A woman has accused Royal Mail of causing her boyfriend to break up with her – after a parcel which arrived opened spark a debate about how much GOLF he plays.
Distraught Samantha Smith, 41, said her boyfriend blamed her when a parcel which was supposed to contain golf grips was found to be ripped open and empty.
She described how the resulting row partner Richard to break up with her and ‘ruined’ their two-year relationship.
Samantha went to her local delivery office in Abingdon, Oxon, to complain but staff nothing could be done and the package had been through four sorting centres.
Richard then complained himself, but when he got there Samantha said staff denied anything could have been wrong with the packages and he should look closer to home.
She claims staff ‘put doubts’ in his head about whether she was lying to him.
Sam said: ”He thought I could be responsible because we had argued in the past about his playing golf.
“That didn’t make any sense though because I’d ordered other golf things for him that came fine.”
She added the incident had initially ‘ruined’ her two-year relationship, as the pair hadn’t argued about the issue in months.
She said: “You expect to be able to trust what the post office are telling you but I don’t like that I have been made out to be the one in the wrong in this.”
The Abingdon resident, who has Aspergers and other medical conditions said it had been a stressful situation and she had not felt listened to.
She said: “The golf grips were only £33 so it wasn’t the biggest amount of money but it was more the impact it had on my relationship.”
She revealed she and her partner Richard were now back together, but only after he saw how seriously she had taken it – also going to the police to report the theft.
She said she was sharing her story because “quite a few” parcels had been delivered to the wrong houses in her area lately, saying “what happened to me could also happen to someone else.”
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “Every item we handle is important to us and we always strive to provide the best possible service to all of our customers.
“We would like to offer the customer a cheque for £50 as a gesture of goodwill, to compensate for the loss of the item. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.”
Police confirmed the theft had been reported to them and they were currently investigating.