Spill the beans... on cutting Post Office queues (revisited)

soolin

leonotis wrote: »

Queuing is annoying I agree,but we counter staff do our very best, Banks often have long queues with only 1 or 2 serving but no one complains there!!!
k.

Yes we do, but what is more we stop using them and high street brances are closed. Twice a month i used to take the bills and such like to the local bank and pay them all, when the queues got silly I just set up DDs online. When I want money I no longer queue for it, I use a machine.

kittykitten

Interesting discussion. Personally I'd love to use the post office for more things, and more often, but for me it's just not practical. Primarily because I can't drive. I live in a small town, close to Newcastle. I work in Durham. I theory I should have access to as many post offices as I could possibly want, but I don't. Why? Because they're never open when I need them!
If I have a parcel to post I have to wait until Saturday to post it, and even then it means a 3 mile trek to the nearest post office that's open on a saturday, and I've got to get there before 12.00.

I leave the house at 7am on a weekday. I usually have half an hour to kill in Newcastle before I can catch my train to Durham, so it would be an ideal time to visit the post office, except the only post offices in Newcastle don't open until at least 8.30 - too late, I'm at work by then!
If I walk down into Dirham city to go to the post office after work I'm pushing it to get there before they close, and I miss my train home. If I go straight home on the train to Newcastle, by the timeI get there the post office has closed.

I think you get the point - if the PO wants people to use their branches, make them open at times people need them! Open the branches at 7.30 one morning a week, close them at 6.30 one night a week. I guarantee they'd make the money out of it to more than make this worthwhile.

custardy

kittykitten wrote: »

I think you get the point - if the PO wants people to use their branches, make them open at times people need them! Open the branches at 7.30 one morning a week, close them at 6.30 one night a week. I guarantee they'd make the money out of it to more than make this worthwhile.

not a post office but my own office is open 7am to 7pm weekdays and its still not good enough for many people

amcluesent

Why not embed POs within the big 24hour Tescos and the like?

custardy

amcluesent wrote: »

Why not embed POs within the big 24hour Tescos and the like?

they already do

soolin

My crown PO can open as late as 9.45 some mornings and if there is a flicker of snow in the winter it doesn't even open at all.

maxtweenie

amcluesent wrote: »

Why not embed POs within the big 24hour Tescos and the like?

Because Tesco can make more money from using the space selling retail items than they can from providing a post office service.

frivolous_fay

custardy wrote: »

they already do

Oh yeah, my local Tesco Metro has [EMAIL="that...I@ve"]that... I've[/EMAIL] never seen it open

Salvo_2

Although the Post Office in Southend-on-Sea High Street don't seem to have any long queues now and even have comfortable seats for those waiting for their number to come up, to me it felt more like going to a DHSS Office and considering my benefit stopped by the Clerk back in August 1995 even though I am on very low Income, subsequently I do not like this new approach. Yours in Service, Salvo

Cymru_Babe

Don't stop using post offices (especially sub-post offices) to do everything online/at home because when they close you miss them and it's a huge battle to get it re-opened!!