How can TNT take three months to deliver a passport?

theguardian.com:

I’m hitting a brick wall with TNT’s passport delivery service. I was informed by HM Passport Office three months ago that my replacement passport had been dispatched. Since then, there’s been no attempt at a delivery. TNT’s customer service is fully automated and every time I call it informs me that the consignment is out for delivery “tomorrow”. There’s no option to speak to a human. The Passport Office says it’s unable to act unless TNT confirms it’s lost the passport. I have a trip to Italy booked for next month and face losing my money if I am unable to travel.JG, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire

Thousands have taken to Twitter and review websites to complain after waiting in vain for passports and residency permits. The Passport Office says that waiting times are currently about 10 weeks, but that’s for the document to be issued. Some complainants claim to have been waiting more than six months for TNT to make it to their door.

The US-owned company, part of FedEx, signed a £77m three-year contract with the Home Office to deliver official travel documents in 2019, but Brexit and Covid appear to have wrought havoc. There are also concerns that the service does not allow recipients to live-track their item or log delivery instructions. A petition on Change.org, signed by more than 700 people, is calling for an inquiry into how TNT was selected by the Home Office and why service failings have not been investigated.

SDD contacted me from Hampshire after his spouse visa was delivered to the wrong address without a signature, despite government rules requiring residency permits to be handed over in person after identity verification. The visa was reissued and delivered to the correct address, but again without being handed over