Parcelforce hit by PR disaster
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• Parcelforce suffered a public relations disaster last week when its loss of an urn containing a woman's ashes was highlighted by BBC TV's Watchdog programme.
The ashes lost by the Post Office's parcels business had been sent from Australia to be laid to rest in the UK.
The package appears to have successfully negotiated the journey across the world, but Parcelforce lost it in east London—a few miles from its destination.
The family of the late Ivy Handel appeared on TV attacking Parcelforce for losing the parcel and for its allegedly insensitive treatment of the family's inquiries.
When the parcel failed to arrive. Eileen Handel, Mrs Handel's daughter in Brisbane, Australia, contacted Australia Post, which launched an inquiry but had to send four faxes and wait three weeks for a response from London.
A Parcelforce spokeswoman refused to comment on the PR disaster, but claimed: "We are dealing with the problem," The Handel family were offered £250—described by Parcelforce as a gesture rather than compensation—but this has been rejected. "I said 'I don't want your money, I just want you to find my mother's ashes'," said Herb Handel.