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

mr-b

Why don't POs install webcams that show the length of the queue? You could then check it from home or your mobile before you leave.

vegaslight

I'm so sorry for you poor people standing in the queue but perhaps if the person in front of you prepared everything before they go to the counter things could be a lot quicker. Customers get to the counter - don't know what they want, havn't got parcels packed properly, can't find their money, stand there arguing that it is too expensive to send !!! sorry but I can't change Royal Mail prices just for you so either pay or go. As for selling - tell the management !!!! - we all have a job to do and in this climate i am very grateful for a job and if my bosses [and union] say I have to sell to keep my job then I will. Perhaps if people just complained through the proper chanels instead of complaining to the clerks things could be changed for the better. I give people the number, address or email address to complain but no they can't be bothered. I also feel so sorry for the assistants in the supermarkets at this time of year and make an extra effort to be polite to them. It is not their fault there is a queue if you want to complain do it through the proper chanels and leave the people that are only doing their jobs alone.

yeslek

whats the point in that. chances are the queue will have drastically changed by the time to get down there

simonlilly

go to the post office between 5-530pm just before closing, its usually much quieter (until I posted this anyway!)

dr_bluestone

mrcol1000 wrote: »

There is no proof of postage with this so you would find it very hard to make a claim if it went missing. I was told that to get proof of postage you would have to buy all your labels and then queue up and put them on at the counter so they can check the item has been sent!

Just ask for a Proof of Posting when you have printed out your label and a member of staff near the machine will hand write you one. The latest version of machines being rolled out enable you to key in the postcode to get your own printed (and then stamped by a member of staff hosting the machines).

onesixfive

Seran wrote: »

Most 'younger', computer-minded, drivers are able to avoid using a PO but the Post Office serves a very important role for the rest of the local people in that area. Be happy queuing, enjoy the social aspect and know that for some this may be their only link to other people in their area. They may go the rest of the week in their own company, not through choice but due to a lack of mobility and visitors dropping in to see them. Do your best to keep Post Offices open.

The social aspect is fine, and I agree they play a vital role for older & less mobile/IT minded people, (who may have all the time in the world), HOWEVER, Please Please Please avoid counters at lunchtimes, and 4:30 onwards when workers require a fast in/out service.

KxMx

dr_bluestone wrote: »

Just ask for a Proof of Posting when you have printed out your label and a member of staff near the machine will hand write you one. The latest version of machines being rolled out enable you to key in the postcode to get your own printed (and then stamped by a member of staff hosting the machines).

Actually I heard a Post Office staff member telling someone that the cash receipt from a Post&Go machine would suffice as Proof of Posting with Royal Mail. Not sure if that's true or not.

Fulham_Mark

There is a heart-warming and very true story about a village that lost their post-office but then re-gained it - or rather decided they actually wanted something else...

I always forget the name of the village but it's a fairly average place between Abingdon and Nuneham Courtney in Oxfordshire. They used to have a Post Office but it was closed and many people were very sad that it had closed and said things like "the heart and soul of the village has gone".

One year an old lady in the village passed away but in her will she insisted that the proceeds from the sale of her house should be used to build a new Post Office for the village.

So the village got together and started investigating how to build and operate a Post Office. Building it was fairly straightforward and they purchased a timber-framed self-assembly building from Sweden which looks very attractive and Scandinavian.

The problem was that a Post Office wouldn't support itself and most villagers simply didn't need one. So instead they discussed what the village really needed... which was a nice grocers, a cafe and a village hall. That brought in regular income and they were able to operate a small post-office counter in a corner of the shop.

If you ever get the chance to visit, this must be the role model for every village. They've recently added a sports hall and you've never seen a village with so many sport and hobby classes, social events and coffee mornings. All from one generous lady's will.

I was told the story by a local in the cafe who was super-proud of what had been achieved. If any facts aren't completely true then I apologise!

custardy

Fulham_Mark wrote: »

There is a heart-warming and very true story about a village that lost their post-office but then re-gained it - or rather decided they actually wanted something else...

I always forget the name of the village but it's a fairly average place between Abingdon and Nuneham Courtney in Oxfordshire. They used to have a Post Office but it was closed and many people were very sad that it had closed and said things like "the heart and soul of the village has gone".

One year an old lady in the village passed away but in her will she insisted that the proceeds from the sale of her house should be used to build a new Post Office for the village.

So the village got together and started investigating how to build and operate a Post Office. Building it was fairly straightforward and they purchased a timber-framed self-assembly building from Sweden which looks very attractive and Scandinavian.

The problem was that a Post Office wouldn't support itself and most villagers simply didn't need one. So instead they discussed what the village really needed... which was a nice grocers, a cafe and a village hall. That brought in regular income and they were able to operate a small post-office counter in a corner of the shop.

If you ever get the chance to visit, this must be the role model for every village. They've recently added a sports hall and you've never seen a village with so many sport and hobby classes, social events and coffee mornings. All from one generous lady's will.

I was told the story by a local in the cafe who was super-proud of what had been achieved. If any facts aren't completely true then I apologise!

this doesnt guarantee the post office will remain
it cost £x per annum to service a post office with the likes of collections etc
if theres not enough revenue coming in then theres little point having it open

tridestra

julie777 wrote: »

Perhaps it is my imagination but I'm sure when I was a Bank cashier in the 80s we worked at twice the pace of any cashiers or PO staff today!
(And still balanced the tills at the end of the day.)

And what did you have to do apart from deposits and withdrawals whereas a Post Office Customer Service Assistant would have needed to master every one of over 170 different transactions and services, Try that and then we'll see how quickly your queue moves!