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Post Offices - Eneida (14th Nov 2008 - 11:38:53) Well....I've just been reading in the papers that the Government have decided to 'save' a further 3,000 post offices that they were thinking of closing. I don't know the ins and outs of this u-turn, except that Peter Mandelson had something to do with it....but what a farce!!! I do know one thing....it's going to be mayhem at the Co-op PO this Christmas. The last time I used it, I had to queue for nearly 30 minutes to buy a stamp....and that was in October. Eneida

Re: Post Offices - nikki (14th Nov 2008 - 12:57:14) you can buy stamps at the tills ;)

Re: Post Offices - gary (14th Nov 2008 - 13:45:52) Try Petersfield Post office ( A real Post Office ) not poked away in the back of a shop 4 tills staff friendly lots of parking and nearly as quick as waiting to be served.

Re: Post Offices - Eneida (14th Nov 2008 - 15:06:48) But you can't get an envelope weighed for the correct postage at the till!! I'd love to try Petersfield PO Gary, unfortunately I haven't got a car....but thank you for the suggestion :) Eneida

Re: Post Offices - gary (14th Nov 2008 - 18:29:50) Indeed they always seem to try and get the most expensive rate possible. But if you go online you can find out the cost and buy postage on line saves all the hassle. BUt you do miss out on the chat while standing in the cue

Re: Post Offices - Fi (14th Nov 2008 - 21:05:16) I very much recommend Headley Post Office as well - not very busy and so helpful and friendly - none of the grumpiness seen in some other post offices where you hardly dare to actually ask for anything postal-related. But not easy to reach without a car.

Re: Post Offices - Sue W (14th Nov 2008 - 23:45:23) When I had to weigh mail, a set of diet scales was the key - together with a booklet from the post office. Nowadays you need a size guide too!. If you do a lot it is worth it. For you Eneida, I am sure you are best suited to pick quieter times. Just check the car park before leaving the house!! If I lived as close as you I wouldn't have queued for 30 mins - I would have gone home and went back later. Sue

Re: Post Offices - christi (15th Nov 2008 - 09:00:23) I couldn't agree more, I try to avoid Liphook Post Office as much as possible, I tend to use Whittles or any of the smaller village shops. I fail to understand why the Liphook one can always be so busy and have either no staff or staff that haven't had full training to offer the full range of services. I went in there the other day as the parcel I had needed to be posted that day, the lady serving was the only one working, the line of customers was down the width of the shop,we lined up for 25 mins. When she spoke to the occassional customer she simply said "I'm by myself all day today, I cant even have lunch!" Why is this particular shop has so many staff issues? I know someone will come on here in the staffs defense but it doesn't explain why they cant cope with the demand of the village?!!

Re: Post Offices - Eneida (15th Nov 2008 - 16:09:41) Sue, I did go at a quiet time....about 14.30 :D When I arrived there weren't any customers in the shop and only 1 woman in front of me in the queue, so I thought I'd got it right for a change...of course what I hadn't spotted was that she had a Large Bag with her containing about 10 million parcels going all over the world (or possibly the Universe) and all of which had to be registered!! There was quite a large queue when I left and a lot of huffing and puffing going on....I felt quite sorry for the PO girl because she was working as fast as she could, but as Christi mentioned in her post, she was all on her own. Eneida

Re: Post Offices - Steve Read (15th Nov 2008 - 16:19:45) Thought I'd see other peoples reactions before I chucked my hat in. I'am glad to see that others have had the same experence of Liphook Post Office as me. Thats why I have not used them for over a year and always make a point of going either to Lindford or Bordon. Rudeness and ignorance towards elderly customers in front of me one day finished it for me. What a shame we all got lumped with that and then they go and shut Passfield.

Re: Post Offices - nikki (15th Nov 2008 - 16:25:14) staff issues, are you referring to the shop or the post office counter? as they are separate entities. I too pity the lady on the po counter on her own for the entirety of that day , if it was me I would have shut the counter to take my lunch and visit the ladies room.

Re: Post Offices - Helen (15th Nov 2008 - 17:57:03) I am not usually one for sticking my oar in and if Liphook PO was an independently run business I would hate to think that people would use this site to flog them...BUT I have to agree with most posts on this one that it is definitely the staff that gets most people's backs up...sorry, I've said it now and do feel a bit bad but WHY do they hate their jobs so much?! It is the only place in the village where you will never get a smile :) or a ''good afternoon'' and it really BUGS me! I personally wouldn't mind standing in a queue as long as I was acknowledged to some degree. A smile and an apology for the wait is enough to stop me feeling like I want to commit 1st degree on my way out. PO Ladies please try, it is quite easy really, relax your face muscles, turn the corners of your mouth up and enjoy the effect a simple smile will make to someone else's day.

Re: Post Offices - Dawn Hoskins (15th Nov 2008 - 19:35:39) I miss Passfield Post Office SO MUCH. It makes me so cross that they would shut down a profit making, gold rated, Post Office and make us all put up with all this shyte service. I have been going to Bordon, as they usually have 3 ladies on, but there is still a considerable queue. However, the staff are chatty and friendly which is in stark contrast to the Liphook counter. I also am very cross to hear of all the extra miles people are having to drive since Passfield closed. RANT RANT RANT..........

Re: Post Offices - Sue W (15th Nov 2008 - 21:09:46) This subject just reminded me of an incident in the Co-op PO that set me boiling. I went in to post a fairly heavy return - only to find that the weighing scales weren't working. Was told to return the next afternoon, as the second promise to mend them had been re-booked. On my second visit, they still had not been mended - PO staff had damaged these scales but for 3 days they were out of action. In the end I went to Bordon, and they sorted out my requirements. I must say, that on each occasion in Bordon, when I have had to queue, I always get an 'I am sorry to have kept you waiting'. Something seems to have gone drastically wrong with training the staff here in Liphook!! I would like to point out to some Liphook residents that Rake Stores have a very competent PO section, and like Passfield were under threat of closure – but have remained open. I don’t think they are safe forever, and urge as many people to use them as possible.

Re: Post Offices - Marian Robinson (17th Nov 2008 - 10:33:23) I am one of those customers who go into the post office with a bag full of parcels (sorry but that's business!). I find the staff helpful even having to wade through a mixed selection of 1st and 2nd class - air mail and surface. It is not their fault if the post office (or Co-op) won't employ enough staff. I know for a fact that they often eat their lunch whilst working. As for being rude to the elderly - I believe one member of staff in particular is regularly given sweets by her customers as she is so friendly and pleasant. Don't let's always look for the negative in people - please give them a break.

Re: Post Offices - Eneida (17th Nov 2008 - 16:07:39) The thing is Marian that if the Co-op, or any other large company, choose to run a Post Office they have an obligation to employ enough staff to do it properly or not do it at all IMO!! Of course it's unfair to blame the counter staff....unfortunately, since they're the ones in the line of fire, they're the ones who take the flack. But on the other hand, it's unreasonable to expect customers NOT to get annoyed if they have to wait a very long time to be served because only one position is open! It's not their fault either. It's also not good business practise because those people who are able to, will innevitably go elsewhere, as already seems to be happening from the posts on here. Eneida

Re: Post Offices - Samantha (17th Nov 2008 - 21:12:50) I would like to defend some members of the post office staff, my auntie in particular... She has on quite a few occasions, worked on her own, which is not her fault, nor the customers. Sometimes not leaving til hour and half after the post office has shut, but does do her best to be efficient, helpfull and polite! I do understand the frustrations of the masses, I also have waited for hours for a stamp and a quick hello, but is it not down to the people up top,who keep closing the shops down and deciding that they can't afford the cost of more staff in their annual budgets? Perhaps we could all try to remember that post office staff are only human and can only do so much. Think yourself lucky they are there at all, how inconvieniant would it be if it was shut down? I don't know many people that would work those hours with a smile on their face, no support for the salary they get paid!! Lets all start a new day, with a new smile and take a step back, remembering we are all human, customers and staff. HAVE A SMILEY DAY ! x

Re: Post Offices - nikki (17th Nov 2008 - 22:35:50) Here here Samantha, being a Co-op Liphook member of staff myself, mainly doing the grave yard shifts ,I've been there when the PO staff are still on site..some 2 hours after the counter has shut down and having worked through all breaks. There are ways and means of complaining about customer service, and personally I think a public forum is not the place to do it.,especially as it is read by family members / co-workers. The title of the thread WAS Post Offices...lets not make it personal please. :)

Re: Post Offices - David (17th Nov 2008 - 22:43:23) I have lived in liphook all of my life, 50 years in total. Liphook is NOT a village, it is a town and we need a town sized post office. I have never had any problems there, the p.o staff are helpful, even when under pressure (which seems to be alot) and have to listen to the mindless "village people" moaning. I am not the only one who would say it is always the same village idiots who have nothing better to do with their lives, the MOAN MOAN MOAN. They are now townies not village people. I have been in the line at the p.o waiting on numerous occasions and have listened to the abuse that these ladies have received, from mindless, grumpy people that sadly, gives the rest of us in Liphook a bad name. I would just like to say, well done ladies for your hard work and being able to cope with what you have to. I would like to wish you all MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Re: Post Offices - Dawn Hoskins (18th Nov 2008 - 09:08:09) This is not a personal abuse slot against postal workers. It is local people being disgruntled with an under staffed counter which results in very long queues. I am not using this forum to ‘flog’ staff from the co-op or the post office, but if pointing out that a large number of customers feel fed up since Passfield P.O. shut is not allowed to be spoken about here – then I don’t know what is a suitable place. That surely is what this board is for?! I choose to use the services of a fully staffed counter. That does not mean I have hurled some kind of abuse at someone’s auntie – it just means I don’t have 40 minutes to spare every time I want to post an item which I am unsure about re: size or weight.………… Happy Christmas to you too

Re: Post Offices - claire (18th Nov 2008 - 09:22:32) I think just a bit of organisation could make life easier for both staff and customers at the Co-Op PO . Leaflet slots rarely have leaflets in them and there should be a notice saying 'stamps available at tills' or a stamp dispensing machine. Failing this, maybe we could encourage the scouts to extend their fabulous Christmas post service and take on more duties!It would of course mean lowering the counters so the rainbows can see over them. I know queueing is a pain , but in times past it was seen as a 'social moment'. I just try and use the opportunity to have a blether with the person in front. My only real gripe is the fact they run out of ordinary stamps and I have to send out my business mail adorned with ridiculous picture stamps (hey ho when i make my first million i will by a franking machine and have a lil' apprentice to operate it!! :) ) [editor - you might be interested to know that Oliver (Blackwell Press) stocks the 100 packs of first and second class stamps - I always buy from him]

Re: Post Offices - Chris (18th Nov 2008 - 11:07:45) Many of the services that the Post Office offers are time consuming to perform due mainly to the antiquated way that the Post Office insists that they are performed. Counter based form filling is an example. It takes an age to get a letter/parcel ready for registered posting or recorded delivery due to all of the forms that you have to complete. Same goes for car tax disks etc. The dedicated post office at Haslemere often has long q's simply because each customer's requirements take so long to fulfil. The Post Office service needs to be renched out of 1950s/60s nationalisation mentality into the modern world of greater efficiency if it want's to answer it's critics. You can' t blame the staff for being stuck with these ridiculously long-winded processes.

Re: Post Offices - Karen (18th Nov 2008 - 12:12:06) The problem with people is that they are all too willing to be unkind and unpleasant and rarely offer any praise. The ladies at the Liphook Post Office have a tough time all around. They are understaffed: do you think they enjoy that? Is it their fault? I can't imagine how they are to blame for the queues. I use the Liphook PO all the time and always get great service. They have even phoned me at home to tell me a parcel has arrived - you can't get better than that! But the reason why I get that service is probably because I ALWAYS make an effort to be friendly and polite when I go in there. I have many times witnessed members of the public being downright rude to the ladies behind the counter and they are just supposed to sit there and take it! They don't make the rules or set the charge rates and yet they take all the flack. It is not their fault that there are queues: do what I do and work out when the quieter periods are - it's simple enough to do. And perhaps try being a bit nicer to people. Manners cost nothing and I'm afraid the general public's manners leave a lot to be desired!!

Re: Post Offices - Sue W (18th Nov 2008 - 12:37:33) It still surprises me that people take criticism of an organisation to equate to moaning, and a personal attack on staff. Most posts have in their content a moan about someone or something else. Take for instance the one that says the same people moan, and go on in their way to criticise them. When you have a hot topic like the PO, and no matter how nicely you wait, or support them, for some it just doesn’t work well enough! On one of my waits at the said PO, was held up for rather a long time, but had to do it then, went back to work to a shop full of people and grumpy customers waiting to be served, and took the brunt of it for not being there to serve them when they wanted it. You just can't win a damn thing where members of the public are concerned at times. We just have to take it, smile serve them, then moan like hell when they have left! I think this forum is the correct place to discuss topics that affect any member of the community, BUT I do draw a line at posts that set out to destroy and besmirch the character and professionalism of independent Businesses, as we saw recently

Re: Post Offices - Alan Baker (21st Nov 2008 - 21:27:15) BBC article about queues in post offices news.bbc.co.uk/...

Re: Post Offices - allan (23rd Nov 2008 - 21:03:07) I remember when the PO was where Lloyds are now. Nobody waited for long for service: It was organised and efficient. Bring back Christine, Sandra, et al

Re: Post Offices - Paul Robinson (27th Nov 2008 - 11:39:31) Now here's a funny thing . . . Whilst being served at Liphook Post Office this morning another customer plonked a carrier bag containing Christmas gifts on the scales and when told of the cost asked about some wrapping. The assistant pointed out the brown paper, gift wrap and sellotape on sale in the shop whereupon the customer indicated that he thought gift wrapping, packing and labelling were part of the service. When he was told that this was not the case he swept out of the shop with his bag under his arm saying "I thought you were better organised than this" You could not write this sort of stuff. . . Paul Robinson

Re: Post Offices - Dawn Hoskins (28th Nov 2008 - 11:10:19) Bizzare! I wonder what planet he just landed from.

Re: Post Offices - Eneida (28th Nov 2008 - 11:58:01) Perhaps he was an American.....they get everything gift wrapped don't they :D

Re: Post Offices - Paul Robinson (28th Nov 2008 - 12:55:44) No, he was a Brit and whilst waiting for his bag to be weighed he said 'I have been landed with this' So, no doubt when he got home clutching his carrier bag he had some explaining to do. Paul Robinson

Re: Post Offices - Dee (11th Dec 2008 - 15:17:08) Christmas is just around the corner, same time each year. The liphook post office has no 2nd class stamps, I've heard that sainsburys hasnt either. But good old Blackwell Press have. Dee

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