How long until the Post Office and its Subsidiaries Cease to Exist.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

I have a letter to post.

It contains hard copy of my choice of days out on the pheasants for the coming season.

Emails have already been sent, but the shoot like a hard copy.

No problem, I stuck it in and envelope and called in at the local shop with a Post Office inside it on the way back from shooting at Grimsthorpe.

Walked in, waited for the two women to stop talking to each other and look at me.

Politely asked "could I post this letter?"

"No, the Post Office is closed."

"Oh, could I buy a stamp then?"

"No, we don't sell stamps."

They didn't look impressed when I said, "the Post Office will soon be extinct then"

It would have caused them minor aggravation to take the money and add a stamp tomorrow, but no, they apparently don't want their jobs.

I shall post it tomorrow at a proper Post Office where they might just have a stamp.

[Zoli 12 guage]

5 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

I have a letter to post.

It contains hard copy of my choice of days out on the pheasants for the coming season.

Emails have already been sent, but the shoot like a hard copy.

No problem, I stuck it in and envelope and called in at the local shop with a Post Office inside it on the way back from shooting at Grimsthorpe.

Walked in, waited for the two women to stop talking to each other and look at me.

Politely asked "could I post this letter?"

"No, the Post Office is closed."

"Oh, could I buy a stamp then?"

"No, we don't sell stamps."

They didn't look impressed when I said, "the Post Office will soon be extinct then"

It would have caused them minor aggravation to take the money and add a stamp tomorrow, but no, they apparently don't want their jobs.

I shall post it tomorrow at a proper Post Office where they might just have a stamp.

i know exactly what you mean BUT I don't know of a post office that opens or has ever been open on a Sunday.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

3 minutes ago, Zoli 12 guage said:

i know exactly what you mean BUT I don't know of a post office that opens or has ever been open on a Sunday.

No, but the shop is and in the past, different Members of Staff have happily taken the letter and the money and sorted it out.

 

Oh they were the GOOD OLD DAYS.............

[JohnfromUK]

Well, here's a very strange thing.  Today (Sunday) I had a Royal Mail parcel delivered.  Not an urgent delivery, or high value/high importance item (except to my dog as it was her favourite fish skin treats!).

I thought Royal Mail stopped Sunday deliveries years ago?

[TIGHTCHOKE]

You couldn't make it up, could you?   

[bruno22rf]

The service has been plummeting downhill for years, remember first class post by 9 AM then 2nd class in the afternoon? Prices for parcels are higher than most couriers and I doubt if anyone on this forum has never had an item go missing. I try to use sellers that use DPD or Yodel nowadays as the PO is just so slow and unreliable.

[JohnfromUK]

On a similar note to your original post, I did go to post an item last week in our local (counter in a corner shop style) post office where the guy who operates the post office side is always really quick and helpful.  There was a queue of 3 people in front of me; 

• At the front, being served a youngish (30s) female with 3 kids, all very young, all making a row and fiddling with the shop displays.  Time to serve - over 10 minutes (it had started before I arrived).  Not sure what her 'business' was but clearly very 'involved' and a lot of 'loose change' in abundance floating around.  Suspected it was claiming 'handouts', but I thought these were to banks only these days?
• Next, a pension age female wanting to pay in something (cheque?).  Time to serve, around 1 minute.
• In front of me - a pension age male wanting to post something.  Time to serve, around 1 minute.
• Me (also pension age male) posting from QR code sent and printed off by me.  Time to serve, around 1 minute.

The problem seems to be that whilst the post office side of the counter was quick and efficient - there was 'a lot of variation' on the 'customer side'.

[Red696]

2 hours ago, bruno22rf said:

The service has been plummeting downhill for years, remember first class post by 9 AM then 2nd class in the afternoon? Prices for parcels are higher than most couriers and I doubt if anyone on this forum has never had an item go missing. I try to use sellers that use DPD or Yodel nowadays as the PO is just so slow and unreliable.

PO don’t do deliveries…. They sell stamps and prosecute honest people

[bluesj]

Its not the post office,its the people that run them. One near me is absolutely useless but so is the rest of the shop! then the next one down the road are brilliant

[BobbyH]

3 hours ago, Zoli 12 guage said:

i know exactly what you mean BUT I don't know of a post office that opens or has ever been open on a Sunday.

My local post office in Stafford is open on a Sunday…..I’m 90% certain it’s open on a Sunday anyway. 
 

The lady that runs it is super helpful, polite and always gives advice!

[Westward]

2 hours ago, bruno22rf said:

The service has been plummeting downhill for years, remember first class post by 9 AM then 2nd class in the afternoon? Prices for parcels are higher than most couriers and I doubt if anyone on this forum has never had an item go missing. I try to use sellers that use DPD or Yodel nowadays as the PO is just so slow and unreliable.

I remember when there was no 1st and 2nd class. You simply posted a letter in time for the 5 pm collection and it was delivered early next morning so the recipient could read it over breakfast. A stamp cost 2 1/2d - fractionally more than 1p.

[Mice!]

2 hours ago, Westward said:

I remember when there was no 1st and 2nd class. You simply posted a letter in time for the 5 pm collection and it was delivered early next morning so the recipient could read it over breakfast. A stamp cost 2 1/2d - fractionally more than 1p.

Was that 'during the war' or just after 😅😅

2 hours ago, bluesj said:

the next one down the road are brilliant

Winner 👍

[TIGHTCHOKE]

9 hours ago, Mice! said:

Was that 'during the war' or just after 😅😅

Winner 👍

Which war?

[matone]

Let`s face it,the PO has been killed off by .Gov actions over many years,there has been a steady removal of services available at PO Counters ,reducing it to a shell of it`s former self. Road Fund  Licence,TV Licence etc,etc,etc. All done to aid their fatcat mates take over the juicier parts of the business.

Another  of many public service systems destroyed for private greed in this country.

[JohnfromUK]

37 minutes ago, matone said:

there has been a steady removal of services available at PO Counters ,reducing it to a shell of it`s former self. Road Fund  Licence,TV Licence etc,etc,etc.

In my view those services are now MUCH better.  Taxing a vehicle now takes 3 minutes on line at home rather than a queue in the Post Office and then a long manual checking process and finally a paper disc, stamped and recorded in longhand in a book!  Same for TV license which now is fully automated and happens seamlessly each year.

[joejoe]

My local post office is in a church. I am not a religious man but I remember Jesus kicking over stalls of shops and money lenders in he’s dads house. 

[udderlyoffroad]

2 hours ago, matone said:

Let`s face it,the PO has been killed off by .Gov actions over many years,there has been a steady removal of services available at PO Counters ,reducing it to a shell of it`s former self. Road Fund  Licence,TV Licence etc,etc,etc. All done to aid their fatcat mates take over the juicier parts of the business.

In 2024 we should all be queuing at the post office to get a little paper disc which we plonk in our windscreens?  As it is, it took the DVLA far too long to enter the modern era and allow online renewals.

Should we all be queuing up for our dog licences and postal orders so we can send off our subs to WAGBI too? 🤣

Let's face it, the march of technology has removed the need for the services the PO traditionally provided and the customer base that still uses them (pensioners) is, er, diminishing all the time.   

Not to mention the fact their partner organisation Royal Mail is busy killing off any other things you might need to go in for. 

Registered delivery -  Pointless, they stopped requiring a signature since the pandemic, and in any case you can print off the correct label at home, post said letter in a post box and you'll get a record of the letter.  Nobody has signed for it of course, but you'll get the record of delivery.

Sending a parcel - RM/PO never had the monopoly on those to begin with, and there are many companies/corner shops/services that will collect parcels form your door, including RM!

So...in 2024, just what is the point of a Post Office?

[Westley]

39 minutes ago, udderlyoffroad said:

In 2024 we should all be queuing at the post office to get a little paper disc which we plonk in our windscreens?  As it is, it took the DVLA far too long to enter the modern era and allow online renewals.

Should we all be queuing up for our dog licences and postal orders so we can send off our subs to WAGBI too? 🤣

Let's face it, the march of technology has removed the need for the services the PO traditionally provided and the customer base that still uses them (pensioners) is, er, diminishing all the time.   

Not to mention the fact their partner organisation Royal Mail is busy killing off any other things you might need to go in for. 

Registered delivery -  Pointless, they stopped requiring a signature since the pandemic, and in any case you can print off the correct label at home, post said letter in a post box and you'll get a record of the letter.  Nobody has signed for it of course, but you'll get the record of delivery.

Sending a parcel - RM/PO never had the monopoly on those to begin with, and there are many companies/corner shops/services that will collect parcels form your door, including RM!

So...in 2024, just what is the point of a Post Office?

You missed out the ten bob gun licence, that seemed to work pretty well too   !

Still, that's progress, what took 5 minutes, can now take some 12 months  !  😂😂

Edited July 15 by Westley

[JohnfromUK]

1 hour ago, Westley said:

You missed out the ten bob gun licence, that seemed to work pretty well too   !

Still, that's progress, what took 5 minutes, can now take some 12 months  !  😂😂

Also the game license - about which I have seen reports that on buying their new annual game license, people have seen that their previous years one was the last one issued!

Thats true about SGC, though that cannot be laid at the door of the Post Office!  If my memory serves right the early days when I had one (an SGC in. the form of a folded card saying I could have and hold 'shotguns') the police were pretty quick to renew.  Can't remember back as long as my original grant of SGC.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Well I called in to the same shop this morning asked to post the letter.

Young chap said "yes of course, first or second class?"

Now when I last used the Post Office it was but a few pennies difference.

Now it was 88p 2nd class and £1.35 for 1st class.

Blimey, what a change. 

[Mice!]

4 hours ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Now it was 88p 2nd class and £1.35 for 1st class.

Blimey, what a change.

Still cheaper and easier than taking it yourself though 😉

[London Best]

2 hours ago, Mice! said:

Still cheaper and easier than taking it yourself though 😉

But when it went on a ruddy stage coach it was delivered the next day!

[discobob]

15 hours ago, matone said:

All done to aid their fatcat mates take over the juicier parts of the business.

Namely Crapita

[Vince Green]

Trewoon village Post Office is absolutely brilliant.  It all depends on the people.

I used to shoot with a bloke who was some sort of IT manager in the post office.  I keep expecting to see his name crop up in the Enquiry but it hasn't so far.

I remember him saying once that there was no such thing as first or second class post. That went out when they stopped hand sorting letters.

Now it's all automated everything goes through the machine at the same speed irrespective of whether it's first or second class 

So we asked why they still had it then if that was the case?

His reply was because people still believe they are getting a better service even though they are not.

Given the more recent revelations about the Post Office attitude it speaks volumes 

 

 

Edited July 16 by Vince Green

[udderlyoffroad]

1 hour ago, Vince Green said:

used to shoot with a bloke who was some sort of IT manager in the post office.  I keep expecting to see his name crop up in the Enquiry but it hasn't so far.

I remember him saying once that there was no such thing as first or second class post. That went out when they stopped hand sorting letters.

I suspect your shooting buddy used to work for Royal Mail, if he was au fait with the mechanics of letter sorting.  Therefore, his name is unlikely to come up at the Post Office Inquiry.