Post office inconsistant service

charlies_mum

One local small post office closes for lunch, and if she is halfway through serving you, asks you to come back an hour later :eek:

I now have a business account, and can drop my post off at the local sorting office where a very pleasant man takes my bags with a smile.

However, they have now run out of mail bags, and have lost all my business posting wallets :cool:

bartelbe

macfly wrote: »

Everyone finishes work at 4:30? Well, clearly not if you work in a Post Office. Or a shop. Or any normal job really.
No way the PO is busy all the time? People don't make appointments, they come in at random. You simply cannot predict the size of a queue. I've been in hundreds, and seen a queue build in a couple of minutes. There are many occasions, more so at this time of year, when the counter staff would be nailed to their chairs all day if they couldn't leave customers waiting. That's unacceptable for any worker.
What you are saying is "serve me me me". A common attitude these days.
I made no comment on the rest, much of which is reasonable on the surface. You, and others here, know what service they want. There are thousands of complaints every year from people who claim they haven't been asked if their item was worth over £46. Or having asked for recorded delivery, then say "this will get there tomorrow won't it?".
Obviously therefore it has to be a ones size fits all service.

Actually it is when alot of people finish, when parents have come back from the school run. If the Post Office shuts around 5, then it is the only oppotunity to use the service.

It isn't a case of serve me serve me, it is use of common sense. If the only other member of staff is busy, you don't head off for 10 minutes.

We are not complaining about being asked about insurance, the problem is asking for a cheap service and having it repeatedly changed to a more expensive service. Or people being told the price for next day delivery, when they didn't ask for it to arrive the next day. Or not being offered the cheapest service that meets the customer requirements.

My guess is you work for the Post Office, and it is an organisation that gets alot of good will and is supported by the public. That won't last if you mantain the sort of attitude you are displaying in your post.

thepedestrian

I have used the blue/green/grey poly bags self seal poly bags from sellers on Ebay ,which in general are great - except when sending items like t shirts ,which although should be sent as large letter as they are very flat ,tend to "bunch up" when put through the post office size slot apparatus and have an extra £1 slapped on

Have started to use actual large letter envelopes ( from pound-land QD etc. ) for t shirts , as these are stiffer and don't bunch up when dropped through the "slot"

However the lady behind the rural post office that I use seems to have countered that with dropping the letter though the slot at an angle - corner first so it catches every time and she charges me the higher rate

Is this because its a rural shop and they want to be as viable as possible or does she get extra brownie points for herself - or she just don't like the look of me ??

I will have to have it out with her next time if it continues - they have 3 signs up in the post office saying " use it or lose it "

-which I agree with but if they continue to use such stupid tactics to screw more money out of customers , then perhaps we will just have to lose it

bartelbe

thepedestrian wrote: »

I have used the blue/green/grey poly bags self seal poly bags from sellers on Ebay ,which in general are great - except when sending items like t shirts ,which although should be sent as large letter as they are very flat ,tend to "bunch up" when put through the post office size slot apparatus and have an extra £1 slapped on

Have started to use actual large letter envelopes ( from pound-land QD etc. ) for t shirts , as these are stiffer and don't bunch up when dropped through the "slot"

However the lady behind the rural post office that I use seems to have countered that with dropping the letter though the slot at an angle - corner first so it catches every time and she charges me the higher rate

Is this because its a rural shop and they want to be as viable as possible or does she get extra brownie points for herself - or she just don't like the look of me ??

I will have to have it out with her next time if it continues - they have 3 signs up in the post office saying " use it or lose it "

-which I agree with but if they continue to use such stupid tactics to screw more money out of customers , then perhaps we will just have to lose it

I would be careful, the letters can be pulled up at the sorting office if they are over size. Still measure it and if it is undersize, then call them on it.

macfly

bartelbe wrote: »

Actually it is when alot of people finish, when parents have come back from the school run. If the Post Office shuts around 5, then it is the only oppotunity to use the service.

It isn't a case of serve me serve me, it is use of common sense. If the only other member of staff is busy, you don't head off for 10 minutes.

We are not complaining about being asked about insurance, the problem is asking for a cheap service and having it repeatedly changed to a more expensive service. Or people being told the price for next day delivery, when they didn't ask for it to arrive the next day. Or not being offered the cheapest service that meets the customer requirements.

My guess is you work for the Post Office, and it is an organisation that gets alot of good will and is supported by the public. That won't last if you mantain the sort of attitude you are displaying in your post.

So. a lot of people - not everyone. Glad we cleared that up.
Yep, I do PO training now, having run my own office for 10 years. Hence, I know what I'm talking about. I'm self employed by the way.
I suggest if you ran any business. or were simply a manager, you would last ten minutes.
I've been in scores which never have a queue less than 20 people all day long. You have no idea at all how long any member of staff has been sat there, no matter if there are two or twenty on duty.
And you have no ideas on what the acceptable number in the queue is or how long you should leave it? No, because that's impossible to answer. What actually happens is that breaks are listed at the start of the day, and the staff go as near as possible to that time. If they don't, and that gets repeated a few times, the last would sit there for four hours or more.
This is all in the work contract, and is there for a good reason. Doesn't satisfy the me me me brigade, or the ones with common sense who can't define what the parameters should be.
Just for further clarification - the Post Office is a commercial organisation and relies on making a profit. Try showing some goodwill when someone needs a pee and a brew after working since 8:30.

Crowqueen

I have used the blue/green/grey poly bags self seal poly bags from sellers on Ebay ,which in general are great - except when sending items like t shirts ,which although should be sent as large letter as they are very flat ,tend to "bunch up" when put through the post office size slot apparatus and have an extra £1 slapped on

A good way of preventing that is to pack it so the item is stuck to a bit of card, preventing it from bunching up in the slot. Use an inner bag, cut a bit of card to the size of the bag, put the shirt in the bag, tape the bag flat to the card, and hey presto! item keeps its shape properly.

In fairness to the PO, if the item deformed in transit, the buyer would get charged that extra pound plus excess postage (the pound being handling fees) so in order to prevent it the PO staff are just erring on the side of caution.

techspec

Can't believe you are unhappy about blank proof of postage receipts.

Thats why i use mine - you can just write the relevent postcode on for any that go missing.

techspec

Crowqueen wrote: »

In fairness to the PO, if the item deformed in transit, the buyer would get charged that extra pound plus excess postage (the pound being handling fees) so in order to prevent it the PO staff are just erring on the side of caution.

Not according to my PO - they send a lot of my packets as large letter. When i asked them if it could cause me problems at the other end - they said no - Royal Mail never pull mail stamped by the Post Office.

Of course - i would be interested to hear if anyone has a different experience.

Crowqueen

I haven't had to pay any excess postage in several years - there was once when I had to refund as a seller but I know I put the stamp on myself - so have no experience of it but it sounds plausible enough.

I think that's one for Custardy.

RFW

Crowqueen wrote: »

I haven't had to pay any excess postage in several years - there was once when I had to refund as a seller but I know I put the stamp on myself - so have no experience of it but it sounds plausible enough.

I think that's one for Custardy.

The only time I had to pay any excess for post was when the machines weren't working and the post office staff put the stamps on in my absence. I'd paid the right amount, they put on stamps for the wrong amount.