time indicated and not actual collection times listed which makes us assume that there's only going to be one collection and to assume that it's either last thing or you've missed it for the day].

"We are sorry our Customer Compensation Scheme does not apply when services are disrupted due to industrial action. However we have decided to make a gesture of goodwill on behalf of all of our customers.

"Working with Postwatch, the consumer body for postal services, we plan to make a £1 million donation towards London's bid to host the 2012 Olympic games."

[...]

Well, it came first class, tho' rather a long time after the fact, and everything in it was covered by the national media. So what was the point? How many of these have been sent? At what cost? We're rather annoyed at the gesture of goodwill, too. We don't support the bid for the 1012 Olympics in London: it's not as if there'll be a beautiful new Wembley stadium by then. We might have been vaguely enthused by the notion of a Birmingham or Manchester bid. Or Glasgow or Edinburgh. Cardiff, even. A million quid's not going to make much of a difference to the overall bid funds, we guess. The oodles it's going to cost to lose this bid rather appalls. There are places where £1,000,000 would do so much more good.