ALTHOUGH there has been one article and two letters about the Gillitts Post Office closure, this conflict remains unresolved in the mind of the reader.
It is just word against word. Where this happens one must resort to written records.
ALSO READ: Gillitts post office shuts its doors, merges with Hillcrest
For example if a business sends a customer an account and the customer says he paid it, the business will in most cases ask for a copy of the receipt, and the presence or absence of the receipt will decide the matter.
So the spokesperson for the post office should have been asked to produce an extract from the existing records of the Post Office, the extract being a copy of the letter or notification, with a date, that was placed into the Gillitts boxes. This would give the post office maximum credit.
The second letter speaks of not knowing where to go in the Hillcrest Post Office, and the post office spokesperson said the Gillitts PO was ‘merged’ with the Hillcrest PO. Both of these suggest that continuity of service was provided.
ALSO READ: Appalling Gillitts Post Office service
Possibly the Gillitts boxholders did not even have to notify their correspondents of the change, as the PO would simply relocate the Gillitts boxes, keeping the same numbers and the same post office name, to Hillcrest. One would expect the spokesman to claim maximum credit for the post office, by advising exactly what was done for the Gillitts boxholders.
Concerned reader
Pinetown
South Africa Post Office spokesperson, Nobuhle Njapha responds:
With regards to the closure of Gillitts PO, notifications were placed into the private boxes and also in the public area on 25 January 2021 for the clients to note. In this case, the Gillitts boxes were moved to Hillcrest PO and operations also merged as the staff also moved to Hillcrest. The contact details of Hillcrest PO are written on the notice should clients need to enquire more details.
The Gillitts boxes are now located at Hillcrest PO and the boxholders are still using the same box number and the same key as before. The only change about the boxes is the new collection point. It is unfortunate that some of our clients visited the Post Office after it was closed and mail moved to Hillcrest Post Office. The Post Offices wishes to apologise for inconvenience caused.