Blame snail mail on Covid-19 or poor management?

 

Many people who use Pos Malaysia will disagree that its shoddy services are due to the Covid-19 lockdown causing disruptions and forcing the closure of many post offices.

Those who use Pos Malaysia will tell you that even before the lockdown, its services had been terrible.

Some will say that Pos Laju is Pos Lewat and that it is faster to walk and self-deliver a letter or documents than to use its express service.

Pos Malaysia’s services deteriorated soon after they were privatised and corporatised. Perhaps it needs a change of management and leadership.

In recent months, Malaysians have used social media to voice their dissatisfaction with Pos Malaysia’s late deliveries and poor customer service.

On Nov 14, Pos Malaysia urged the people to be patient, saying it was experiencing numerous problems in making deliveries in view of Covid-19.

Last June, it issued a similar statement, saying it was facing a surge of parcels, especially in East Malaysia. And earlier, in April, a video clip went viral on Twitter, showing a mountain of parcels at Pos Malaysia’s KLIA facility. The company claimed the lockdown had created the backlog.

Pos Malaysia’s excuses do not wash with those who use their services. We are at their mercy. Complaints have fallen on deaf ears. The people who answer the phone or emails are very polite, but very few of their promises to deal with the problems are met.

In the first week of January, before the Covid-19 pandemic changed our lives, a girl sent a parcel from England to her mother in Kuala Lumpur. The courier in England said it would arrive in KL in less than a week, by air. She paid for a door-to-door service. The parcel contained boxes of chocolates and books, to be in time for her mother’s birthday, which happened to fall on Valentine’s day. She posted the items in plenty of time.

Six weeks later, the parcel was still at a Customs depot near KLIA. Despite having paid for door-to-door service, and having affixed an invoice and a list of the items on the outside of the parcel, Pos Malaysia said the recipient or agent had to be present at the depot.

It also said that once the parcel arrived at KLIA, it would be transferred to Pos Laju and an extra fee would be required. Aren’t Pos Malaysia and Pos Laju part of the same outfit? Was this another opportunity to squeeze more money out of the customer?

Despite explaining that door-to-door service had been paid for, the Pos Malaysia staff were reported to be not helpful and laid the blame on the Customs Department.

Many customers voiced their opinion over social media that Pos Malaysia’s top management should be replaced. One customer asked: “Is the management sleeping on the job? My parcel, which was posted from Lumut and bound for Penang, took two weeks to arrive.”

One person who had to revamp her business model because of the lockdown decided to sell her products online. She said she had to send the parcels by courier herself and when she mentioned this to Pos Malaysia, she was allegedly scolded for “allowing her customers to buy so much stuff online”. She said: “It is ironic that the national mail courier is killing off local businesses.”

Another customer complained that her parcel had been opened and was damp when she collected it from the Customs counter in Ipoh. She had been sent a Christmas present by an American friend, and when she arrived home, she realised that despite paying a hefty tax, many items such as lipsticks and two leather wallets were allegedly missing from her box.

How many other people have experienced this? Why do items allegedly go missing from parcels? Why are customers who complain given the runaround? Why is it difficult to get compensation for lost or damaged items even with documented proof and photographs of the damaged items?

Is Pos Malaysia bleeding money? With the lockdown, many people and businesses are using the postal service more than before, so increased sales should translate to extra profits for the company. Does the money not filter down to its employees? Have its advisers made poor investments? Does Pos Malaysia treat its staff well? Its workers should be treated like frontliners as they are also at risk.

During the pandemic, most companies are suffering, so Pos Malaysia should not be complaining and using it as an excuse as its experience is not unusual. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.