Problem at the post office

Widow’s pension was delayed for 16 days

Gerhard Schneider's patience was put to the test at the beginning of January: "You're just left out in the rain. 16 days is pretty heavy."(Bild: Krone KREATIV/APA/Barbara Gindl, Schneider)

In January, Gerhard Schneider from Fürstenfeld, who has been retired for three years, should have received his late wife's widow's pension for the first time. He should have, because nothing came for weeks.

It wasn't until January 16 that Gerhard Schneider received the money. During the formalities, he was not aware that he had to apply for a transfer to his account, so he had to rely on the post.

Several cases in December and January
As January 1st is a public holiday, he would have been entitled to the money on December 30th, the PVA confirmed. Schneider had not done anything wrong, "we received the order on December 20," says Peter Rohrer from the ombudsman's office. He is aware of several cases of delays in postal money orders in January.

At Swiss Post, the problems are attributed to "technical challenges". "In conjunction with the Christmas and New Year holidays, this led to delayed payments", for which the company apologizes, explains press spokeswoman Veronika Rebentisch.

"You can't accept everything quietly"
Schneider was angry because he had been sent around in circles for days and at the same time had to cope with considerable funeral costs. "You can't just accept everything in silence. I was a small business owner myself. If I made a mistake, I naturally took responsibility for it."

In the meantime, he has drawn the consequences and switched to bank transfer, the case is closed for him. Basically, however, he asks himself: "What does a minimum wage earner do when he has to wait 16 days for his money?"