I refer to the letter headlined, 'Poor service at post office', which appeared in the South China Morning Post, on March 20 in which your reader Miss Lakshmi Daniel complained about the unsatisfactory service her secretary Miss Lam, experienced when she presented some printed matters for posting at Tsim Sha Tsui Post Office on March 15.
I wish to point out that since June 1, 1995, the postage rates for inland printed papers have been revised and items weighing 50 grams or below which do not meet the processing requirements of our Mechanised Letter Sorting System (MLSS) are charged at the non-standard rate.
We gave prior notice to members of the public through press releases issued in March and May, 1995.
Posters and leaflets were also displayed and distributed to customers at every post office from as early as March, 1995. We also informed all bulk posters, post office box holders and Speedpost account customers of the change well in advance.
Unfortunately, your reader did not notice this change despite the measures I have described. It was correct for the staff at Tsim Sha Tsui Post Office to charge the items posted by your reader's secretary on March 15 at the non-standard rate of $1.9 each as they did not meet our MLSS requirements.
As to why previous postings using the same kind of envelopes had been charged at the standard rate, I regret that it was a mistake due to oversight of our staff. We have alerted our staff to exercise greater care in future transactions and be more patient in handling customers' inquiries.