An open letter to the Post Office

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 05 Dec 2008, 13:11

http://www.harrogateadvertiser.net/lett ... 4766348.jp

From: David Taylor of West Steadings, Gayles near Richmond.

Mr Taylor has become so fed up of waiting in frequent long queues at Harrogate Post Office, he has written an open letter to the Post Office to complain:

On Monday October 31 I had an envelope to post that needed weighing. There was a time when I would put a first class stamp on a doubtful package and it would get delivered second class if the stamp value was inadequate! This seemed to allow some sensible judgement to your staff and a practical way of avoiding standing in a post office.

Now I must queue, to have my envelope measured, weighed and squeezed through a slit in a plastic board. If I do not do this and my stamp is inadequate my envelope will be returned, after being passed through an office in Northern Ireland, some weeks after. I suspect the Post Office takes some delight in making sure imperfections are punished. More intricate rules means more time wasted.

My wait lasted about 40 minutes. There were about 10 service hatches, but only three staff, (occasionally two), were serving. There were two ladies available to speak with anyone wanting to take up your savings account offers but they appeared untroubled.

The queue snaked out almost to the entrance door, and no one on your side seemed to care. Mobile phones were used to explain to loved ones that we had not been run over but were waiting in the post office and might be out in time for tea.
During my stay I noticed that this was "OUR" Post Office, which I assume is why we must waste our time standing in it? Do I have to have my intelligence insulted by marketing nerds? Why not employ them on your counters? When did "We" decide queuing is mandatory in "Our" post Office?

I understand that waiting in your post office is a regular feature of life in Harrogate and that to "improve service to customers" and make our post office a profit you are bent on shutting any office where the queue is less than ten minutes? Many people tell me there are pensioners regularly standing out in the rain and snow at "their" Harrogate Post Office.

I understand that you will pass this letter to your boss. Has he spent time standing in our queue? I trust he will reply, and not through marketing..

Mr Taylor is still awaiting a response.
What are your experiences at Harrogate Post Office? Write to the editor at 1 Cardale Park, HG3 1RZ or email ackrill.news.co.uk

Post by **dvbuk55** » 05 Dec 2008, 16:12

My response to him would be, put the return address on and it wouldn't be going to NI if the postage was insufficient. There are plenty of pamphlets explaining PIP and I am sure there is a cardboard template for free.

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 05 Dec 2008, 16:13

dvbuk55 wrote:My response to him would be, put the return address on and it wouldn't be going to NI if the postage was insufficient. There are plenty of pamphlets explaining PIP and I am sure there is a cardboard template for free.

Those templates weren't they a D2D item just before PIP.

Post by **dvbuk55** » 05 Dec 2008, 16:16

TrueBlueTerrier wrote:
dvbuk55 wrote:My response to him would be, put the return address on and it wouldn't be going to NI if the postage was insufficient. There are plenty of pamphlets explaining PIP and I am sure there is a cardboard template for free.
Those templates weren't they a D2D item just before PIP.

In truth TBT I can't remember but I have seen them and I am sure they must be a stock item at any PO.

DGP1 · Post by **DGP1** » 05 Dec 2008, 16:54

TrueBlueTerrier wrote:
dvbuk55 wrote:My response to him would be, put the return address on and it wouldn't be going to NI if the postage was insufficient. There are plenty of pamphlets explaining PIP and I am sure there is a cardboard template for free.
Those templates weren't they a D2D item just before PIP.

Yes they where, I've got one in the house plus the form is available from Royal Mail's website.
ftp://ftp.royalmail.com/Downloads/publi ... ces_08.pdf

Post by **Lounge Lizard** » 05 Dec 2008, 17:47

TrueBlueTerrier wrote:http://www.harrogateadvertiser.net/lett ... 4766348.jp

From: David Taylor of West Steadings, Gayles near Richmond.

Mr Taylor has become so fed up of waiting in frequent long queues at Harrogate Post Office, he has written an open letter to the Post Office to complain:

On Monday October 31 I had an envelope to post that needed weighing. There was a time when I would put a first class stamp on a doubtful package and it would get delivered second class if the stamp value was inadequate! This seemed to allow some sensible judgement to your staff and a practical way of avoiding standing in a post office.

Now I must queue, to have my envelope measured, weighed and squeezed through a slit in a plastic board. If I do not do this and my stamp is inadequate my envelope will be returned, after being passed through an office in Northern Ireland, some weeks after. I suspect the Post Office takes some delight in making sure imperfections are punished. More intricate rules means more time wasted.

My wait lasted about 40 minutes. There were about 10 service hatches, but only three staff, (occasionally two), were serving. There were two ladies available to speak with anyone wanting to take up your savings account offers but they appeared untroubled.

The queue snaked out almost to the entrance door, and no one on your side seemed to care. Mobile phones were used to explain to loved ones that we had not been run over but were waiting in the post office and might be out in time for tea.
During my stay I noticed that this was "OUR" Post Office, which I assume is why we must waste our time standing in it? Do I have to have my intelligence insulted by marketing nerds? Why not employ them on your counters? When did "We" decide queuing is mandatory in "Our" post Office?

I understand that waiting in your post office is a regular feature of life in Harrogate and that to "improve service to customers" and make our post office a profit you are bent on shutting any office where the queue is less than ten minutes? Many people tell me there are pensioners regularly standing out in the rain and snow at "their" Harrogate Post Office.

I understand that you will pass this letter to your boss. Has he spent time standing in our queue? I trust he will reply, and not through marketing..

Mr Taylor is still awaiting a response.
What are your experiences at Harrogate Post Office? Write to the editor at 1 Cardale Park, HG3 1RZ or email ackrill.news.co.uk

And he would rather queue for 40 minutes and spend another 40 minutes whinging to the local rag rather than risk an extra 14p or 15p on the postage in case it's a 'large letter' instead of a 'letter' - what sad lives some people lead.

Post by **Lounge Lizard** » 06 Dec 2008, 05:49

linkinpark wrote:I think the point he is trying to make is PIP is a con! In my view it was and always will be as well. No one has ever explained to me how its good to buy in new machines at billions of quid and charge ""OUR" customers more in a confusing way causing lines at the post office counter when it was never a problem before! Now i dont go in for this way of thinking much but if you aint making enough cash on the stamp you put the price up rather than get new machines confuse and allianate your customers and still put the cost up. It dont make sense to me unless you want to go out of business? The same could be said about walk sorting machines as well. Why pay billions of quid to sort mail that you are taking a loss on anyway unless you want to go out of business! For me its all a CON that we and the public on the sharp end pay the price for! Why is that?

There would be no need for him to queue at a Post Office if he had kept the leaflet that was delivered to all households when Pricing In Proportion was introduced.
Also, PIP did not represent an overall price increase, some items increasing in price, e.g. Large Letters under 60g, while others decreased in price, e.g. Letters between 60g and 100g.

Stormproof · Post by **Stormproof** » 06 Dec 2008, 15:27

This time of year 1000's of xmas cards are surcharged because they are oversized, but the card shops won't print Large Letter on the cards because people would'nt buy them if they realised they would have to pay for a LL stamp.

Post by **Lounge Lizard** » 06 Dec 2008, 16:05

k66yla wrote:This time of year 1000's of xmas cards are surcharged because they are oversized, but the card shops won't print Large Letter on the cards because people would'nt buy them if they realised they would have to pay for a LL stamp.

They should have a Lounge Lizard on the LL stamps

DGP1 · Post by **DGP1** » 06 Dec 2008, 17:12

Lounge Lizard wrote:
k66yla wrote:This time of year 1000's of xmas cards are surcharged because they are oversized, but the card shops won't print Large Letter on the cards because people would'nt buy them if they realised they would have to pay for a LL stamp.
They should have a Lounge Lizard on the LL stamps