No explanation for missing mail

I think I should join other readers of this paper to expose to one and all the shoddy service Maltapost is providing the Maltese people.

On December 5, a letter containing a Christmas card and €100 note was post-registered in Italy and addressed to me.

On December 22, I received a letter from Maltapost informing me that a registered letter addressed to me has been received from Italy badly torn/tampered with. I was also asked to call at their offices to collect this mail item, thus bringing the matter to a close.

On December 23, I proceeded to the Maltapost customer care offices, where I was shown this scandalous act, wherein my letter was badly torn and all contents missing. At the same time I was also informed that several other registered letters arriving in the same mail bag were also badly tampered with. Maltapost expected me to accept a badly torn empty envelope to close the case without offering any compensation. At this stage I asked the customer care official for a detailed description of the whereabouts of this registered letter since its arrival from Italy. The following is the information I was given:

This letter was post stamped and registered in Italy on December 5 and arrived in Malta on December 9 via Alitalia Flight AZ996.

This same letter arrived at the Maltapost offices seven full days after it arrived from Italy, that is on December 16. I was also informed that the Italian postal authorities were informed about this mail tampering on the same day, that is on December 16.

Naturally, I insisted on knowing how this letter took all that long to arrive at the Maltapost offices, that is seven full days from the airport, just less than half a mile away. The head of customer care was apparently confused and seriously embarrassed. She phoned up her superior telling him that "he wants to know where this letter was..."

No explanation was ever forthcoming from Maltapost about the whereabouts of this mail between December 9 and 16, and why I was only informed about this tampering 12 full days after this registered letter arrived from Italy. The question follows: Why are MaltaPost so reluctant to divulge the whereabouts of this mailbag between December 9 and 16? If they cannot, how on earth can they guarantee that this registered letter together with another 12 registered letters were not tampered with in Malta, during that period?

On January 14, I filed a complaint about this matter with the Malta Communications Authority, claiming compensation. So far I have only received an acknowledgement, but only after asking for it. I have not heard a word from them since then. Is this the sort of consumer protection envisaged from the MCA law?

Here I would further add that this is not the first time that I received tampered and/or heavily delayed mail originating from Malta, through Maltapost.

The fact that the postal services are going from bad to worse is amply demonstrated by the frequent appearance of complaints in the press.