Post Office IT

[CheeseSlice]

I walked to my local post office today to post a small parcel. I wanted to get the parcel weighed so I could pay the correct postage - a fairly normal thing to do.

When I arrived I found that there was a sign at each teller window saying "position closed". There was also had a hand written sign saying "Sorry, we're closed until further notice". According to their opening hours they should have been open from 9am until 4pm.

The post office is a fairly small outfit that actually sits at the back of a newsagent. As there was a chap there running the main news bit, I asked him what was going on.

He said that the post office had experienced a computer failure, and that they would be closed until it was fixed. I explained that I simply wanted to post a small parcel and just needed to weight it and put the correct stamps on it. He said they probably can't help, but the lady that runs the post office is outside having a coffee and cigarette.

I walked out to speak to her, explaining that I only needed weighing and stamps and I'd be on my way. She refused to do anything because the computer was broken and said there's nothing she can do until the repair man has been, and continued to drink her coffee and puff her cigarette in front of me.

Do these people really have to do everything on a computer these days? what happened to the old fashioned way of running a post office with some analogue scales and a price chart?

That lady basically got a half day off 'with pay', and I wasted 45 minutes of my day only to have to do it all again tomorrow

[MarillionFan]

Sounds shoddy. Sounds like the typical guff I get off my staff.

[suityou01]

I walked to my local post office today to post a small parcel. I wanted to get the parcel weighed so I could pay the correct postage - a fairly normal thing to do.

When I arrived I found that there was a sign at each teller window saying "position closed". There was also had a hand written sign saying "Sorry, we're closed until further notice". According to their opening hours they should have been open from 9am until 4pm.

The post office is a fairly small outfit that actually sits at the back of a newsagent. As there was a chap there running the main news bit, I asked him what was going on.

He said that the post office had experienced a computer failure, and that they would be closed until it was fixed. I explained that I simply wanted to post a small parcel and just needed to weight it and put the correct stamps on it. He said they probably can't help, but the lady that runs the post office is outside having a coffee and cigarette.

I walked out to speak to her, explaining that I only needed weighing and stamps and I'd be on my way. She refused to do anything because the computer was broken and said there's nothing she can do until the repair man has been, and continued to drink her coffee and puff her cigarette in front of me.

Do these people really have to do everything on a computer these days? what happened to the old fashioned way of running a post office with some analogue scales and a price chart?

That lady basically got a half day off 'with pay', and I wasted 45 minutes of my day only to have to do it all again tomorrow

[CheeseSlice]

Indeed

[Muttley08]

You get awful service, long queues and really bad shops whenever you got to the post office. The argument to keep them open diminishes when you see how badly run they are.

In this age of e-bay, internet shopping etc. they should be a goldmine - passing trade aplenty!

[Pondlife]

It's not that they are badly run, it's that they sell producs that people can get cheaper elsewhere. They are usually found (as above) in the back of some newsagent and whereas in the past everyone used to go there to send parcels, get their pension, buy their TV license etc these are now available though other means. The only way these little shops made any money was by the little old dear buying bread and milk when she picked up her pension or by someone buying 20 Marlboro when sending a parcel. Since the last government decided to reduce the products that were exclusive to the post office (TV license for example) most people have no reason to use one.

The downside is that these were once a focal point in rural communities but are now all closing. We tend to forget that there are many (obviously older) people out there who have never had a bank account and certainly aren't 'online'.

Shame really.

[suityou01]

It's not that they are badly run, it's that they sell producs that people can get cheaper elsewhere. They are usually found (as above) in the back of some newsagent and whereas in the past everyone used to go there to send parcels, get their pension, buy their TV license etc these are now available though other means. The only way these little shops made any money was by the little old dear buying bread and milk when she picked up her pension or by someone buying 20 Marlboro when sending a parcel. Since the last government decided to reduce the products that were exclusive to the post office (TV license for example) most people have no reason to use one.

The downside is that these were once a focal point in rural communities but are now all closing. We tend to forget that there are many (obviously older) people out there who have never had a bank account and certainly aren't 'online'.


Shame really.

Sminky

Memorable quotes for
"Red Dwarf" White Hole (1991)


Rimmer: Well, if you ask me, the Eskimos had the right idea. They knew how to handle the elderly and the permanently baffled. Middle of the night, they'd take them out into the blizzard, remove their pyjamas, and just leave them to it.
Kryten: And that's how the Eskimos cared for their old people?
Rimmer: Absolutely. That's why there's no Eskimo word for "Eastbourne."

[Clippy]

It's not that they are badly run, it's that they sell producs that people can get cheaper elsewhere. They are usually found (as above) in the back of some newsagent and whereas in the past everyone used to go there to send parcels, get their pension, buy their TV license etc these are now available though other means. The only way these little shops made any money was by the little old dear buying bread and milk when she picked up her pension or by someone buying 20 Marlboro when sending a parcel. Since the last government decided to reduce the products that were exclusive to the post office (TV license for example) most people have no reason to use one.

The downside is that these were once a focal point in rural communities but are now all closing. We tend to forget that there are many (obviously older) people out there who have never had a bank account and certainly aren't 'online'.

Shame really.

Spot on. I should know as my father ran one for 20 years.

A lot of the older customers used to enjoy going to the post office as it was an opportunity to catch up with friends whilst they collected their pensions and used to spend longer chatting to my Dad than the actual transaction took.

The side trade in the shop was a little goldmine as nearly every post office customer would buy something.

This was back in the 80's when the retail landscape was markedly different with only a few large supermarkets and car ownership wasn't as widespread as it is now.

It's easy to see why post office use has declined but I can't help feeling they are partly to blame themselves for failing to modernise sooner.

[Peoplesoft bloke]

Post Office - SAP - nuff said.

[Muttley08]

Still think they could be a goldmine - how many people return internet shopping stuff, send e-bay things. whilst online shopping is replacing the high street, they need somewhere to handle this side. It's only going to increase more and more. Women are always at it buying things and returning em!

If there were things worth buying, it'd be convenient as people are there anyway. Instead there's a mishmash of tat in every post office I've been in lately. It's like that Mary Portas series, too many carp, lazy British shop owners.

I reckon a big chain will crack this sooner or later - get the feeling Tesco could clean up again.