Parcel palava: Skellefteå postman's delivery debacle

The package was delivered to the couple, who live in a small town in Skellefteå municipality, on Tuesday morning. The sequence of events was captured by a surveillance camera at the entrance to the house.

In the clip, the postman can be seen stopping a short distance from the entrance and throwing the parcel, instead of getting out of the car and putting it down carefully.

Gustav was at home and saw it all through the window.

– I heard the dogs barking and knew someone was approaching. I looked out and saw what was happening; I could hardly believe it.

The parcel was a Christmas present for the children.

– Now it's damaged; it's really sad," says Gustav.

In the clip, Gustav can be seen going outside and calling out to the postman, who has already left the yard.

- Should you throw parcels like that? he asks in the video.

But Gustav gets no answer from the postman, who then drives away.

– Of course I was annoyed at the time.

Did the person realise that you called to him?

– Yes, they noticed.

”Should you throw packages?” Gustav shouts.

Foto: Skärmdump från videon

Gustav posted the clip on social media - and it has been widely shared. By Wednesday morning, it had more than 300,000 views and over 700 comments.

Many of the comments are similar. People are angry at both the individual postman and PostNord as a company. "Incredibly bad behaviour," writes one person. "Clown company," writes another.

Gustav also says that people have contacted him directly.

– There are comments and messages from people all over Sweden.

In the comments section of the video on social media, some people wonder if the reason the postman didn't get out of the car was because of the barking dogs. According to Elin, this is highly unlikely.

– The dogs are in the kennel, which is about 15 metres away. They bark when someone comes into the yard, and that's pretty common behaviour in dogs in general.

Gustav was watching from his window.

Foto: Privat

Gustav contacted Postnord's customer service department, and on Tuesday he also received a call from one of Postnord's managers in Skellefteå.

– I received an apology, but was also told that I could not get compensation directly from Postnord without complaining to the sender.

He also says that the caller from Postnord wanted the clip removed from social media.

– But given the way I was treated, with Postnord not compensating me and the postman not acknowledging me, the clip stays. If it had been possible to resolve the matter with Postnord, I might have deleted the it.

What do you think about the individual postman being exposed on social media? The clip has been shared a lot.

– It has become much bigger than I thought. In a way, I think it's unfortunate that one person is being singled out. What I really want to do is highlight a wider issue. I know others who have experienced packages being delivered damaged, he says, and continues:

– On top of that, the person made an active decision to throw the parcel. It wasn't a mistake.

Gustav's wife Elin adds:

– It's so awful; isn't there any professional pride?

On Wednesday morning, Norran was in contact with Johan Mossberg, district manager at Postnord. He says what has happened is "very sad".

– We made mistakes. We're disappointed, he says.

He would not comment on whether any action had been taken against the postman who threw the parcel.

– I don't comment on individual personnel matters. We handle the process internally.

According to Mossberg, the incident has not only provoked reactions outside Postnord, but also within the company.

–  We have employees who are disappointed. The fact that you do something so wrong hits everyone hard. Recently, we have really improved our quality and become better. Our mail business is better than it has been for a long time. And now this has happened. It's very sad.

Gustav called and asked if he could get compensation. He was told that he should file a complaint with the sender. Why should he do that?

– This is how it works. When we send a parcel, it is the sender who sends it through us. So if there is something wrong with the parcel, you should contact the sender and handle the complaint that way.

At the same time, he says, you can contact Postnord if you have a complaint.

– It is customary to contact the sender, but you can also file your own complaint with us.

But he has contacted you and then been told that it is not possible to complain through you?

– I don't know exactly what was said and done in this case. And how complaints are handled can vary from case to case.

He also says that Postnord tried to reach Gustav after the conversation between Gustav and staff in Skellefteå.

– The manager responsible in Skellefteå called him three times on Tuesday afternoon, but there was no answer.

Gustav confirms that he received three missed calls from the same number on Tuesday afternoon.

– But I didn't know it was Postnord. A lot of people call me during the day and sometimes I miss calls.

Norran also contacted Postnord's press office. In an e-mail, press spokesman Anders Porelius wrote the following about the discarded parcel:

"This is not the way it should be. We take what is shown in the film seriously and will take internal action. If the contents of the package have been damaged, we would ask the recipient to contact our customer service."