Letter to the Editor Tuesday January 14, 2014

Who wants mail?

You have to wonder about the sincerity and/or capability of these government departments sometimes, and what they tell us. I got the following letter recently ...

'Dear Customer,

'Rural Post has recently undertaken a validation of customer records and circular categories on your rural delivery. As the result of this validation your owner-driver has confirmed to Rural Post that there are no unaddressed mail items delivered to your address through New Zealand Post. If I do not receive a response from you to the contrary I will make the necessary amendment to your customer record held by Rural Post to now reflect your customer unaddressed mail category requirements as a "no circulars" category.

'This means that no unaddressed mail (circulars) which includes advertising mail, newsletters and non-subscription newspapers that are distributed / delivered through New Zealand Post will be delivered to your address. This will also ensure that a more accurate number of unaddressed mail items are provided to our owner-driver each delivery day thus reducing any surpluses returning for recycling.

'If the information provided by the Rural Post owner-driver should be incorrect, or you have any inquiries about Rural Post mail delivery services, please contact me.

'Yours Sincerely,'

We hear a lot about how the postal service is struggling to get enough volume of business, and here they are making it the default that we will not get the mail that is presumably going to be paid to get delivered to us, unless we specifically ask for it. If we do really require them to actually deliver mail, we can make a toll call, or buy a stamp and send them a letter. So they are making it cost us, and difficult for us to contact them.

This obstructiveness, and defaulting to declining mail volume, is deliberate, and in direct contradiction to their stated hopes for the company.

I've talked with my mail man, and he knows that I do like my mail. He hands it to me and I say, "Oh goody." We have discussed it, and he knows that I want it. He's a good man, our driver, and he goes right out of his way to deliver me parcels, in all weather, and he drops my free mails off when there is no other mail for him to stop for, even though I've told him he needn't stop just for junk mail if he doesn't want. I don't think he would have said I don't want my mail.

I don't know about you, but I do want my rural farming newspapers. They are the real low-down on what we need to know about the councils and government, the RMA and property rights and all sorts of stuff that nobody else tells us, and that I'd never think to go off checking up about. I want all my mail. There are offers and interests that it is in my interest to know about.

We need to be vigilant to our services being eroded. We pay our taxes, and our rates, and registrations and ACC, then one-sixth of what is left as GST, and every year the services get pared back as some new "user pays" services is foisted upon us.

I will be writing away saying that I do want my mail delivered, and I'll be asking for an explanation how that mail not being carried will increase their mail volume. I think the answer is already known though - they get paid to deliver to everyone that accepts it, at a fixed price, so I'll let you know I guess how that goes.

Be aware people. Speak out.

BRETT MACCARTHY

RD2 Kaitaia