Royal Mail officials have been left with faces as red as Rudolph’s nose after a Perth business received Christmas cards over half a year late.
Scots may have enjoyed a sun-kissed start to summer but for Perth FM staff ’tis the season to be jolly surprised.
Four Christmas cards, complete with festive stamps, arrived at the radio station’s Friarton Road office this week.
Broadcast manager Heather McDonald said, “It is not at all what you expect to find on your doormat on a beautiful July morning.
“There were a total of four Christmas cards bundled in with all the normal mail.”
She added, “To say I was very surprised would be an understatement.”
Included were cards from The Courier and local MSPs Roseanna Cunningham and Murdo Fraser.
The other carried seasonal greetings from Perth and Kinross Provost John Hulbert.
Heather said, “Mail being delayed by a day or two is fairly understandable, but seven months is into the realms of the ridiculous.
“Having said that, in some ways it was quite a pleasant surprise and we have got the cards up on display.”
She added, “We would like to thank everybody who sent the lovely cards but it does beg the question of where on earth literally have they been since last December?
“Or are the senders just incredibly organised and dispatched them very, very early ahead of Christmas 2010?”
With more questions than answers, Heather set about contacting the Royal Mail.
However she is yet to receive a satisfactory explanation.
She said, “I did phone the local sorting office but could not get through.
“I then tried phoning the Royal Mail’s national number but when I eventually spoke to a real person I was just told we would have to fill in a form before they would look into it.”
Heather is glad the delay did not have more serious consequences, adding, “We are treating it as a bit of a joke but for a small business getting mail on time is extremely important.”
The cards appear to have been addressed correctly making their appearance over 180 days late all the more surprising.
When contacted by The Courier a Royal Mail spokeswoman pledged to launch a probe into the festive farce but added there was no suggestion of any wider problems.
She said, “Royal Mail is investigating the apparent late delivery of four items of mail to establish, if possible, what happened in this case.
“There is absolutely no evidence of any issue with mail deliveries in the Perth area.”
Meanwhile, DJs have reassured listeners there are no plans to unleash Christmas hits on an unsuspecting summer audience.