I think I should join other readers to expose to one and all the shoddy service Maltapost is providing the Maltese people.
Last December 5, a letter containing a Christmas card and a €100 note was posted/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 had been received from Italy badly torn/tampered with. I was also asked to call at their offices to collect this mail item and, thus, bring 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 requested the customer care official, Isabella Micallef, a detailed description of the whereabouts of this registered letter since its arrival from Italy. The following is the information I was given:
The 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 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 to know how this letter took so long to arrive at the Maltapost offices, that is seven full days from its arrivial at the airport, less than half a mile away.
The head at customer care was apparently confused and seriously embarrassed. She phoned up her superior and told him/her that I wanted to know where the letter had been.
No explanation was ever forthcoming from Maltapost about the whereabouts of this item between December 9 and 16 and why I was only informed about this tampering 12 full days after the registered letter arrived from Italy.
The question follows: Why are Maltapost so reluctant to divulge the whereabouts of the mail-bag between December 9 and 16? If they cannot, how can they guarantee that this registered letter, together with other 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. Is this the sort of protection the MCA can afford the consumer?
Here, I would further add that this is not the first time I received tampered with 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.