Most MaltaPost users are satisfied with the services provided by the postal company and would even be willing to pay extra for stamps if the company used that money for environmental initiatives.
A survey carried out by the communications regulator late last year showed that 72% of respondents said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the country’s postal service.
Just 15% of respondents said they had lodged complaints with MaltaPost, compared to the high 34% complaint rate registered in a similar survey in 2021.
And the company appears to be doing a better job at addressing customer complaints than before: MaltaPost’s satisfactory resolution of complaints stood at 46% of those complaining (34% in 2021).
Delivery expectations
The MCA survey, which was published on Wednesday, showed that around 85% of users expect local letters to be delivered within two days: 46% said next-day delivery is acceptable (up from 39% in 2021) while a further 39% said two-day delivery is also acceptable. The latter figure was down from 48% in 2021.
MaltaPost is legally obliged to deliver 88% of all local letters one day after they are posted. That target was slashed from the previous 95% late last year, to bring it closer into line with other postal operators across the EU and allow it to focus resources on its growing business of parcel delivery.
Working a six-day week
MaltaPost currently operates a six-day collection and delivery service across Malta and Gozo. But the MCA survey suggests a large share of its users would be fine with it not operating on Saturdays.
For 62%, a five-day delivery postal service is acceptable (58% in 2021), while 5% see the reduction as “inconvenient but workable” (9% in 2021). An unchanged 12% of respondents (2023 vs 2021) find the reduction of one day a major inconvenience.
An equal proportion of respondents, 62%, said it would be acceptable for the company to increase postage rates in order to maintain the six-day service.
Interestingly, 60% of households said they would be willing to pay an optional stamp surcharge to support environmental initiatives.
Just under half of all respondents, 48%, said they think pricing for international mail delivery is reasonable.
Parcel delivery
While 28% of respondents reported an increase in parcels received from abroad (31% in 2021), 8% reported a drop (11% in 2021). Only 56% of households received deliveries of goods ordered from local websites. That was down significantly from 2021 (69%), though that survey was held in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, when domestic deliveries spiked.
Why are people visiting outlets?
Seventy per cent of households visited a MaltaPost outlet in the 12 months before the survey (62% in 2021) and 84% visited a MaltaPost branch (80% in 2021). A total 10% visited a MaltaPost sub-office (15% in 2021) and 4. 6% visited both (5% in 2021).
A total 48% of respondents visited a MaltaPost outlet to pay bills (38% in 2021) and 39% to collect a parcel (47% in 2021).
Another 50% visited a sub-post office to collect parcels (56% in 2021) followed by 32% to pay bills (31% in 2021).
15% of respondents contacted MaltaPost (19% in 2021) with four out of every 10 asking about parcel status (41% in 2021) and almost three out of every 10 inquiring about a postal product or service (23% in 2021).
Correction April 5, 2024: A previous version stated that the 88% target is for post to be delivered within two days.