Get to know your postman, rate his service

Feedback channel is part of new campaign to boost standards, address issues more quickly

SingPost will mail out fridge magnets to every household and business unit here. The set of four magnets includes one with a QR code that allows access to the new website. ST PHOTO: KHALID BABA

Residents of Yishun and Bukit Timah can now learn who their postman is, and rate him through a new feedback channel launched by Singapore Post yesterday to improve service standards and address letterbox-related issues more quickly.

The channel was first rolled out to people living in postal codes beginning with 58, 59, 65 and 76. They can enter them on the mypostman.sg website to read short biographies of their postmen. These residents can also leave ratings and comments that will be shared with the postmen, SingPost said yesterday.

The service will become available nationwide in October.

As part of the same campaign, SingPost will mail out about two million sets of fridge magnets to every household and business unit in Singapore. The set of four magnets includes one with a QR code that can be scanned for quick access to the website.

In addition to the ratings feature, the new website also has a general feedback page, which customers can use to alert SingPost to service and letterbox-related issues and incidents.

Stickers with QR codes that link to the page have been put up above HDB letterbox nests in the trial estates.

SingPost spokesman Robin Goh said: "The response time depends on the type of issue reported, but critical issues - including unlocked master doors - reported through the new feedback channel will be flagged and prioritised in our system, with the intent of attending to them as soon as possible."

Other inquiries, including sales and post office-related issues, may still be directed to singpost.com or its hotline, 1605, he added.

The MyPostman campaign, announced last month, was among a number of long-term initiatives by the postal service provider to regain the public's trust after a spate of service lapses.

These initiatives include the launch of a new trackable letterbox mail product and role specialisation for postmen.

In response to a question in Parliament last week on SingPost's service standards, Minister for Communications and Information S. Iswaran said that there are early signs of improvement.

SingPost saw a 30 per cent drop in the number of letter and parcel delivery complaints in May, compared with the month before, he said.

SingPost's Singapore head and chief executive of postal services Vincent Phang said the new campaign aims to put a face to the men and women who deliver mail to communities daily.

"While primarily aimed at increasing SingPost's service standards, what we hope this campaign does is also to foster a spirit of community and to encourage residents to get to know their postman, who provides a public service," he said.

SingPost has said that the ratings, which are out of five stars, will not be tied to the performance review of its more than 1,100 postmen for now. But it added that as with its other feedback channels, postmen who receive compliments through the new portal will be eligible for incentives.

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 17, 2019, with the headline Get to know your postman, rate his service. Subscribe