Forum Topic

post office

I had to spend three quarters of an hour standing in the queue at the post office just to post a letter today. The stamp machine was not working and I had to post my mail today.I asked the lady behind the counter why it took so long, cause there were only 3 counter assistanta at that time and the queue was to the door. The assistant said that there was nothing she could do because they were short of staff. What can one do about such situations?

Dave Hughes ● 6051d34 Comments

errrr..buy your stamps in any local shop

David Archer ● 6051d

Can you? I didn't know, I normally buy stamps by the book and have no hassles, but the problem was that this letter was going overseas and I didn't know how much it was going to be.errr

Dave Hughes ● 6051d

To Err Is Human, To Forgive Divine

David Archer ● 6051d

David, I am glad you brought up the subject of Divinity. Do you know what the word Divine means? It is god-like or pertaining to God and that's a subject I like talking about as you well know. Only Jehovah God the creator of all things is actually divine, interseting hey?

Dave Hughes ● 6051d

haha..thought you'd like that. but you know we've all taken a vote and you've been banned fron banging on about these things. Back to your soap box at hyde park corner and knocking on doors. Be a good boy now Dave.

David Archer ● 6051d

Not only can you buy stamps at pretty much any newsagent, you can actually buy them at the stand alone counter by the entrance. You don't have to queue for counter service (That's assuming you were in the big one by Morrisons)

Roy Gillett ● 6051d

Yep I was referring to that one, but that stand alone counter has been closed for a few days now, they say they are short of staff.

Dave Hughes ● 6051d

David, that's not fair I wasn't asked to vote.

Dave Hughes ● 6051d

yes..Ronnie Corbett and Barbra Windsor working there. newsagents all closed?and about the vote..you dont ask turkeys to vote re xmas dinner.

David Archer ● 6051d

Ye but you brought up the subject of divinity.

Dave Hughes ● 6051d

David Archer ● 6051d

My plug-in dosnt' work on whatever you posted.

Dave Hughes ● 6051d

Post offices in the Vale and Horn Lane both infinitely better than the main one -- when the London Overground is working, there's a jolly convenient one at West Hampstead between the Norht London Line and the Jubilee Line.

Sara Nathan ● 6051d

haha,,maybe a good thing.

David Archer ● 6051d

Thanks Sara.

Dave Hughes ● 6051d

You're in good form today, David A :)))

Becky Bell ● 6051d

Haha..it was my day off yesterday..and i was being very naughty....good thing i'm back to wotk tonight

David Archer ● 6051d

I was in the post office last Thursday and the stand alone counter was closed I asked the girl who serves there and she said that the machine was broken down. The manageress tells another story as usual. The photo machine was not working for three weeks and was told that it is mended every day and breaks down again as she said it is not a post office machine, also they never open on time as their clock on the wall is slow.One would think that as the only post office in this area they woukd be more efficient.

Mavis Walker ● 6051d

Because they are, they don't have to be. Economics 101

Sara Nathan ● 6051d

In there today.Excruciating queue.Wish the "manager" would get behind the counter and stop selling BoI products to the increasingly irate queuers !

Roger Foreman ● 6050d

They were shut last Saturday morning due to "Technical Problems"

Tony Crumpton ● 6050d

He makes a bit of a pest of himself sometimes. I think that a lot more time is used by the staff asking if we have this or that product marketed by them, even when they are so busy.

Dave Hughes ● 6050d

David, wot's 'wotk'?

Dave Hughes ● 6050d

WORK

David Archer ● 6050d

Beware buying stamps from shops, this from 'Money Saving Expert':-The following is commentary from Parliamentary discussion on the subject:"If retailers of postcards, or those running any other shop, wish to sell stamps, they are at liberty to do so. They are also at liberty to charge what they wish for those stamps, since no resale price maintenance is in force."http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords…

Bob Crossley ● 6050d

I went there to pay my rent.  After I handed my rent card over, the chap started going on about ISAs etc, holding onto my card rather than handing it over immediately.  I told him I was not interested in his sales pitch.I now say before I start that I don't want them to tell me about other post office products.

Alice Jones ● 6049d

The atmosphere is like that at Ealing Council. No-one appears to enjoy their job. When they look at their colleagues it is almost robotic. The place smells bad, like a homeless refuge. This is a clear management problem. But maybe the easiest thing would be to close the place down and redevelop it ("bijou residence within pissing distance of Lenin's tomb") and transfer the services to the sub-postmasters on Churchfield Road and elsewhere who recognise their customers and know the meaning of "service with a smile".

John Theodore Clark ● 6049d

I think that is what will happen JTC. I think this is what the "Management" want, demoralise the workers, make the workplace as gloomy as hell, add long waiting times and selling stuff to people who don't want it at the eventual counter and soon it will stop being used, then it will be closed down.The people who need it for pensions, and posting in bulk etc will be the one's who will suffer, where will they go?din din diiin

John Pollastrini ● 6049d

May husband visited the post office to renew his road fund licence.  He was asked if he needed car insurance..... but of course in order to renew the road fund licence he had to have a valid insurance certificate.  Do the people behind the counter know what they are doing.Fraud comes to mind.

Dee Cook ● 6047d

Fraud doesn't come to my mind - merely mind-boggling incompetence.

Sara Nathan ● 6047d

I bought my tax disc at Chiswick PO the other day, and the women asked, 'I see your insurance runs out in June 2010, would you like an insurance quote?'.  So it has nothing to do with dates, they are just pedalling insurance to everyone.

Becky Bell ● 6047d

Nothing wrong with trying to sell extra things to my mind. Every time I buy a ticket on the SNCF, they ask me whether I need a taxi or a hotel at my destination. Nothing new about it either. In the 1970s, the then Electricity Company had a disastrous foray into selling white goods. That is just how businesses make money - always on the last few percent of sales.But Acton Post Office combines hard sell with awful service. The contrast with sub-post offices is stark.

John Theodore Clark ● 6047d

Isn't that the problem - you feel a positive warm glow with a good product or service that renders you vulnerable (in a positive way) to a sales spiel. But giving you crap service and then flogging extraneous products merely engenders hostility. Counter-productive really.

Sara Nathan ● 6047d

Yes, but with Acton Post Office, I don't quite get it.Why does no one in the PO management can do anything about how awful it is? I mean, a sheep equipped with a Sinclair ZX81 could do a better job.Is the manager for some reason sacrosanct? Is he/she one of these individuals who has gone to employment tribunals so many times that management is afraid even fart on the premisis?

John Theodore Clark ● 6046d