Post office's responsibility

Post office's responsibility

First, I would like to commend the Indonesian Postal Service
for their generally reliable performance. It has been noted,
particularly by international correspondents, that vast
improvements in service have taken place in recent years.

However, I find myself in the grip of a situation which under
normal conditions should not present much of a problem. But it is
proving to be quite a conundrum.

Four months ago, on April 8, 1997, two packages were sent from
Australia to Purwakarta, West Java. Unfortunately, although all
other details of the address were written in full -- street name
and number, suburb, numbers of the RT. and RW., area code, West
Java and country -- the name of the town (Purwakarta) was
omitted.

In my experience, undelivered mail anywhere in the world is
returned to the sender. In this case, four months after the date
the packages were sent, they have not appeared here or at the
address of the sender.

I have inquired at the post office in Purwakarta and shown
photocopied details of the packages that were sent from a post
office in Australia, alas without success.

The local post office claims to have contacted the G.P.O. in
Bandung, but received no reply. Further inquiries regarding how I
could extend my search for the packages resulted in a "hands up"
response.

I have three questions I would like to address to the
Indonesian Postal Service:

1. How do I find my packages?

2. What is the point of using area codes if they are ignored
during the delivery process?

3. Why is such a lack of responsibility prevalent in the
postal service when a problem like this occurs?

J.K. THOMAS

Purwakarta, West Java