A pensioner was left bemused after a package was delivered to his home – nine years after he originally posted it.
Michael McQuaide, 67, had posted the parcel in October 2013 but the post has now been returned to him by the Royal Mail with a label which says ‘unable to deliver this item’.
Retired Mr McQuaide, from Chandler’s Ford, near Southampton said he sent the package – a roll of vinyl – to a customer on October 23, 2013.
At the time, he had recently started online retailer Union Mart – which is based in Southampton and sells vinyl wrap.
Michael McQuaide (pictured), 67, had posted the parcel in October 2013. Nine years later it was returned to his home in Chandler’s Ford, near Southampton
However, mystery still remains over why the vinyl never arrived at its intended destination of a customer’s address in Bridgend, Wales.
Mr McQuaide said: ‘It was quite strange to see this package arrive on my doorstep.
‘I posted the package around the time I started my business Union Mart which was about nine years ago.
‘Since then, the business has moved about four times and expanded but my home address has stayed the same.
‘In the past, we’ve had people phoning up to say their package had not arrived and Royal Mail was not reliable, but I never expected anything to come back.
‘It was a surprise to see it and when I looked at it, I couldn’t believe it. The date on the package still says October 23, 2013.’
Back in 2013 Mr McQuaide had recently started online retailer Union Mart, which sells vinyl wrap. He had sent the returned vinyl wrap to a customer in Bridgend, Wales
The vinyl is fully intact, although beyond its use-by date.
He added: ‘The package is looking a bit old but it’s the same as it was when I posted it.
‘It’s still in the same packaging and has not been opened until now.
‘A label on the package says, “unable to deliver this item”. It’s all a bit unusual.
‘I never expected things to go missing, and nowhere near for this length of time.
‘I was looking out for the postman today to ask him about it and where it’s been.’
When asked, the Royal Mail did not have the answer to the mystery.
A spokesperson said: ‘Incidents like this happen very occasionally, and we are uncertain what happened to cause this incident in this instance.
‘We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused.’
It comes as it was revealed today more than a million households with pre-payment meters did not use vouchers intended to help them with their energy bills during this month’s bitter cold snap, due to postal strikes delaying deliveries.
Earlier this month an aerial video revealed mountains of letters, parcels and Christmas presents sat outside a Royal Mail sorting office as workers were on strike.
Day two of a 48-hour walk out showed piles of undelivered items still neatly lined up at the Filton office in Bristol.
A drone shot showed mountains of parcels piling up outside a Royal Mail sorting office while workers were on strike in a dispute over pay
Day two of a 48-hour walk out caused a huge number of undelivered items to be sat at the Royal Mail Filton office in Bristol
Meanwhile, families have been warned that Christmas cards ‘won’t arrive until February‘ because of the Royal Mail backlogs as hundreds of postal workers marched with ‘Grinch Lynch’.
Also this week, CCTV footage captured a Christmas Grinch stealing a woman’s Boohoo parcel moments after a delivery driver left it underneath a wheelie bin outside her front door.
Footage released by Nikola Howell, a recovery practitioner from Walthamstow, north-east London, shows a man clad in black entering her front yard and taking the package just minutes later.
Ms Howell had been helping her stepfather at the time of the Evri delivery and had been expecting the package for her mother who was in hospital for kidney problems.
The courier from Evri dragged one of Ms Howell’s wheelie bins across the yard before hiding the package beneath it