Anger at Micklegate post office over PayPal postage system

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/8412133 ... nt_system/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A CUSTOMER says she was reduced to tears in her local post office after being criticised by the sub postmaster for using an online service to pay for postage.

Paul Abbott, who runs Micklegate Post Office in York, defended his behaviour, claiming the online facility offered by PayPal was “ruining his livelihood”.

Royal Mail has now launched an investigation into the incident, after Vicky Trundle, 24, lodged a complaint.

Vicky, who lives off Nunnery Lane, said she had several parcels to send and decided to try out the “pay for and print your own postage label” service available on PayPal.

She said when she took the parcels to Micklegate Post Office to post them, Mr Abbott told her he would not be paid for processing them.

Vicky, who works for H&M at Monks Cross, said: “My boyfriend and I were very rudely told not to come back ever again if we wished to use that service. He continued to rant and accused us of ruining his livelihood.

“He told us we were not supporting our local community by doing this, which we found particularly offensive because we both volunteer for our local British Heart Foundation charity shop.

“I felt intimidated enough to be brought to tears.”

When contacted by The Press, Mr Abbott, a former finalist in the Service With A Smile category of The Press Community Pride Awards, said: “She’s not as upset as we are, because we get paid nothing when people use that service.

“People go on the computer and do it online and then come into a post office such as mine and we have got to go through the procedure to check all the parcels and make sure they are right and then issue the certificates for posting.

“As you can imagine, when you’ve got 10 or 15 parcels and go to all that effort not to get paid anything, it’s not worth the hassle.

“I told her we can’t handle it here, we don’t have the staff, and I think that’s perfectly reasonable.

“We are under stress – whether we were rude or not is not the point.

“It’s things like this that are going to close post offices.”

[subbie]

Well he does get 15p handling fee per item if he issues a COP.

There was no need to be so rude to the customer, I ask such customers what it is they think they have gained by using this internet postage system. They do not know the answer, then I tell them that actually it has cost them more than coming into a PO, because its their labels, and their ink, and they save absolutely no time at the Counter because we have to perform the same checks as if we were selling the postage ourselves.

Still it will all stop when we are separated from Royal Mail, because there will be no more doing owt for nowt Royal Mail will learn what its like not to have a retail shop window of their own.

Subbie

[kimski1976]

i delivered a packet other day, seen a few now, from people who have used this server on paypal. all i can say is people are paying far too much. one packet weighed about as much as a t shirt, and thats prob what it was, 7 pounds lol. all this tech and modernisation is killing us. and the guy at the postoffice is right to tel lthe lady its destroying his business but maybe he went too far in telling her not to come back. but i see his point and understand him.