MSE News: Post office bank plan rejected

davidgmmafan

JuicyJesus wrote: »

I'm the other way round - I don't see why I should have to queue for half an hour to post a parcel behind old biddies and people on benefits getting £20 out when they could get an account with any major bank and use a cashpoint. Especially given that Post Offices are, well, for post.

Same as PayPoint in shops, always end up stuck with a heavy basket behind some silly sod wanting to pay all their bills!

I'm with you here, a couple of weeks ago I stood in a queue when there was one staff member on. She was tied up trying (at great length) to explain that if the lady she was serving at the bureau de change wasn't sure if she wanted twenty or twenty five euros it may be best to buy 25 and bring the 5 back if not needed. Bless her she couldn't understand that if she got coins nobody would change them back to sterling.

This went on for at least five minutes. The eldery lady ahead of me at the front of the queue observed repeatedly they should have more staff on (fair enough) and the queue was ridiculous (she should go to the main post office in my home town!!! Four or five people is mild). Then after much complaining to total strangers when she was served she completed the transaction for one stamp.

I mean come on surely you can anticipate the need for a stamp and keep some in the house? Given the constant price rises you'd actually be saving money.

I'm not sure what the answer is as there are certaing things you have to do at the post office and can't do elsewhere. There again it needs to make money if its going to continue to exist.

Not trying to diss anyone with the above anecdote, just seemed ironic to me.

surreyman_2

Ken68 wrote: »

Whatever happened to Giro, the Peoples Bank. Run by the Post Office...

Funny, isn't it, how some people think they've invented the wheel when, in reality, all that's happened is that the wheel has turned full circle.

nzseries1

JuicyJesus wrote: »

Post Offices should be primarily for the sending and receiving of mail, not financial transactions.

Blasphemy! How dare you impart such a logical suggestion! This isn't the United States you know!
Besides, where else would we be able to have a good old 30 minute queue and a whinge.

*end sarcasm*

BLT_2

JuicyJesus wrote: »

I fail to see how that in any way counters my point that Post Offices should be primarily for the sending and receiving of mail, not financial transactions. All allowing banking to be done there does is complicate things and waste time for people who want to use the Post Office for its intended purpose.

It's a valid point, after all where I live the nearest bank or cashpoint is only a mile and a half away, surely Mrs Jones with her zimmerframe should be able to hobble there in the rain and the snow in no more than a couple of hours, that would be far fairer than making some poor soul wait in a queue at the post office for 10 mins, after all its a long drive and they might miss something important on TV

BLT_2

ses6jwg wrote: »

I agree. I was on my lunchbreak a few months ago went into the post office to post a parcel - queued for half an hour behind 12 people and 8 or 9 of them were old farts getting £20 in cash out.

what a waste of resources.

You clearly don't get out much if that was a big event in your life, or maybe you were off on some critical mission where every second counted. Jeez I don't know why most of the people on this board are on a money saving site, they are obviously all busy executives where they can't afford to spare a single minute otherwise the country will crumble.

Perhaps you should have planned your visit better as most people go during lunchtimes, oops I forgot, your business is far more important than these 'old farts' most of whom have probably contributed nothing to society in comparison to you.:rotfl:

ses6jwg

BLT wrote: »

You clearly don't get out much if that was a big event in your life, or maybe you were off on some critical mission where every second counted. Jeez I don't know why most of the people on this board are on a money saving site, they are obviously all busy executives where they can't afford to spare a single minute otherwise the country will crumble.

Perhaps you should have planned your visit better as most people go during lunchtimes, oops I forgot, your business is far more important than these 'old farts' most of whom have probably contributed nothing to society in comparison to you.:rotfl:

well I'm paying the taxes that pay their pensions so yes I am.

Maybe the dolers and OAPS should use the CASH POINT WITH THEIR CASH CARD to take money out rather than wasting other people's time preventing people from POSTING things using the POST office.

Is it the pension office? No. Is it the cash point office? No. It's the POST office.

roman_city

The Post Office were given Nat.Girobank by the Wilson led Labour Govt. With free banking and Saturday opening it became very successful and in doing so upset the big four banks. Some of it's profits helped the Post Office maintain a first class service.When Thatcher arrived, to appease her cronies at the banks she sold off Girobank for a pittance to Alliance and Leicester even though the Coop Bank bid more.Since then the Post Office aided by some of the worst management in British Industry has been in decline.

samwsmith1

ses6jwg wrote: »

well I'm paying the taxes that pay their pensions so yes I am.

Maybe the dolers and OAPS should use the CASH POINT WITH THEIR CASH CARD to take money out rather than wasting other people's time preventing people from POSTING things using the POST office.

Is it the pension office? No. Is it the cash point office? No. It's the POST office.

Many OAPs card cannot be used in cash point's - my nana certainly can't, it can only be used in a post office branch.
So that is probably why they don't use the cash point!

heloid

samwsmith1 wrote: »

Many OAPs card cannot be used in cash point's - my nana certainly can't, it can only be used in a post office branch.
So that is probably why they don't use the cash point!

They should fix that because getting service from the post office is a joke.

huw01

The plan to allow more banking transactions at the Post Office won't stop the long term decline. The generation who cash their pensions at post offices are slowly dying out, new pensioners on the whole now have their pensions paid by BACS. With the introduction of cashback there is less need for post offices to dispense cash. With the future of cheques looking bleak and faster payments etc taking over - I cannot see in the future that the majority of people would need a Post Office to do general banking transactions. I think we have to realise that the older generation's way of doing things will naturally reduce in time.