Swedish post rescinds fee for late postcard
Posten, the Swedish postal service, has announced that a man in eastern Sweden who has finally received a postcard originally posted more than 16 years ago will not have to pay a 16 kronor ($2.50) fee that it had previously demanded after all.
On November 25, 1994 a postcard was mailed to Einar Persson in Ljusdal, 60 kilometres east of Hudiksvall, from Sundsvall. More than 16 years later, Persson has received a copy of the postcard with a demand that he fork out 16 kronor for the actual item from Posten.
At the time, postage was only 2.80 kronor and has since risen to 5.50 kronor for a postcard within Sweden.
"It was the correct postage when the item was posted," Persson told newspaper Ljusdals-Posten online on Wednesday while questioning Posten's demand for a fee.
The late delivery also means that Persson cannot reply to the sender, who died in 1995.
According to Posten, Persson appears to have erroneously been asked to pay up because the individual who assigned the fee likely did not notice the date the item was originally sent.
"We always request additional fees when there is not enough on the card. We shouldn't have done that. We don't read the letters. The man did not see that the card was posted 16 years ago. The man who received the postcard should not have had to pay," Posten press officer Per Ljungberg told The Local on Wednesday.
He added that it is unclear why the postcard has only surfaced now.
"I don't know why he had to wait 16 years for a postcard. Probably someone found the card and put it in the mailbox. We get questions about these stories sometimes every year. Someone got a card 30 to 40 years ago a couple of months ago, but I don't have any figures, I'm afraid," said Ljungberg.
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On November 25, 1994 a postcard was mailed to Einar Persson in Ljusdal, 60 kilometres east of Hudiksvall, from Sundsvall. More than 16 years later, Persson has received a copy of the postcard with a demand that he fork out 16 kronor for the actual item from Posten.
At the time, postage was only 2.80 kronor and has since risen to 5.50 kronor for a postcard within Sweden.
"It was the correct postage when the item was posted," Persson told newspaper Ljusdals-Posten online on Wednesday while questioning Posten's demand for a fee.
The late delivery also means that Persson cannot reply to the sender, who died in 1995.
According to Posten, Persson appears to have erroneously been asked to pay up because the individual who assigned the fee likely did not notice the date the item was originally sent.
"We always request additional fees when there is not enough on the card. We shouldn't have done that. We don't read the letters. The man did not see that the card was posted 16 years ago. The man who received the postcard should not have had to pay," Posten press officer Per Ljungberg told The Local on Wednesday.
He added that it is unclear why the postcard has only surfaced now.
"I don't know why he had to wait 16 years for a postcard. Probably someone found the card and put it in the mailbox. We get questions about these stories sometimes every year. Someone got a card 30 to 40 years ago a couple of months ago, but I don't have any figures, I'm afraid," said Ljungberg.
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