Waihī residents Robyn Bronlund-Stads and Glen Mayclair, her cousin, send about 50 mail items through the post each month.
But last month, they were surprised when one Christmas card they had posted on December 3 was returned to them, again and again.
In total, the cousins sent the same letter six times. It never reached its Te Awamutu destination.
And Bronlund-Stads is absolutely sure the address is correct.
“We send mail to this address every four weeks,” the 71-year-old told the Herald.
“It used to be weekly and then it got too expensive. Then it went to fortnightly and it got more expensive so it went to monthly.”
Bronlund-Stads said she had been posting letters to her friends in Te Awamutu for years.
“It’s only been redirected once [before] and they haven’t changed address.”
She rang her friends on December 21, after the letter had been returned a third time, just to check.
“I woke them up. They said they were in the same bed and they haven’t shifted,” Bronlund-Stads said.
“I went to the postal agency and told them the address is correct. I showed them the phonebook.”
Bronlund-Stads said she was sure it wasn’t the postal agency’s fault.
“I am blaming either the sorting machine or the people who might be sorting the envelopes. I reckon that the posties are pretty good.”
She said she had posted other mail on the same day as the Te Awamutu letter. The letters sent to Brisbane, Perth and Timaru had all reached their destinations.
“The one to Timaru arrived well before Christmas and she replied and we got her card before Christmas.
“You can’t work out the mail system now. Some are quick and some are slow.”
Bronlund-Stads’ cousin Glen Mayclair, 81, said he could remember when zip codes were introduced and mail meant for the Chatham Islands would turn up in Thames.
“That seems to be sorted out,” Mayclair said.
“For mail coming to us we don’t have a problem anymore but this letter is a circular. It’s going round and round and round. The envelope is wearing out. It’s like a teenager that won’t leave home.”
Bronlund-Stads said she and Mayclair use the internet but “not very much” and didn’t rely on it for communication.
“We do have the older sort of cellphone with big numbers to ring for help if we need them. But if the power is off, the cell towers don’t work and they are not much use to us.”
Bronlund-Stads said she preferred the post.
“You can sit down and read a letter. You can show it to each other. We can think about things and also, usually, we can guarantee it will arrive.
“For a lot of people [the post] is their main communication.”
New Zealand Post said the organisation’s investigations team would like to get in touch with the customer directly to look into what happened.
Maryana Garcia is a Hamilton-based reporter covering breaking news in Waikato. She previously wrote for the Rotorua Daily Post and Bay of Plenty Times.
A protest was organised for outside the mine this morning.