THE improvement on postal deliveries is good, I suppose, for those York businesses in the core areas who have been "reasonably satisfied" with what their influence has wrought from the Royal Mail (March 9).

Small businesses away from the city centre, it seems, can go hang and will just have to make do with whatever the Royal Mail deems fit.

But at least we know not to expect any improvement and now realise that the Royal Mail is no longer a public service which exists to provide what the customer wants, but is instead a public monopoly from which the customer has to accept the best, however unsatisfactory, it can now provide.

What a comedown for a once distinguished organisation.

A letter of complaint I wrote several weeks ago to a customer service department in Leeds - at an address I wrested from the 0845 phone number in Plymouth only after intensive interrogation of the operative - has yet to yield a response.

Perhaps it hasn't arrived yet.

Michael Blakemore,

De Grey Terrace,

Avenue Road, York.

Updated: 10:16 Tuesday, March 16, 2004